Suicide bomber attacks military convoy in Pakistan

A suicide attacker rammed a bomb-laden sports utility vehicle into a military convoy in northwestern Pakistan , killing two soldiers and wounding eight others.

Photo: Suicide bomber attacks military convoy in Pakistan

The attacker struck one truck in the convoy on a road near Tank, a town in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, said Mohammed Idris, a Tank police officer.

Eight other soldiers were wounded, some seriously, Idris said.

The three-vehicle convoy was heading to retrieve the car of a security official who was killed in a suspected militant ambush near Tank earlier Monday, Idris said.

The officer's car, which was abandoned at the scene, had been set on fire by militants, he said.

After the suicide bombing, militants opened fire and the Frontier Constabulary troops shot back, starting a firefight that was still going on, an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he did not have the authority to made media comments.

No word was immediately available on casualties from the fighting in the Dabara area, west of Tank.

Tank is located near South Waziristan, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where security officials have blamed militants allegedly linked with the Taliban and al-Qaida for attacks on the military.