DERA ISMAIL KHAN – A bomb rigged to a bicycle exploded in a northwest Pakistani city yesterday, killing at least five people and wounding 20 in the latest attack to rattle the volatile region, police said.
The explosion occurred on a major road in Dera Ismail Khan, and most of the victims were either walking by the parked bicycle or travelling in nearby vehicles, area police chief Saeed Ullah said.
Taliban and al Qaeda militants are suspected in scores of attacks in Pakistan’s northwest regions bordering Afghanistan. Dera Ismail Khan lies near the Waziristan tribal areas, which are insurgent strongholds and favourite targets for US missile strikes.
But the rough and tumble city also has witnessed sectarian violence in the past.
Ullah refused to speculate on the motive behind the latest explosion, saying the investigation was continuing.
Local television channels showed footage of wounded victims being treated at a government hospital, as well as pieces of a bicycle, rickshaw and a damaged car at the scene of the blast.
Elsewhere, a man militants accused of spying for America was found shot dead yesterday in Datta Khel village in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said. The body was missing the right hand, which had been chopped off.
A note pinned to the body claimed the man spied for the US and warned others to ‘learn a lesson from the fate of this man,’ said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.
Militants in the lawless region have killed at least 20 alleged spies since mid-December. – Nampa-AP
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