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Pakistan under attack: A district court, Christian Colony targeted, 17 dead, 4 suicide bombers killed

By FnF Desk | PUBLISHED: 02, Sep 2016, 12:46 pm IST | UPDATED: 02, Sep 2016, 13:07 pm IST

Pakistan under attack: A district court, Christian Colony targeted, 17 dead, 4 suicide bombers killed Peshawar: In a brazen assault, four heavily-armed suicide attackers on Friday stormed a Christian colony, opening indiscriminate fire that left one person dead and several others injured before the terrorists were gunned down by security forces in this northwestern Pakistani city.

Pakistani Taliban-linked Jamaat-ur-Ahrar claimed the responsibility for the attack.

At least 17 people were killed and 52 wounded when two bomb blasts were detonated outside a district court in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, a rescue official said.

The firing began around 6 AM when terrorists attacked the colony and exchanged fire with security forces in Warsak area of Peshawar district in Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province, officials said.

"So far we recovered 12 bodies of the lawyers, police personnel and civilians. Besides this, we rescued 52 injured, including lawyers, police personnel and civilians from the spot,"
Haris Habib, chief rescue officer in the city of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the blasts took place, said.

Militants attack Christian colony

Earlier, at least four suicide bombers attacked a Christian neighbourhood in northwestern Pakistan early on Friday, killing at least one security guard, the military said.

Authorities "promptly responded" and all four attackers were dead, army spokesman Lt. General Asim Bajwa said in a message on social network Twitter.

In a separate statement, the military's information wing said one security guard of the Christian residential area was killed at the start of the attack, at 5:30am

The area is near Warsak Dam, in the Khyber tribal region 20km (12 miles) northwest of the city of Peshawar, an official at the scene told Reuters.

The attackers, wearing suicide vests and carrying firearms, exchanged fire with security forces and were killed, the statement said.Two solders, a policeman and two civilian security guards were wounded, it added.

Two of the attackers detonated their suicide jackets while two others were killed by security forces, officials were quoted as saying by the Dawn News. One civilian was also killed in the attack, they said. “Terrorist attacked Christian Colony Warsak Road, Peshawar. Security forces promptly responded. All 4 suicide bombers killed. Search in progress,” Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Asim Bajwa tweeted.

In the exchange of fire, two Frontier Corps soldiers, a police constable and two civilian guards were injured. No outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The official said the attackers might have been attempting to enter an adjacent security installation, by exploiting weaker security arrangements in the residential area.

Peshawar has faced numerous terrorist attacks, including the December 2014 massacre of students at an army-run school. Taliban gunmen had killed more than 150 people, most of them children, in the deadliest attack.