Suicide bombing at wedding in northwest Pakistan kills seven
A suicide attack at a wedding in northwest Pakistan has killed at least seven people, police say.
The bomb blast ripped through a building housing members of a peace committee during a wedding ceremony Friday in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police official Muhammad Adnan said Saturday.
The committees are made up of locals and elders and are supported by Islamabad as part of its efforts to counter fighters in areas along the Afghan border.
Three people were confirmed dead on Friday. Four other people, who were among those injured in the attack, died in hospital, Adnan added.
The suicide attack took place as the Pakistani army prepares to combat armed groups in areas along the Pakistan-Afghan border. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, despite the region’s harsh winter conditions.
No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack. But suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have carried out numerous attacks in the country in recent years.
The TTP, which operates on both sides of the Afghan border, has called members of the peace committee traitors. The TTP’s stated goal is to replace Pakistan’s system of governance with the strict brand of its own understanding of Islamic laws.
The TTP has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, when US and NATO troops left the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found refuge in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power.
Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the Pakistani group to plan its attacks from Afghanistan. Kabul denies the accusations, saying the group’s activities constitute an internal problem in Pakistan.
