11 soldiers, 1 child killed in Pakistan after explosive-laden vehicle rams security post

A suicide bomber backed by a group of gunmen rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the wall of a security post after troops signalled for it to stop in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in northwestern Pakistan, causing part of the compound to collapse and killing 11 soldiers and a child, the military and police said on Tuesday.The military said in a statement that the attackers had sought to breach the checkpoint overnight but were thwarted by security forces. It said troops later pursued and killed 12 khawarij, a term authorities use for the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).It said the attack occurred on Monday night in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border. The military said nearby civilian homes were also heavily damaged in the blast, killing a young girl and wounding seven other civilians, including women and children.Local police official Zafar Khan said shortly after the suicide bombing, a group of militants tried to sneak into the security post. That triggered a shoot-out that killed 12 militants, he said, adding that a search was under way in Bajaur.Emergency workers dig through the rubble after a militant attack in Bajaur, Pakistan, on Tuesday. Photo: Pakistan Red Crescent/ReutersTension has persisted in Bajaur since last August, when security forces launched a “targeted operation” against militants there, displacing tens of thousands of residents who later returned home, and intelligence-based operations have been ongoing there since then.