Three suicide bombers have attacked the headquarters of a paramilitary force in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least three security personnel and wounding several others, according to media reports.
The Dawn daily reported that the attack on the headquarters of the Federal Constabulary (FC) took place early on Monday, with one of the fighters detonating their explosives at the gate to the complex
The other two tried to force their way in, but were shot dead, it reported.
“Initially, three militants tried to attack the headquarters,” Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Mian Saeed Ahmad told the newspaper.
“One bomber blew himself up on the gate, while two others tried to enter the premises but were gunned down by FC personnel,” he added.
The Dunya News website, also quoting Saeed, said the three slain FC officers had been stationed at the gate and were killed in the explosion there.
Peshawar Police Chief Saeed Ahmad, meanwhile, told the Associated Press news agency that a large number of security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place.
“The terrorists involved in today’s attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area, and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he said.
The headquarters of the force is located in a densely populated area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency that the area has been cordoned off.
According to Dawn, the attacks also caused injuries to at least six civilians, who were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
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A spokesman for the hospital told Dawn that all those wounded were in stable condition.
The Daily also reported that an emergency has been declared at both the hospital and Khyber Teaching Hospital.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been blamed for similar assaults in the country, which has witnessed a surge in such attacks.
The TPP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.
The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.
The violence has strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistan Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in Peshawar and praised the security forces for their “timely” response.
“The perpetrators of this incident should be identified as soon as possible and brought to justice,” Sharif said in a statement.
“We will thwart the evil designs of terrorists who attack Pakistan’s integrity.”
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari also “strongly” condemned the attack.
In a post on X, he offered “heartfelt condolences” and praised the courage of the security forces.
