ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber struck outside the gates of a district court in Islamabad on Tuesday, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people, Pakistan's interior minister said, the latest in an uptick of violence across the country.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the midday blast, which also wounded at least 27 people, but authorities have struggled over the past months with a resurgent Pakistani Taliban.

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Witnesses described scenes of mayhem in the immediate aftermath. The explosion, which was heard for miles away, came at a busy time of day when the area outside the court is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors attending court hearings.

The attacker tried to "enter the court premises but, failing to do so,

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