Taliban attacks in Pakistan kill 5 police officers, wound 10; PM condemns the ‘cowardly acts’

KARACHI, Pakistan – The Pakistani Taliban killed five police officers in a rocket attack in country’s southwest, authorities and a Taliban spokesman said Friday. Another Taliban attack on a police bus in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi left 10 people wounded.

Militants fired a rocket late Thursday at a vehicle carrying five police officers in the Loralai district of southwestern Baluchistan province, killing all of them, provincial home secretary Akbar Durrani said Friday. Loralai is about 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

On Friday, a roadside bomb struck a bus carrying police officers in the port city of Karachi, wounding 10 people, police officer Mohammad Ali said. The attack took place while the bus travelled through city’s residential area of Quaid-e-Abad.

Authorities suspect the bomb was attached to a motorcycle and detonated remotely, Ali said. Some of the bombing victims were hospitalized in critical condition.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurassani said in statements to reporters that the militant group carried out both attacks.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attacks, saying in a statement that “such cowardly acts” could not weaken his government’s resolve of eliminating terrorism and extremism.

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Associated Press Writer Abdul Sattar contributed to this report from Quetta, Pakistan.