Suicide bomber kills 8 in Pakistan
Source: Agencies |
February 23, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SUICIDE bomber targeting Pakistani security forces set off a blast that ripped through a busy market in the northwestern Swat Valley yesterday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens of others, officials and witnesses said.
The attack in the district capital of Mingora was the latest violence in the restive border region with Afghanistan where the military has been waging offensives against Taliban militants.
Yesterday's explosion occurred at a downtown intersection surrounded by small shops and stalls as at least two vehicles carrying security forces passed by, officials and witnesses said.
The blast ripped out shop fronts and blew out the windows of cars on the street, television footage from the scene showed.
Witness Shiraz Khan said he heard people crying out for help after the blast.
"It was a suicide attack. Its target was security forces," said Major Mishtaq Khan, the army spokesman in Swat. Two soldiers were among the 37 people wounded, he said.
Dr Lal Noor, head of the Saidu Sharif Hospital in Mingora, said the bodies of eight people killed were brought to the facility.
Swat police Chief Mohammad Idrees said items found at the scene including parts of a cell phone and a watch were believed to have come from the suicide bomber.
The Pakistani military launched a major offensive in the mountainous Swat Valley early last year after peace deals with local Taliban collapsed and the militants took control of parts of the region, just four hours' drive from the national capital, Islamabad. The military took back the Swat Valley by mid-2009, but sporadic violence has continued.
The attack in the district capital of Mingora was the latest violence in the restive border region with Afghanistan where the military has been waging offensives against Taliban militants.
Yesterday's explosion occurred at a downtown intersection surrounded by small shops and stalls as at least two vehicles carrying security forces passed by, officials and witnesses said.
The blast ripped out shop fronts and blew out the windows of cars on the street, television footage from the scene showed.
Witness Shiraz Khan said he heard people crying out for help after the blast.
"It was a suicide attack. Its target was security forces," said Major Mishtaq Khan, the army spokesman in Swat. Two soldiers were among the 37 people wounded, he said.
Dr Lal Noor, head of the Saidu Sharif Hospital in Mingora, said the bodies of eight people killed were brought to the facility.
Swat police Chief Mohammad Idrees said items found at the scene including parts of a cell phone and a watch were believed to have come from the suicide bomber.
The Pakistani military launched a major offensive in the mountainous Swat Valley early last year after peace deals with local Taliban collapsed and the militants took control of parts of the region, just four hours' drive from the national capital, Islamabad. The military took back the Swat Valley by mid-2009, but sporadic violence has continued.
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