Suicide attack, roadside bomb kill 6 soldiers in Pakistan

Earlier, rebels fire several rockets at military checkpoint in Miran Shah, wounding two.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
pakistan bomb 298.88 (photo credit: AP)
pakistan bomb 298.88
(photo credit: AP)
Suspected Islamic militants drove an explosive-laden car into a military convoy and detonated a roadside bomb in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing six soldiers and wounding five more, officials said. The suicide car bomber struck on a road near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing five soldiers, a local security official said. Hours later, a roadside bomb went off near another military convoy in the nearby village of Razmak, killing at least one soldier, said the official. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad confirmed the attacks and casualties, but provided no details. The official, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said troops rushed from Miran Shah to the scene of attacks, and that authorities were trying to cordon off the area to catch any accomplices. The dead and injured were taken to a nearby hospital, he said. Earlier Friday, rebels fired several rockets at a military checkpoint in Miran Shah, wounding two soldiers, the official said. Troops responded with mortars, rockets and assault rifles, but it was unclear whether the militants suffered any casualties. Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and has deployed about 90,000 troops in the border region in an effort to contain al-Qaida and Taliban militants and their local supporters, who often target security forces. The latest attack came two days after a rocket attack killed four soldiers in Bannu, a troubled town just east of North Waziristan. Violence has surged in North and neighboring South Waziristan since July, when militants scrapped a September 2006 peace deal after accusing the government of violating the agreement by deploying more troops and targeting their hideouts.