Three soldiers martyred in bomb blast

PESHAWAR: Three Pakistani soldiers were martyred and five others injured in a roadside bomb blast in country’s northwest near the Afghan border Thursday, officials said. Soldiers were carrying out routine search operations in Makeen tehsil of South Waziristan district when the explosion took place, local officials told AFP on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bomb blast. Pakistan Army has been battling Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants in the region for years. Violence in country has declined in recent years following a series of military operations along the border with Afghanistan, but militant groups are still able to carry out deadly attacks. There have been a number of fatal assaults in recent months in the northwest, as well as in Balochistan.