Two soldiers and five militants were killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan’s southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, the army said.
Al-Fajr newspaper reported that the Pakistani army said that a convoy of security forces was targeted by “Kharijite sedition” during an intelligence operation that was being conducted against terrorists in the Bannu region.
Kharijite sedition is a term used by Pakistan to refer to terrorists affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“The lead group intercepted a car-driving suicide bomber, foiling his nefarious plot to target innocent civilians/law enforcement personnel in Bannu city, thus averting a major disaster,” the army statement said.
Authorities said that Pakistani Taliban militants were located during the operation and the militants were killed in an encounter. But the militants then rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into an army convoy.
