July 15: In an apparent attack at a security convoy, a suicide bomber on Thursday blew himself in Pakistan’s Mingora city killing at least six and inuring over 58 people.
“The dead and the injured include women and children. The target of the bomber was a security convoy,” a security official said. The blast occurred at central bus stand which is usually a crowded place. The bus stand was teeming with people at the time blast, causing huge number of people to be victims of the blast. “We fear more casualties. Several people are critically injured,” said a security official. The blast was so powerful that at least eight vehicles and nearby 50 shops were also damaged in the blast.
Soon, after the blast, the commercial areas of the city were closed down and unannounced curfew has been clamped in the city. A tip-off regarding the entry of suicide bombers was received some days ago, resulting in stepped up security arrangements in the city.
The Pakistan military launched its biggest operation against the Taliban in Swat in 2009 after a failed attempt at a peace deal that included pledges to impose Islamic law in the area. The operation forced some two million people to flee, but after a few months, the Army said it had taken control and many of the refugees returned home. Still, violence has occasionally flared in Swat, shaking people’s confidence. A handful of targeted killings of anti-Taliban elders in particular has worried those who fear the insurgents are staging a comeback in the valley. In recent weeks, several major suicide attacks have shaken Pakistan.
Last week, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Mohmand tribal region, killing at least 102 people in the deadliest attack in the US-allied nation in 2010. The attacks come as Washington is pushing Pakistan to do even more to root out militant groups that use its soil to plan attacks on Western troops across the border in Afghanistan.
The US has also launched more than 100 missile strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal area along the Afghan border. The attacks have been especially frequent in North Waziristan, the home base of the Al Qaeda-linked group led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj.