Two suicide bombers yesterday attacked the headquarters of a security force in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least three officers and wounding 11 others, police and rescue officials said.
The attack took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province bordering Afghanistan, when security forces were preparing for the morning parade at the sprawling facility in the heart of the city, Peshawar Police Chief Saeed Ahmad said.
He said one attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the provincial headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, while the second bomber was shot and killed by officers near the parking area.
Photo: EPA
About 150 security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place, Ahmad said.
“The terrorists involved in today’s attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area, and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he said.
Police had completed the clearance operation and authorities had collected samples of the body parts of the attackers for DNA tests, he said, adding that police were still investigating to determine the identity and nationality of the attackers without giving further details.
Asim Khan, a spokesperson at government-run Lady Reading Hospital said all 11 people wounded in the Peshawar attack were listed in stable condition.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, condemned the attack in Peshawar, with Zardari calling it a “cowardly act by foreign-backed terrorists,” and Sharif saying the swift response of security forces prevented a larger tragedy.
They offered condolences to the families of the victims.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has been blamed for similar previous assaults in the nation, which has witnessed a surge in militant attacks. The TTP is separate from, but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.
The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.
The attacks have strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistani Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
The Pakistani government often accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by militants.
Kabul denies the allegation, but tensions between the two sides escalated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for Oct. 9 drone strikes in Kabul and vowed retaliation. The ensuing fighting killed dozens of people, including soldiers, civilians and militants, before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which remains in place.
It was followed by two rounds of talks in Istanbul, during which the two sides failed to reach an agreement after Afghanistan refused to give guarantees in writing about preventing the TTP from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan.
Pakistan has stepped up operations against the TTP, killing dozens of insurgents near regions bordering Afghanistan.
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