Six soldiers martyred in Hangu blast

PESHAWAR -  At least six personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) were martyred and eight others sustained injuries on Wednesday when a bomb planted on roadside went off in the district Hangu and Kurram Agency border area.

The remote-controlled device hit a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps on Wednesday as it was moving from the town of Hangu to Kurram district, one of seven tribal areas along the Afghan border where militants have strongholds.  A security official in Peshawar told The Nation that the blast killed six soldiers and wounded eight.

Ansar-ul-Mujahideen militant group which has been active in the tribal areas for around three years claimed responsibility. “We have carried out this attack to avenge drone victims. We are not part of the Pakistani Taliban, so we aren’t bound to follow any ceasefire,” the group spokesman, Abu Baseer, said in a telephonic conversation. 

The Pakistani Taliban announced a month-long ceasefire on Saturday in a bid to restart stalled peace talks with the government. The military halted air strikes on suspected militant hideouts in response.

Several defunct organisations are continuously targeting security forces and government installations despite the recent announcement of ceasefire by Tehreek-e-Taliban.  Disassociating itself from the recent terrorist activities in various parts of the country, Tehreek-e-Taliban has vowed to form a committee to probe these incidents.