Alwaght- Two blasts outside a Pakistani court killed at least 13 people and wounded tens of others on Friday.
Pakistan-based The News website cited police and rescue officials as saying “At least 13 people including two policemen and four lawyers were martyred and more than 30 others injured in a hand grenade and suicide attack near district court of Mardan,” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
According to police, the first blast was a hand grenade attack and the second was a suicide blast.
The local news website quoted a police officer Faisal Shahzad as saying that “a suicide bomber, who was stopped by police at the main gate threw a hand grenade inside the district court and started running towards the building”.
According to Shahzad, police shot the suicide bomber that resulted in detonation of his explosive belt. At least 10 people including two policemen and two lawyers were killed in the blast.
Jamaat al-Ahrar, a fraction of Taliban in Pakistan, has claimed the responsibility for the suicide attack.
In another incident, hours before, Jamaat al-Ahrar attacked a Christian neighborhood in the same region, killing two people.
The twin attacks in the northwest came one day after Pakistan's army touted the successes of its fight against myriad terrorist groups, though a spokesman acknowledged there was still a long way to go.
"These receding elements are showing frustration by attacking our soft targets. They shall not get space to hide in Pakistan," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a statement released after the attacks.
