At Least 25 Killed in North Pakistan Bombing

Officials say exact nature of attack remains unclear

At least 25 people were killed and 35 others wounded in a bombing incident in Pakistan’s northern tribal agency of Orakzai. The incident took place outside of a key religious seminary, and there has been no claim of credit.

Indeed, officials were quite vague on what exactly happened, with some claiming it was a suicide bombing but others saying they believed it was a remotely detonated IED. Still others had initially chalked it up to a random explosion.

At any rate, the early morning incident took place in Hangu, a city in Orakzai, and this area has long had Pakistani Taliban factions active within, meaning that there is a presumption that such factions were involved.

The lack of credit is conspicuous, however, as is the lack of motive. Officials say all the victims were civilians, no security forces were present, and it is only late in the evening that the first security forces arrived to start engaging in rescue operations.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.