6 Pakistani Taliban Fighters Killed in North West, 22 Killed in Suicide Bombing Targeting Punjab Minister Khosa, December 15, 2009

6 Pakistani Taliban Fighters Killed in North West, 22 Killed in Suicide Bombing Targeting Punjab Minister Khosa

December 15, 2009

Suicide bomb attack kills 22 in Pakistan: official

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 15, 2009 (Xinhua) --

At least 22 persons were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the house of a minister in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Tuesday, police chief said.

The bomber rammed his explosive-packed car into the house of Dost Muhammad Khosa, the provincial minister for Local Bodies, at the city of Dera Ghazi Khan, police chief Mubarak Ali Athar said.

Athar told reporters that 22 persons were killed and 56 others were injured. Ten are said to be in critical condition.

Athar said that several people were trapped under the rubbles of the collapsed buildings and heavy machinery was brought to pullout the bodies and injured people.

Minister Khosa said that eight members of his family, including two cousins, were among the injured. He said he was not at home at the time of the blast.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast. But a provincial minister Rana Sanaullah blamed suspected Taliban for such attacks. He said that killing of innocent people on the name of religion is condemnable.

The blast destroyed 10 shops and caused damage to several houses, including a mosque, witnesses said.

Earlier Commissioner Hasan Iqbal said that it was a car bomb and the target was the house of the minister and nearby market.

Sources say that the militants may have targeted the house of the minister as his father, Zulfikar Khosa, senior advisor to the Punjab's Chief Minister, organized a conference of religious scholars who issued a statement against suicide attacks.

Zulfikar Khosa, who was in Islamabad at the time of the attack, said he had not received any threats from the militants.

Doctors launched appeal for blood as the local hospitals run short of blood. A large number of people rushed to District Headquarters Hospital to donate blood.

Relatives of the injured said that hospital lack doctors, other medical staff and medicines to treat the injured.

Dera Ghazi Khan is situated in southern parts of Punjab, which has seen violence in the past. In February this year, a suicide bomb attack had killed 24 people and injured up to 50 others in the city.

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the Dera Ghazi Khan Blast. They directed the authorities for provision of immediate relief to the suffered people.

Editor: Han Jingjing

4 militants killed in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 15, 2009 (Xinhua) --

At least four Taliban fighters were killed in security forces operation in northwest Pakistan's Malakand area on Tuesday, local TV channel reported.

Pakistani security forces were informed that some Taliban fighters were hiding in a hillock of Halai in Malakand district, North West Frontier Province. While being surrounded in the hill, the militants opened fierce firing at the forces and four of them were killed in counter attack.

In a search operation in the restive area, the forces detained more than 100 suspects, the private TV ARY News reported.

The troops also captured a large quantity of munitions in the raid.

Pakistan army continued search and clearance operations in Malakand and Swat area after Taliban militants were dispelled to nearby mountains.

More than 1,700 militants have been killed since Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants late April after militants in early April entered the Buner district from the neighboring Swat district and refused to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so.

Editor: Han Jingjing

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