9 soldiers killed in suicide bombing in NW Pakistan

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - At least nine security personnel were killed and four others injured in a suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan, an official said on Wednesday.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a security check post in the Mali Khan area of the Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last evening, Karim Khan, a local police official, told Anadolu over the phone.

Pakistani military's media wing, ISPR, was yet to issue a statement about the attack.

The latest attack came after seven policemen who were kidnapped from the Bannu district a day before were "safely" recovered on Tuesday evening.

At least eight security personnel were also killed during fierce gun battles with terrorists over the weekend in the Tirah valley, bordering Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, the Pakistan army said eight terrorists were also killed in clashes in the restive Tirah valley of the Khyber tribal district. However, the military didn't confirm the killing of its soldiers in the fighting.