Militant attacks kill at least 37 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Militants launched a string of bold strikes in Pakistan on Thursday, leaving at least 37 police officers and civilians dead, authorities said.

At least 11 militants also died in the fighting, while others were missing.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the Pakistani Taliban accepted blame for three of the attacks. At least 25 people died in those attacks, which struck police compounds in Lahore. Malik was interviewed by Pakistani television stations.

In the three nearly simultaneous mid-morning assaults, police spokesman Rai Nazar Hayat said, militants stormed Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency along with two police training centers. After entering each facility, the attackers set off explosives and, in some cases, took hostages. Watch a rundown of the day's attacks »

In northwestern Pakistan, a suicide car bomber hit a police station in the Kohat district, killing at least 11 people -- eight civilians and three police, said Kohat Police Chief Dilawr Bangish. A dozen people were wounded.

The offices of several senior police and government officials and several military installations also are nearby.

In Peshawar, a remote control bomb exploded inside a car parked in front of an apartment building.

A hospital official said an 8-year-old boy was killed and eight people -- four women, two men and two children -- were wounded. One of the children, a girl, is in critical condition. The blast took place in a residential area for government officials and employees.

Militant attacks have become increasingly bold in recent days.

At least 41 people were killed and 45 wounded in a blast Monday at a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan. The explosion occurred in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley.

On Saturday, militants attacked the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing 11 military personnel and three civilians, according to the Pakistani military. Nine militants died. A total of 39 hostages were freed Sunday morning after being held by five militants at the army headquarters.

Filed Under: Politic