2 killed, 17 injured in northwestern Pakistan explosion

KARACHI, Pakistan

A powerful explosion near a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday killed at least two people, including a child, and injured another 17, police said.

The blast—the latest in a string of similar incidents in recent years—occurred in the Bannu district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police said in a statement.

The bomb was attached to a motorcycle and detonated by remote control.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

Bannu, which borders the restive North Waziristan tribal district, has long been a hotbed of violence, which mainly involves the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of various militant groups.

Pakistan has witnessed a fresh wave of terrorist attacks over the past few years, for which Islamabad blamed TTP militants "based in Afghanistan." Kabul, however, denies the charge.