4 Dead, 22 Injured In A Suicide Attack In Pakistan’s North Waziristan: Police
According to the report, the attacker was riding a tri-wheeler laden with the bomb and hit a vehicle of the security forces causing the blast and killing four soldiers.
New Delhi: At least four soldiers died and 22 others, including employees of a petroleum company, were left injured in a suicide attack in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal district on Saturday, reported PTI citing police.
According to PTI, the incident happened when the suicide bomber riding a tri-wheeler laden with the bomb hit the vehicle of security forces that was escorting employees of a petroleum company.
“The suicide bomber riding a tri-wheeler hit a vehicle of the security forces on duty with MPCL Petroleum Company in Khajori Chowk in North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan. Four soldiers were killed and 22 others which included 15 employees of the company were injured,” a senior police official said, quoted PTI.
It added that the employees of the Petroleum Company were on returning to their resting place under tight security after duty hours when the attacker ambushed one of the force’s vehicles escorting them.
As per the PTI report, the MPCL Petroleum Company is engaged in the exploration of oil in the area.
The blast comes days after a similar suicide attack in a mosque in Peshawar killed over 90 people and injured more than 200.
On January 30, at approximately 1.40 p.m., when worshipers, including members of the police, army, and bomb disposal squad, were offering the Zuhr (afternoon) prayers, a powerful explosion occurred inside the mosque in the Police Lines area.
According to officials, the front-row suicide bomber blew himself up, causing the worshipers' roof to fall.
Mohammad Aijaz Khan, a CCPO from Peshawar, told Geo TV that the blast appeared to be a suicide attempt and that the suspected bomber's head was found at the scene in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, claiming it was a retaliation for the death of TTP commander Umar Khalid Khurasani in Afghanistan in August.