Blast near checkpost injures five FC personnel in South Waziristan

PESHAWAR: At least five Frontier Corps personnel were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near a security checkpost in South Waziristan tribal agency's Wana area on Wednesday.

A security forces' vehicle was on routine patrol when the IED, planted along the roadside, exploded wounding five FC personnel, according to security sources.

The injured were shifted to agency headquarters hospital in Wana.

Read: Girls' wing of new government school blown up in South Waziristan

Meanwhile security forces initiated a search and strike operation in the area.

The attack took place while Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif is visiting front lines in North Waziristan tribal agency's Shawal tehsil, according to a tweet by Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt -Gen Asim Bajwa.

The army chief is meeting troops who are stationed in the area and participating in Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

A similar IED explosion on Tuesday had injured seven Frontier Corps (FC) personnel in South Waziristan's tehsil Tayarza.

North and South Waziristan are two of seven semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border which have for years been a hideout for militants of all stripes, including Al Qaeda and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well as foreign fighters such as Uzbeks and Uighurs.

A long-awaited push to clear insurgent bases from North Waziristan was initiated in June 2014 following a bloody Taliban attack on Karachi airport finally sank faltering peace talks.