At least six soldiers were killed Friday in a suicide attack in Pakistan's tribal region where senior al-Qaeda operative Abu Laith al-Libi was killed four days before, officials said. A suicide bomber rammed a truck packed with explosives into a security checkpost in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district, Army's chief spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. He said five paramilitary soldiers died and eight were injured in the suicide attack. "There are also reports of some civilian casualties which we are not yet ascertained," Abbas said. But a local security official said that six soldiers were killed and more than 15 were wounded in the incident. The local official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the attack was possibly carried out by al-Qaeda terrorists to avenge the assassination of their one dozen comrades in a pre-dawn missile attack at a house in few kilometres from the scene of the suicide bombing. Among them was al-Qaeda leader Abu Laith al-Libi. "Local militants have announced a ceasefire till February 10 and they are also currently holding talks with the government for a new peace deal in North Waziristan," he added. Some media reports suggested the target of the missile strike was also another top al-Qaeda operative, Abu Obaidah al-Masri. Libi's death was announced Thursday on an al-Qaeda-affiliated site, al-Ekhaas, while an American official said the terrorist died when a missile fired by a US predator drone hit a house in Pakistan's tribal area.
