Taliban bomber blows himself up inside Swat's armed forces unit, kills 11

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A Taliban suicide bomber managed to enter the restricted area of the armed forces unit and blew himself up near the troops playing volleyball, killing 11 soldiers and wounding 13 others, in the first big attack after 2013 in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, the Pakistan Army's media wing, said the attacker targeted the sports area of the unit and those killed include seven soldiers, who were critically injured in the attack. A captain of the Pakistan Army was among the dead.

Thirteen people were injured in the blast in Swat district's Kabal Tehsil. The injured persons were taken to Saidu Teaching Hospital in Mingora in Swat, it added. Citing the army officials in Swat, The News said that the soldiers were playing a volleyball match outside their base camp in Kabal on Saturday evening when a suicide bomber managed to enter the area and blew himself up near the soldiers.

The Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the paper said. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Mohammad Khurasani claimed they had sent a young suicide bomber, Siddiqullah, to carry out the suicide attack on the military camp in Swat.

The Taliban also warned of more attacks in near future. The last deadly Taliban attack in Swat Valley dates back to January 2013, when the militants struck a religious centre and killed 21 worshippers and injured 70 others.

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2013
Taliban had struck a religious centre in Swat Valley

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