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Fresh suicide blast hits Pakistan Pakistan takes Taliban stronghold
(about 2 hours later)
At least 26 people have been killed in a suspected suicide bombing in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Pakistani forces say they have seized control of the town of Kaniguram in South Waziristan, one of the Taliban's key regional strongholds.
Police told the BBC two bombers on a motorbike blew themselves up in a busy street, near a queue for a bank. At least 60 people were injured. The army said it had full control of the town, the latest capture in an offensive against militants that began in South Waziristan on 17 October.
The blast struck an area where security is controlled by the military, not far from army headquarters. The offensive has sparked a string of suicide bomb attacks.
Last week, more than 100 people were killed when a huge car bomb ripped through a busy market in Peshawar. The latest came on Monday in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where at least 30 people have been killed.
Similar attacks have killed about 300 people since mid-October, when the army launched an operation against Taliban militants in South Waziristan. Rewards offered
The ongoing violence led the United Nations to announce on Monday that it was withdrawing international staff from north-west Pakistan. Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas, in the capital Islamabad, said that the Kaniguram area had been "completely cleared of terrorists".
He said that troops had cleared the area of both mines and improvised explosive devices after carrying out house-to-house searches.
"We have recovered five truck-loads of ammunition, arms and explosives," he said.
The town was thought to have been home to hundreds of Uzbek militants, led by the hardline Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Encircled by mountains, it also hosts substantial numbers of militants loyal to the Pakistani Taliban, led by Hakimullah Mehsud.
Earlier in the offensive, the military captured his birthplace, the town of Kotkai.
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Two bombers on a bike blew themselves up on a busy Peshawar street
Pakistan's government has offered rewards totalling $5m (£3m) for information leading to the capture of Hakimullah Mehsud, two other Taliban leaders and 15 commanders.
In a front-page advertisement in Pakistan's daily, The News, the largest sum of $600,000 was promised for the capture - dead or alive - of Hakimullah Mehsud.
It said his Tehrik-e-Taliban group was involved in acts of terrorism that were causing the death of innocent Muslims on a daily basis.
'Completely destroyed'
In Rawalpindi, police said two bombers mounted on a motorbike blew themselves up in a busy street, near a bank where people were queuing for their salaries. At least 30 people died and some 60 were injured.
AT THE SCENE Orla Guerin, BBC News, RawalpindiAT THE SCENE Orla Guerin, BBC News, Rawalpindi
Local people said the area was absolutely packed with people at the time the explosion took place. One man came rushing to search for his father who had been going to pick up his pension. That man has not yet been found. His son said he was making a direct appeal to the government: Please, save our lives.Local people said the area was absolutely packed with people at the time the explosion took place. One man came rushing to search for his father who had been going to pick up his pension. That man has not yet been found. His son said he was making a direct appeal to the government: Please, save our lives.
Pakistan has been hit by what feels like a relentless wave of attacks. In spite of the fact the army is conducting a massive assault on Taliban territory in South Waziristan, it is clear the militants have retained the capacity to strike.Pakistan has been hit by what feels like a relentless wave of attacks. In spite of the fact the army is conducting a massive assault on Taliban territory in South Waziristan, it is clear the militants have retained the capacity to strike.
There is a real sense here of being under siege, of being vulnerable. There is a great deal of anxiety and also frustration with the government that the streets cannot be made safer.There is a real sense here of being under siege, of being vulnerable. There is a great deal of anxiety and also frustration with the government that the streets cannot be made safer.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that the decision had been taken "bearing in mind the intense security situation in the region". The blast took place in a car park behind the four-star Shalimar hotel, next to a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan.
Monday's blast took place in a car park behind the four-star Shalimar hotel, next to a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan. Customers had been queuing outside. Police Supt Rana Shahid told BBC Urdu: "The men were probably wearing explosive jackets and the bike was definitely packed with material as well. That was why the explosion was so powerful."
Police Supt Rana Shahid told BBC Urdu: "Two men arrived in the car park on a motorbike and blew themselves up. One survivor, Rizwan Mehmood, said he had come to the bank to pay a traffic fine when the explosion went off.
"The men were probably wearing explosive jackets and the bike was definitely packed with material as well. That was why the explosion was so powerful."
Senior police officer Aslam Tarin told the AFP news agency that parts of an explosives belt had been found in the debris.
