Suicide Blast at Protest in Pakistan’s Swat Kills 13, Including Police Officers
At least 13 people were killed and 22 others wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber struck a crowded area near a police station in. Suicide Blast — full…
At least 13 people were killed and 22 others wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber struck a crowded area near a police station in Pakistan’s Swat district, police said. The blast ripped through a civil society protest in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a region already under pressure from a growing insurgency.
Swat Deputy Inspector General of Police Fida Hussain said eight police officers were among the dead. He said the bomber tried to get into the police station at the main gate, but officers stopped him before he detonated the explosives he was carrying. Another body, believed to be the attacker, was taken to hospital.
Blast hits busy intersection
The explosion went off at a busy crossroads near the police station, turning a protest gathering into a scene of bloodshed and panic. Police said the area was crowded when the bomber struck. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The attack took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan’s northern border province, where authorities have been fighting the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan insurgency. The province has seen repeated security scares in recent years, with police and civilians both caught in the crossfire.
Security pressure rises in the northwest
The wounded were taken to hospital after the blast, while police secured the area and looked into the bombing. Initial reports from local police had given a lower toll, but officials later confirmed the higher death count and said casualties included both officers and civilians.
The attack comes as Pakistan continues to face militant violence in its northwest, a stretch of territory that borders Afghanistan and has long been vulnerable to armed groups. Sunday’s bombing hit a protest held in the open, in broad daylight, and landed in the middle of a police presence.
Authorities had not identified any group by Monday. The absence of a claim left investigators to piece together the attack from the blast site, the bomber’s movements and the casualties left behind.