Five killed in Pakistan suicide bombing

 A suicide bomber in a vehicle laden with explosives killed at least three women and two children at a house in northwestern Pakistan late Thursday, local authorities said. The attack took place in Bannu, a district in Pakistan's turbulent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which lies adjacent to the country's formerly self-governed tribal areas.

"Apparently, the suicide bomber intended to target the police station, but in haste, he struck a civilian house before reaching it," Muhammad Sajjad Khan, a local police official, told AFP on Friday. At least three women and two children were killed in the incident, while four others were injured, he added.

Bannu assistant commissioner Ikramullah Khan confirmed the death toll to AFP.No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.However, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, routinely targets security forces in the region. Islamabad has accused neighbouring Afghanistan of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government denies.

Agence France-Presse