9 Pakistani soldiers killed in suicide attack

Nine soldiers were killed in a restive western region of Pakistan on Thursday after a suicide bomber rammed his motorbike into their military convoy and detonated, the army and officials said, Report informs, citing NDTV.

Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in militancy since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan two years ago, with attacks spiking along border regions.

A "motorcycle-borne suicide bomber exploded himself" in Pakistan's Bannu district, 61 kilometers (38 miles) from the border, the army's media wing said.

"The suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and he rammed his bike into a truck in a military convoy," provincial minister Feroze Jamal Shah told AFP.

Pakistan's army said a further five soldiers were injured in the attack near the town of Jani Khel, however, Shah put the figure at 20.