Suicide Bomber Kills 12 in NW Pakistan
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan Wednesday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 15 others.
Local authorities said the attack took place in the town of Swabi, about 70 kilometers northwest of the capital, Islamabad.
The blast came just minutes after a hardline politician, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, was passing through the area. Police believe that Rehman, the leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, was the bomber’s target. He was due to address a public gathering nearby and was not harmed.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad condemned Wednesday’s attack, saying violent extremists have shown “they will attack anyone, regardless of religion, ethnicity or ideology, to terrorize the nation.”
Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants launch almost daily attacks across northwest Pakistan and the tribal areas, which Washington has branded the most dangerous place on Earth.