MIRANSHAH, Aug 4: An army officer, a Hawaldar and three soldiers were killed and two others seriously wounded in a roadside bomb blast in the Ghalnamai area of North Waziristan Agency on Thursday, sources said. Officials said that a military convoy was going to Lawara Mandai from a base camp in the Datakhel area. One of the vehicles was hit by an improvised explosive device in Ghalnamai, 40km west of Miranshah, the agency’s headquarters, killing and injuring the security personnel.

The wounded soldiers and the bodies of the dead army personnel were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Bannu. The Inter Services Public Relations has confirmed the explosion and five casualties. Authorities believe that the explosive device had been planted by militants.

Officials estimate that around 80 foreign militants are hiding in the restive tribal region. A military source said that more troops backed by long range cannons and heavy weapons were on way to the troubled agency and helicopters provided air cover to the columns.

Corps Commander Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain told a tribal jirga on Tuesday that Waziristan Agency was being used by the militants for attacks against the US-led forces operating in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, an unidentified man was killed in a blast on the Ghulam Khan road, 10 kilometres north of here, on Wednesday night. Officials said that the man was planting a remote control device on the road when it exploded and killed him on the spot.

The loud explosion rocked the area and created fear among the residents. The security forces and political authorities rushed to the site and cordoned off the area. They took the body into custody and started investigations to establish the identity of the deceased.

Sources said that at least 200 trained militants had infiltrated into the agency from the neighbouring Khost province of Afghanistan with designs to create a law and order situation in the Pakistani area.