Home Latest News Two Paramilitaries Killed in Roadside Bomb Attack

Two Paramilitaries Killed in Roadside Bomb Attack

by AFP
Pakistani troops patrol the tribal areas, June 2008. Tariq Mahmood—AFP

Pakistani troops patrol the tribal areas, June 2008. Tariq Mahmood—AFP

Another six injured in attack targeting security vehicles in Khyber Agency.

A bomb on Monday killed at least two paramilitary troops and wounded six others in the Khyber Agency bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

The incident happened in the Sadokhel area of Khyber Agency where Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militant groups are active. “An improvised explosive device planted along the roadside went off as two vehicles of paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) passed by, killing two soldiers and wounding six others,” said senior local administration official Muhammad Tayyab Ali. He said the blast destroyed one of the vehicles. A local intelligence official also confirmed the incident and casualties.

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the incident but it occurred just two days after the Pakistani Taliban announced a month-long ceasefire aimed at resuming peace talks with the government. Dialogue between Islamabad and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that began last month was suspended after the militants killed 23 soldiers. TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed via telephone that his group had no role in the attack. “We condemn such incidents,” he said.

Khyber, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan, used by U.S.-led troops to evacuate military equipment ahead of their withdrawal later this year. Pakistani troops have been fighting for years against homegrown insurgents in the tribal belt, which Washington considers the main hub of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.

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