Two soldiers, seven others killed in four terror incidents in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar: In a fresh wave of terrorism, nine people, including two soldiers, were killed and several others injured in four different terror incidents in restive tribal belts in northwest Pakistan.

The bomb blast incidents occurred in North Waziristan, South Waziristan, and Bajaur tribal districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, and police said.

Two soldiers were killed as the terrorists attacked a convoy of the security forces in the Razmak area in North Waziristan district while in Wana in South Waziristan district, tribal elder Aslam Noor along with his two sons, and a local shopkeeper were killed as a bomb blast ripped through the shop.

In Bajaur tribal district, three others, including the father of a local Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader, were killed and an equal number were injured in two separate blasts, police said.

In the first blast, two social activists were killed when a bomb exploded in a car while in the second incident, Sattar Khan Ustad, father of a slain JUI-F leader Amir ul Islam, was killed in a roadside bomb blast at Damadola in Mamond tehsil.

There has been an uptick in terrorism incidents in Pakistan in recent months. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant outfits have intensified actions against security forces and often civilians also become their targets.

The Dawn newspaper quoted the ISPR statement which said a sanitisation operation was being carried out to eliminate any militants present in the area.