The suicide bomber attempted to reach the court’s bar room, where several lawyers had congregated – but was shot by police before he could enter, Mr Khan said.
Advertisement
Some of the wounded are reportedly in critical condition.
The bodies of lawyers, police officers and civilians have been recovered from the wreckage at the court building in the city of Mardan in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. More than 70 people, mostly lawyers, were killed last month in a suicide bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta.
The incident occurred a few hours after an attack was foiled in Peshawar’s Christian Colony early Friday morning in which four terrorists were killed. Two paramilitary soldiers, a policeman and two security guards were wounded in the gunfight. There is as of yet no formal claim of responsibility from any faction on this attack, though officials seem to be claiming the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He said the attackers killed one Christian in the neighborhood. They were all killed, two by their own suicide vests and the other two by the guards. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the bombing and warned of further attacks.
Army Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa said the attack was quickly repulsed.
Christians are a tiny minority in the majority Muslim nation. A suicide bomber then struck inside the compound near courtrooms and lawyers’ offices, he added. According to the police, this latest assault is done with a motive of targeting Pakistan’s legal community and the terrorists succeed.
“Just yeserday the Pakistan military gave a press conference in which they said that they have been able to control the number of attacks in the country”, our correspondent said.
Advertisement
An injured person who survived militant attack, rests at a local hospital in Mardan, Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016.
