Four Pakistani army soldiers were killed in a suicide blast at a military convoy in the Mir Ali area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan district, the military's media affairs wing said on Tuesday.
As per Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the soldiers were identified as 22-year-old Lance Naik Shahzaib, a resident of Mansehra, 26-year-old Lance Naik Sajjad, hailing from Ghizer, 25-year-old sepoy Umair, a resident of Kohat and 30-year-old sepoy Khurram, a resident of Narowal, the Dawn reported.
ISPR issued a statement saying that the intelligence agencies have commenced investigations to find out details about the suicide bomber who carried out the attack and his handlers and facilitators.
Clashes between security forces and suspected terrorists in the North Waziristan tribal district have become quite frequent in recent months.
Moreover, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief and concern over the suicide attack on the military convoy and assured to root out the menace of terrorism from the country.
In recent months, several such cases of bomb attacks have been reported in Pakistan. On July 4, at least 10 security personnel were injured when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of security forces in the area.
Officials said at the time that the convoy was going from Mirali to Miramshah, the district headquarters, when the suicide bomber, who was on a motorcycle, blew himself up near one of the vehicles.
On May 30, a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle attacked another convoy of security forces in the Razmak area, injuring two soldiers and two children.
Earlier, in April, seven Pakistani Army soldiers were killed in a convoy attack near the Pak-Afghan border area.
The increased terror activities in Pakistan border areas, especially in the North Waziristan district have been costing the lives of several Pakistani soldiers.
Reportedly, these militants have their bases in Afghanistan. They enter Pakistan from Afghanistan and after launching attacks on the former, retreat to their bases in Afghanistan.
Further, terrorist organizations like the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have also been working from the Afghan bases, planning attacks against Pakistan.
The porous border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been a stronghold for the Pakistani Taliban, a banned terrorist group in Pakistan, for decades. The group has carried out various terrorist attacks in Pakistan and the officials in the country have claimed that the members of the group found shelter in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Earlier, a total of 105 army personnel lost lives in such terrorist attacks within the first three months of this year, recording 97 soldiers and army officers, according to Pakistan Vernacular Media.
( With inputs from ANI )
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