At least seven people were killed in twin roadside blasts in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said Saturday.
“A private pickup truck carrying passengers was targeted with a remote-controlled IED (improvised explosive device),” said Yasir Afridi, a police officer in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
“…the injured were being taken to the hospital in a car for emergency treatment when the second IED exploded,” he said.
According to Afridi, five people were killed in the first blast and two in the second blast. He said that three people were also injured.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, although suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which has been linked to similar attacks in the past.
Pakistani PM Sharif says government is ‘committed to ending terrorism’
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bombings and expressed grief over the number of casualties.
He said the government was committed to “eliminating terrorism” and “bringing those responsible to justice.”
In a post on Twitter, President Asif Ali Zardari “expressed deep sorrow over the loss of innocent civilian lives,” according to his office.
Without naming any group, they also “issued a clear warning to internal and external operators of terrorism who are providing safe haven, military support and financial assistance to terrorist networks,” according to the statement.
Cross border hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan
In recent years, Pakistan has seen an increase in terrorist violence, much of which is claimed by the TTP.
The group is separate from, but affiliated with, Afghanistan’s Taliban, which took back control of Kabul in 2021.
Pakistani officials say Afghan territory is being used as a haven for TTP militants, a charge the Taliban government has repeatedly denied.
The dispute has heightened tensions between the neighbours, which have escalated into armed clashes in recent months.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
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