Suicide bombers strike security force headquarters in northwestern Pakistan, killing 3 officers

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Two suicide bombers and a gunman attacked the headquarters of a security force in northwestern Pakistan on Monday morning, killing three officers and wounding 11 others, police and rescue officials said.

The attack took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, when security forces were preparing for the morning parade at the sprawling facility located in the heart of the city, said Peshawar Police Chief Saeed Ahmad.

He said one attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the provincial headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, while the second bomber and an accomplice were shot and killed by officers near the parking area.

According to Ahmad, about 150 security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place. “The terrorists involved in today's attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he told The Associated Press.

He said police had concluded that three attackers were involved in the assault. Ahmad said police had completed the clearance operation and authorities had collected samples of the body parts of the two suicide bombers for DNA tests. He said police are still investigating to determine the identity and nationality of the three attackers.

Asim Khan, a spokesperson at the government-run Lady Reading Hospital said all 11 persons wounded in the Peshawar attack were listed in stable condition.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, condemned the attack in Peshawar, with Zardari calling it a “cowardly act by foreign-backed terrorists,” and Sharif saying the swift response of security forces prevented a larger tragedy. They offered condolences to the families of the victims.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been blamed for similar previous assaults in the country, which has witnessed a surge in militant attacks. The TPP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.

The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.

The attacks have strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistani Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Pakistan's government often accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by militants.

Kabul denies the allegation, but tensions between the two sides escalated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for Oct. 9 drone strikes in Kabul and vowed retaliation. The ensuing fighting killed dozens of people, including soldiers, civilians and militants, before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which remains in place.

It was followed by two rounds of talks in Istanbul, during which the two sides failed to reach an agreement after Afghanistan refused to give guarantees in writing about preventing the TTP from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan.

Pakistan in recent weeks has stepped up operations against the TTP, killing dozens of insurgents near regions bordering Afghanistan.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.