Fifteen killed in Bannu blast; TTP claims attack

PESHAWAR: A bombing, targeting a security forces convoy, killed 15 persons and injured 20 others near Razmak gate in Cantt area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday. The Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack.

Peshawar TKSNN:  Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed that the militant organisation was responsible for the attack and said that their attacks on security forces would continue.
The blast targeted a convoy of vehicles carrying FC and Pakistan Army personnel travelling from Bannu district to Miramshah area in North Waziristan tribal region.
Emergency and security forces reached the attack site. Rescue sources reported 15 people dead in the bombing and said the blast was suspected to have been carried out by a suicide bomber.
Those killed in the attack included civilians and security forces personnel.
Moreover, security forces cordoned off the area as a probe into the incident went underway.
Further details regarding the nature of blast were not available until the filing of this report.
The northwestern town of Bannu, which stands at the gateway to the semi-autonomous Waziristan tribal region, is 150 kilometres southwest of Peshawar, the capital of KP.
The town has witnessed a number of attacks and was the scene of a massive jail break in April 2012 during which 384 prisoners escaped from its central prison.