PAKISTAN: At least five dead after suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi

Record ID: 357201

  • Title: PAKISTAN: At least five dead after suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi
  • Date: 4th February 2008
  • Summary: (BN05) RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN (FEBRUARY 4, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) HAJI SHAUKAT, CAR MECHANIC WHOSE WORKSHOP IS NEARBY BLAST SITE, SAYING: "It was a mini-van which they blew up. The mini-van was their target. People are saying it was a suicide attack. A motorcycle rammed into the mini-van. That is what people are saying. I did not see it myself." SECURITY PERSONN
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA8VJSMCQC1KHGEJUD2698DQ4UA
  • Story Text: A suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani military bus taking medical corps staff to work in the city of Rawalpindi on Monday (February 4) killing at least five people and wounding 25 others, police and military officials said.
    Violence has intensified in Pakistan in recent months with the army battling militants in the northwest and suicide bomb attacks in towns and cities, raising concern about prospects for the nuclear-armed country in the run-up to Feb. 18 elections.
    The bomb went off during the morning rush hour outside the army's National Logistics Cell in the city, where the army has its headquarters.
    "It was a mini-van which they blew up. The mini-van was their target. People are saying it was a suicide attack. A motorcycle rammed into the mini-van. That is what people are saying. I did not see it myself,"
    said Haji Shaukat, a car mechanic who was on his way to his workshop in the vicinity when the blast occurred.
    A military official at the scene also told reporters the bomber was apparently on a motorcycle and rammed into a military vehicle.
    Several vehicles were badly damaged and army helmets were scattered on the road at the site of the blast, about 100 metres (109 yards) from the back of the army headquarters compound, a witness said.
    City police official Basharat Abbasi said five people were killed and about 25 were wounded, 10 seriously.
    It was the seventh suicide bomb blast in Rawalpindi in the past six months.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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