Twin blasts kill at least 62 in Pakistan
Source: Agencies |
July 10, 2010, Saturday
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A PAIR of suicide bombers struck outside a government office yesterday in a tribal region where the army has fought the Taliban, killing at least 62 people and wounding 111 in one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan this year.
The attack, possibly aimed at some anti-Taliban tribal elders, showed that Islamist militants remain a potent force in the northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, despite army offensives and United States missile strikes aimed at wiping them out.
Washington is watching closely how Pakistan handles its militant crisis, pushing the South Asian country to wage war on Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who use its territory to plan attacks inside Afghanistan.
The bombers detonated their explosives near the Yakaghund village office of Rasool Khan, a deputy administrator of the Mohmand tribal region, who escaped unharmed.
A group of tribal elders, including those involved in setting up militias to fight the Taliban, were in the building at the time. None was hurt, according to Mohmand chief administrator Amjad Ali Khan.
Some 70 to 80 shops were damaged or destroyed, while damage to a prison building allowed 28 prisoners to flee, Rasool Khan said.
One of the bombs appeared fairly small but the other was huge, and they went off within seconds of each other, officials said. At least one bomber was on a motorcycle.
Rasool Khan said 62 people died and 111 were wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a team of gunmen and suicide bombs stormed two mosques of the Ahmadi sect in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 97 people in late May.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack, but Mohmand is one of several areas in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt where Taliban and al-Qaida members are believed to be hiding.
The attack, possibly aimed at some anti-Taliban tribal elders, showed that Islamist militants remain a potent force in the northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, despite army offensives and United States missile strikes aimed at wiping them out.
Washington is watching closely how Pakistan handles its militant crisis, pushing the South Asian country to wage war on Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who use its territory to plan attacks inside Afghanistan.
The bombers detonated their explosives near the Yakaghund village office of Rasool Khan, a deputy administrator of the Mohmand tribal region, who escaped unharmed.
A group of tribal elders, including those involved in setting up militias to fight the Taliban, were in the building at the time. None was hurt, according to Mohmand chief administrator Amjad Ali Khan.
Some 70 to 80 shops were damaged or destroyed, while damage to a prison building allowed 28 prisoners to flee, Rasool Khan said.
One of the bombs appeared fairly small but the other was huge, and they went off within seconds of each other, officials said. At least one bomber was on a motorcycle.
Rasool Khan said 62 people died and 111 were wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a team of gunmen and suicide bombs stormed two mosques of the Ahmadi sect in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 97 people in late May.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack, but Mohmand is one of several areas in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt where Taliban and al-Qaida members are believed to be hiding.
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