Pakistan suicide bombing kills 8 at checkpoint in country’s west

A suicide bomber detonated at a checkpoint in western Pakistan on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding five more, officials said.

The bomber set off the blast from the back of a motorbike rickshaw near the town of Mir Ali in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a local police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Four police officers were killed alongside two members of a state paramilitary force and two civilians in the attack near the border with Afghanistan, he said.

Pakistan has seen an increase in militancy since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021, with Islamabad claiming hostile groups are now using the neighbouring country for shelter.

“Among the five injured personnel, the condition of three is critical, and they have been transferred to a local military hospital,” the police officer said.