22 killed in suspected suicide attack in Pakistan

A suspected suicide attack at the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office in the town of Mardan in north-west Pakistan has killed at least 22 people, according to international reports.

International reports claim that a faction of the Pakistani Taliban said it carried out the attack, which left more than 30 others wounded.

The BBC reports that the bomber arrived on a motorbike and blew himself up when stopped by a security guard outside the Nadra building, which is usually crowded with people lining up to get ID cards. The BBC added that up to 12kg of explosive material may have been used in the blast.

The attack is one of the deadliest since last December's massacre of 150 pupils and teachers in Peshawar, and the victims are thought to be mostly civillians.

Jamaat-e-Ahrar, which split from the Pakistani Taliban in 2014, said it carried out the attack on what it called the "heathen Pakistan state".

The group, along with others, also claimed responsibility for an explosion that killed more than 50 people at the Wagah border crossing with India in 2014.

Spokesman for Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Mohammad Khurasani, the main faction in the country, said the group did not support attacks on public places, but it has previously claimed responsibility for many attacks on civilians, including the Peshawar school massacre in December 2014.