At least 17 killed in bombings and gunfight in northwest Pakistan, with security forces and civilians among the dead as militancy surges.

PESHAWAR: At least 17 people were killed in two bomb attacks and a gunfight in northwest Pakistan.

Officials said the separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday left 14 security personnel and three civilians dead, including a child, with dozens more wounded.

The violence underscores intensifying insurgencies in provinces bordering Afghanistan.

In the first attack, militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a wall near a checkpoint in Bajaur district.

A military statement said the blast killed 11 security personnel and a young girl, causing severe destruction to nearby buildings.

It branded the assault “a cowardly terrorist attack”, blaming an “Indian proxy” group.

Security forces killed a dozen militants as they fled the scene, according to the statement.

A security official told AFP the vehicle hit the wall of a religious college.

In a second attack in Bannu town, a bomb planted in a rickshaw exploded at a police station.

That blast killed two civilians and wounded 17 others.

Elsewhere in Shangla district, three police and three militants were killed during a search operation.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police said the slain militants had been involved in “attacks targeting Chinese nationals”.

Chinese-funded projects in Pakistan have sparked resentment, with citizens frequently coming under attack.

In March last year, five Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide bombing on the Karakoram Highway.

The police statement cited “a persistent threat to the strategic road corridor and Chinese development projects” behind Monday’s operation.

This month, the Islamic State group claimed a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed 31 people.

 The Sun Malaysia