Suicide bombing outside Pakistan police station kills 14

At least 14 people were killed and 22 others injured in a suicide bombing outside a police station in Pakistan’s Swat district on Sunday, officials said.

The attacker detonated explosives after police stopped him for a search near the station, where hundreds of people had gathered to protest rising violence in the region, according to Swat District Police Officer Umar Khan, reports Al Jazeera

Deputy Inspector General Fida Hussain said several of the injured were in critical condition. The wounded were taken to a hospital in nearby Saidu Sharif. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Security forces sealed off the area and launched an investigation and search operation.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, expressed condolences to the victims’ families and directed authorities to ensure proper treatment for the injured.

The bombing comes amid a surge in militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, 154 people were killed in terror-related incidents in the province in July, more than double the figure recorded in June.