South Asia News
LEAD: Explosion at Pakistan bus terminal leaves at least 29 dead
Jan 10, 2012, 7:35 GMT
Peshawar, Pakistan - A bomb exploded at a bus terminal in Pakistan's north-western tribal region near the Afghan border, killing at least 29 people and injuring 64, security officials said.
The blast occurred in the Jamrood Bazar area of Khyber, one of the seven tribal districts where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have hideouts.
'The explosives were packed in a pickup van which was detonated with a remote-controlled device,' said Jamil Khan, a senior security officer in the district.
Officials said 23 bodies and 34 injured had been brought to the at Jamrood Hospital in Khyber district. Six bodies and 30 injured were at a medical centre in Peshawar, capital of north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Mujahid Khan, a spokesman for the private Edhi ambulance service, said three soldiers from the paramilitary Frontier Corps were among the victims.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it targeted members of an anti-Taliban militia from the Zakha Khel tribe.
'These people were receiving regular threats from the Taliban,' the official said.
Tribesmen in various districts have raised militias to assist government forces in actions against the insurgents.
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