A suicide bomber killed at least 11 soldiers and injured 13 at an army camp in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, the military said.

An officer was among those who died in the bombing, which was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban in an email to journalists.

The attacker targeted an army unit's sports area in the Kabal area of the Swat Valley, the military's media wing said in a statement.

Violence in Pakistan has declined in recent years following a series of military offensives along the northwestern border with Afghanistan, but militant groups are still able to carry out bloody attacks.

There have been a number of deadly assaults in recent months in the northwest as well as in the southwestern Balochistan province.

The Swat Valley was under the de facto control of the Pakistani Taliban in 2007-2009. They imposed their harsh brand of Islamic law, and carried out public floggings and executions until a military operation drove them out.

The area has seen sporadic militant attacks since, including assassinations of local leaders who cooperate with the government.</s>Pakistan Army statement said that suicide attack took place at army unit sports area in Swat Valley</s>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 northwestern Swat Valley. The Inter-Services Public Relations, the Pakistan Army’s media wing, said the attacker yesterday targetted the sports area of the armed forces’ 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 that the soldiers were playing a volleyball match outside their base camp in Kabal last evening when a young suicide bomber managed to enter the restricted 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 forces have cordoned off the area and started a search operation. The Taliban also warned more attacks in near future. The last deadly Taliban attack in Swat Valley dates back to January 2013, when the militants struck a religious center and killed 21 worshippers and injured 70 others.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi strongly condemned the attack, saying the coward terrorist enemy is no match for the valiant sons of the soil.

“No cowardly attack can deter us in pursuing our struggle against the menace of terrorism to its logical conclusion. We will continue our fight till the last trace is rooted out,” the prime minister said.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan also condemned the attack. The picturesque Swat valley has witnessed several attacks and was briefly controlled by Taliban between 2007 and 2009 until a massive military operation routed them from the area.

At least two militants were killed during a search operation in December last year. In October, one person was killed and two others injured when a remote-controlled bomb went off in Malam Jabba area.

For all the latest Pakistan News, download Indian Express App</s>At least 11 security officials were martyred when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a Pakistan Army camp in Kabal area of Swat on Saturday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Thirteen other soldiers were injured in the bombing that was carried out at the sports area of an army unit, the military's media wing said in a statement.

What we know so far
• None At least 11 soldiers, including an officer, lost their lives in the attack
• None The attack was a suicide bombing, says ISPR
• None The suicide bomber targeted recreational area of an army unit in Swat
• None 13 officials were injured in the attack

The attack was claimed by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in an email to journalists, AFP reported.

ISPR had earlier said three soldiers were martyred in the attack. The death toll rose after seven critically injured soldiers succumbed to their injuries. An officer is among those martyred in the attack, ISPR said.

Initial reports suggested that the bomber blew himself up in a ground where soldiers were playing volleyball.

According to some sources, as many as 16 people were injured in the blast. All the injured were shifted to Combined Military Hospital Saidu Sharif.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and are searching for possible accomplices of the bomber.

The picturesque Swat Valley was under the de facto control of TTP in 2007-2009. They imposed their harsh brand of sharia law, and carried out public floggings and executions until a military operation drove them out.

The area has seen sporadic militant attacks since, including assassinations of local leaders who cooperate with the government. Today's bombing is the first major attack in over three years in the valley.

Although peace had returned to Swat after the 2009 army operation, security has been a primary concern in the region. Police and armed forces personnel jointly man several checkpoints. There are approximately 6,000 policemen in Swat and most of them are deployed on checkpoints.

A few days ago, Swat police claimed to have arrested two militants, in the same area, allegedly involved in anti-state activities during spillover of militancy to the Swat valley.

According to Kabal police, following a tipoff, they along with the CTD police raided a house in Kabal where they found a wanted militant, Siraj Khan, and arrested him. In the meantime, the CTD police carried out another raid at Shawar area in Matta tehsil and arrested a militant commander, Mohammad Ali Shah, who was allegedly involved in attacks on security forces.</s>PESHAWAR: The death toll in a suicide bombing at an army camp in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday has risen to 11, the military said.

An officer was among those who died in the bombing, which left 13 injured and was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban in an email to journalists.

The attacker targeted an army unit’s sports area in the Kabal area of the Swat Valley, the military’s media wing said in a statement.

