Article Author:
Associated Press
Mounir Ahmed
Islamabad (AP) — Suicide bomber kills four soldiers after targeting security forces at former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in northwest Pakistan did, officials said on Tuesday.
No one claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in North Waziristan, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. Four soldiers were martyred in the attack and an investigation is underway, according to a military statement.
The attack occurred late at night in eastern Afghanistan when a bomb was dropped on a vehicle carrying members of the Pakistani Taliban, killing the senior leader and three others who were traveling with him. It happened the day after the militants were killed.
Pakistan's Taliban accused intelligence services of high-profile killings on Sunday night without providing evidence or elaborating.
29} The Pakistani Taliban leader — Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP — who was killed was Abdul Wali, popularly known as Omar Khalid Khurasani.Khurasani's death has dealt a heavy blow to his TTP, which is negotiating with the Pakistani government in an ongoing ceasefire announced in May. The TTP has not claimed responsibility for any attacks since the ceasefire first took effect, but attacks by isolated militants have continued. The talks are hosted by the Afghan Taliban.
Two local Pakistani intelligence officials told his Associated Press that a suicide attack on Monday in the town of Myrhi Ali killed an unspecified number of civilians and soldiers. was injured. The official declined to elaborate or speak on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on record.
North Waziristan and other former tribal areas in northwestern Pakistan are bases for the Pakistani Taliban and other extremist groups, and several years ago the military cleared them of militants. Occasional attacks continue, but fears are growing that the Pakistani Taliban are regrouping in the region.
The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group, but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan a year ago as US and NATO forces were in the final stages of withdrawal.
The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has encouraged the Pakistani Taliban to enforce stricter Islamic law in Pakistan, release their members from government custody, and strengthen military forces in Pakistan's former tribal areas.
