Roadside bomb: 14 killed in military convoy attack

Twenty-one injured in the blast in Razmak, North Waziristan.

MIRANSHAH:

At least 14 members of the security forces were killed and 21 others injured on Sunday when a high-intensity bomb planted by the roadside in Razmak subdivision of North Waziristan Agency exploded near a passing army convoy.

A security official said that the convoy was heading towards Bannu from Razmak when a truck carrying 42 security personnel reached the Dam Del area and a huge explosion ripped through the area.

“The number of the casualties increased because the vehicle fell into a 30 foot deep ravine after the explosion,” the official said.

He said that security forces had launched a search operation in the area and had called for aerial assistance. The bodies and injured were taken to a medical unit in Miramshah, headquarters of the agency, and later transferred to Bannu and the Combined Military Hospitals in Peshawar.



Meanwhile, the agency’s political administration imposed a curfew in most parts of the area from 6am onwards which continued till the filing of this report.

At the same time, gunship helicopters pounded suspected militants hideouts in the area, the number of exact casualties could not t be ascertained.

Local residents told AFP that military helicopter gunships had reached the scene after the attack. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility.

On Saturday, Tehreek-e-Taliban  leader Hakimullah Mehsud had circulated a leaflet, calling for an end to the Taliban’s attacks on Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan.

It was unclear if the leaflet was related to rumours of splits in the movement. It called on local and foreign fighters to unite because “the enemy is trying to divide and rule us”. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AGENCIES)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2013.