17 die in Pakistan suicide attack, prisoners flee jail

Jul 09, 2010 |

IANS

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At least 17 people were killed and over 40 injured on Friday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the civil administrator’s office in a bustling market in restive northwest Pakistan's Mohmand tribal region. The blast damaged a prison housing Taliban guerrillas.

The blast took place in the tribal region's Yakaghund tehsil in lower Mohmand, Dawn News reported.

"Seventeen people have been confirmed dead and more than 50 are injured," DPA quoted senior government official Rasool Khan as saying. "Among the dead are also some children."

The deafening blast also demolished parts of a nearby prison and allowed 28 prisoners to flee, Khan said.

"Some Taliban militants were also there in the prison," he added.

The administrator's office was targeted when a number of people had gathered there to seek redressal of their problems.

The explosion damaged shops in the area.

A curfew was imposed in the area and the key Bajaur-Peshawar road was closed for traffic as rescue operations continued.

The Pakistani army is battling the heavily armed Taliban fighters in Waziristan's mountainous terrain.

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