Pakistan/Terrorism: 5 policemen killed in suicide bombing attack

Five policemen were killed early Wednesday when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a check post in Pir Bala, a village on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Confirming the report, Police Chief Liaquat Ali declared that 11 people, including a woman and a cleric, were also injured in the blast that damaged a nearby house and a mosque. "Two policemen (among the injured) are in a critical condition," he said. It has been reported that those who were killed were inside the small, mud-build check post on routine duty.

Peshawar, where major markets and regional headquarters for government and security forces are located, has witnessed several terrorist attacks in the past.

Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) in the meantime has claimed responsibility for the attack. "It's a reaction to the operations carried out by the army from Khyber to Waziristan," TTP spokesman Azam Tariq said. Pakistani security forces are indeed battling TTP and Afghani Al-Qaeda terrorists almost every day in the tribal belt along the Afghan-Pakistani border.