MIRAN SHAH (AP) – A suicide bomber targetted a security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing two soldiers, a policeman and a civilian, security officials said.
It was the second attack to hit Pakistan in as many days.
The bombing happened in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan and is a former stronghold of the militant Pakistani Taleban group, also known as Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan or TTP.
A number of civilians were also wounded in the attack, according to local police Rehmat Khan.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
In the last six months, the TTP has stepped up its attacks since it unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the Pakistani government, brokered by neighbouring Afghanistan last year.
Also yesterday, the TTP claimed responsibility for an attack the previous day on an oil and gas plant in Hangu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the border with Afghanistan. Four security troops and two private guards were killed in the attack on the facility run by MOL Pakistan Oil and Gas.
