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| India-Pakistan |
| Suicide bomber kills 10, wounds 50 in Pakistan |
| 2008-12-03 |
| Pakistan: At least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded on Monday after a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car in a restive northwestern Pakistan valley, officials said. The bombing took place at a security checkpoint in the town of Mingora in the scenic Swat Valley, which has been rocked by a violent campaign to impose a strict version of Islamic law. "Ten people were killed and 50 others were injured in the suicide blast at the checkpost," a security official told AFP. He added that all of those who died were civilians and a lone security official was among the wounded. "The attacker was trying to approach the checkpost after bypassing the queue but his car exploded on the way," the official said. The chief of a local government hospital, Lal Noor, said nine bodies were brought in along with the 50 who were wounded and one of the wounded died at hospital. Gunfights were also reported in several other parts of Swat Valley, the official said. A soldier and a militant were killed at Qambar village near Mingora in a gunfight when militants tried to get 17 of their men released from security forces who had been arrested on Monday, he said. Separately, one militant was killed and several others were injured in a clash with troops outside Mingora, a security official said. He added that authorities on Monday imposed a curfew in Mingora which was lifted in the afternoon and that troops had launched a search operation for militants in the area. The mountainous, snow-capped Swat region is renowned for its ancient Buddhist relics and once attracted large numbers of foreign and local tourists with Pakistan's only ski resort. But since last year it has been beset by violence blamed on pro-Taliban militants. The region has been turned into a battleground since hard-line cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan's Taliban movement, launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Sharia law in the valley. The Pakistani military said in February this year that there remained 400 hardcore militants hiding in Swat and vowed it would not end its offensive in the area until all of them were cleared. However, militant attacks targeting security and government officials, girls' schools and shops have increased in the area over the course of the year. Elsewhere in the border areas, Pakistani jets and artillery killed 15 militants in operations on Monday, an official. The clashes took place in several areas of the Bajaur tribal region where troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with rebels since the launch of an army operation in August. "Pakistani artillery backed by tanks and fighter jets pounded underground bunkers and other hideouts of rebels, killing 15 militants during the last 24 hours," local administration official, Mohammad Jamil told AFP. He said that six militants were killed and three others wounded in artillery fire on Monday in the Nawagai area while nine rebels were killed after fighter jets bombarded their hideouts in Mamoun on Sunday. Jamil added that a woman was also killed when a mortar fired by troops hit her house in Mamoun area on Sunday. Islamabad says the Bajaur operation is proof that it is committed to crushing insurgents. Pakistani military recently said that more than 1,500 rebels have been killed while hundreds more militants have been captured since August. Also on Monday, Taliban militants destroyed a dozen trucks in the Pakistani city of Peshawar containing supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, killing two people in the process, police said. The attack took place early in the morning at a terminal in the northwestern city where trucks carrying supplies for the NATO forces are parked at night. "Two people were killed and 12 trucks loaded with goods for NATO forces were burnt to ashes after Taliban fired three rockets at the terminal," area police official Zahoor Khan told AFP. Two armored personnel carriers, a crane and several goods containers were also burned, he said, and added that first Taliban men fired rockets and then a group of militants came and started fires at the terminal. Pakistan last month barred delivery of sealed containers and oil tankers through the Khyber Pass for a week after Taliban in the rugged lawless area hijacked 15 trucks destined for Afghanistan and looted the vehicles, including two armored vehicles. Pakistan's military chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, vowed last month to keep NATO's supply line to Afghanistan open and reaffirmed support for the alliance's mission there during a visit to the Brussels headquarters of the force. |
| Posted by:Fred |