DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: A pair of suicide bombers drove two explosive-filled vehicles into a security installation in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday (Mar 4), killing at least 12 civilians including seven children, police and rescue services said.
The explosion brought down the roof of a nearby mosque soon after residents had broken their Ramadan fast and the local market was teeming with shoppers, a military official said, asking not to be identified.
The official said more militants had tried to enter the military facility after the blast but the attempt was foiled by security forces. Six militants were killed in an exchange of fire, the official said.
Bannu Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Nauman said 12 people were killed and 30 wounded in the attack, adding they were all civilians who had been caught under collapsed buildings and walls. At least seven children were among those killed, a hospital list showed.
The local Rescue 1122 service said it was searching for more casualties under the debris of the collapsed buildings.
Video footage from the scene showed residents sifting through piles of bricks and clearing metal scaffolding amid the wreckage.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and said the “evil ambitions of the enemies of Pakistan will never be allowed to succeed”.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militant group have risen in recent years against Pakistani police and military in areas near the Afghan border.
Ali Amin Gandapur, the Chief Minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the border province where the explosion took place, condemned the incident and said he had sought a report from senior police officials on the blast.
