Blast rocks Red Cross office in Pakistan, operations suspended

PAKISTAN: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has suspended operations in a large area of north-western Pakistan after an overnight bomb attack, a spokesman said Saturday.

No one was hurt but several cars were damaged after an explosive device was lobbed into the car park of the building in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, police said.

"We have suspended our field operations in the province following the blast," ICRC spokesman Raza Hamdani told AFP..Meanwhile suspected militants used explosives to blow a large hole in one of Pakistan's biggest gas pipelines on Saturday, cutting off supplies to the main southwestern city of Quetta, police said.

A Baluchistan government official blamed tribal militants who are fighting for a greater share of the province's rich mineral wealth. "The blast blew up a three feet-long piece of the main pipeline," police officer Tariq Munzoor said.

Quetta, Sunday, AFP