PESHAWAR: A suspected suicide bomber was shot dead by residents after a motorcycle laden with explosives detonated outside a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern Lakki Marwat district on Friday, killing two people, including a girl, and wounding 10 others.
The incident took place outside a mosque in Khairukhel Pakka village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan where militant violence has surged in recent years.
Islamabad has frequently accused militant groups based in Afghanistan of carrying out attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces, an allegation Kabul denies, as relations between the two neighbors have deteriorated amid cross-border strikes, border clashes and competing accusations over militancy.
“After the explosion, local residents opened fire and killed the suicide bomber at the scene,” the Lakki Marwat police said in a statement.
The statement said explosives had been attached to a motorcycle outside the mosque before the blast occurred at about 2:45 p.m.
A casualty list later circulated by police said two people, including a girl, were killed and 10 others were wounded in the attack.
Authorities did not immediately provide details about the identity of the attacker or the intended target.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan has witnessed a rise in militant violence in its western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, prompting a series of intelligence-based operations against armed groups.
Police said they had taken the body of the attacker into their possession and would share any further information as it became available.
