Eight personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden van into a checkpost in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on Sunday.
Sources said a suicide bomber driving a Hiace van packed with explosives reached the Zalay Fort checkpost at 9:20 am and rammed the vehicle into the barrier of the checkpost.
The checkpost manned by personnel of the South Waziristan Scouts (SWS), a wing of the Frontier Corps, was almost destroyed and eight soldiers were killed on the spot while five others were seriously injured.
The injured were rushed to the Agency Headquarters Hospital and later to the District Headquarters Hospital due to their precarious condition.Bodies of two FC men, identified as Lance Naik Naeem and Sepoy Wajid, were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Kohat, while the remaining six were taken to the CMH Peshawar.
The political agent dispatched a team to the site of the attack for investigation.It was reported that Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani cancelled his proposed visit to the SWA on Tuesday following the suicide attack. On the other hand, the source added that elders of a tribal Jirga had refused to ensure security to the governor on his scheduled visit to the area.
Though the elders of the Zalay tribe said it was premature to blame the Taliban or someone else for the suicide attack, a day earlier Maulvi Nazeer had warned the government that the Taliban would take revenge of the tribesmen killed in the US-drone attacks.
“The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leaders, including Baitullah, Fazlullah and Fazal Muhammad are being forced to take up arms against the security forces as the US drones continue to attack innocent people,” a source quoted the Taliban spokesman as saying.
The sources said Maulvi Nazeer sustained injuries in a drone attack in Doug area of the South Waziristan Agency late Saturday night in which a number of persons were killed.
Reuters adds: The attack near the Afghan border came two days after suspected US missile strikes in the ethnic Pashtun tribal regions of South and North Waziristan agencies that killed about 20 people, including militants.
“It was suicide attack. The bomber drove his explosive-laden vehicle into the FC checkpost,” said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas referring to paramilitary Frontier Corps. “We have confirmed reports of eight deaths,” he added.