ISLAMABAD, 10 December 2007 — Twelve people were killed, including two children and three policemen when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a police outpost yesterday in Pakistan’s Swat valley.
The dead have been identified as Abdullah Qureshi, Zafar Ali, Ibrahim, Hanifa Mama, Mohammad Faraz, Saima, Fatima Bibi, two children, and policemen Israr, Hazrat Syed and Qadar Gul.
The bomber who struck at the Nimgole post near Imam Dheri at 12:35 p.m. also died in the attack.
“There’s nothing we could say about the perpetrators before investigating, but involvement by remnants of Fazlullah’s militants can’t be ruled out,” said Amjad Iqbal, who is in charge of the media center at the Swat military command center, adding several other people were injured. It was the latest in a series of suicide attacks on security forces in the past year.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said militants were trying to strike back while on the run, but security forces were using all their resources to clear the area of them.
“Suicide attacks are something that is hard to avoid, but security forces in Swat are in control of the region, and the overall situation in Swat is pretty well under control,” Waheed said.
Meanwhile, three bullet-riddled bodies were found in the Samgota area, some 35 kilometers northwest of Mingora, the main town in Swat.
“Evidence found at the scene suggested the dead men were local militants apparently killed by the local residents of the area,” Iqbal said. “It is a good sign that local people have gotten active against the militants.” The incidents occurred a day after the commander of military operations in Swat said insurgents in the area were on the run but remained dangerous.
Rockets Fired at Air Force Base
Suspected militants fired rockets at an air force base in northwest Pakistan early yesterday and also bombed a girls school but there were no casualties, police said.
Two rockets landed in an open field at Peshawar air force base, while a third one exploded on a road near the area after midnight but caused no damage or casualties, senior police official Mohammad Tahir Khan told AFP.
