Gunmen kill 2 soldiers in NW Pakistan

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - At least two security personnel were killed and three others wounded in an armed attack in northwestern Waziristan Agency near the Afghan border late Tuesday night, local officials said Wednesday.

"A military vehicle was ambushed near Idak village of North Waziristan when the soldiers were on their way to Bannu district," a local political administration official told Anadolu Agency over the phone on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The injured security personnel have been shifted to a military hospital in Bannu, he added.

In a separate attack in Bajaur Agency, a tribal elder Malik Farooq was killed when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Charmang area near the Afghan border on Wednesday.

Outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for both attacks in a statement.

Bajaur and North Waziristan are among the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan, which had been a battleground between the army and the Taliban from 2008 to 2014.

According to the Pakistan army, nearly 5,000 militants have been killed in the counter-terror operations in both regions that have left more than 400 troops dead.