Suicide Bombing Near Police Station in Swat, Pakistan Kills 13

A suicide bombing near a police station in the Swat district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday resulted in at least 13 deaths, including eight police officers. According to Agence France-Presse, Fida Hussain, the deputy police chief of Swat, reported that the attacker was stopped by security forces at the main gate while attempting to enter the police station and then detonated explosives he was carrying. The explosion occurred at a busy intersection during a civil society protest gathering. The attack also injured 22 people, and a body believed to be the attacker’s was taken to a hospital. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistani officials have previously linked rising insecurity in border areas to the presence of armed groups in Afghanistan, although the Taliban administration denies these allegations. Islamabad has also stated that attacks in northwest Pakistan have increased since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.