A bomb-laden motorcycle exploded near the gate of a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least two people, including a child, and injuring several others, police said. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint, UNN reports with reference to AP.
Details
The first attack occurred in Bannu, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police officer Fida Mohammad said.
He said the dead and injured were taken to a nearby hospital but provided no further details. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
Hours later, according to local police officer Zafar Khan, a bomb-laden vehicle driven by a suicide bomber accompanied by a group of militants exploded as it approached a checkpoint in the northwestern Bajaur district. He stated that troops returned fire, killing at least eight Kharijites — as members of the banned organization "Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan" (TTP) are called in Pakistan.
Militants kill five police officers in northwest Pakistan11.02.26, 19:58
According to Khan, a girl died when the roof of a nearby house collapsed due to the explosion. Police said rescuers were still clearing the rubble of the security post to rescue anyone trapped underneath.
Khan also reported that three police officers were injured when part of the checkpoint collapsed. He provided no further details.
Addendum
Pakistan has seen a surge in violence in recent years, with the government often blaming the banned TTP. This group is separate from the Afghan Taliban but closely linked to them since they returned to power in 2021. The increasing number of attacks has strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul, as Pakistan accuses the TTP of operating freely in Afghanistan, which both the TTP and Kabul deny.