Peshawar: A suicide attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan district has claimed the lives of 13 soldiers and left 29 others wounded, including civilians, local government officials, and police officers.

The deadly incident occurred when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a military convoy.

A local government official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, speaking anonymously due to not being authorized for media interaction, confirmed the casualty toll: "The blast killed 13 soldiers, injured 10 army personnel and 19 civilians."

The force of the explosion was significant enough to cause severe collateral damage. A police officer stationed in the district informed AFP that "the explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children." An administrative official further added that the condition of four injured soldiers remains critical.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction aligned with the Pakistan Taliban (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP).

Pakistan has experienced a notable surge in violence in its border regions with Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused its western neighbour of permitting its territory to be used as a staging ground for attacks targeting Pakistan – an accusation the Afghan Taliban government consistently denies.

According to an AFP tally, approximately 290 individuals, predominantly security personnel, have been killed in attacks by various armed groups fighting the government across both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces since the beginning of this year.

With inputs from AFP