At least three people have been killed and 22 others injured in a suicide attack in northwestern Pakistan, officials told RFE/RL.
The attack on February 11 was carried out in the Mirali subdivision of the North Waziristan tribal district on security forces that were escorting a local petroleum company convoy, district officials said.
Officials told Radio Mashaal that the suicide bomber drove his vehicle into the convoy at the Kajori security checkpoint.
Officials added the three dead had not yet been identified and that the 22 injured included 15 workers of Mari Petroleum Company and seven security force members.
The Pakistani Taliban -- also known as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- claimed responsibility for the attack.
Nine suicide attacks were carried out in North Waziristan in 2022 that killed several Pakistani security forces.
North Waziristan was once the stronghold of the TTP. However, the Pakistani military conducted a massive operation in mid-2014 to expel the militants.
Locals say TTP militants have begun to return to the area, sparking large-scale protests against the attacks and insecurity in several tribal districts.
The TTP ended its monthslong cease-fire with Islamabad in late November, following more than a year of inconclusive peace talks.
In November 2022, Noor Wali Mehsud, the TTP leader, claimed that promises made during the negotiations had not been fulfilled, and he called on militants to resume attacks.
Mehsud, along with other TTP commanders, has reportedly taken refuge across the border in Afghanistan, igniting protests by authorities in Islamabad against Kabul's Taliban rulers.
Since November 28, militants have launched a wave of deadly attacks targeting Pakistani security personnel.
In 2022, more than 60 local leaders, politicians, youths, religious scholars, and security soldiers were killed in 47 targeted attacks in North Waziristan.
The Pakistani government blamed the TTP for at least 250 attacks that killed more than 400 people throughout the country in a one-year period between August 2021 and August 2022.