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David Cameron in Pakistan Leon Neal/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Pakistan

Car bomb kills 15 as British PM visits Pakistan

The car bomb was parked in a market filled with people, officials said.

A CAR BOMB aimed at a Pakistani security force convoy killed 15 people and wounded 28 others today on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar, an official said.

The attack happened not far from the semi-autonomous tribal belt where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups have bases, as British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the capital Islamabad.

“Now 15 people have died,” said Jamil Shah, spokesman for the government-run Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, adding that 28 were injured.

At least three children were among the dead, and two children and a woman were among those hurt, he added.

Police said most of the victims were civilians because the bomb targeting the Frontier Corps (FC) convoy exploded in a bustling market area.

Car bomb

“The car bomb was parked in a market packed with the general public. When the FC convoy comprising of three vehicles passed by, the bomb exploded and hit a vehicle in the convoy,” police official Shafiullah Khan told AFP.

But many civilians were killed and wounded in the attack because there was a big rush in the market at the time.

Javed Khan, a local administration official, told reporters that one policeman was also among the dead in Badaber, a flashpoint for violence south of Peshawar.

“This is a very sad incident. There have been targeted operations in that area in the last few days and we have arrested many terrorists from that area,” Khan said.

Shops and cars were damaged in the attack, an AFP reporter said. Pieces of human flesh, broken glass, lost shoes and vegetables from nearby carts were flung across the scene, and the seats of damaged cars were stained with blood.

“So far, we have reports that two Frontier Corps soldiers have been injured. We don’t know about any other losses,” a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban frequently target security forces as part of a seven-year domestic insurgency that has killed thousands of Pakistanis.

Pakistan is on the frontline of the US-led war against Al-Qaeda and terror plots against the West have been hatched in its semi-autonomous tribal belt. Pakistani troops have for years been fighting homegrown militants in the northwest.

Speaking in Islamabad, Cameron said the battle against terrorism needed “a tough and uncompromising security response” as well as investment in education and tackling poverty.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack.

“Pakistan has suffered the most in terms of human and financial losses. We are, therefore, resolved to tackle the menace of extremism and terrorism with renewed vigour and close cooperation with our friends,” he said after his talks with Cameron.

Sharif has previously advocated peace talks with the Taliban and criticised US drone strikes, echoing long-held complaints that the US campaign violates national sovereignty.

- © AFP, 2013

Read: Taliban kills nine foreign tourists in the Pakistani Himalayas>

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