One survivor, Rizwan Mehmood, told BBC Urdu he had come to the bank to pay a traffic fine when the explosion went off.
"Just before the blast I saw a woman with three children in a vehicle in the car park," he said."Just before the blast I saw a woman with three children in a vehicle in the car park," he said.
"After the blast, I saw the car they were sitting in, and it was completely destroyed.""After the blast, I saw the car they were sitting in, and it was completely destroyed."
Rao Iqbal, police chief of Rawalpindi, told the BBC he expected the number of casualties to rise.
Wanted, dead or alive
Some of the victims were elderly people who had come to the bank to withdraw pensions, officials said.
In pictures: Rawalpindi bomb Pakistan offers Taliban bounties Bold tactics stun Pakistan Who are the Taliban?
Raja Sher Ali, a marketing manager in a local company, told AFP: "Our building shook as if in an earthquake and when we came out there was smoke everywhere and body parts were thrown into our office."Raja Sher Ali, a marketing manager in a local company, told AFP: "Our building shook as if in an earthquake and when we came out there was smoke everywhere and body parts were thrown into our office."
Another man, Mohammad Saleem, said he had left his child in his car while he went into the bank to collect his salary.Another man, Mohammad Saleem, said he had left his child in his car while he went into the bank to collect his salary.
MILITANT ATTACKS SINCE 5 OCTOBER 28 Oct - At least 118 killed by a car bomb in a market in Peshawar 23 Oct - At least 22 killed in three attacks in northern Pakistan 20 Oct - Eight die in the twin blasts at a university in Islamabad 16 Oct - Twelve die in a bombing in Peshawar 15 Oct - About 40 die in a series of gun and bomb attacks 12 Oct - Security convoy attacked in Swat valley, 41 die 10 Oct - Militants attack Rawalpindi army HQ - 20 killed 9 Oct - At least 50 die in Peshawar suicide blast 5 Oct - Five killed in suicide bomb at UN Islamabad offices In pictures: Rawalpindi bomb Pakistan offers Taliban bounties Bold tactics stun Pakistan Who are the Taliban?
"I ran out from the building... and saw so many dead bodies," he told the Associated Press news agency."I ran out from the building... and saw so many dead bodies," he told the Associated Press news agency.
"Now they're not giving me permission to go and look, and I don't know where my child is.""Now they're not giving me permission to go and look, and I don't know where my child is."
The blast struck just half a kilometre from Pakistan's army headquarters, where militants carried out a deadly attack last month that claimed nearly two dozen lives.The blast struck just half a kilometre from Pakistan's army headquarters, where militants carried out a deadly attack last month that claimed nearly two dozen lives.
Monday's attack came as Pakistan's government offered rewards totalling $5m (£3m) for information leading to the capture of three Taliban leaders and 15 of their commanders. About 300 people have been killed in attacks since mid-October.
In a front-page advertisement in Pakistan's daily, The News, the largest sum of $600,000 was promised for the capture - dead or alive - of the group's leader Hakimullah Mehsud. Last week, more than 100 people were killed when a huge car bomb ripped through a busy market in Peshawar.
It said his Tehrik-e-Taliban group was involved in acts of terrorism that were causing the death of innocent Muslims on a daily basis. The ongoing violence led the United Nations to announce on Monday that it was withdrawing international staff from north-west Pakistan.
Since launching its South Waziristan offensive on 17 October, the military has captured Kotkai, the birthplace of Hakimullah Mehsud. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that the decision had been taken "bearing in mind the intense security situation in the region".
On Sunday the army said it was on the outskirts of Sararogha and Makeen, also strongholds of the Pakistani Taliban leader.
MILITANT ATTACKS SINCE 5 OCTOBER 28 Oct - At least 118 killed by a car bomb in a market in Peshawar 23 Oct - At least 22 killed in three attacks in northern Pakistan 20 Oct - Eight die in the twin blasts at a university in Islamabad 16 Oct - Twelve die in a bombing in Peshawar 15 Oct - About 40 die in a series of gun and bomb attacks 12 Oct - Security convoy attacked in Swat valley, 41 die 10 Oct - Militants attack Rawalpindi army HQ - 20 killed 9 Oct - At least 50 die in Peshawar suicide blast 5 Oct - Five killed in suicide bomb at UN Islamabad offices


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