Pakistan suicide bombing kills 26, wounds 45

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a government office in a northwestern Pakistani city on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 45 in an attack claimed by a breakaway Taliban group.

The bombing took place in the city of Mardan, outside the regional office of the National Database and Registration Authority, or NADRA, which issues identity cards, according to senior police Officer Saeed Khan Wazir.

Shortly after the attack, a spokesman for the militant Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group claimed responsibility for the bombing, calling it a “noble act to punish NADRA because it extends support to security forces.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. strongly condemns the attacks and extends its condolences to the families of the victims.

[...] Tuesday, Pakistan executed four convicted militants for involvement in acts of terrorism and arrested 13 local militants, according to officials.

Since the school attack, Pakistan has executed 330 people, most of them convicted criminals, not militants.