At least five security officials were killed in a bombing and a shooting incident in north-western Pakistan on Wednesday, reinforcing fears of a resurge in violence after the Taliban takeover in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Two soldiers and as many police officers were killed when their patrol vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb in the region of Bajaur near Afghan border, local police chief Samad Khan said.
Bajaur, which shares a border with Afghanistan's Kunar province, was among several strongholds of extremist militants linked to al-Qaeda before they were pushed back in a series of military offensives.
Separately, gunmen attacked a Pakistani army check post in the same region, killing one soldier, according to an army statement on Wednesday.
No group has claimed responsibility for either of the attacks, but the Pakistani Taliban has been targeting security forces in the region.
The latest attacks come after the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, a development that analysts predicted would embolden extremist militants in Pakistan.
The Pakistani Taliban has stepped up its attacks against the country's security forces in its former stronghold regions near the Afghan border since the fall of Kabul.
In September, it was launching more than one attack every day including suicide bombings and ambushes.
Pakistan's Taliban follow the same hardline ideology as its Afghan counterparts but has a different organizational setup.
More than 70,000 Pakistanis have been killed in two decades of violence orchestrated by the Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda and lately to IS.
