Pakistan: 7 killed, several injured in multiple blasts in Charsadda; police hunt suicide bomber inside court

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: At least seven people were killed when multiple Taliban suicide bombers attacked a court complex in northern Pakistan Tuesday, the latest in a series of assaults which have raised fears militants are regrouping.

The terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing after the blasts in Tangi in northwestern Charsadda district.

One bomber was briefly on the loose inside the busy complex in the Tangi area of Charsadda district but was killed by police some 20 minutes after the attack began, officials said. 

A second bomber was shot dead by security forces and a third died when he detonated his vest outside the main gates of the facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to police.

Meanwhile, police are hunting a suicide bomber believed to be on the loose inside the court complex, officials said, after a second was killed by security forces and a third detonated outside the main gates.

The three bombers attacked the court, Charsadda's Mayor Bahadur Yar told state television.

"I am on the spot, the dead body of one bomber is laying outside the main gate of the court complex, the dead body of the second bomber is inside the complex," Yar said.

"The third attacker managed to enter inside. Police are after him," he added.

"So far seven people have been killed and 15 wounded," Suhail Khalid, district police chief, told AFP, adding that a lawyer was among the dead.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's office condemned the latest assault.

"We are a steadfast nation and will not be deterred by such attacks. Our government will continue to fight against terrorist elements and we will succeed," a statement said.

Charsadda senior police official Mohammed Ijaz Khan confirmed three bombers had tried to enter the complex, with one dying after detonating his vest and the other killed by police.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member Shaukat Yousufzai said the militants came from Mohmand Agency. 

Officials said casualties were feared but it was too early to give any figures.

It was also not immediately clear how many people were inside, but hundreds of people including lawyers, judges and citizens normally attend such district court complexes every day.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban's Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction claimed responsibility for the attack in the northwestern town of Charsadda.

A witness told Reuters he had seen "many" dead bodies at the scene.

Town resident Mohammad Shah Baz told Reuters he was inside the judicial complex when the suicide bombers stormed it.

"I escaped towards the canteen and climbed the wall to save my life. But there were many people dead and injured," he said.

District police chief Sohail Khalid said at least one of the attackers blew himself up and another opened fire at the main entrance of the court compound before they were shot and killed.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar spokesman Asad Mansoor claimed responsibility the attack in a message to journalists. He said fighting was still going on at the court.

JuA said they were responsible for several of last week`s attacks including a powerful blast in the eastern city of Lahore which killed 14 people and wounded dozens. 

The group, part of the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban) vowed earlier this month to launch a fresh offensive on targets in Pakistan including the judiciary.

But the Islamic State group claimed the deadliest of last week`s assaults, a suicide bomb at a Sufi shrine in Sindh province on Thursday which killed 90 people and wounded hundreds. 

The emergence of IS and a TTP resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, which had enjoyed a dramatic improvement in security over the past two years after a military-led crackdown begun in 2014.

Lawyers and the judiciary are frequent targets in Pakistan. Among last week`s assaults was a bomb blast targeting a van carrying judges in Peshawar, which killed their driver. 

Last August, JuA along with the Islamic State group claimed a suicide bombing in Quetta that killed 73 people, including many of southwestern city`s legal community.