A BOMB CLAIMED by the Pakistani Taliban has killed 20 soldiers and wounded 30 after it ripped through a military convoy in the restive northwest of the country.
The attack, one of the deadliest to hit Pakistani security forces in recent years, happened in the city of Bannu near the North Waziristan tribal region which is a stronghold of militants linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
“A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device caused the blast,” a senior military official told AFP, adding the exact circumstances were unclear.
An official statement said 20 soldiers were killed and 30 injured in the attack, which hit one of the vehicles in the convoy at 8:45 am local time.
The convoy was about to leave for the town of Razmak in North Waziristan when the blast hit one of the civilian vehicles hired to move troops.
Taliban ‘ready for talks’
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility.
“It was part of our fight against a secular system,” he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
“We will carry out more such attacks in future,” he said, adding the Taliban were seeking revenge for the deaths of their former chief Hakimullah Mehsud and deputy Waliur Rehman — both killed in US drone attacks.
The Taliban vowed they would not engage in any dialogue with the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif following the death of Mehsud.
But Shahid said today that the group “is ready for meaningful negotiations despite facing huge leadership losses, if the government proves its authority and sincerity” by halting drone attacks and withdrawing troops from tribal areas.
Taliban insurgents have led a bloody campaign against the Pakistani state since 2007, staging hundreds of attacks on security forces and government targets.
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