A suicide bomber struck protesters at an anti-militant rally in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 14 people, most of them civilians and police officers, and wounding more than two dozen others, officials said.
The attack took place in Kabal, a town in the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where demonstrators had gathered near a police station chanting anti-militant slogans and demanding peace, according to district police chief Omar Khan.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial emergency service, said the attacker struck dozens of people as they chanted slogans against militancy and called for peace. Khan said at least nine civilians and five police officers were among those killed, says CNN.
Witnesses said that, shortly before the bombing, speakers at the rally had told the crowd that ensuring security and eliminating militancy were the state’s responsibility, and had accused the authorities of failing to act decisively against militants.
Residents, the witnesses said, wanted to be able to live without fear after years of violence that has devastated the region. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bombing and expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life.
In separate statements, both offered condolences to the families of those killed, prayed for the recovery of the wounded, and directed the authorities to ensure the injured received the best possible medical treatment.
Zardari and Sharif also said Pakistan’s fight against terrorism would continue until it was eradicated. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi likewise condemned the attack, extending condolences to bereaved families and prayers for the swift recovery of the wounded.
The Swat Valley was once a stronghold of Islamist militants who enforced a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, before the Pakistani military launched a major operation in 2007 that drove them out and restored government control.
In recent months, however, militants have resurfaced in the valley, stoking fears that the Pakistani Taliban are seeking to regain a foothold there. Residents have responded by repeatedly staging anti-Taliban rallies to protest against the militants’ presence across the valley.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The group is separate from, but allied with, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, and many of its leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power there in 2021.
Pakistan has long accused Kabul’s Taliban government of harbouring TTP militants, an allegation Afghanistan denies. Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks in recent years, particularly against police and security forces.
On Friday, military spokesman Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said the country had recorded 3,145 “terrorism incidents” since January, in which 2,084 militants had been killed alongside 819 Pakistanis, including soldiers, police officers and civilians.
Chaudhry said Afghanistan-based militants had carried out 28 suicide attacks in Pakistan since January, alleging that most had been the work of Afghan nationals or individuals linked to Afghanistan’s security forces.
He said the TTP and other militant groups were operating inside Pakistan with the backing of Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, and vowed that Pakistan would continue to target the TTP and its support networks.
