PAKISTAN: Security remains tight after Peshawar car bomb

Record ID: 1538582

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Security remains tight after Peshawar car bomb
  • Date: 18th May 2009
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HAVING BREAKFAST AT ROADSIDE STALL
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2009 11:30
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA3CTOYJ7T56PQESEJDB045HJ0P
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Security was tight in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday (May 17) where around 11 people were killed and about 30 wounded a day earlier in a suspected car bomb attack.
    The blast came as the Pakistani military is battling Taliban militants in a northwestern valley.
    The bomb hit a passing school bus and four children were among the dead, hospital sources said.
    Residents of the city, where several such attacks have taken place in the past months, were stunned by the latest violence.
    "Whoever does this, whoever murders children, it is not justifiable, it is criminal. Whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, they should not be doing this," said Maalik Nawaz, a local resident.
    "Everybody is suffering because of this.This should not be happening. We are all devastated by it," said another resident Abdullah Jan.
    Peshawar is the capital of North West Frontier Province where security forces are battling Taliban militants in the Swat valley. Swat is about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Peshawar.
    There was no claim of responsibility but officials have said militants could carry out reprisal attacks in response to the military offensive in Swat, launched last week.
    The army launched the offensive more than a week ago to stop the spread of Taliban influence after the collapse of a peace pact the United States had criticised as tantamount to "abdicating" to the militants.
    Militant violence in nuclear-armed Pakistan has surged over the past two years, raising fears for its stability and alarming the United States, which needs Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and bring stability to neighbouring Afghanistan.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register