Car blast kills 6, injures 70 in Pakistan

A DEADLY car bomb has killed six and injured 70 in the Pakistani city of Peshawar as the UN appealed for $543 million (€388m) to ease the suffering of nearly two million refugees from the fighting in the north-west.

The developments came as the military said it was encircling Taliban militants in the Swat valley.

The car bomb exploded near a movie theatre in Peshawar, killing at least six people and wounding 70 others, police said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, with scepticism growing about the progress of the month-old army offensive against the Taliban in the north-west, the army flew a handful of reporters from foreign news organisations into Swat yesterday.

From the air, there was little evidence of the fierce fighting and airstrikes the military claims have killed about 1,000 militants as well as some 60 soldiers.

But a senior commander insisted the army was trapping militants in Mingora.

“The noose is tightening around them. Their routes of escape have been cut off,” Major General Sajad Ghani said.

The UN said its appeal would help provide food, schooling and health care to the multitude displaced from the Swat area.