A bomb killed at least two soldiers in the north-western tribal district where the army is carrying out a major offensive against Taliban militants, officials said. The incident occurred on Thursday evening near the border with Afghanistan just north-west of Miranshah - the main town of North Waziristan tribal region - a statement from the military said.
"Two soldiers embraced shahadat Thursday evening in an improvised explosive device blast in the Ghulam Khan area," the statement said, issued late Thursday. Ghulam Khan is 20 kilometres (12 miles) north-west of Miranshah. Elsewhere, two gunmen riding a motorbike on Friday opened fire on two police men on security duty on the outskirts of Quetta, killing both of them, police said. "One of the policemen died on the spot while the second succumbed to injuries in hospital," a local senior police official Imran Qureshi told AFP.
According to five witnesses AFP spoke to about one air strike on June 16, 37 civilians including 20 women and 10 children were killed - contradicting the military's claim of "35 terrorist" deaths in the action. In addition, more than 800,000 people have been forced to flee from North Waziristan by the assault, with most ending up in the nearby town of Bannu where they either live in government-run camps or pay high rents for private accommodation.