7 killed in NW Pakistan blast

At least seven people were killed Sunday morning in a blast near a police station in northwestern Pakistan, police said.

A suicide bomber attacked the Saddar police station in the Kohat district of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), district police chief Dilwar Khan said.

Khan told reporters at the site that the bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the police station in Kohat, a main city some 60 kilometers from Peshawar, NWFP capital.

Khan said that 26 people including six policemen were injured who were taken to local hospital.

The blast destroyed building of the police station in Cantonment area of Kohat and also caused damage to nearby buildings including a primary school.

Police said that the school was closed because of weekly holiday on Sunday otherwise the attack could cause more casualties.

Khan said that suicide attacks are reaction to the ongoing military operation against the militants in tribal regions. He said the militants are regularly targeting security forces in frustration.

Bomb disposal experts said that some 250 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. The blast caused a several- feet deep crater near the police station building.

TV footage showed that most parts of the police station and the nearby school building were destroyed.

Police and other law enforcement agencies have arrived on the blast site and cordoned off entire Kohat district.

It is the second attack on the same police station as it was also attacked by a bomber last year. The police station was recently built, police said.

Two vehicles were also destroyed and the blast also caused damage to nearby buildings including a primary school.

The blast at 07:15 am local time (0215 GMT) was heard in the whole city and witnesses said that they saw thick smoke in the air shortly after the blast.

Police said that the police on suspicion tried to stop the vehicle and the bomber exploded the bomb as the police stopped him from approaching the police station.

It is the second suicide attack in the same region in two days.

On Saturday two suicide bombers attacked a registration camp of internally displaced persons (IDPs) near Kohat, killing more than 40 people and injuring over 50 others.

An extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks, which targeted Shiite IDPs from a military operation in Pakistan's Orakzai tribal region.

Source: Xinhua