ISLAMABAD, 25 December 2007 — An umbrella group of militants said yesterday that it was responsible for a suicide attack on a military convoy that killed five civilians and four soldiers in northwestern Pakistan.
The suicide bombing on Sunday evening in the Swat region also wounded 13 civilians and 10 soldiers.
The suicide bomber had rammed his car into a military convoy, the army said.
The attack took place near the town of Mingora in the troubled valley, a former tourist haven that has become a flash point for violence where the military has been battling followers of a hard-line pro-Taleban cleric.
“A suicide bomber in a white car struck a military convoy near Mingora,” chief military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad told AFP.
“That was just a warning shot ... the government should expect more if our demands are not met,” said Maulana Mohammed Umer, a spokesman for the newly formed Tehrik-e-Taleban, a coalition of militants committed to waging holy war against the government.
Media reports last week said the group issued a ten-day ultimatum to the army to end its operation against militants in the Swat Valley.
In a telephone interview with the Associated Press from an unknown location, Umer said the government had ignored the ultimatum, which expired yesterday. The group had also called for the removal of military checkpoints in the volatile tribal areas of northwest Pakistan and the full withdrawal of the army.
The army claims to have killed about 300 militants in operations in Swat since last month.
Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters have extended their influence over tracts of Pakistan’s northwest in the past two years and in recent months have launched several suicide attacks.
Renowned Actor Izhar Qazi Dies
Renowned film and TV actor Izhar Qazi passed away at the age of 52. He acted in over 100 films and numerous TV plays. Izhar made his debut in the early 80s through Fatima Surayya Bajia’s play “Ana” while his last appearance on the mini screen was in the 90s, when he played a vigilante in Syed Noor’s Zakham. But films remained his forte till his early retirement. He acted both in Punjabi and Urdu films.
