Suicide Bombing

  At least seven people were killed and 20 others injured after a suicide attacker detonated explosives packed inside a three-wheel vehicle in northwestern Pakistan, police confirmed on Tuesday. The blast comes days after another suicide attack saw a car bomb detonate at a checkpoint in Bannu before militants opened fire on police, killing at least 15 people. “According to the initial reports, the suspected suicide attacker approached the two traffic police officers stationed at the checkpoint before blowing himself up,” senior police official Muhammad Sajjad Khan told AFP. Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Monday summoned the top Afghan diplomat in the country after concluding that a deadly suicide attack at the weekend was “masterminded by terrorists residing in Afghanistan”. Afghanistan’s Taliban government has repeatedly denied Pakistan’s accusations that Afghan territory was a safe harbour for militants. The frosty relationship between the neighbouring countries has spiralled into deadly armed conflict in recent months, including Pakistani airstrikes on cities in Afghanistan. AFP