At least 17 people were killed in a ‌suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, Reuters reported citing a rescue group and a regional police official.

The explosion took place in the Kabal area of Swat, a district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A ⁠pro-police rally of local residents was taking place in the same area on Sunday, but it was not immediately clear whether the rally was the intended target.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant Islamist group in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 34 people were wounded in the explosion, according to a spokesperson for Rescue 1122.

The rescue official said the death toll rose to 17 from 14 after three victims died in ‌hospital. ⁠The victims included seven police officers and 10 civilians. One of the dead persons was believed to be the suicide bomber, Fida Hussain, a regional police official, told Reuters.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed “deep grief and ⁠sorrow over the suicide blast”.

The police said an operation had been launched to arrest anyone who may have assisted in the attack.