Taliban target Pakistan army compound, kill 20 troops in bombing
A Taliban bombing inside an army compound in northwest Pakistan killed at least 20 troops Sunday, officials said.
The blast was a heavy blow for the Pakistani military which has been fighting a stubborn insurgency in the country’s northwest. Bombs and shootings have killed thousands of security forces and left thousands more wounded and maimed.
The vehicle was hired by the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said police official Inyat Ali Khan from the Bannu region where the explosion occurred.
It was part of a convoy that was about to leave the military base in the town of Bannu and drive west to the North Waziristan tribal area, he said.
The explosion killed 20 security personnel and wounded another 30, the Pakistani military said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Shahidullah Shahid, told The Associated Press by telephone that the attack had been carried out to avenge the death of Waliur Rehman, the group’s former second in command. He was killed last year in a U.S. drone strike.
“We will avenge the killing of every one of our fellows through such attacks,” the spokesman warned.
The explosion was heard and felt across the town of Bannu.
North Waziristan is considered a safe haven for al-Qaida-linked militants. Pakistani troop convoys often are hit by roadside bombs, but blasts inside military compounds are rare.
