PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Suicide bombers in an explosives-laden car struck a Pakistani military base in the volatile South Waziristan tribal region on Wednesday, killing three soldiers, according to a senior security official in Peshawar.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the vehicle was spotted by guards in a security tower at the walled Javed Sultan Shaheed Camp, a few miles west of South Waziristan’s main town, Wana. He said the guards fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the vehicle, and it exploded before it reached the base gates.
The blast killed one of the soldiers inside the guard tower and a junior officer who died when the roof of a nearby building collapsed onto him, the official said. Four soldiers were wounded, and one later died of his injuries.
The camp, which is a few miles from the Afghan border, had been targeted before by militants. The sprawling camp includes military offices and housing for officers and soldiers.
It was the second suicide bombing in Wana since last Thursday, when a bomber on a motorcycle killed eight people and wounded 18 in an attack on Mullah Nazir, a militant commander who sends Taliban fighters into Afghanistan.
That bombing caused tension between the local Ahmadzai Wazir tribe and Mehsud tribesmen, who have been displaced from the more mountainous districts of South Waziristan by military operations in the area. The top leadership of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan comes from the Mehsud tribe.
Though no group claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing, the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe had given Mehsud tribesmen until Wednesday to leave the Wana area.
Hundreds of Mehsuds have been seen leaving Wana, according to a local reporter speaking on the condition of anonymity. The reporter said that mediation between the two tribes by religious leaders had failed and that Ahmadzai Wazirs were under pressure from the local authorities to evict Mehsuds.
Bombers Strike Pakistani Military Base in South Waziristan
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Bombers Strike Pakistani Military Base in South Waziristan
