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PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A blast early today killed two police offers a day after a suicide bomber killed 19 people outside a courthouse in northwestern Pakistan, the latest attacks in an onslaught by Islamist militants retaliating against an army offensive near the Afghan border.
The bombings brought to eight the number of militant attacks in less than two weeks in and around Peshawar, the largest city in the northwest and the main gateway to the al-Qaida- and Taliban-infested frontier region. The attacks have killed more than 80 people.
Just after midnight, a remote-controlled bomb destroyed a police vehicle in the city today, killing two officers and wounding four others, city police chief Liaquat Ali Khan said.
On Thursday, a man who arrived by taxi was being searched by police officers at the gate of the city’s lower court when he detonated explosives on his body, government official Sahibzada Anees said.
Several damaged motorbikes were strewn about the site, and firefighters sprayed water on a charred, smoking white car.
Dr. Saib Gul of the city’s Lady Reading Hospital said 19 people, including three policemen, were killed and 51 were wounded.
“These attacks will not deter us in our fight against these beasts who are killing our children,” said Bashir Ahmad Bilour, senior minister of the North West Frontier Province.
The army launched its offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan in mid-October. It has retaken many towns in the region, but the militants say they avoided fighting and will now begin a guerrilla campaign.
The United States has welcomed the offensive, but wants the army to do more against the insurgents in the border area blamed for violence across the border in Afghanistan.
Abdul Aziz, a restaurant owner in Peshawar, said business was down because of the rash of attacks but he expressed solidarity with the government’s efforts.
“Today Peshawar is like a fort under attack … each and every road and street of the city is barricaded and there’s no more hustle-bustle at the bazaar,” he said. “But after all these sacrifices, we want the government to end this menace of terrorism once and for all.”
Pakistan officials flagged the offensive in South Waziristan several months before it actually began, which Bilour said allowed the militants to escape and plan the current wave of terror.
Since the beginning of October, more than 400 people have been killed in bombings and militant raids.
