Two police officers were killed and at least 10 others were wounded in northwestern Pakistan on July 20 when two suicide bombers attacked a security and administrative compound in the Bara Tehsil neighborhood of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
Zaheer Apredi, a district police spokesman, told RFE/RL that an explosion triggered by one of the suicide bombers when police opened fire tore down part of central building of the compound. One police officer was buried under the rubble, and his body was later retrieved by rescuers.
Another police officer and the second bomber were killed in the gunfight that ensued, authorities said.
The outlawed Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan group (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif issued a statement condemning the attack. Sharif praised the police officers, who “thwarted the evil intentions of the terrorists by stopping the suspects and risking their lives."
Overnight, two police officers were shot dead and two others were wounded in a separate gun attack at a roadside checkpoint in Peshawar that was also claimed by the TTP.
The attack took place in the Regi Model Town neighborhood, local police official Arshad Khan said.
Security forces launched a search operation to trace and arrest the attackers who fled the scene, Khan said. The TTP claimed responsibility in a statement.
The Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group of several Sunni militant groups, is separate from Afghanistan's Taliban group.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has long been a hotbed of militants operating on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The TTP militants have staged a gradual comeback in the tribal districts of Pakistan following a deadlock with the Islamabad authorities in peace talks launched last year.
The Pakistani military has increased operations in the region, but many local residents have protested against the lack of security following a rash of attacks, including one that killed more than 80 people at a mosque inside the Peshawar police headquarters in January.