Taliban suicide bombers kill five in NW Pakistan

Five people were killed Wednesday when two suicide bombers attacked a government compound in Pakistan’s restive tribal region, officials said, with the Taliban claiming the assault as the latest in a fresh offensive.

At least seven others were wounded in the early-morning attack in Mohmand tribal agency in Pakistan’s northwest.

“One attacker came by foot and started firing at forces while the other was on a motorbike and rammed into the main gate of the complex,” Hamidullah Khattak, a local administration official in Mohmand, told AFP.

The one on foot was shot dead while the second blew himself up, he said, but not before they managed to kill three tribal police and two civilians. The military confirmed the toll.

Wednesday’s attack came two days after a deadly bombing rocked the Punjab provincial capital Lahore, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens more.

The Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed both attacks. Last week the group vowed a fresh wave of assaults on government installations and a spokesman told AFP Wednesday the attacks would continue.

In 2014 the military launched a crackdown in the semi-autonomous tribal regions, where militants had previously operated with impunity, leading to a dramatic improvement in security in Pakistan over the last two years.

But homegrown groups like the umbrella Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban, can still carry out spectacular assaults.

© Agence France-Presse