Military Pakistani at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Credit: Jack Hill / News Licensing / Profimedia
An explosive car was entered into a Pakistani military convoy on Saturday, in a locality near the border with Afghanistan, and killed at least 13 soldiers, the Reuters sources said.
The convoy was attacked in the Mir Ali area of the North Waziistan district, four officials of Pakistani secret services and a high -ranking local administrator for Reuters said.
According to sources, about 10 soldiers were injured, some of whom are in serious condition, and were transported by helicopter to a military hospital.
In the statement sent by the office of the chief minister in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the incident is described as a suicide bomb attack and it is mentioned that eight security officers have died.
Chief Minister Ali Amin gandapur condemned the attack and sent a message of condolences to the bereaved families.
“It was huge, a strong explosion,” said the local administrator for Reuters, adding that the inhabitants of the city could see, from a great distance, a large amount of smoke rising from the incident scene.
A local claims that the explosion shook the windows of the nearby houses and caused the collapse of roofs.
So far, the attack has not been claimed by anyone.
The district on the border with Afghanistan has long served as a safe refuge for various Islamic militant groups, which operate on both sides of the border.
Islamabad claims that militants lead training camps in Afghanistan to launch attacks in Pakistan, an accusation that Kabul deny, saying that militantism is an internal problem of Pakistan.
Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group of several Islamist militant organizations, has long bears a war against Pakistan in an attempt to overthrow the government and replace it with its own Islamic governance system.
The Pakistani army, which launched several offensives against the militants, was largely their main target.
