10 killed, 15 injured in suicide attack in Swat valley

Peshawar, 13 Mar: A suicide bomber blew himself up today outside a heavily-guarded court complex in Pakistan's restive northwestern Swat valley killing at least 10 people, including four policemen, and injuring 15 others, a day after multiple blasts in Lahore claimed 45 lives.

Witnesses and police said the bomber came to the court complex in Mingora, the main city of Swat district, in a rickshaw.

As he walked towards the complex, he was spotted by security personnel manning a check post. The bomber detonated his suicide jacket when the security personnel fired at him, district police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq said.

The check post was manned jointly by army soldiers and policemen.

Four policemen were among the 10 people killed in the attack, officials said. Fifteen wounded persons were taken to nearby hospitals.

The powerful blast also destroyed five cars.

Footage on television showed some cars on fire as passers-by carried the injured away from the site of the blast.

Officials said they had found the legs of the bomber, adding that about 15 kg explosives were used in the attack.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Authorities imposed curfew after the explosion. The attack caused panic in Mingora and hotels and shops shut down.

The district courts and the government circuit house, currently occupied by the army, are located a short distance from the site of the blast.

The attack in Swat came a day after the eastern city of Lahore was rocked by seven blasts.

Five low-intensity explosions went off in the space of minutes near a market in Lahore last night, hours after two suicide bombers struck an army convoy, killing 45 people and injuring 100 others.

Pakistan has been rocked by a series of terror attacks since the military launched a massive operation against the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan in October last year.

Hundreds of people have died in these attacks.


(PTI)