| Army soldiers arrive at a street after suicide bombers attacked a Christian neighbourhood in Khyber Agency near Peshawar, Pakistan, September 2, 2016. REUTERS photo |
Two bombs killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens outside a court complex in northwest Pakistan, a rescue official said, hours after militants from a Pakistani Taliban faction attacked a Christian neighborhood in the same region.
The bodies of lawyers, policemen and civilians were recovered from the blast site, said Haris Habib, chief rescue officer in the city of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“First there was a small blast followed by a big blast,” Habib told Reuters.
More than 20 people were killed in an attack in December on a government office in Mardan, which was later claimed by Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.
No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for Friday’s court attack, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the bombing would “not shatter our unflinching resolve in our war against terrorism”.
“These receding elements are showing frustration by attacking our soft targets. They shall not get space to hide in Pakistan,” Sharif said in a statement.
Security in Pakistan has improved in recent years but Islamist groups continue to stage major attacks.
More than 70 people, mostly lawyers, were killed last month in a suicide bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta. Both Jamaat-ur-Ahrar and Islamic State claimed responsibility.