Pakistan: Suicide car bomber kills six soldiers
Pakistan suicide car bomber killed six soldiers near a military base.
The Taliban is taking responsibility in Pakistan for a suicide car bomber who drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a building used by paramilitary forces, killing six soldiers, on Saturday, The New York Times reported.
At least 18 were wounded near the town of Bannu, 25 miles east of North Waziristan, the Associated Press reported. The troops, known Tochi Scouts, are deployed mainly in North Waziristan, the mountainous region a part of Pakistan’s tribal area and a stronghold of militants, according to The Times.
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Ihsanullah Ihsan, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman told the AP it the attack was revenge for the death of commander Taj Gul in a US drone strike in October. Gul is the Pakistani Taliban’s operational commander in South Waziristan and was responsible for many attacks against security forces, the AP reported.
This attack comes one day after about 40 Pakistani Taliban fighters attacked a paramilitary camp near South Waziristan, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others. Ihsan said the abducted solders were taken to Taliban hide-outs in the tribal area, The Times reported.
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The spokesman said Friday’s attack was also meant as an act of revenge. Ihsan pledged the Pakistani Taliban would kill the kidnapped troops, saying "we are going to cut these soldiers into pieces one by one, and we will send these pieces to their commanders,” the AP reported.
In the last four years the Pakistani Taliban has killed tens of thousands of security personnel and civilians. The group is aiming to take over the civilian government, partly because of its alliance with the United States, and also to impose Islamic law throughout Pakistan, according to the AP. In response, Pakistan has launched a series of military offensives against the Pakistani Taliban along the Afghan border.
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