Suicide bomber kills nine in northwest Pak

A suicide bomber killed nine people on Friday in an attack on police in the northwestern Pakistani town of Mardan.

A suicide bomber killed nine people on Friday in an attack on police in the northwestern Pakistani town of Mardan.

Mardan police chief Akhtar Ali Shah said he was about to leave his office when the attacker detonated his explosives outside.

“I was about to leave the office. As my escort went out, the blast took place,” he told Reuters. “The attacker blew himself up close to the escort when my guards tried to stop him entering the office premises. Had he entered the office, he would have caused more losses.”

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Mohtasim Billah, a senior doctor at Mardan’s main government hospital, said four policemen and five civilians had been killed and about 30 people were wounded, five of them seriously.

A severed head, apparently that of the bomber, had been found, Shah said. Suicide bombers usually strap explosives to their bodies and their heads are cut off in the blast.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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