Fresh violence claims 23 lives in Pakistan

PAKISTAN: Fresh violence left 23 people, including four soldiers, dead Saturday in an escalation of the bloody unrest that has rocked Pakistan over the past month.

The military said militants fired a barrage of rockets at security checkposts and then attacked one of them with automatic weapons overnight in a restive tribal district near the Afghan border.

“The miscreants fired 50 to 60 rockets at five posts before attacking one of the posts with automatic weapons in Dosali, in the North Waziristan tribal district,” military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.

Fierce fighting ensued and the troops repelled the attackers, killing 10 rebels, Arshad said, adding that four soldiers also died in the battle. About 50 kilometres (32 miles) to the north, in Parachinar town, a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a taxi stand Saturday, killing nine civilians.

Several cars and shops were also damaged in the attack, which officials linked to the wave of unrest gripping the country since the July 9-10 army raid on the pro-Taliban Red Mosque in the capital Islamabad.

Local administration official Sahibzada Anis said the bomber probably detonated his payload prematurely after he had a roadside accident with another car near the taxi stand on a main road in Parachinar.

“He detonated himself after the accident fearing he could be arrested by the police,” Anis said, adding that authorities had ordered an investigation into the attack.

Local official Mujtaba Asghar said the attack took place at a taxi stand in front of a car showroom in the town, some 240 kilometres (150 miles) west of Islamabad.

“Some public transport vehicles were parked on the road in front of the showroom when the bomber rammed his car and exploded,” said Asghar. The devastating blast damaged several vehicles and five shops.

“Human limbs and pieces of flesh were scattered around the site,” witness Mohammad Sajjad said. A senior doctor at Parachinar’s main government hospital, Hanif Jan, said nine people were killed and 35 wounded, some critically.

“Five people died on the spot while four died in the hospital,” Jan told AFP, adding that two critically wounded people had been moved to a hospital in the provincial capital Peshawar.

Islamabad, Sunday, AFP