Four killed in bomb blast in northwestern Pakistan
At least four people lost their lives after a bomb, concealed in a plastic bag, went off in a semi-autonomous tribal area in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghan border, officials say.
The incident occurred in Khyber Agency, one of the seven tribal areas in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on Saturday, when security personnel spotted a suspicious plastic bag left unattended near a security checkpoint.
"As the security officials were inspecting the plastic bag, the bomb concealed in it went off, killing a solider, two paramilitary troops and a civilian,’ a local administration official said on condition of anonymity. Other local security officials also confirmed the incident.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the deadly bomb attack.
Pakistani troops have for over a decade been battling militants in FATA to curb insurgencies by the Takfiri terrorist groups of Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The army has managed to reduce violence across the Asian country in recent years following a series of counter-terrorism operations conducted against militants, but every so often remnants of the terror groups carry out periodic bloody attacks, both against people and the armed forces, particularly in the northwest.
Back in June 2014, the army launched a full-scale offensive in mountainous North Waziristan, part of which constitutes FATA, aimed at wiping out militant bases in the highly volatile tribal region. Thousands of people lost their lives in an insurgency that began there a decade earlier.
Ex-detainee held at Guantánamo Bay for two decades dies in Pakistan
Attack on foreign diplomats' convoy kills police officer in northwestern Pakistan
Iran condemns terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan
IRGC: 10 foreign-backed terrorists killed, arrested in Sistan and Baluchestan
Iran calls on EU to end targeting ordinary Iranians after missile transfer claims refuted
UK police detain Jewish scholar Haim Bresheeth following pro-Palestine address
VIDEO | Iraqi resistance strikes key Israeli targets in occupied territories
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
Iranian satellites launched into space as private sector debuts in space industry
VIDEO | Iran, Azerbaijan conduct joint maritime rescue operations
VIDEO | Yemen’s Red Sea divide: Naval forces block Israeli-linked ships in strategic ‘parting of the water’
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
