Three killed in Pakistan market blast
An explosion at a Pakistani market near the Afghan border killed three people and wounded seven others today, a local official said.
The blast went off in the Khyber, a tribal region where security is of paramount importance to the US because it is the home of a major supply route for Western troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military has mounted several operations in Khyber to drive out Taliban and other Islamist militants.
Local government official Umair Khan said the blast occurred in Khyber’s Tirah Valley, and that its exact cause was not immediately clear.
In recent weeks, several major suicide attacks have shaken Pakistan. At least five people were killed yesterday in the Swat Valley, which is also in Pakistan’s north west.
Last week, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Mohmand tribal region, killing at least 102 people in the deadliest attack in the US-allied nation this year.
The attacks come as Washington is pushing Pakistan to do more to root out militant groups that use its soil to plan attacks in Afghanistan.
