Islamabad: At least 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed and more than two dozen people injured, including civilians on Saturday in a suicide attack by Pakistan’s Taliban, government officials and police told AFP news agency. 

“A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy,” said a local government official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan. He said 16 soldiers were killed, up from the earlier reported toll of 13.  

“The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children,” a police officer posted in the district said.

The attack was claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban. 

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghani­stan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban denies. Around 290 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochi­stan, according to an AFP tally.