Two killed, nine wounded in further attacks in north-west Pakistan

Jan 30, 2007, 9:30 GMT

Islamabad - Two people were killed and nine policemen were wounded early Tuesday by mortar and small arms fire in the town of Hangu in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

In the latest of a series of bloody attacks in the province, two civilians died in shelling by unknown assailants and nine police on patrol received gunshot wounds, officials told the Geo news channel.

Located on Pakistan's restive tribal belt and the border with Afghanistan, the NWFP has seen a rise in incidents during the current Muharram month of mourning, which is observed mainly by the minority Shiite population.

Eleven people were injured in a rocket strike near a Shiite mosque in the NWFP city of Bannu Monday. Police also said they had recovered explosives from under the stairs in a Shiite mosque in the town of Kohat, located 60 kilometres south of the NWFP capital, Peshawar, according to the BBC.

Security forces in Pakistan were put on heightened alert against sectarian acts of violence during Muharram. But some acts appeared to be directly aimed at police.

A man triggered explosives on his body Monday at a checkpoint in the NWFP city of Dera Ismail Khan, killing himself, a policeman and a worker. Six other apparent suicide bombers with explosive vests were arrested in a special operation in the city, authorities said.

On Saturday, 15 people, including the local chief of police and several other officers, died and dozens were injured in a suicide bombing in the NWFP capital Peshawar before a mourning procession.