A suicide bomber killed at least 17 people and injured 35 others outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday evening, officials said. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabal, a town in the Swat Valley near the Afghan border.
Officials said 10 police officers and seven civilians were killed in the blast. Hundreds of people had gathered for a pro-police rally when the explosion occurred.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his "profound grief" over the incident in a statement.
“Terrorists will never succeed in their nefarious efforts to harm peace, national unity, and the writ of the state,” the statement posted on X read.
Police said they were searching for anyone who may have assisted in carrying out the attack.
Inspector General Syed Fida Hussain said the suicide bomber attempted to force his way into the police station but was stopped by an officer before entering, Pakistan Today reported.
“The attacker then detonated explosives at the police station's main gate,” Hussain said.
The blast occurred as the final speaker at the rally, organised to condemn the resurgence of terrorism in the region, was addressing the crowd.
Before the explosion, speakers had called on the government to take stronger action against militant attacks in the Swat Valley. The area was once a stronghold of the Pakistan Taliban before the group was driven out during a military operation in 2009.
The Pakistan Taliban has been waging an insurgency against the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since 2007.
Just days earlier, an attack on a police checkpoint in the province killed 11 officers and wounded several others.
On 24 July, a suicide bombing at a security checkpoint in the Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa killed 27 people, including soldiers and police officers. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.
Islamabad has accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of supporting the militants. Kabul has denied the allegations.
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