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Suicide bomb hits Pakistan border | |
(20 minutes later) | |
At least 17 people have been killed and many more injured by a suspected bomb attack close to Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, officials say. | |
The blast hit a tribal police checkpoint at the Torkham border crossing in Pakistan's Khyber Agency. | |
Local police said it appeared that a suicide bomber had struck at sunset as the day's Ramadan fast came to an end. | |
The Khyber Agency is a key autonomous region linking Pakistan's North West Frontier Province to Afghanistan. | The Khyber Agency is a key autonomous region linking Pakistan's North West Frontier Province to Afghanistan. |
Police in the agency are responsible for guarding the famous Khyber Pass, a major trading route connecting Islamabad and Peshawar in Pakistan with Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. | Police in the agency are responsible for guarding the famous Khyber Pass, a major trading route connecting Islamabad and Peshawar in Pakistan with Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. |
The Torkham border post is the main crossing point for border traffic to and from Afghanistan. | |
Taliban militants have carried out attacks against a variety of targets along this route in the past, attacking Nato convoys, Pakistani army patrols, local tribal leaders and security checkpoints. | |
Government bullish | |
Witnesses said the suicide bomber walked into the police offices and blew himself up at a table spread for Iftar, the traditional breaking of the Ramadan fast. | |
"At least 17 personnel have been killed and the figure could rise," one official told the BBC. Those injured were taken to nearby hospitals. | |
The latest attack came hours after a drone attack in South Waziristan killed at least four militants. | |
A militant hideout was targeted in the South Waziristan tribal region, Pakistani intelligence officials said, the same region where a strike in early August killed Pakistan's top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. | |
Earlier, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said recent army successes in Swat, Waziristan and elsewhere had broken the back of the country's insurgency. | |
In a BBC interview, Mr Malik also said Pakistani intelligence reports suggested that many foreign al-Qaeda fighters were now leaving Pakistan for Somalia, while others were returning to their home countries, including Sudan and Yemen. | In a BBC interview, Mr Malik also said Pakistani intelligence reports suggested that many foreign al-Qaeda fighters were now leaving Pakistan for Somalia, while others were returning to their home countries, including Sudan and Yemen. |
Correspondents say Pakistan's military has made significant advances, but there is still a long way to go before the Taliban and al-Qaeda can be described as being defeated. | Correspondents say Pakistan's military has made significant advances, but there is still a long way to go before the Taliban and al-Qaeda can be described as being defeated. |