Pakistan checkpoint attack kills at least 11, police say

A militant attack on a security check post in northern Pakistan killed at least 11 people and wounded 18 others, police and rescue officials said Saturday.

Saifullah Khan, a police official in Dera Ismail Khan, said a suspected suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the checkpoint at around noon.

The post is jointly operated by police, military and customs personnel. Bilal Faizi from the 1122 rescue services said rescuers recovered 11 bodies and that 18 people were wounded.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Earlier this month, at least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, were killed in an explosion and gun attack at a police headquarters in Kohat, a town in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Pakistan has blamed rising attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on militancy emanating from Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Afghanistan denies Afghan involvement. The accusations have deepened a rift between the two countries, and Pakistan has carried out airstrikes it says target militants on Afghan soil.