Suicide bomber wounds seven in restive Pakistan province

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - A suicide bomber on Saturday struck a police patrol in a town in northwestern Pakistan, wounding three policemen and four civilians, police said.

The bombing took place at a market in Katalang, 50 km northeast of Peshawar, the capital of restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan.

"At least three policemen and four civilians were wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up close to a police patrol car," local police official Israel Khan told AFP.

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, Mr Khan said, but Taleban militants in the past have carried out several bombings in the region.

Pakistan says more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

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