Islamabad, Sept 27. (dpa/GNA) – At least 13 people were killed in a blast near a security post in north-western Pakistan, amid a surge in violence, officials said on Saturday.
The incident took place in the Darazinda area of the Dera Ismail Khan district of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
More than 30 people were also wounded. “At least 11 people including two women were killed in the powerful blast,” Kaleem Ullah, a local police official, said initially.
Later Bilal Faizi, spokesman for the provincial rescue department, told dpa that the terrorists attacked a vehicle transporting the injured, killing at least two rescue officials. Another was wounded in the attack, Faizi said. He said the initial findings suggested that it was a suicide attack that targeted a police check post. The number of dead is feared in increase, he said.
Earlier this month, around 30 people were killed in two different attacks in Kohat and Hangu district of the province bordering Afghanistan.
The Islamist coalition Ittihad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (United Warriors of Pakistan, IMP), which has links to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack in Kohat.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban in Afghanistan of harbouring terrorists, who carry out attacks in Pakistan. Kabul rejects the accusations.
Pakistan has carried out airstrikes in neighbouring Afghanistan, targeting military installations in the border regions.
On Thursday, Islamabad responded to drone attacks by the Taliban government with fresh airstrikes. The tensions between the two neighbouring countries broke out into open conflict about a year ago.
GNA