4 security officers and 2 schoolchildren killed in bomb and mortar attacks in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police say a roadside bomb has exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and wounding five others. The bombing happened on Wednesday in the South Waziristan district, which is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, local police officer Dilawar Khan said. Later the same day, two schoolchildren were killed when a mortar exploded near them elsewhere in the northwest the previous day. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, has stepped up its assaults in the region since its ally the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.