Police say 2 explosions in northwest Pakistan kill 2 people, wound 20 including police chief

2 blasts in NW Pakistan target police officers

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two explosions went off near a police complex in a northwest Pakistani city Thursday, killing two people and wounding 20 others including the local police chief, authorities said.

The blasts in Bannu underscored the relentless security threat in Pakistan’s regions bordering Afghanistan despite Pakistani army offensives and U.S. missile strikes aimed at al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in the area.

The second blast came as rescuers responded to the first — a militant tactic seen before in Pakistan, but not often.

Militants have carried out numerous attacks on security forces over the past several years to undermine the public’s confidence in the alreay-weak state. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 10 police officers and seven civilians in the Khyber tribal region.

Police official Saleem Khan confirmed the casualty figures in Thursday’s attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban.

The explosions come amid growing certainty that the militant group’s top commander, Hakimullah Mehsud, died from wounds sustained in a U.S. missile strike in mid-January. The Taliban have denied he is dead, but failed to offer proof that he is alive.

Still, the Pakistani Taliban are not the only militants operating in Pakistan’s northwest, and the death of Mehsud is unlikely to cripple them in the long-term.