PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Lawyers in northwestern Pakistan are boycotting court hearings in protest after a suicide bombing targeted a courthouse the previous day, killing 7 people.

Munib Khan, a member of the regional lawyers' association says Wednesday's protest seeks to force the government to make courts more secure.

A Taliban splinter group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed the bombing on Tuesday in the northwestern town of Tangi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.

The attack was the latest in a wave of militant assaults in the country that has martyred over 125 since last week, including a shrine bombing claimed by Islamic State group, which killed 90.

The bombings have prompted a countrywide crackdown by security forces targeting militants and their hideouts.
Pakistan has been at war with Islamic militants for more than a decade. -AP