Twin bombs hit Pakistan police

Up to 15 dead:

PAKISTAN: A double bombing targeted Pakistan police on Thursday killing up to 15 people and wounding 24 others, in the third attack against security personnel in the country’s northwest in 24 hours.

Two explosions, at least one caused by a suicide bomber, went off in quick succession outside a police training centre in Bannu town just as a patrol headed by local police chief Iqbal Marwat was returning, officials said.

Bannu has been a flashpoint for Islamist militants attacking security personnel and civilians in the nuclear-armed country, which lies on the front line of the US-led war against Al-Qaeda.

Police more lightly equipped than army soldiers are frequently targeted by Taliban militants while travelling in exposed vehicles.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in such bomb attacks across Pakistan since July 2007 when government forces besieged Islamists holed up in a radical mosque in a leafy suburb of the capital Islamabad.

“Iqbal Marwat is seriously injured. We are trying to arrange a helicopter to evacuate him to Peshawar. So far there are 15 dead,” Doctor Hafeez told AFP by telephone from the local hospital, giving only one name.

The dead include eight policemen, a child and six civilians, the doctor told AFP, having adjusted an earlier toll of 12 policemen.

Another 24 people were brought in wounded, including two children, and four of the wounded are in a critical condition, he added. There were scenes of panic in the hospital as medics struggled to cope with the numbers of victims, the doctor said.

Peshawar, Friday, AFP