Pakistan bombing death toll climbs to 7 after wounded officer dies

• An officer critically wounded in a roadside bombing in northwestern Pakistan targeting police protecting polio vaccination workers has died.
• Three officers remain in critical condition after the bombing in the district of Mamund, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.
• Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic.

An officer who was critically wounded in a roadside bombing that targeted police assigned to protect polio vaccination workers in northwestern Pakistan died in a hospital on Tuesday, raising the death toll from the attack, claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, to seven.

Police said in a statement that at least three officers remained in critical condition after Monday’s bombing in the district of Mamund, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban promptly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, a competing claim late on Monday by the Islamic State group accused the Pakistani Taliban of falsely taking responsibility for the bombing.

SUICIDE BOMBER ATTACKS PAKISTANI POLICE STATION, KILLING AT LEAST 23 OFFICERS AND WOUNDING 32 OTHERS

In the past, the two militant groups — which are both active in the region — have issued competing claims.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic.

3 DEAD IN SOUTHERN PAKISTAN AS FIRE TEARS THROUGH COMMERCIAL BUILDING

Monday’s bombing in Mamund happened after the government began another round of its regular vaccination drives. Islamic militants often target polio teams and police assigned to protect them, claiming falsely that the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

The vaccination drive in Mamund was suspended for a second day Tuesday.