Six killed in suicide attack in Bannu

Published November 30, 2010

A civilian was also killed and several other local people wounded, police official Raza Khan said. -Photo by AP

PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing six people, including two children, officials said.

The attack occurred in the town of Bannu, which lies close to Pakistan's tribal belt on the Afghan border.

“It was a suicide attack. The bomber came on foot and detonated himself near a police van close to a police station,” said Bannu police chief Iftikhar Khan.

“The death toll is now six. They include two boys aged seven and nine, one police official and three pedestrians. Nineteen people were injured,” Khan told AFP.

Officials had said earlier that four people died.

“Our van was the target of the blast,” police official Raza Khan told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants frequently bomb government security forces in the northwest.

Around 4,000 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan since government forces raided an extremist mosque in Islamabad in 2007. The attacks have been blamed on Taliban and al Qaeda-linked networks.

Opinion

The Dar story continues

The Dar story continues

One wonders what the rationale was for the foreign minister — a highly demanding, full-time job — being assigned various other political responsibilities.

Editorial

Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.
All this talk
Updated 30 Apr, 2024

All this talk

The other parties are equally legitimate stakeholders in the country’s political future, and it must give them due consideration.
Monetary policy
30 Apr, 2024

Monetary policy

ALIGNING its decision with the trend in developed economies, the State Bank has acted wisely by holding its key...
Meaningless appointment
30 Apr, 2024

Meaningless appointment

THE PML-N’s policy of ‘family first’ has once again triggered criticism. The party’s latest move in this...