PESHAWAR: Four security personnel were killed in a bombing at a checkpost in the North Waziristan tribal region on Thursday, DawnNews quoted government sources as saying.

Sources said the blast, said to have been a suicide bombing, took place after security personnel directed a suspicious looking vehicle to stop at the Boya checkpost in the tribal region’s Dattakhel tehsil.

Upon the vehicle’s failure to stop, security personnel fired shots at the car, following which the bomber inside the explosives-laden vehicle blew himself up.

Following the blast, the checkpost caught fire. Moreover, security personnel cordoned off the area and started an investigation.

North Waziristan is one of seven regions in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) governed by tribal laws. An extremist insurgency led by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) plagues the region and the area is known to be infested with militants, including those from Al Qaeda and other armed extremist organisations.

The region also comes under attacks from US drones frequently which target militant hideouts in the area.

The region is chiefly off-limits to reporters because of security worries and government restrictions due to which reliable casualty figures are difficult to acquire from there.