At least 13 people were killed and 22 others injured in a suicide bombing near a police station in Pakistan’s northern Swat district on Sunday.
The attacker reportedly detonated an explosive vest at a busy intersection during a civil society protest after police prevented him from entering the station through its main gate.
Among those killed were four police officers, while authorities said seven of the injured were in critical condition.
The attack occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Pakistani security forces continue to battle a growing insurgency by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In a separate incident on Sunday, four police officers were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Peshawar, an attack claimed by the TTP.
Military officials disclosed on Friday that militant attacks and counter-terrorism operations have claimed the lives of 819 security personnel and civilians so far this year.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused militants of operating from neighbouring Afghanistan, an allegation the Taliban-led government in Kabul has denied.
The accusations have heightened tensions between the two countries, with recent Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan drawing condemnation from the United Nations following reports of dozens of civilian casualties.
