Nine soldiers were killed in a restive western region of Pakistan on Thursday after a suicide bomber on a motorbike targeted their military convoy, the army said.
Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in militant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan two years ago.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the bombing took place in the Bannu district of North Waziristan, a border region which has long been a base for groups such as the Pakistan Taliban.
“The suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and he rammed his bike into a truck in a military convoy,” provincial minister Feroze Jamal Shah told AFP.
ISPR said a further five soldiers were injured in the attack near Jani Khel, 61 kilometres (38 miles) from the border with Afghanistan.
