Suspected militants kill 5, including 2 soldiers, in pair of bombings in northwest Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants killed five people on Wednesday, including two soldiers, in a pair of bomb attacks targeting security forces in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, officials said.

The first attack occurred in North Waziristan district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where two soldiers were killed, the military said.

In the second attack, a bomb exploded at a shop in a former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban in the northwestern city of Wana, killing a pro-government elder, Aslam Noor, and two others, according to local police chief Allah Wazir.

Noor, the slain elder, was known for supporting the government against the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the troops, but denied any role in the bombing that killed the three civilians.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban who often target troops across the country.