Convoy under attack: IED blast in Bannu kills one, injures nine

BANNU:

A security official was killed and nine others injured on Sunday when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on Bannu-Miranshah Road exploded near security forces convoy in Frontier Region Bannu.

A security forces official said the incident occurred at around 6am, explaining that the security forces convoy was en route to Miranshah, Headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, from Bannu when a roadside bomb planted close to Mirzail check-post exploded near one of the vehicles injuring ten security forces officials.

The vehicle was badly damaged in the explosion that was detonated through a remote device, told the official, adding the security forces surrounded the area and launched a search operation, meanwhile they shifted the injured officials to CMH Bannu. The official further informed one of the officials Lance Naik Waqar Shah succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital.

After the explosion, a man who identified himself as Abu Baseer and cited his association to a little known group of militants as Ansarul Mujahideen, claimed the responsibility for the attack.

Talking from an undisclosed location, Abu Baseer said they attacked the security forces convoy in the Bannu area and such assaults would continue until US and Pakistan government end drone strikes in the region.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2013.