Roadside bomb kills 3, injures 26 in northwestern Pakistan

Islamabad: A roadside bomb killed at least three people and wounded 26 others in a Pakistani tribal district near the Afghan border Friday, officials said.

The explosion struck a truck carrying civilians, most of them labourers, in a far-flung frontier village in Bajaur tribal district, one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions.

“At least three people have been killed and 26 wounded, the roadside bomb exploded when the truck passed by,” Mustafa Khan, a local government official told AFP.

Anwarul Haq, a senior local government official, confirmed the casualties, telling AFP that the injured have been taken to local hospitals.

No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants have carried out several bomb attacks against security forces and pro-government tribal elders in the area in the past.

Violence in Pakistan has declined in recent years following a series of military offensives against insurgents along the northwestern border.

But the remnants of militant groups are still able to carry out periodic bloody attacks, particularly in the northwest.