February 11, 2009 2:25 PM
- Text
Bomb Attack Kills 9 On Pakistan Bus
(AP)
Suspected militants bombed a bus carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine people as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country's tribal belt.
The powerful blast left a massive crater in the middle of a bridge in Bannu and left the burnt-out vehicle completely mangled.
The fresh violence came just over a week after longtime U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf resigned as president, triggering a scramble for power that collapsed Pakistan's governing coalition.
The party long led by slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is now in a position to dominate the government and it is toughening its stance against Islamist extremists.
The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly bold, claiming responsibility for a wave of suicide bombings and gun attacks.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Thursday, though police said militants were the likely culprit. It happened as a bus carrying prisoners crossed a bridge in Bannu, a town in the North West Frontier Province, said Waqas Ahmad, an area police chief.
The dead included police officers and prisoners, said Jalil Khan, another police official. But he could not provide an exact breakdown.
Hours earlier, security forces drove off a Taliban attack on a fort and pounded another band of militants holed up in a health center, officials said Wednesday as fighting spread to new areas in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.
As many as 49 insurgents were reported killed in separate attacks.
Pakistan's 5-month-old government initially sought to calm militant violence by holding peace talks.
But the initiatives have borne little fruit, and U.S. officials have been pressing for tougher action against insurgent groups blamed for rising violence across the border in Afghanistan and in cities further inland.
The powerful blast left a massive crater in the middle of a bridge in Bannu and left the burnt-out vehicle completely mangled.
The fresh violence came just over a week after longtime U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf resigned as president, triggering a scramble for power that collapsed Pakistan's governing coalition.
The party long led by slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is now in a position to dominate the government and it is toughening its stance against Islamist extremists.
The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly bold, claiming responsibility for a wave of suicide bombings and gun attacks.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Thursday, though police said militants were the likely culprit. It happened as a bus carrying prisoners crossed a bridge in Bannu, a town in the North West Frontier Province, said Waqas Ahmad, an area police chief.
The dead included police officers and prisoners, said Jalil Khan, another police official. But he could not provide an exact breakdown.
Hours earlier, security forces drove off a Taliban attack on a fort and pounded another band of militants holed up in a health center, officials said Wednesday as fighting spread to new areas in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.
As many as 49 insurgents were reported killed in separate attacks.
Pakistan's 5-month-old government initially sought to calm militant violence by holding peace talks.
But the initiatives have borne little fruit, and U.S. officials have been pressing for tougher action against insurgent groups blamed for rising violence across the border in Afghanistan and in cities further inland.
Popular Now in World
- A U.S. double-standard for Bahrain?
- "Voluptuous" Ukrainian nurse abandons Qaddafi
- Cockpit error sent 737 into Pacific nose dive
- Booze and bikinis in a new Egypt
- Israel To U.S.: Don't Delay Iraq Attack
- Stephen Hawking: Heaven is "a fairy story"
- Girl with Two Heads Born in Philippines
- 23 women convicted of child pornography in Sweden
- Inside the plans of Capitol bomb suspect
- 130 Doctors Without Borders staff go missing
- GlobalPost: Qaddafi apparently sodomized
- Iran: We can attack U.S. interests "anywhere"
- Iran offers to fund pipeline through Pakistan
- Pakistani fishermen reel in 40-foot whale shark
- Dramatic rescue of passengers on sinking yacht
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
- Villanova cancels gay artist's workshop
- NYC art sale to feature Munch's 'The Scream'
- Wal-Mart's 4Q profits slip; US business rebounding
- NY boy sleeps through theft of dad's running car
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
