South Asia

Suicide car bombing in Pakistan kills one police official

A suicide car bombing at a checkpoint in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad on Friday (December 23) killed one police official and injured several others, police and the interior ministry said.

Islamabad operations police chief, Sohail Zafar, told reporters initial information indicated there were a man and a woman in the car, and the man blew himself up during a body search.

The car was packed with explosives and headed for a high-value target in the capital, the interior ministry said in a statement, giving no further details. The bombing took place near police headquarters on a main road that leads to government buildings housing the country’s parliament and high offices.

Pakistani Taliban, who have been waging a campaign of bombings and suicide attacks for over a decade, have claimed responsibility for the car bombing, saying it was revenge for the killing of one of their leaders.