Story highlights Suicide bombers attack Peshawar and Mardan Friday morning

13 dead in Mardan, one killed on outskirts of Peshawar

Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN) At least 14 people were killed Friday in the latest suicide attacks by a Pakistani Taliban splinter group targeting Christians and lawyers in the country, authorities say.

Both attacks were claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of Pakistan's Tehreek-i Taliban (TTP) -- also known as the Pakistani Taliban -- which has killed scores of people in previous attacks targeting both groups in the country this year.

In the city of Mardan, in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 13 people were killed and another 53 injured in an attack at the city's district courts Friday, District Police Officer Faisal Shehzad told CNN.

The attacker threw a hand grenade at the court gates, then blew blew himself up after security prevented him from entering, Senior Police Superintendent Shafiullah Khan said.

Four of those killed were lawyers, according to Amir Hussain, the president of the Mardan Bar Association.

Read More </s> Gunmen in Pakistan have killed four members of the minority Christian community in the country's southwest, in an attack claimed by Islamic State terrorists.

Police said the victims were traveling in a rickshaw Monday when armed men on a motorcycle stopped them and opened fire. The attack took place in a Christian-majority neighborhood in the city of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province.

Police said the family members, which included three men and a woman, appear to have been targeted because of their faith.

The attack comes a day after Pakistan's Christian community celebrated Easter.

IS took responsibility for the attack through its Amaq News agency.

The terrorist group said its regional affiliate, Khorasan Province, carried out the attack but provided no evidence, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist threats.

Baluchistan province has seen an increase in militant attacks in recent months.

Baluch separatist militants, the outlawed Pakistani Taliban and extremists linked to the Afghan Taliban allegedly operate out of the Pakistani province.

Pakistan authorities said IS loyalists are using bases in "ungoverned" areas of neighboring Afghanistan for attacks against Pakistan.

Islamic State also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a packed church in Quetta last December in which nine worshippers were killed, and dozens more were wounded.
Islamic militants attack Christian sections of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving 13 dead in the city of Mardan.