Taliban group behind suicide attack in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar: A Taliban militant group claimed responsibility on Monday for a suicide bombing that killed at least 11 people at the gate of an army base in Pakistan's volatile northwest.

The attack on Sunday in the city of Mardan was the deadliest in more than two months and could complicate efforts by the new government to reach peace deals with militants. Four soldiers were among the dead.

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar said the attack was carried out by a branch of the militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban in response to a Pakistani military operation in the nearby district of Darra Adam Khel.

"We have said time and again that the Pakistani government should stop such activities because we are in negotiations with the government and such acts can harm these negotiations," he said.

Sunday's bomb went off in a market between a bakery and the gate of the Punjab Regimental Centre in Mardan. Police chief Akhtar Ali Shah said 11 people were killed and 22 wounded.