PESHAWAR: A bomb targeting a security forces' vehicle killed two and wounded as many on Warsak Road in Peshawar's Mathra Bazaar area on Friday.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar, which split from the main Pakistani Taliban in September, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“A remote controlled bomb planted on a motorbike went off as an army vehicle passed by it, killing one soldier and wounding another who later succumbed to his injuries,” a senior security official told news agency AFP.

A local police official also confirmed the incident and casualties.

SP (Rural) Shakir Bangash told Dawn that the bomb was remotely detonated as a security forces' pick-up truck passed by it. He added that four to five kilograms of explosive material was used in the blast.

Jamaatul Ahrar claims responsibility

In a telephone call to AFP, Ehsan Ullah Ehsan, spokesman of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar said the attack was revenge of one of their members who was killed in an operation by the army.

“We will continue to target the Pakistani military in the future,” he said.

Peshawar is the gateway to Pakistani tribal areas which are known to be strongholds of Taliban and Al Qaeda linked militants.

The city has seen frequent attacks by militants in recent years, with targets ranging from civilians to policemen and other law enforcement personnel.

The military has been battling extremist militant groups in the northwest and the semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004, after it entered the tribal region to search for Al Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

In June the army began a major offensive against militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal agency, a stronghold for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.