The suicide bombing in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat valley has resulted in the death of at least 14 people and injured two dozen others.
According to police official Omar Khan, out of the dead, nine were civilians, and five were officers.
The attack took place in Kabal in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province amid hundreds of demonstrators who were chanting anti-militant slogans and demanding peace near a police station.
Witnesses said that the speakers at the rally had stressed that ensuring security and eliminating militancy were the state's responsibility. They also accused authorities of failing to act decisively against militants. They said that they wanted to live without fear after years of violence in the region.
A video of the attack emerged on social media.
Chaos erupted as soon as the bomb went off and showed people running to seek safety.
A spokesman for the Khyber provincial emergency service told the AP that the attacker struck dozens who were chanting anti-militant slogans.
According to Khan, the attacker attempted to enter the police station. However, after being stopped by personnel at the main gate, he detonated the explosives.
About 25 people who were critically injured were moved to Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital,
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, excluding the merged districts, recorded 154 terrorism-related deaths in July compared with 75 in June, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).
The area is also the home of Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban in 2012.
The total number of deaths of both security personnel and civilian this in in Pakistan is 819, according to Pakistan’s military data.
