7 killed by suicide attacks in Peshawar and Pakistan’s tribal belt
Seven people were killed in a string of suicide attacks in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, two days after a deadly suicide bombing on the main thoroughfare of Lahore.
Seven people were killed by a string of suicide attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday, prompting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to go into a huddle to forge a strategy to counter the sudden spike in violence.
The latest terror attacks – which targeted a judges’ vehicle in Peshawar and a government office in the troubled Mohmand tribal region – came two days after a suicide bombing in the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore killed 13 people and injured dozens.
Observers said there were fears of a fresh wave of attacks across the country as the government plans to crack down on terrorist groups.
In Peshawar, two people were killed and 18 others injured when a bomber rammed his motorcycle into a van carrying several judges in Hayatabad area. The van’s driver was killed while civil judge Asif Jadoon and three women judges were among the injured, police said.
Police official Sajjad Khan told the media that the target of the attack was the van carrying the judges. The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.
In another incident, five people, including three paramilitary personnel, were killed in a suicide attack in Ghalanai area of Mohmand tribal region. Eight others were injured as two suicide bombers tried to storm a government compound.
One of the attackers blew himself up outside the entrance while the other was shot dead. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the TTP, claimed the attack.
Later, another suicide bomber blew himself up when security forces surrounded him during a search operation in the area.
The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar also claimed Monday’s attack in Lahore. The group last week said it would unleash a wave of assaults on government installations.
Soon after Wednesday’s attacks, Prime Minister Sharif met the army chief to discuss the situation. Gen Bajwa visited Lahore after Monday’s attack and said the planners and financiers of such assaults would be “hunted across the country”.