By IANS
Miranshah (Pakistan) : At least 16 soldiers were killed and 14 wounded when militants ambushed an army convoy with heavy weapons in Pakistan's tribal region here Wednesday, an army official said.
The convoy, on its way to Mada Khel from Lora Mandi, came under attack near Miranshah, the headquarters of the North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, said Maj. Gen Arshad Waheed, director general Inter Service Public Relations.
Several militants were also killed due to the retaliatory fire while some of them fled to nearby mountains, Online news agency quoted Waheed as saying.
He said the injured have been shifted to Bannu hospital, where several of them were stated to be in critical condition. It is feared that the death toll could rise.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile a flurry of rockets fired by some unknown militants rained at the camp of security forces here. However, there was no loss of life.
The latest attacks followed the death of at least 13 people Tuesday night as a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the venue of a lawyers' rally in Islamabad to be addressed by Pakistan's suspended chief justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chowdhary.
Some 45 people were injured in that explosion, which was heard over a large area in the Pakistani capital.
Violence has escalated in Pakistan, particularly in the restive North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), following last week's storming of the Lal Masjid in the Pakistani capital to flush out radical Islamists in the mosque.
A suicide bomber exploded himself Tuesday at a checkpoint of security forces in Mir Ali, a major town in North Waziristan, killing three soldiers and two civilians, according to media reports.
In another incident, unknown people blew up two security checkpoints in here early Tuesday, but there were no casualties.
Armed tribals in North Waziristan unilaterally scrapped a 10-month-long peace agreement with the government July 15 and threatened to launch guerrilla style attacks against security forces in the region to protest the Lal Masjid attack.
A countrywide security alert has been in place following the deadly attacks July 14-15 in the northwest frontier that left around 70 killed and over 130 injured.
The Pakistan government Monday decided to send more troops to NWFP and tribal areas in the wake of an alarming rise in attacks on security personnel in the region.