A suicide bomber detonated at a checkpoint in western Pakistan on Saturday, killing eight and injuring five others, according to officials.
The bomber detonated the explosives from the back of a motorcycle rickshaw near the town of Mir Ali in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a local police officer told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
In the incident near the Afghan border, four police officers were murdered, as were two members of a state paramilitary unit and two civilians, he claimed.
Since the Afghan Taliban regained power in 2021, Pakistan has seen an upsurge in violence, with Islamabad alleging hostile groups are now seeking refuge in the neighbouring country.
“Among the five injured personnel, the condition of three is critical, and they have been transferred to a local military hospital,” the police officer said.
A local government official who did not want to be named confirmed the same number of deaths and injuries. A little-known militant group called “Aswad ul-Harb” claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Pakistani Taliban assaulted another checkpoint near the Afghan border last week, killing ten policemen.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, there were more suicide strikes in Pakistan last year than any other year since 2014.
In Pakistan’s bloodiest year in a decade, 29 suicide attacks claimed the lives of 329 people.