A security official who asked not to be identified said the suicide bomber blew himself up as soldiers were playing a volleyball match that was being watched by a number of local civilians.</s>At least 11 Pakistan Army officers and soldiers were killed and 13 others injured in a suicide blast inside an army unit in Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, defence officials said. The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that the attack happened in a sports area of the unit in Kabal town of Swat. The death toll may further increase as several injured were in a critical condition, health officials said. The attack happened when soldiers were playing volleyball. The injured soldiers have been shifted to Kabal hospital.

Outlawed militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed the attack, according to the media reports. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has strongly condemned the suicide attack, the Prime Minister’s office said. Abbasi said that no cowardly attack can deter Pakistan from pursuing struggle against the menace of terrorism to its logical conclusion. “We will continue our fight till the last trace is rooted out,” he said in a statement. Pakistani security forces had cleared Swat valley in a major operation in 2009. Earlier the Pakistani Taliban militants had a strong influence in most parts of Swat.

On November 24, last year, At least three persons were killed and five injured on Friday in a suicide attack that targeted the vehicle of a senior police official in Pakistan’s Peshawar city. On November 9, another senior police official, Deputy Inspector General (Transport and Telecommunications) Hamid Shakeel of Quetta, was killed in a similar attack while on his morning commute to work. Six days later, Superintendent of Police Muhammad Ilyas was shot dead, along with his wife, son and brother, in Quetta. Pakistan launched an operation in the tribal areas in June 2014, in which 3,500 alleged militants have been killed, according to the Army’s data, which has not been independently verified. Violence in the country has come down drastically since the campaign began.</s>Islamabad: At least 11 Pakistan Army officers and soldiers were killed and 13 others injured in a suicide blast inside an army unit in Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, defence officials said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that the attack happened in a sports area of the unit in Kabal town of Swat.

The death toll may further increase as several injured were in a critical condition, health officials said.

The attack happened when soldiers were playing volleyball.

The injured soldiers have been shifted to Kabal hospital.

Outlawed militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed the attack, according to the media reports.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has strongly condemned the suicide attack, the Prime Minister's office said.

Abbasi said that no cowardly attack can deter Pakistan in pursuing struggle against the menace of terrorism to its logical conclusion. "We will continue our fight till the last trace is rooted out," he said in a statement.

Pakistani security forces had cleared Swat valley in a major operation in 2009. Earlier the Pakistani Taliban militants had strong influence in most parts of Swat.</s>MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's army says a suicide attack on a military unit has killed three soldiers and wounded seven in Swat Valley, in the Kabal area.

A military statement says the suicide bomber detonated his explosives' vest near an empty lot used by the soldiers for sports and exercise on Saturday.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and are searching for possible accomplices of the bomber.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamic militants ruled the picturesque Swat Valley from 2007 until a massive military operation routed them from the area in 2009. The operation involved evacuating 2 million people from the valley. They were able later to return to their homes.

Saturday's attack was the first in over three years in the valley.</s>At least 11 soldiers were killed and 13 wounded on Saturday after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near an Army base in northern Pakistan’s Swat Valley, the media wing of the country’s military, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed resposibility for the attack. “God willing Tehreek-e-Taliban has started the process of revenge attack,” the group’s spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani said, according to Reuters. “Wait for more [such attacks] to follow.”

The bomb exploded on Saturday evening when the soldiers were playing volleyball after duty in the unit’s sports area. The authorities had imposed a curfew in the area after the local roads were cordoned off.

The region was controlled by a local faction of the Taliban between 2007 and 2009. However, more than 2,000 Taliban insurgents had been ousted in 2009 in a military operation.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi condemnded the attack and said the country will continue their fight against terrorism till the “last trace is rooted out”. “No cowardly attack can deter us in pursuing our struggle against the menace of terrorism to its logical conclusion,” he said.</s>At least 11 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in a suicide bomb attack at an army base in the Swat Valley.

The Pakistani Army issued a statement saying a single attacker blew himself up on February 3 at an "army sports area" where soldiers were playing volleyball as civilians watched.

One officer was reportedly among the killed.

The attack was claimed by the Tehrik-e Taliban, which called it "a revenge attack."

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called the incident "a cowardly attack" and pledged to root out "the last trace" of terrorism in Pakistan.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
A suicide bombing, revindicated in an email to journalists by the Pakistani Taliban, kills at least 11 soldiers and injures 13 at an army unit camp's sports area in the Kabal area of the Swat Valley, in Northwestern Pakistan, according to Pakistan Army figures.