A would-be suicide bomber and three of his accomplices were killed when their explosives- laden vehicle accidentally blew up in Pakistan's restive tribal region, officials said on Wednesday.
The explosives-laden pick-up truck blew up in Baizot area of Orakzai Agency bordering Afghanistan late last night.
The vehicle was destroyed and the blast was heard from several kilometres away, the officials said. Witnesses said they had seen three vehicles escorting the truck that blew up.
These vehicles were also damaged, they said.
In a separate development, two compounds of militant commanders were destroyed today during air strikes by gunship helicopters in Akhurwal area of Darra Adam Khel, located 35 km south of Peshawar.
Security forces in Swat also found the bodies of three militants who were killed in a shootout.
Meanwhile, the government today asked elders of the Mehsud tribe – to which Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud belongs – to hand over 378 wanted men to political authorities in South Waziristan Agency.