News / Pakistan

At least 23 killed in northwest Pakistan bombing

Tuesday, 29 December 2015 10:50 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 29 December 2015 3:21 PM ]

Pakistani policemen investigate the area after a bomb explosion in Quetta, December 12, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

At least 23 people have been killed in a bombing attack outside a government building in northwestern Pakistan, officials say.

Pakistani officials said some 70 others were also wounded in the attack Tuesday outside the regional office of the National Database and Registration Authority in the town of Mardan.

Reports say the blast occurred when an explosive device on a motorcycle went off.

No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, however, such instances of violence are usually carried out by pro-Taliban militants.

Officials said an investigation has been launched into the incident.

Mardan is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, near the country’s border with Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, some 23 people were killed and 50 others wounded in a bomb blast in northwestern Pakistan’s Parachinar district, the capital of Kurram Agency.

Pakistan has been carrying out a major offensive against militant hideouts across the troubled northwestern tribal regions since June 2014.

The operations were launched after a deadly raid on the Karachi International Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with the pro-Taliban militants.

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