Suicide Blast Hits Government Bus Near Pakistani Capital
02 July 2009
Police in Pakistan say at least one person has been killed and 29 wounded after a suicide bomber slammed his motorcycle into a bus carrying government workers.
The attack took place Thursday in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of Islamabad.
Earlier reports indicated as many as six deaths, but the city police chief says officials lowered the number after checking with area hospitals.
Also Thursday, a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle just outside the city of Peshawar, killing two police officers and wounding at least four people.
Peshawar is the main city in northwest Pakistan, where Taliban militants and pro-government forces have been locked in a battle for control of the region.
Just outside Peshawar, in the Khyber region bordering Afghanistan, paramilitary Frontier Corps troops reported killing 28 militants in clashes late Wednesday.
The violence near the capital and in Peshwar comes as Pakistan's army continues to battle Taliban militants both in the turbulent tribal areas along the Afghan border and in the greater Swat valley.
In the past, militants have targeted government and military installations in major cities in retaliation for the security forces' offensives on rural Taliban strongholds.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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