Twin bomb attacks launched in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Twin bomb attacks launched in Pakistan and Afghanistan
The Pakistani official was targeted by a bomb in a volatile federally administered tribal district along the Pakistani-Afghan border, while an Afghan market was also hit by militants.
2 min read
17 September, 2017
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack [AFP]

A roadside bomb has killed a senior tribal government administrator and four tribal police near the Afghan border, according to a Pakistani official.

The blast took place in Bajaur, a volatile federally administered tribal district along the Pakistani-Afghan border.

Another bomb attack at a marketplace in neighbouring Afghanistan on Sunday, has also left four people dead.

It is not yet known if the two attacks which happened on the same day are related. 

The Pakistan attack saw the administrator of Mamoond subdistrict being targeted.

Fawad Ali was being driven to village to attend a traditional assembly of tribal elders when an improvised explosive device targeted his vehicle.

Tribal official, Anwarul Haq, said the device was detonated remotely, and that there is now a search for the perpetrators of the attack.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pakistan has blamed Aghan militants.

The bombing in Afganistan ook place in the troubled Khosht province, in the country's south-east.

A remote controlled bomb was detonated at a busymobile phone market, leaving at least four people dead and 14 others wounded.

"The blast happened at around noon in a market where people go to download music and videos to their mobile phones," Khost provincial police chief Faizullah Khairat told AFP.

Khost has been targeted by the Taliban, who view music and videos are "un-Islamic". Along with the Islamic State group, they have terrorised Afghans for decades with bomb and gun attacks.

Militant groups have long operated in the tribal region along the Pakistani-Afghan border, where they attack security forces and those seen as cooperating with the current government.

Pakistani officials claim that militants have taken shelter in Afghanistan after fleeing security operations. They believe the escapee militants plot attacks on Pakistan from their Afghan sanctuaries.

Islamabad often accuses Kabul's intelligence agency of backing the militant activity.

But Afghan authorities reject the accusations and in turn blame the Pakistani government for supporting militants on Afghan soil.