50 dead in Pakistan blasts
Friday, 21 Dec 2007 08:41
The attack took place in the north-western town of Charsadda near the provincial capital of Peshawar
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More than 50 people have died and hundreds injured after a suicide bomber targeted a crowd offering prayers at a mosque in north-west
Pakistan.
The attack took place in Charsadda, a town 12 miles from the provincial capital of Peshawar, at a mosque where former interior minister Aftab Sherpao was offering Eid prayers.
The bomber was seated a few rows behind the former official, who spearheaded operations targeting Islamic militants across the country.
A rally addressed by Mr Sherpao in April in the same town was also targeted by a suicide bomber.
Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf has dissolved his cabinet and appointed a caretaker government ahead of general elections in the country in January.
Mr Musharraf recently lifted a period of emergency rule in the country that had been imposed to deal with the threat of terrorism and anti-government judges.
He has also launched a major operation in the north-western area of Swat to root out militants loyal to a local cleric. The country's government has claimed to have retaken the town, considered to be a settled region of the country.
This is the fourth bomb attack in a week since the state of emergency was lifted in the south
Asian country. The US ally, which supported the invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan, has seen a marked increase in violence ever since government forces raided a mosque in the country's capital that had been taken over by students demanding the imposition of a strict form of Islam in the country.