PESHAWAR At least 16 people including two personnel of the security forces were killed and 23 others got injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a security check-post in Khar Bazaar of Bajaur Agency on Thursday. Sources informed that the suicide bomber detonated his explosives when he approached the security check-post. The deceased included two personnel of the Bajaur Levies. Soon after the explosion, the local people rushed towards the blast site and retrieved the dead and the injured from the site. The injured were shifted to Agency Headquarter Hospital. A large number of Bajaur Levies and contingent of security forces also rushed towards the blast site. They cordoned off the area and collected evidence from the site. The security forces closed Khar Bazaar and launched search operation in the area. It is worth mentioning here that it was the first major attack during the last two moths, as most of the militants have fled the area due to military operation. Agencies add: A man wearing a vest packed with explosives walked up to the post in Khar, the main town in the restive tribal region of Bajaur, and detonated himself, senior administration official Iqbal Khattak told AFP. The death toll has gone up to 16 including two paramilitary soldiers, he said. Another 23 people were wounded, with six in a critical condition, he added. The injured include one security official, Khattak said. A senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the blast and military casualties. The bomber was making his way to nearby government buildings and military barracks when he was stopped by soldiers, the official said. Khattak later explained the soldiers were conducting a body search when the attacker blew himself up. The checkpoint is in the towns main bazaar, which was shut after the blast. Three vehicles and four shops were destroyed in the bombing, Khattak said. It looks like a suicide attack, said Fazl-e-Rabi, a police official in the region, adding at least seven of the dead were passersby. I suspect the number of dead might go up as many of the wounded are in critical condition, he told Reuters. The suicide attack came a day after security forces killed 24 suspected militants in air strikes and clashes on Friday in the district plagued by Taliban insurgents. One paramilitary soldier was also killed and three wounded in Fridays clash in the town of Chinar in the district of Bajaur. Jets and helicopter gunships have been pounding suspected militant hideouts since Tuesday, as the military steps up operations in mountainous Bajaur, the scene of a major anti-militant operation launched in August 2008.