Death toll rises to 14 in Pakistan suicide attack. Pakistan Taliban splinter group claims blast

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from a suicide attack on a security post in northwest Pakistan rose to 14 police officers, authorities said early Sunday. A self-proclaimed breakaway group of the Pakistan Taliban has claimed the attack.

A suicide bomber and several gunmen detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near the post in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, late Saturday, said senior police official Sajjad Khan. The attack triggered an intense shootout, and some officers were killed in the exchange, while others died later after the building collapsed.

Rescuers conducted an hourslong search operation using heavy machinery to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, Khan said, adding that three police officers were wounded in the attack.

Security forces have also launched an operation to track down the perpetrators.

A newly formed militant group, Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to reporters. While the group claims it was formed by splinter factions of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, authorities have accused it of being a front for the TTP.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it blamed on the TTP, a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Islamabad often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing sanctuary to the TTP, a claim that Kabul denies.

Tensions between the two neighbors have persisted, and both sides have engaged in fighting that has killed hundreds of people since late February.

In early April, Afghan and Pakistani officials held peace talks mediated by China. However, despite the talks, sporadic cross-border clashes have continued, though at a lower intensity than before.

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Associated Press writers Rasool Dawar in Peshawar and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan contributed to this report.