August 12, 2008
A POWERFUL bomb blast ripped through a Pakistan air force bus in the northwestern city of Peshawar today, killing 13 people, including a girl and four military officials, police said.
The explosion destroyed the bus and two civilian cars as they passed over a bridge. An AFP photographer saw a large crater in which the mangled wreckage of the bus was lying, while the scene was spattered with blood.
The blast happened at about the same time that legislators in northwest Pakistan approved a no-confidence motion in President Pervez Musharraf, deepening instability ahead of the expected impeachment of the key US ally.
“Thirteen dead bodies and 15 injured have now been brought here,” Khan Abbas, a police official deployed to Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital, told AFP.
The air force vehicle was used for carrying rations and was travelling from the Badaber base to Peshawar when it was hit by the bomb at about 11am (3pm AEST), a Pakistan Air Force spokesman said.
“We don't know whether it was a suicide attack or a roadside bomb,” the spokesman said.
Four air force officials and a four-year-old girl were among the dead, said Mohammad Nisar Ali, another police official at the hospital.
The police chief of North West Frontier Province, Malik Naveed Khan, said the bomb appeared to have been remotely detonated.
“So far, according to my information, it was a security vehicle and an IED (improvised explosive device) was planted under the bridge,” Khan said.
Investigators were seen gathering evidence and material from the blast site. Two damaged motorcycles and bicycles also lay at the scene along with scattered debris, the AFP photographer said.
Pakistani forces are currently engaged in major battles against Taliban militants in the Bajaur tribal area near Peshawar, but it was not immediately clear if the attack was linked.
More than 150 people, most of them militants, have died in the clashes over the past week. Air strikes killed 50 militants alone on Monday, military officials said.
Officials said that four foreign militants - a term usually used to describe Arab al-Qa’ida operatives - were killed in one of the strikes in Bajaur, but that their identities were still being confirmed.
The Taliban have in the past carried out bomb attacks, mainly suicide blasts, targeting security forces in revenge for military operations.
The last major attack in Pakistan was a suicide bombing on July 6 at an Islamist rally to mark the anniversary of an army raid on the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad. That blast killed 19 people.
A wave of suicide attacks over the past year and a half has killed more than 1,000 people in Pakistan.
Pakistan's new government has been under major pressure from the US over its efforts to negotiate with Taliban militants based near the border with Afghanistan.
But on Tuesday, the assembly of North West Frontier Province, based in Peshawar, approved a no-confidence motion in Musharraf, blaming his policies for the violence affecting the region.
The ruling coalition announced last week that it plans to impeach Musharraf.
A POWERFUL bomb blast ripped through a Pakistan air force bus in the northwestern city of Peshawar today, killing 13 people, including a girl and four military officials, police said.
The explosion destroyed the bus and two civilian cars as they passed over a bridge. An AFP photographer saw a large crater in which the mangled wreckage of the bus was lying, while the scene was spattered with blood.
The blast happened at about the same time that legislators in northwest Pakistan approved a no-confidence motion in President Pervez Musharraf, deepening instability ahead of the expected impeachment of the key US ally.
“Thirteen dead bodies and 15 injured have now been brought here,” Khan Abbas, a police official deployed to Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital, told AFP.
The air force vehicle was used for carrying rations and was travelling from the Badaber base to Peshawar when it was hit by the bomb at about 11am (3pm AEST), a Pakistan Air Force spokesman said.
“We don't know whether it was a suicide attack or a roadside bomb,” the spokesman said.
Four air force officials and a four-year-old girl were among the dead, said Mohammad Nisar Ali, another police official at the hospital.
The police chief of North West Frontier Province, Malik Naveed Khan, said the bomb appeared to have been remotely detonated.
“So far, according to my information, it was a security vehicle and an IED (improvised explosive device) was planted under the bridge,” Khan said.
Investigators were seen gathering evidence and material from the blast site. Two damaged motorcycles and bicycles also lay at the scene along with scattered debris, the AFP photographer said.
Pakistani forces are currently engaged in major battles against Taliban militants in the Bajaur tribal area near Peshawar, but it was not immediately clear if the attack was linked.
More than 150 people, most of them militants, have died in the clashes over the past week. Air strikes killed 50 militants alone on Monday, military officials said.
Officials said that four foreign militants - a term usually used to describe Arab al-Qa’ida operatives - were killed in one of the strikes in Bajaur, but that their identities were still being confirmed.
The Taliban have in the past carried out bomb attacks, mainly suicide blasts, targeting security forces in revenge for military operations.
The last major attack in Pakistan was a suicide bombing on July 6 at an Islamist rally to mark the anniversary of an army raid on the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad. That blast killed 19 people.
A wave of suicide attacks over the past year and a half has killed more than 1,000 people in Pakistan.
Pakistan's new government has been under major pressure from the US over its efforts to negotiate with Taliban militants based near the border with Afghanistan.
But on Tuesday, the assembly of North West Frontier Province, based in Peshawar, approved a no-confidence motion in Musharraf, blaming his policies for the violence affecting the region.
The ruling coalition announced last week that it plans to impeach Musharraf.
Source: The Australian
Muslims Against Sharia unequivocally condemn Peshawar bombing.
Our thoughts and prayers with the victims and their families.
May the perpetrators of these atrocities be caught swiftly and sent to hell, where they belong.
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