PESHAWAR, Pakistan—Two explosions Monday at a counterterrorism police facility in northwest Pakistan killed at the very least 12 individuals and wounded at the very least 50, police mentioned.
Senior police officer Ataullah Khan mentioned an preliminary blast on the facility within the Swat Valley district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was adopted by a bigger, extra intense one.
Related Press pictures from the blast scene confirmed destroyed vehicles and downed bushes, and at an area hospital bloodied victims being carried inside on stretchers.
Nobody instantly claimed duty for the assault however the Pakistani Taliban have claimed related assaults since ending a cease-fire with the federal government final yr.
The explosions got here hours after police mentioned a counterterror operation within the province’s Lakki Marwat district came about by which three militants and one police officer had been killed. It was not instantly clear if the assaults had been associated.
Khan mentioned a part of the counterterrorism police constructing collapsed and rescue staff retrieved the our bodies of useless and wounded. He mentioned the dying toll might improve.
The police advanced additionally homes the Kabal metropolis police station and the headquarters of a reserve police drive however the primary harm was executed on the counterterrorism division constructing, Khan mentioned.
The picturesque Swat Valley was as soon as the stronghold of Islamic militants who imposed strict Sharia, or Islamic, rule within the area. The military carried out a large operation there in 2007 that flushed out the militants and restored normalcy.
The Pakistani Taliban, formally often known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is a separate group from Afghan Taliban however linked to them.
The TTP has been emboldened for the reason that Afghan Taliban seized energy in Afghanistan in 2021 when U.S. and NATO troops had been leaving the nation after 20 years of warfare. A lot of its leaders and fighters have discovered sanctuaries in Afghanistan for the reason that Taliban takeover there.
By Riaz Khan