Civilians killed in Pakistan car-bomb attack
Monday, 01 Dec 2008 09:38
At least eight people killed in suicide car-bomb attack in northwest Pakistan
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At least eight people have been killed in a suicide car-bomb attack in northwest
Pakistan, officials claim.
The attack on Monday is reported to have been aimed at a military checkpoint in the Swat Valley.
"The attacker was riding in a car packed with explosives. He blew up the car a few hundreds metres before the checkpost," a military official was quoted by the al-Jazeera news agency as saying.
Among the dead were seven civilians, who happened to be passing by, and one soldier, the official said.
Reports suggest that a further 49 people were injured in the blast and a curfew has been called in Mingora, the region's main town, as Pakistani security forces search for militants.
The region has been the scene of an insurgency since August last year.