Eight killed in twin attacks in Pakistan’s northwest

Local officials said gunmen on motorcycles first struck a security post on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan early on Sunday, killing at least two policemen. The attackers fled the scene.
 
Later, a female assailant detonated her explosives at a government hospital where the bodies of the policemen from the first attack had been transferred to.
 
“In addition to those killed in the [firing], two policemen and four civilians were killed in the hospital explosion,” district police chief Saleem Riaz said. “About seven kilograms of explosives were used.”
 
At least 30 people were wounded from the force of the explosion at the District Headquarters hospital, the official said.
 
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to local media.
 
Pakistan has been battling the TTP and affiliated outfits since the group was formed in 2007.
 
Despite frequent offensives by the Pakistani army, acts of terror by militant cells continue to target security forces as well as civilians.
 
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Pakistan entered an alliance with the US in Washington’s so-called war on terror. Thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping the country.