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Second deadly attack in 2 days in Pakistan

By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Suicide bomber in burqa detonates vehicle outside police station
  • NEW: All fatalities are civilians, six adults and a child; 25 hurt
  • Many people in Kohat fleeing violence in northwest Pakistan
  • Pakistan has stepped up fight against Taliban in recent weeks
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Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide bomber killed seven people Sunday at a police station in Kohat -- the same northwest Pakistani town where attackers targeted a camp for displaced people and killed at least 41 a day earlier.

In the latest incident, the bomber rammed his vehicle into a police station, killing six adults and one child, said police official Abdullah Khan.

The blast wounded 25 others, including seven police officers, Khan said.

The car was packed with about 250 kg (551 lbs) of explosives that created a 10-foot wide and 4-foot deep crater. It destroyed part of the police station and damaged a nearby school building, Khan said.

Kohat is a town in the North West Frontier Province where the Pakistan military has stepped up its offensive against the Taliban in recent weeks.

The fighting has caused a flood of displaced people to pour into camps. More than 250,000 people are registered as internally displaced people in the towns of Kohat and Hangu after fleeing the fighting between government troops and the Taliban in Orakzai and Kurram, two districts in the country's tribal region.

On Saturday, two separate suicide attacks targeted one such camp as people lined up at a humanitarian assistance registration center, officials said.

At least 41 people were killed; 61 others were wounded, officials said.

Police said both suicide bombers were wearing burqas.

When people came to help those injured in the first blast, a second one went off, wounding and killing more people.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack at the police station on Sunday.

But a spokesman for the militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al almi, told CNN his group took responsibility for the Saturday attacks and that they were in retaliation for two recent Sunni converts.

The spokesman, Umar, told CNN that two months ago, two Shia women from Kachai village in Kohat converted from Shia to Sunni, and were killed by Shia Muslims in their village.

The camp targeted in Saturday's bombings was filled primarily with Shia followers.