Peshawar- At least nine army troops were killed on Monday in
a suicide attack in north-west Pakistan, officials said.
Army spokesman Major Murad Khan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
that a bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into security
forces' headquarters located in Madyan area of restive Swat valley in
North West Frontier Province.
'Three soldiers were martyred at the spot while six succumbed to
their injuries in the hospital,' he said.
Earlier, thousands of people protested the killing of three
civilians allegedly by army shelling.
The demonstration started after a mortar round hit a house in the
Allah Abad area of Swat district, leaving a women and her two
children dead, local journalist Nisar Ali Khan said.
Residents transported the victims' bodies to the Mangora city,
where the army headquarters is located, some 20 kilometres away. More
than 8,000 people joined them, while thousands gathered on the
streets to express solidarity with the protestors.
As the rally arrived in Mangora, security forces used teargas to
disperse the gathering but angry demonstrators reacted by pelting
state-buildings in the city with stones. Several were injured in the
hours-long clashes.
Swat, a once popular tourist destination, has seen intensive
fighting between government forces and Taliban militants since last
October when Islamabad dispatched thousands of troops to quell the
rebellion of the followers of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
Fazlullah had launched an armed campaign to enforce Taliban rule
in the area. The new government in Islamabad launched peace talks
with militants immediately after it took over in March, but resumed
their offensive a month later when the negotiations failed to bring
peace to the region.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story