<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>A suicide bomber killed four people when he detonated a car bomb at a police checkpoint in a marketplace in northwest Pakistan today, officials said.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Pakistan is grappling with an uptick in militancy since the Taliban returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan, although the latest attack has not yet been claimed by any group.</div><div><br></div><div>Local police official Rasool Daraz told AFP two soldiers, a policeman and a civilian were killed when the bomber blew himself up in Liaqat Bazar of the Datta Khel sub-division of North Waziristan.</div><div><br></div><div>"The bomber blew up his vehicle while he was being searched at the check post," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>"It seems the bomber wanted to reach another destination but blew himself up after he was stopped by police for a routine search."</div><div><br></div><div>Another five people were wounded in the blast.</div><div><br></div><div>A second police official, Tariq Dawar, confirmed the incident and casualties.</div><div><br></div><div>Officials said on Tuesday six security personnel had been killed in a militant siege on a Hungarian-owned oil and gas exploration site around 70 kilometres (44 miles) northeast of today's blast.</div><div><br></div><div>The attack on Tuesday was claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, a chapter of the Afghan movement that splintered off in 2007 to focus its fight against Islamabad.</div><div><br></div><div>On Monday, officials said unidentified militants detonated explosives in two empty girls' schools in North Waziristan, destroying nine classrooms but leaving no casualties.</div><div><br></div><div>North Waziristan has historically been a hive of militancy and was the target of a long-running Pakistani military offensive and US drone strikes during the post-9/11 occupation of Afghanistan.</div><div><br></div><div>The Pakistan Taliban -- known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- is the most active group in the region and mostly focuses its attacks on security forces and foreign interests accused of exploitation.</div><div><br></div><div>Since the Taliban returned to Kabul in August 2021, Islamabad has said TTP fighters are plotting their attacks from Afghan soil. According to AFP reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>