A roadside bomb killed three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers in a restive northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Monday.
The Improvised Explosive Device went off as the trio were on patrol Sunday on a motorbike in Toikhola village in South Waziristan tribal district.
"Three FC (Frontier Corps) soldiers were martyred in a bomb blast during a patrol in South Waziristan," a senior security official told AFP, adding that the bomb had been detonated remotely.
The attack came as the powerful army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the district, the military said, confirming the soldiers had died.
South Waziristan is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal areas where the army has for more than a decade been battling militants linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The areas are off-limits to journalists and it is impossible to independently verify incidents reported by the military or militant groups.
The army launched an operation in June 2014 in neighbouring North Waziristan to wipe out militant bases in the tribal areas and end an insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives since 2004.
As a result security has improved. Attacks still take place, but fewer than previously.
Soon after the blast, security forces launched search operation in the area to nab the terrorists.
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqbal Zafar Jhagra condemned the attack. He reiterated the resolve that war against terrorism will continue till elimination of all terrorists.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also expressed sorrow and grief over the martyrdom of three FC personnel.
He prayed for the elevation of the martyred and expressed sympathy with their families.The Minister paid tribute to the sacrifices of the martyred.
