Islamabad, Oct 31 (DPA) At least seven soldiers were killed and about a dozen injured Saturday when a bomb exploded near a troop vehicle in Pakistan’s restive tribal region near the Afghan border, an official said.
The vehicle was carrying supplies for the paramilitary troops when a remote-controlled roadside bomb was detonated in Khyber district.

“Seven security personnel died and 11 were injured in the attack,” said the region’s top civil administrator Shafirullah Khan.

Following the blast the paramilitary Frontier Corps pounded several hideouts of Islamist insurgents in the region with artillery, Khan added.

Pakistani forces in September launched an offensive against Taliban-linked militants in Khyber, which lies on the main supply route for Western troops into landlocked Afghanistan.

The rebels have carried out dozens of attacks on NATO convoys, disrupting the supplies several times.

The militants based in Khyber district are also believed to be behind suicide attacks on government and civilian targets in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province.