PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants ambushed a vehicle carrying a government administrator in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing him, two of his guards and a passerby, officials said.
The attack took place in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Alam Khan, a local police official. He identified the administrator killed as Shah Wali, who served in Miran Shah near the Afghan border.
The ambush came a day aftera suicide bombing near a police vehiclein the northwestern district of Lakki Marwat killed a senior police officer.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion is likely to fall on thePakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. The group, which is separate from but aligned with Afghanistan's Taliban government, has been blamed by authorities for previous attacks.
Pakistan has seen asteady rise in militant violence, which has strained relations with Afghanistan. Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021, a charge Kabul denies.
Tensions escalated last month after the Taliban governmentaccused Pakistan of carrying out an Oct. 9 drone strikein Kabul. Cross-border clashes followed, killing dozens of soldiers, civilians, and militants beforeQatar brokered a cease-fire on Oct. 19. The truce remains in place, though recent talks between the two sides in Istanbulended without an agreement.
