ISLAMABAD – Pakistani officials said Sunday militant attacks in the country’s northwest had killed at least eight people, including security force members, children and members of the minority Sikh group.
The deadliest attack occurred in North Waziristan, a volatile district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing three soldiers and three children, according to a military statement. It said the children were aged between 4 and 11 years.
The Pakistani district borders Afghanistan and was a hub of terrorist groups until recently.
“Intelligence agencies are investigating to find out about suicide bomber and his handlers / facilitators,” said the military’s media wing, the Inter Services Public Relations.
Separately, police and witnesses said unknown gunmen shot dead two Sikh shopkeepers in a drive-by shooting in the provincial capital, Peshawar. The assailants managed to flee after the shooting.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for either attack. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the militant violence in a statement.
The Islamic State group has previously claimed attacks on the minority Sikh community.
The outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, known as the Pakistani Taliban, routinely claims attacks against security forces in the Waziristan district and elsewhere in the country.
Pakistani authorities say fugitive TTP leaders direct deadly raids from their sanctuaries across the Afghan border.
Islamabad has been urging Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban to rein in the terrorist group’s activities.
Pakistan and the United States list the TTP as a terrorist organization.
