Bomb Kills Three Soldiers in Pakistan
Three Pakistani soldiers and an anti-Taliban fighter were killed on Sunday in two separate bomb attacks in Pakistan, officials said.
The first incident took place in Salarzai town, about 20 kilometers northeast of Khar, the main city in Bajaur tribal district along the Afghan border when a remote-controlled bomb hit a shop, killing an anti-Taliban militiaman and wounding three others, an official said.
The injured were two other anti-Taliban fighters and a passer-by, senior government official Faaz Mohammad told Agence France Presse.
"The bomb destroyed the shop and killed one anti-Taliban fighter," the official said.
Bajaur is a part of Pakistan's seven tribal districts which are rife with homegrown insurgents and are strongholds of Taliban and al-Qaida operatives.
Pakistan has for years battled homegrown insurgents in the tribal belt. More than 3,000 soldiers have died but Pakistan has resisted U.S. pressure to do more to eliminate havens used by insurgents.
The second incident took place when a roadside buried landmine hit a vehicle in the country's southwest on Sunday, killing three soldiers, a security official said.
The incident occurred near Sui town, some 400 kilometers southwest of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province.
"Troops were patrolling in the area. Three soldiers were killed and two were injured. It was a landmine blast," a spokesman for paramilitary Frontier Corps told AFP.
The troubled Baluchistan province which neighbors both Afghanistan and Iran is gripped by a regional insurgency for self-determination. It is also a flashpoint for Taliban and sectarian violence.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/25167 |