World | Pakistan
Suicide attack at police station in Swat town claims four lives
A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a police station in northwest Pakistan, killing four personnel and injuring around 30 others, officials said.
- By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
- Published: 23:47 October 16, 2008
Islamabad: A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a police station in northwest Pakistan, killing four personnel and injuring around 30 others, officials said.
The attack came in the early hours of the morning at Mingora, the main town in Swat valley, where army troops have been engaged in operations against militants challenging the government's writ.
Damage
Residents said the powerful explosion, the latest in a wave of suicide attacks in the country, also damaged the building of the Mingora Press Club, offices of media organisations, 200 shops, two mosques and a primary school.
Swat police officer Dilawar Khan Bangash told the media at Mingora that the militants fired rockets at the police station before the suicide bombing took place.
Some body parts of the bomber were found and sent to a laboratory for tests, he said.
He said the dead included three Frontier Constabulary (FC) troops and a police sub-inspector. The injured, who were admitted to Mingora hospital, included 14 FC troops, 13 police officials and two employees of a media organisation. The condition of several personnel was critical.
Strife
Security forces backed by tanks and warplanes have been battling militants in Swat and in neighbouring tribal region of Bajaur near the Afghan border.
According to the United Nations, around 190,000 people have fled the fighting in Bajaur, either across the border to Afghanistan or to other towns in northwest Pakistan. Officials and media say nearly 300,000 people have been displaced from Bajaur.
In September, the five-star Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was wrecked by a suicide truck bombing that left close to 60 people dead and injured more than 200 others.
Elders reach accord
Hopes for peace in Kurram Agency tribal area in northwest Pakistan after a year-long sectarian bloodshed brightened yesterday as elders of the warring tribes signed an agreement after thee days of talks, officials said.
The elders from the tribes met in Islamabad under the supervision of the political administration of the troubled region where recurring bloody clashes involving heavy weapons over the past one year have claimed 1,500 lives and displaced a large number of inhabitants.
The political administration head in Kurram Agency, Mohammad Azam Khan, said the tribes had resolved the main issues, agreeing to exchange prisoners, vacate each other's occupied lands and allow resettlement of families rendered homeless. He said the tribal elders would be back in Kurram area on October 25 and start working jointly to evolve modalities for implementation of the agreement that also lays down heavy monetary penalty for any violation of the pact.
"Hopefully things will now move forward and peace will be restored in the area," the official told reporters.
The mountainous Kurram Agency region, inhabited by Shia and Sunni tribes, lies near the border with Afghanistan and has had a long history of sectarian tensions.
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