- Title: PAKISTAN: The wounded from a Pakistan Swat valley blast are taken to hospital
- Date: 13th October 2009
- Summary: PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (OCTOBER 12, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF LADY READING HOSPITAL AMBULANCE ARRIVING 3 .INJURED BEING TAKEN OUT OF AMBULANCE DOCTORS ATTENDING TO PEOPLE INJURED IN SWAT BLAST CLOSE ON INJURED MAN 6 .INJURED MAN'S HANDS DOCTORS PLASTERING INJURED MAN'S LEG POLICEMEN STANDING BESIDE ANOTHER INJURED MAN WIDE OF EMERGENCY WARD INJURED MAN BEING WHEELED
- Embargoed: 28th October 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA29HDA7G1LUJVWUD3DBCUUW4K1
- Story Text: The injured from a suspected suicide attack in Pakistan's Swat Valley region are taken to a hospital in Peshawar.
The injured from a suspected suicide bomb near Pakistan's Swat valley were brought to a hospital in Peshawar on Monday (October 12) evening.
A suspected suicide bomber killed 41 people in an attack on the Pakistani military earlier in the day as the Taliban claimed responsibility for a weekend attack on the army's headquarters.
Militant attacks have intensified over the past week as the army prepares to launch a ground offensive on the al Qaeda-linked fighters' South Waziristan stronghold.
Pakistani Taliban militants linked to al Qaeda have launched numerous attacks on government and foreign targets over the past couple of years killing hundreds of people.
The target of the attack in Shangla district, near the Swat Valley, was a military convoy, police said.
"All of a sudden, the firing started. We had no idea what was happening. Some of us got hit; others crawled into nearby drains. There was absolute confusion; none of us knew what was happening," Sher Zada, an injured resident of Shangla told Reuters Television.
The dead included four soldiers and 28 civilians, officials said. Forty-eight civilians and 5 soldiers were wounded.
Members of the Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda were suspected to have been behind Saturday's attack on army headquarters in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.
Nine militants and three hostages were killed in the violence in Rawalpindi while the number of soldiers killed rose to 11, with the death of three wounded men, a military official said.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed responsibility and threatened more attacks.
The military has been conducting air and artillery strikes in the south Waziristan stronghold of the Taliban for months, while moving troops, blockading the region and trying to split off militant factions.
But a ground offensive, in what could be the army's toughest test since the militants turned on the state, has yet to begin.
About 28,000 troops have been put in place to take on an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban, army officials said earlier. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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