2ND LD: 16 troops killed, 14 injured in attack on convoy in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, July 18 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING INFO)

At least 16 security personnel were killed and 14 others wounded in an attack on a military convoy in Pakistan's tribal belt near the Afghan border on Wednesday, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

Maj. Gen. Wahid Arshad said armed tribesmen attacked the military convoy in Madhakhel in North Waziristan tribal area, about 240 kilometers northwest of Islamabad.

Arshad said the attackers also suffered casualties in exchanges of fire but details are unknown.

According to reports from the area, the military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb after which armed tribesmen attacked it.

On Sunday, local tribesmen scrapped a peace agreement with the government on the ground that the deployment of troops constitutes a violation of the agreement.

The Pakistan Army has been deployed in the tribal area after security forces stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque compound where militant Islamists had barricaded themselves inside earlier this month.

Troops have been deployed apparently to launch an operation against local tribesmen and Taliban militants from Afghanistan who are taking shelter there.

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