ISLAMABAD – Authorities in Pakistan say a roadside bomb explosion in a volatile northwestern border region has killed at least six soldiers, including an officer.
The bombing targeted a security convoy in the North Waziristan district on the border with Afghanistan, the Pakistani military said Thursday, but gave no further details.
The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed it was behind the attack. The militant statement gave a much higher death toll for the security forces, though TTP claims often are inflated.
Separately, security sources said unknown gunmen ambushed a government convoy moving on the main coastal highway in Pakistan’s resource-rich southwestern Baluchistan province.
Initial reports said Thursday’s attack “killed or injured” at least 13 people, including paramilitary forces escorting the state-run oil and gas department convoy.
While Pakistani officials did not immediately comment on the deadly ambush, Prime Minister Imran Khan in a brief statement denounced the violence and ordered an urgent investigation into it.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in violence-prone Baluchistan. The province is rich in mineral resources and natural gas deposits, but militants and separatist attacks remain a key security challenge for Pakistani authorities.
TTP and militants linked to a regional branch of the Islamic State terror group are active. Ethnic Baluch separatist groups also routinely blow up major gas supply pipelines and carry out targeted killings of government employees.
Security sources said the ambush took place in the same area on the coastal highway where gunmen killed 15 commuter bus passengers, mostly members of the Pakistan Navy and Coast Guards, early last year.
The attack was claimed by Baluch separatists who claim to be fighting for the independence of the province. Pakistani officials allege rival India is funding the separatist insurgency. New Delhi denies these charges.