PARACHINAR: A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into the compound of a rival militant commander in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing 15 people, a government official said.
The commander, Nabi Hanfi, was not present at the time of the attack, said Wajid Khan, a local government administrator. Hanfi has been battling the Pakistani Taliban in the Orakzai tribal area where the bombing occurred.
Gunmen first fired shots at Hanfi’s compound in Balandkhel village, and then the suicide bomber detonated his vehicle, said Khan. The blast killed 15 people and wounded six others, he said.
No one has claimed responsibility, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
A local tribal leader, Malik Nek Marjaan, said the Pakistani government has been supporting Hanfi’s group in its battle against the Pakistani Taliban.
On Wednesday, suspected separatists killed two Pakistani soldiers, in a wave of attacks targeting troops doing relief work in a remote region of the country’s southwest where a major earthquake killed at least 376 people last week, military officials said.
Also in southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday but far from the earthquake zone, a bomb went off at the Pakistan-Afghan border, killing six people and wounding 11 others, said Pakistani security officials.
The attacks on soldiers providing earthquake assistance highlight the difficulty and danger involved in doing such work in an area where separatists have been battling the army for years. (Agencies)
