Pakistan: Explosion kills 22 in Bannu; TTP claims attack

A bombing, targeting a security forces convoy, killed 22 people and injured 38 others near Razmak gate in Cantt area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu district on Sunday. The Pakistani Taliban claimed the attack. An ISPR spokesman said that in the attack, 20 security personnel were killed and 30 were injured.

Speaking to CNN, 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.

On the other hand, intelligence sources say that a convoy, comprising military and civilian vehicles, was ready to move towards Miramshah in the North Waziristan tribal region from a ground near Razmak Gate in Cantt area of Bannu when the explosion occurred in one of the coaches.

The sources added that the explosives were planted in one of the vehicles hired from a private party.

Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemning the incident has sought a report from the Inspector General of Frontier Corps with the details related to the hiring of the private vehicles for transportation.

Emergency and security forces reached the attack site and shifted the victims to a nearby hospital. Those killed in the attack included civilians and security forces personnel. Security and rescue sources said 18 personnel and four civilians were among the dead.

Moreover, security forces cordoned off the area as a probe into the incident went underway. Within hours of the attack, the TTP spokesman said that the Taliban were ready for meaningful dialogue, however, the government should show its sincerity. 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.