+16 killed in two bomb attacks in NW Pakistan

26 Sep 2009 06:45:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For more stories on Pakistan and Afghanistan, click [nAFPAK])

(Writes through)

By Adil Khan

BANNU, Pakistan, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Two car-bomb blasts killed at least 12 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, evidence militants still have power to strike despite the death of a top Taliban commander last month.

A Taliban suicide bomber crashed his explosives-laden truck into a police station in the town of Bannu, North West Frontier Province, destroying the building and nearby houses and killing six people, police said.

Thirty people, most of them policemen, were wounded.

Shortly afterwards, a bomb planted in a car went off in the carpark of a commercial building close to a military hospital in the provincial capital of Peshawar, killing at least six people.

"The frontside of the building has collapsed. Over two dozen cars have been destroyed," a Reuters witness said.

Qari Hussain, a Taliban commander who trains suicide bombers, called Reuters by telephone to take responsibility for the Bannu attack.

"The government was taking undue advantage of our silence. We will carry out more such attacks and these will be much more powerful," Hussain said, introducing himself as top spokesman of Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud.

Hakimullah was appointed chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban movement of Pakistan, a loose alliance of around 13 militant groups, after the death of his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in a missile strike by a pilotless U.S. drone in South Waziristan on the Afghan border in August.

Militant attacks have tapered off after Mehsud's death but security officials say militants loyal to al Qaeda still pose a serious threat.

Thirty-three people were killed in a car-bomb suicide attack near the garrison town of Kohat this month.

Bannu is gateway to North Waziristan, a volatile tribal region on the Afghan border and a major sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants fighting both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Twelve Afghan militants were killed in a missile strike by a U.S. drone aircraft near the house of an Afghan Taliban commander allied to al Qaeda in North Waziristan late on Thursday night.

Pakistani forces have also made significant gains against the militants after they launched an offensive in northwestern Swat valley in late April, which helped allay international fears about the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally after militants made advances towards the capital, Islamabad.

(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan) (Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider, Faris Ali and Alamgir Bitani, writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Nick Macfie)


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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two car-bomb blasts killed at least 16 people in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, evidence militants still have power to strike despite the death of a top Taliban commander last month.

A suicide bomber sitting in an explosives-laden car threw a hand-grenade toward a crowd of people in the main northwestern city of Peshawar before detonating about 100 kg of explosives in the vehicle.

"Ten people have been killed and 71 wounded, five of them critically," Sahibzada Anis, the top government administrator of the city told Reuters.

The attack took place in the carpark of a commercial building close to a military hospital.

Television footage showed car parts and debris from nearby buildings scattered over the road. An elderly man wearing a blood-stained shirt was seen helping a wounded young woman walking away from the scene of the blast.

"It was terrible. My children are very frightened. All the windows of my house are broken. It was very frightening," Beenish Asad, a housewife living near the site of the blast told Reuters by telephone.

Police said they detained two suspects at the scene.

POLICE BUILDING HIT

The Peshawar attack came hours after a Taliban suicide bomber crashed his explosives-laden truck into a police station in the town of Bannu in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), killing six people. Thirty people, most of them policemen, were wounded.

Bannu is gateway to North Waziristan, a volatile tribal region on the Afghan border and a major sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants fighting both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Qari Hussain, a Taliban commander, called Reuters by telephone to take responsibility for the Bannu attack.

"The government was taking undue advantage of our silence. We will carry out more such attacks and these will be much more powerful," Hussain said.

Militant attacks have tapered off after the death of Pakistani Taliban chief and al Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud in a missile strike by a pilotless U.S. drone in August.

Pakistani forces have made significant gains against the militants after they launched an offensive in northwestern Swat valley in late April, which helped allay international fears about the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally after militants made advances toward the capital, Islamabad.

But government and security officials say militants loyal to al Qaeda still pose a serious threat.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, NWFP information minister, said the attacks were aimed at avenging the government offensive against the militants in Swat.

"We are not scared of these people and we have to extend our operations wherever these terrorists are operating," he told reporters.

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly session, condemned the twin attacks and said "terrorism and extremism would be rooted out from the country with full force."

(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider, Adil Khan and Alamgir Bitani, writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)