Islamabad - A roadside bomb targeted a convoy carrying
paramilitary troops in south-western Pakistan on Monday, killing six
soldiers and wounding several others, officials said.
The attack in Harnoi district in the province of Balochistan occurred
as the nation celebrated the 70th anniversary of the 1947 end of
British colonial rule on the Indian subcontinent.
Two soldiers with injuries were transferred to a hospital in Quetta,
the provincial capital, said Khan Wasseh, spokesman for paramilitary
Frontier Constabulary force.
"It was a powerful bomb and one vehicle was totally destroyed,"
Wasseh told dpa by phone from Quetta.
It was the second attack targeting security forces in the region in
three days after a roadside bomb in Quetta killed eight soldiers and
seven civilians on Saturday.
Balochistan, which shares border with both Afghanistan and Iran, is
Pakistan's largest and most volatile province.
It faces a multifaceted threat from jihadists like the Taliban, Sunni
sectarian groups targeting Shiite Muslims and nationalist insurgents
seeking liberation of their province from mainland Pakistan.