A suicide car bomber rammed a paramilitary checkpoint killing four people in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region today, the latest attack in a wave of violence sweeping the country in recent weeks.
"Four people including a paramilitary soldier and three civilians have been killed," a security official told Reuters. Six people, including three civilians, were wounded, he added.
A spokesman for pro-Taliban militants, Abdul Hayee Ghazi, said: "One of our comrades carried out this suicide bombing as others did in the last few days. We will not stop such attacks."
A wave of bomb attacks has swept Pakistan, killing more than 180 people, since the army's siege and assault earlier this month on the Lal Masjid or Red Mosque complex, a militant stronghold in the capital, Islamabad.
While militants are believed to be avenging the mosque assault, pro-Taliban fighters have abandoned a peace pact in North Waziristan, adding to concern over a deteriorating security situation in the volatile northwest.