Deadly blast hits government office in Pakistan

At least 22 people were killed and 50 others wounded in a suicide attack Tuesday on a government office in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province in the tribal areas in northwest Pakistan, officials told EFE.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar split from the main Pakistani Taliban group the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP two years ago following differences between the militant leadership.

More details to follow…

On Dec. 13 a bomb ripped through a makeshift market in the town of Parachinar near the Afghan border, killing 26 people and wounding 30 others.

DIG Mardan said that it was a suicide attack, where Interior Minister Chaudhary has asked for Blast report as soon as possible. “We stayed in the office, could not be able to move out”, he said.

Tariq Munir, a NADRA employee, told Daily Times that they were busy in work when a huge explosion occurred at the entrance of the premises just after the lunch break. The attacker was on a motorbike and exploded his explosives vest when he rammed at the gate.

Police officials said that the security guard at the office gate died on the spot.

Shortly after the attack, the group Jamaat Al-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the bombing, through its spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan, calling it a “noble act to punish NADRA because it extends support to security forces”.

“God willing, we will target all Pakistani organizations that are either directly or indirectly a part of this war”, Ehsan said in a statement. The BBC added that up to 12kg of explosive material may have been used in the blast. The militant group is fighting to establish hard-line Islamist rule. The BBC says most of those killed and injured are civilians.

A Taliban-influenced group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Dec 2, Pakistan hanged four men linked to the Taliban’s massacre of more than 130 schoolchildren at an army-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar in December 2014. Analysts have credited the fall to military operations in North Waziristan and Khyber agencies.