- Title: PAKISTAN: Rocket attack kills eight
- Date: 25th July 2007
- Summary: (BN10) BANNU, PAKISTAN (JULY 25, 2007) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HOUSES DAMAGED BY ROCKET FIRE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN MARKET PLACE MAN SHOWING UP PIECE OF ROCKET TO ONLOOKERS
- Embargoed: 9th August 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA3X8CSU87AGHJJC3M206J68QJ9
- Story Text: At least seven people were killed and 30 wounded when Islamist militants fired rockets into Pakistan's northwestern town of Bannu early on Wednesday (JULY 25).
City police officials said four rockets hit Bannu, three of which fell into civilian areas, killing seven people.
31 civilians and seven policemen were wounded.
"We rushed to the site when we heard the rocket fire. We saw smoke coming out of a house. Then the police pushed us back. About five minutes later, as we were watching from a distance, there was another rocket fire, and all of us were injured," an unidentified injured man told Reuters Television at the District Hospital, where many ofthe injured were taken.
Bannu is gateway to the North Waziristan tribal region, bordering Afghanistan, which has been a hotbed of support for al Qaeda-linked militants who have intensified their attacks after scrapping a 10-month-old peace deal with authorities this month.
The attack came a day after a Pakistani Taliban leader blew himself up to avoid arrest by government forces near the Afghan border, officials said.
Abdullah Mehsud, 31, who spent more than 2 years in the Guantanamo Bay prison camp before his release a year ago, was second-in-command of a Pakistani Taliban group headed by Baitullah Mehsud. Baitullah Mehsud's followers have kept up the fight against U.S., NATO and Afghan forces deep inside Afghanistan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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