Suicide Bombing Kills 14 at Pakistan Police Station
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- A suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in Pakistan's Kabal area of Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killed at least 14 people on Sunday, including five police officers and eight civilians, with regional police official Fida Hussain saying the 14th victim was believed to be the bomber himself.
- At least 18 people were wounded in the blast, according to a police statement that also announced an operation to arrest anyone who may have assisted the attack.
- A pro-police rally of local residents was taking place in the same area on Sunday, though it was not immediately clear whether the rally was the intended target.
- Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif issued a statement expressing "deep grief and sorrow over the suicide blast."
- Militancy in Pakistan's border areas has risen sharply in recent months, mainly targeting the military and police; the Pakistani government blames the Afghan Taliban for backing the militants, a charge the Taliban government denies.
Why it matters: The Swat blast underscores how quickly insurgent violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has spread from remote border zones into areas where civilians were openly rallying in support of police — a soft-target shift that complicates Islamabad's strategy of pinning the escalation on the Afghan Taliban, which Kabul denies.
