PESHAWAR, July 24: A security man was killed on Sunday as troops foiled an attempt by a suicide bomber to attack a military checkpoint in South Waziristan near the Afghan border.

According to a local official, Saifur Rehman, the attacker was shot outside the Chag Malai post.

“The bomber, who was on foot, was wearing an explosives-laden vest. A guard shot him and he exploded. One soldier was martyred due to splinters.”

Other officials said some security personnel had been injured in the attack that took place near Model Market.

Security forces launched an operation in South Waziristan in October 2009 and have repatriated more than 4,000 of some 41,000 families from the Mehsud tribe who left the region to escape the violence.

The attack took place in an area where people have been repatriated, and follows warnings from the Taliban telling families not to return.—AFP/AP