Death toll in Shabqadar court blast reaches 17
A suicide bomber attacked a court complex during the morning rush hour in the town of Shabqadar.
PESHAWAR (Web Desk / AFP) - A suicide bomber killed 17 people and injured 31 in northwest Pakistan Monday.
The bomber, whom police said was aged around 20 and had up to six kilograms (13 pounds) of explosives strapped to his chest, attacked as lawyers and litigants were arriving at a court complex during the morning rush hour in the town of Shabqadar.
Senior government official Tariq Hassan said the death toll rose to 17 late Monday as four more of those injured succumbed to their injuries in hospital.
Officials earlier said that 13 people had been killed and 23 wounded after the bomber blew himself up inside the complex.
"Condition of four to five more injured was critical and doctors are struggling to save their lives," Hasan told AFP.
Fayaz Khan, a senior police official confirmed the new death toll and told AFP that most of the dead have been buried.
School teacher Murid Khan, who was in the complex for a land dispute hearing, said he was getting documents photocopied when he heard gunshots.
"I looked back and there was a huge explosion," he said, adding the blast threw him over the photocopier.
"I heard screams and saw black clouds of smoke, then I fell unconscious" after being hit by two pieces of shrapnel, he said.
Tehreek-e-Taliban’s Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction claimed responsibility for the attack.
Authorities said six women, two children and two policemen were among the dead. Senior regional police official Saeed Wazir praised the bravery of officers who "sacrificed their lives".
There were around 300 people in the complex at the time, another police official said.
Local bar association president Shair Qadir said they had requested security after receiving threats of an attack, but no action was taken in what he termed a police failure.
Shabqadar is near the Mohmand tribal district, one of seven semi-autonomous regions bordering Afghanistan where militants from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had established bases in the past.
Islamabad launched a military offensive in the tribal areas in 2014 that has reportedly killed thousands of militants and pushed the rest over the border to Afghanistan, resulting in improved security inside Pakistan.
However, insurgents associated with the TTP occasionally carry out attacks from bases inside Afghanistan.
Shabqadar is some 30 kilometres (18 miles) west of Charsadda, where extremists attacked a university on January 20 in a rampage that left 21 dead.
