4>0rings
12-25-2010, 11:06 PM
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/12/25/suicide_blast_in_pakistan_kills_26/
"KHAR, Pakistan — A suicide bombing near a food distribution center killed 26 people in the northwest of the country today, according to a Pakistani official.
Local administrator Sohail Khan said the blast occurred in the town of Khar in the Bajur region close to the Afghan border.
Khan said the distribution center was used by the World Food Program and other agencies to distribute food to the conflict-affected people in the region
The 26 victims were believed to be waiting for food.
The bombing occurred a day after about 150 militants attacked five security posts in an unusually large and coordinated assault close to the Afghan border, sparking hours of fighting that killed 11 soldiers and 24 insurgents, officials said.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants often stage attacks in northwest Pakistan, but the overnight assaults were notable for their size and the level of planning needed. They underlined that insurgents in the tribal areas along the frontier still have significant capabilities despite multiple military offensives in the region since 2008.
The top government official in Mohmand, Amjad Ali Khan, said 11 soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in the fighting.
The troops called in helicopter gunships to help push back the militants, said Major Fazl Ur Rehman, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps security force. The fighting ended by morning.
What little information the army gives out about its operations in the tribal regions is nearly impossible to verify independently because access is restricted and the conflict zones are dangerous. The army says 2,500 of its soldiers have been killed by militants there since 2001.
The army claims to have retaken large areas from the insurgents, but attacks have continued and it has had trouble holding ground. Mohmand has been a trouble spot for years and the focus of multiple army operations.
Its border location makes it a valuable transit point for insurgents seeking to travel to Afghanistan, where US and NATO forces are fighting a related insurgency.
Also yesterday:
■ A remote-controlled bomb rigged to a bike exploded on the outskirts of Quetta city in southwestern Pakistan, killing a police officer and wounding five more, police official Hamid Shakil said. Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan Province, where a long-running insurgent movement that wants greater autonomy for the region has at times targeted security officials.
■ The president of Turkey said his country, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will hold joint military exercises as part of efforts to build trust between Kabul and Islamabad.
The maneuvers will be staged in April, President Abdullah Gul said at the end of a fifth round of Turkish-sponsored talks aimed at reducing tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan over militant attacks along the countries’ lawless border.
Gul, addressing journalists at a joint news conference with the presidents of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, and Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, also said there had been movement toward closer cooperation between the two nations’ intelligence services in combating terrorism.http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/dingbat_story_end_icon.gif''
"KHAR, Pakistan — A suicide bombing near a food distribution center killed 26 people in the northwest of the country today, according to a Pakistani official.
Local administrator Sohail Khan said the blast occurred in the town of Khar in the Bajur region close to the Afghan border.
Khan said the distribution center was used by the World Food Program and other agencies to distribute food to the conflict-affected people in the region
The 26 victims were believed to be waiting for food.
The bombing occurred a day after about 150 militants attacked five security posts in an unusually large and coordinated assault close to the Afghan border, sparking hours of fighting that killed 11 soldiers and 24 insurgents, officials said.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants often stage attacks in northwest Pakistan, but the overnight assaults were notable for their size and the level of planning needed. They underlined that insurgents in the tribal areas along the frontier still have significant capabilities despite multiple military offensives in the region since 2008.
The top government official in Mohmand, Amjad Ali Khan, said 11 soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in the fighting.
The troops called in helicopter gunships to help push back the militants, said Major Fazl Ur Rehman, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps security force. The fighting ended by morning.
What little information the army gives out about its operations in the tribal regions is nearly impossible to verify independently because access is restricted and the conflict zones are dangerous. The army says 2,500 of its soldiers have been killed by militants there since 2001.
The army claims to have retaken large areas from the insurgents, but attacks have continued and it has had trouble holding ground. Mohmand has been a trouble spot for years and the focus of multiple army operations.
Its border location makes it a valuable transit point for insurgents seeking to travel to Afghanistan, where US and NATO forces are fighting a related insurgency.
Also yesterday:
■ A remote-controlled bomb rigged to a bike exploded on the outskirts of Quetta city in southwestern Pakistan, killing a police officer and wounding five more, police official Hamid Shakil said. Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan Province, where a long-running insurgent movement that wants greater autonomy for the region has at times targeted security officials.
■ The president of Turkey said his country, Pakistan, and Afghanistan will hold joint military exercises as part of efforts to build trust between Kabul and Islamabad.
The maneuvers will be staged in April, President Abdullah Gul said at the end of a fifth round of Turkish-sponsored talks aimed at reducing tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan over militant attacks along the countries’ lawless border.
Gul, addressing journalists at a joint news conference with the presidents of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, and Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, also said there had been movement toward closer cooperation between the two nations’ intelligence services in combating terrorism.http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/File-Based_Image_Resource/dingbat_story_end_icon.gif''