Peshawar - BNA
A Taliban suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a police station in Peshawar Wednesday, flattening the three-storey building and killing four people.
Pakistan''s Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the northwest, their fourth in reprisal for the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US commandos north of Islamabad on May 2. "At least four people including three policemen and one army man in civilian clothes, were killed in the attack," chief of police in Peshawar Liaqat Ali Khan said.
Senior police official Muhammad Ijaz confirmed the death toll. "It was a huge blast which completely destroyed the three-storey building," he said, noting that there were usually 10 to 15 people present at that time in the police station.
Police said another 23 people including nine policemen were wounded in the massive dawn explosion inside a protected military zone in Peshawar, the gateway to Pakistan''s militant-infested tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan.
The razed building housed the police Criminal Investigation Department and was located in the Peshawar Cantonment area just 150 metres (yards) from the US consulate. The area houses military families and security is normally tight. Police said the attack was carried out with a small truck containing at least 200-250 kilograms (440-550 pounds) of explosives, and that body parts were hurled more than 300 metres (yards) away from the blast. Medics said nine policemen were among the wounded and the rest of the injured were civilians, including a child. Last Friday in Peshawar, the Taliban bombed a US consulate convoy using a remote-control device, killing one Pakistani passerby and wounding 11 other people in the first attack on Americans in Pakistan since bin Laden''s death. Late on Sunday, heavily armed Taliban gunmen stormed a naval base in Pakistan''s biggest city Karachi, destroying two US-made surveillance planes and killing 10 personnel in a 17-hour standoff. It was the worst assault on a military base since the army headquarters was besieged in October 2009.
Source : BNA