At least 17 people, including three children on their way to school,
have been killed by a suicide car bomber who blew himself up outside a
police station in north-west Pakistan.

By Rob Crilly, Islamabad

About 40 people were also wounded in the attack in Lakki Marwat, in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

It is the third major bombing by militants in less than a week, raising
fears that the Pakistan Taliban has embarked on a fresh offensive to
exploit a government and military distracted by weeks of floods.

President Asif Ali Zardari acknowledged the threat to Pakistan's very
existence as it battled floods and extremism in a statement released on
Monday to coincide with Defence of Pakistan Day.

"On September 6 this year the nation is confronted with an existential
threat from fanatics, zealots and extremists on the one hand and from
the material devastation caused by the history's worst floods on the
other," he said.

"While the former is testing our will to survive and live in accordance
with our values and ideology, the latter is testing our ability,
resourcefulness and resilience to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of
a natural disaster." A police official said Monday's car bomb was driven
into the town's police station. The car collided with a school bus
before hitting the station wall.

The explosion demolished the police station.

"Rescue work is under way, we are searching for policemen trapped under
the rubble," said Mohammad Saleem, a local police officer.

The mountainous tribal areas of north-west Pakistan suffer from chronic
insecurity.

A Pakistani army offensive drove militants from South Waziristan in
October but they remain in control of North Waziristan, where US drones
make regular missile strikes.

A month-long lull in attacks during the worst of the flooding appears to
be at end.

On Friday, a suicide bomber killed at least 59 people at a Shiite Muslim
rally in Quetta, capital of the southwest province of Baluchistan.

That attack came just days after three suicide bombers killed 31 people
and wounded hundreds more during a Shiite mourning procession in Lahore.
The attack was subsequently claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites