The coach going from Thall to Shewa struck the landmine near the Tauda Cheena Bridge at about 5.30pm. Sources said 12 people died on the spot and two in a hospital, where the five other injured were also under treatment. They said the victims belonged to the Shewa tehsil. Meanwhile, a soldier was injured in an attack on the Datakhel Fort.

AFP adds: The blast targeting the coach happened hours after pro-Taliban militants raided a security checkpost near Mirali in a pre-dawn assault, killing two soldiers and wounding another four, the military said.

“Ten miscreants were killed in the resulting clash,” ISPR spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad told AFP.

Security officials in the region said earlier that troops responded with artillery fire after the militants attacked them with rockets.