A suicide car bomber shot at guards and detonated his explosives at the gate of a paramilitary base in north-western Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing one soldier and wounding at least seven other people, said security officials.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call. Hafeez Ullah, who identified himself as a local Taliban commander, said the goal was to free Taliban militants imprisoned at the base. The bomber first tried to force his way onto the base in Lower Dir district by shooting at troops and policemen guarding the gate, said Major Suleman Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps.
He blew himself up after realising he couldn’t penetrate the base, said Mr Khan. The guards killed a second suicide car bomber, preventing him from detonating his explosives, and also killed two suicide bombers who were on foot, said Mr Khan.
The blast from the first bomber killed one soldier, said the Army in a statement. There were conflicting reports about how many people were wounded in the attack.
The Army said seven soldiers were wounded. But a local police officer, Raffat Ali, said 12 were wounded, including 10 troops and two policemen. Two civilians also were wounded by retaliatory fire from guards trying to repel the bombers, said Mr Ali. The Pakistani Taliban has declared war on the government because the group deems it unIslamic and is upset at its alliance with the United States.
The military has responded by launching a series of offensives against the Taliban in the northwest.