Pakistan plans major military operation amid rising terror threats

A suicide attack in northwest Pakistan has killed 10 soldiers, an intelligence source told the AFP news agency, as Pakistan's premier gave his nod to the long-awaited "comprehensive military operation" against terror groups in southwestern Pakistan.

"A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near the checkpoint, after which his accomplices opened fire," an intelligence official said of the terror attack in Bannu on Tuesday.

"As of the latest updates, 10 people have been killed and seven injured in the attack," he said.

The official said that the explosion "caused significant damage" to the Mali Khel checkpoint's structure as well as to military vehicles.

The Hafiz Gul Bahadur terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan holds "Afghanistan-based" Hafiz Gul Bahadur, and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) , responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials in multiple attacks inside the country in recent months.

The TTP, separate from the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, along with BLA are designated as a terrorist group by Pakistan, Britain, and the United States.

The bombing occurred less than 24 hours after another terror attack, also in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That clash on Monday lasted hours and resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and nine TTP terrorists in the Tirah area of the province, the officer said.

BLA and other terror groups to be targeted

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a long-awaited "comprehensive military operation" against terror groups in the restive southwest, more than a week after BLA killed 26 people in a suicide bombing at a train station, officials said.

The announcement to launch the operation "against terrorist organisations" operating in Baluchistan came after a meeting of the government's security committee in Islamabad, the capital.

In a statement, Sharif's office said the BLA and other terror groups will be targeted but didn't say when the operation would begin.

The office blamed the groups for "targeting innocent civilians and foreign nationals to scuttle Pakistan's economic progress by creating insecurity at the behest of hostile external powers."