TANK, Feb 3: Two soldiers were killed and seven others wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his jeep into a military convoy in the Barakhel area of Tank on Saturday, police and witnesses said.

Officials said that the convoy comprising four vehicles was proceeding from Dera Ismail Khan to Tank when the bomber blew himself up, hitting his jeep against a military truck on the main highway at 12:15pm.

The dead and wounded soldiers belonged to the 45-Baloch Regiment.

Some of the critically injured soldiers were shifted to Peshawar by helicopters, said a security official.

This was the second suicide attack against security forces in the region during the last three weeks.

On January 22, a suicide bomber had blown himself up near Mirali in the North Waziristan Agency, killing five soldiers and injuring 20. Three civilians were also injured.

The number of suicide attacks in the NWFP and its adjacent tribal areas has increased since Beitullah Mehsud, a militant commander in the South Waziristan Agency, vowed to avenge the Hamzola airstrike which had left 10 suspected militants dead and eight others wounded.

On Saturday, people said a loud explosion was heard and the jeep was completely damaged. Its pieces scattered over a large area.

Security forces cordoned off the area and the Dera-Tank road remained closed to traffic for over four hours.

Police and military officials said that only a part of the bomber’s face was found at the site.

The soldiers who survived the attack were flown in helicopters to a military fort in Tank.

A senior police official Mohammad Khan told AFP: “A suspected suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into military vehicles. Two soldiers were killed and six others injured.”

The country is reeling from the impact of three suicide bombings since late last month that left 23 people dead and nearly 50 injured despite tight nationwide security for Muharram.