Militant attack on I-Day parade in Pak, 3 killed

Islamabad: Suspected Taliban militants attacked an Independence Day parade at an army camp in North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan on Sunday, killing three soldiers and injuring 22 more.

The attack was carried out in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency.

Four rockets hit the Scouts Fort while security personnel were holding an Independence Day parade, security officials said.

The rockets landed in the parade ground and three soldiers were killed instantly.

Troops took the bodies and injured to a nearby medical facility and continued the parade.

In a separate incident, two rockets were fired at a military base at Razmak, a key town in North Waziristan.

There were no reports of casualties in the second attack.

Security forces returned fire after the two attacks and shelled positions from where the rockets had been fired.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

A powerful Taliban group in North Waziristan, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, had struck a peace deal with the security forces in 2007.

Both sides have stuck to the agreement.

Gul Bahadur's group usually denies involvement in such attacks.

Local residents said several breakaway groups of militants are active in the area, including hardcore fighters from Punjab province known as the Punjabi Taliban.

Militants of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mehsud too have arrived in the area after security forces flushed them out of South Waziristan.

The US considers North Waziristan the main base for al Qaeda elements, Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, which has been blamed for cross-border attacks on American and foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan is under growing pressure from the US to launch a major military operation against militants in North Waziristan.