Suspected suicide bombing at police station kills at least 14 in Pakistan, officials say

At least 14 people, including five police officers and eight civilians, were killed in a suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan's Swat district.

At least 14 ‌people were ​killed in a suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, a rescue ‌group and a regional police official said, as the country battles widening insurgencies.

The explosion took place in the Kabal area of Swat, a district in Pakistan's ‌Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A pro-police rally of local residents was taking place ‌in the same area on Sunday, but it was not immediately clear whether the rally was the intended target.

Fida Hussain, a regional police official, said the victims included five police ⁠officers ​and eight civilians. ⁠The 14th person was believed to be the suicide bomber, he told Reuters. At least 18 ⁠people were wounded, according to a police statement. It said an operation had ​been launched to arrest anyone who may have assisted the attack.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban ⁠Pakistan militant group in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif ⁠in ​a statement expressed "deep grief and sorrow over the suicide blast".

Militancy in Pakistan's border areas has risen sharply in recent months, targeting mainly the ⁠military and police. The Pakistani government blames the Afghan Taliban for the escalation, accusing ⁠it of providing ⁠support to the militants. The Taliban government has denied the accusations.