Eight dead, five injured in suicide bomb attack in western Pakistan

Authorities said a suicide bomber detonated at a checkpoint in the western part of the country, killing eight people and wounding five others.

A bomber caused an explosion from the back of a motorcycle rickshaw near the town of Mir Ali in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, a local police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He added that the attack near the border with Afghanistan killed four police officers, two members of state paramilitary forces and two civilians.

Pakistan has seen an increase in militancy since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021, and Islamabad says hostile groups are now using the neighboring country as a haven.

“Of the five injured workers, three are in a critical condition and have been taken to a local military hospital,” a police official said.

The same number of dead and injured was also confirmed by a local government official who also did not want to remain anonymous.

A little-known group calling itself “Aswad ul-Harb” claimed responsibility for the attack.

This week, the Pakistani Taliban attacked another checkpoint near the border with Afghanistan, killing 10 police officers.

The country saw more suicide attacks last year than in any year since 2014, according to the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies.

In Pakistan’s deadliest year in a decade, 29 suicide attacks were recorded, killing 329 people. —AFP