Attack on army convoy kills 20 Pakistani soldiers

A powerful bomb ripped through a Pakistan army truck in the country's northern city of Bannu near the Afghan border on Sunday, killing at least 20 soldiers according to senior intelligence and army officials.

The explosion led to one of the largest number of casualties in a single Taliban strike against Pakistan's army.

The attack came a day before the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is due to begin reviewing plans for revamping internal security networks across a country plagued by a stubborn Islamist insurgency.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the casualties in Sunday's attack were mainly paramilitary soldiers who were travelling to take up duties in north Waziristan - a region along the Afghan border which is a hotbed of Taliban activity.

The US has carried out a number of attacks using pilotless drones to target suspected militant sanctuaries in north Waziristan.

US officials said that north Waziristan was a sanctuary for Taliban militants who routinely attack western forces in Afghanistan and return to take refuge in the region.

According to Reuters news agency, Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. "With the help of God we claim responsibility for this. The army is our enemy. We will carry out many more attacks such as this again," Shahidullah Shahid, Pakistani Taliban spokesman, told Reuters.

Sunday's attack was also a setback to Mr Sharif's oft-repeated plans to begin peace negotiations with the Taliban to end more than a decade-long insurgency.

"The Pakistan army is being increasingly challenged. They will have to retaliate. This latest attack shows, the Taliban are not interested in joining a peace process," said retired Brigadier Farooq Hameed Khan, a defence and security analyst.

Sunday's attack came more than two months after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a US drone attack.

His replacement in Mullah Fazlullah, a diehard Islamist, has prompted fears across Pakistan that the Taliban will step up attacks in the coming months.

"I fear this attack could be part of Mr Fazlullah's strategy to increase the number of attacks on the army, not only to demoralise the army but also the people of Pakistan," said the intelligence official.

Mr Fazlullah gained added notoriety in 2012 when he allegedly ordered the near-fatal attack on Malala Yousufzai, the globally renowned Pakistani schoolgirl who defied Taliban threats against her campaign to spread education for girls in the northern Swat valley.

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Following Sunday's attack, some Pakistani officials said that the security plan due to be discussed on Monday may not be sufficient to hold back a growing Taliban threat.

"The plan involves spending about $250m on equipping our police with modern new equipment," said one senior government official in Islamabad. "The challenge from the Taliban is so big that we need to mobilise our whole country, not just buy new equipment."

At least two dozen others were wounded in the attack in a town near north Waziristan, a lawless region where many militant groups are holed up in remote mountain camps.

"It's not clear if it was a suicide attack or an improvised explosive device," said one military official, adding that the soldiers had been travelling in a civilian vehicle hired to carry them to Razmak in north Waziristan.

Another police officer said the blast took place as a convoy of army troops and paramilitary Frontier Corps was preparing to leave Bannu, adding that security forces had cordoned off the area to investigate.

"We fear that dozens were killed and injured," said an intelligence source. "It is not yet clear what caused the blast . . . A large number of soldiers were there."

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