Bomb kills 6 people, 3 kids included, in northwestern Pakistan

A local government official said Sunday the bomber triggered his explosives-laden vest near a vehicle on a security patrol in a small market near Miran Shah in North Waziristan late Saturday. “The bomber came by foot and blew himself up when a vehicle of security forces passed by.”

Pakistan’s military confirmed three children aged between four and eleven also died in the explosion.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the terrorist attack and said “murderers of innocent children are enemies of humanity and Islam.” He vowed to bring to justice the perpetrators. “We will not sit in peace until we hunt down these barbarians and those who patronize them.”

There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing.

For years, the region has served as a safe haven for local and foreign militants. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned terrorist outfit based along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, has a long history of plotting strikes in the region. The group is responsible for some of the bloodiest chapters of Pakistan’s recent history.

Gunmen also shot dead two minority Sikhs in Peshawar on Sunday.

Police said it appeared the two Sikhs were targeted on ethnic grounds. Sikhs are a tiny minority in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have been targeted by militants in the past.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, Islamabad has increasingly complained Kabul is offering safe haven to militants conducting attacks in the Pakistani territory.