Suicide bomber kills 12 outside Islamabad court as Pakistan violence rises

ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Tuesday, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people in the latest of an uptick in violence across the country. Witnesses described mayhem. The blast, which also wounded 27 people, was heard for miles and came at a time of day when the area outside the district court in Islamabad is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors. A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group, claimed responsibility for the attack, in messages to reporters from the group’s leader, Omar Mukkaram Khurasani. However, an influential commander within the group, Sarbakaf Mohmand, also sent messages disavowing any claim to the attack. The group quit the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, after the head of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was killed in a blast in Afghanistan in 2022. Though some members recently rejoined the TTP, others keep their distance, indicating continuing differences among the insurgents. The TPP is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban that leads the neighboring country. Jamaat-u

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