18 killed in suicide bomb attack in NW Pakistan

AFP/Islamabad

A boy who was injured in a roadside remote-control bomb blast, receives medical treatment at a local hospital in Peshawar

Eighteen people were killed and 15 others were wounded when a suicide bomber ploughed his explosives-laden car into a police station in northwest Pakistan yesterday, officials said.

The bomber’s car struck Miryan police station on the outskirts of the town of Bannu and badly damaged a nearby mosque.

"We have received 18 dead bodies and 15 injured,” said Mohamed Rahim, a doctor in Bannu’s main hospital.

District police chief Mohamed Iftikhar said that most of those hurt were police officers and paramilitary personnel.

The attack was immediately claimed by Pakistani Taliban, who said it was to avenge US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt, which borders Afghanistan.

"We claim responsibility for this attack. We will continue such attacks unless the drone attacks are stopped,” Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, speaking from an undisclosed location, told AFP by telephone.

The bomb followed a missile strike by an unmanned aircraft on a militant compound in the North Waziristan region at dawn yesterday, which killed five militants, security officials said.

The US does not officially confirm the controversial drone attacks, which take place with Islamabad’s tacit approval and which US officials say has severely weakened Al Qaeda’s leadership.

In 2010 the campaign doubled missile attacks in the tribal area with around 100 drone strikes killing more than 650 people, according to an AFP tally.

The suicide attack came as US Vice-President Joe Biden was visiting Pakistan and delivered a bold message of support for its key anti-terror ally, telling the country that America is "not the enemy of Islam”.

Also yesterday a bomb planted on the roadside exploded targeting a school van, killing two teachers and injuring eight children in Bashira bad, Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.