Suicide bomber targets army convoy in northwest Pakistan

Five soldiers wounded in the attack in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

A security member stands guard inside a damages police compound after a suicide bomber attack in the Bara Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Thursday, July 20, 2023
Pakistan's restive northwest, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a rise in attacks over the last year since talks between armed fighters and the government broke down [File: Qazi Rauf/AP Photo]

At least nine soldiers have been killed and five wounded in a suicide attack on a security convoy in northwest Pakistan.

The military said security forces had cordoned off the area.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Bannu district.

A “motorcycle borne suicide bomber exploded himself” about 61km (37 miles) from the border with Afghanistan, the army’s media wing said.

The rugged border region has long been a hive of militant activity.

“The suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and he rammed his bike into a truck in a military convoy,” provincial minister Feroze Jamal Shah told AFP news agency.

Pakistan’s restive northwest, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a rise in attacks over the last year since talks between armed fighters and the government broke down.

Another suicide bombing at a political gathering in the northwest last month killed more than 60 people.

In January, a suicide bomber linked with Tehreek–e–Taliban Pakistan (TTP) blew himself up in a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 officers.


Advertisement