(MENAFN) Explosions rocked a counter-terrorism office in Swat Valley, northwest Pakistan, killing at least eight people and wounding over 50 others, according to police. The cause of the explosions is unclear, and authorities are investigating whether it was a result of an old ammunition store in the office or a militant attack. Most of the dead were police counter-terrorism officers, while a woman and her child who were passing by the building were also killed. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Swat Valley, which was previously under militant control, was cleared in a military operation in 2009. It was also the birthplace of Mullah Fazlullah, the former chief of the Pakistani Taliban, who was killed in an air strike in neighboring Afghanistan in 2018. The militants also shot and wounded Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai in the valley in 2012.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that police and other law enforcement agencies are investigating the explosions to ascertain their cause. Meanwhile, the regional hospital administration said it received several wounded people, some of whom were in critical condition. Live TV footage showed rescue officials and police rushing the bloodied wounded to the hospital.

The incident has raised fears of the resurgence of militancy in the country, which has already been grappling with a rise in violence in recent months.

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