Blood, flesh and shattered window glass littered the ground outside a court building in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, as a A suicide bomber struck outside a Pakistan court, killing 16 people in the sixth attack on Peshawar in 11 days.
suicide bomber blew himself up on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and leaving 51 injured. The attack was the sixth on the city in 11 days.
The attacks have escalated after Pakistani troops have pressed on with a major offensive against the Taliban in their stronghold of South Waziristan in the country’s lawless tribal areas. Top al-Qaida operatives are also believed to be holed up there. Peshawar, a city of 2.5 million people that lies on the edge of the tribal areas, has taken the brunt of the near-daily suicide attacks.
An official said the bomber hit at the building’s main gate, near a five-star hotel, where at least nine people were killed when attackers shot their way through a security checkpost and blew up a truck bomb in June. “The attack uprooted the court complex’s main gate,” the official said. “Three cops were among the dead (and) 10 to 15kg of explosives was used.”