A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to a court in northwest Pakistan yesterday. He killed 11 people, police say.
The blast in the town of Shabqadar also wounded another 15 people. Two policemen and a policewoman were among the dead.
The attacker tried to enter the court premises. But police stopped him. The bomber opened fire at court officers and started running toward the courtrooms. A policeman began fighting the attacker, who detonated his explosives.
A group allied with the Pakistani Taliban and calling itself Jamat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility. The local Taliban branch or its allied militant groups have been waging a war against the state for over a decade. They have killed tens of thousands of people.
The town of Shabqadar is located in the Charsadda district. Four suicide bombers from a Pakistani Taliban-linked group killed 21 students and teachers on January 20. Shabqadar sits on the edge of the Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
The court bombing was an attack on the judiciary, which gives verdicts against God's divine laws, according to Ahrar's spokesman in a statement.
It was also revenge for the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, who was executed last week for the 2011 killing of a provincial governor.
