Pakistani troops kill 11 on minibus

Pakistani paramilitary troops today killed 11 people on a minibus after it failed to stop at a checkpoint in a remote tribal area that authorities have identified as a possible hideout for Osama bin Laden, an army spokesman said.

The killings, which General Shaukat Sultan said occurred only after paramilitary forces were fired on, were sure to raise the anger of fiercely independent tribal leaders already enraged by the presence of troops on their land.

Six other people were injured, including two children, Sultan said.

“It was a terrorist act,” he said. Sixteen people were arrested.

The minibus failed to stop at a roadblock in Zeri Noor, a village just outside of Wana, the main town in tribal South Waziristan and the site of counter-terrorism operations earlier this week that netted 25 suspects - including a man and three women believed to be of Middle Eastern origin.

Sultan said troops had increased their presence in Wana, 190 miles west of the capital, Islamabad, on Friday in part to provide additional security to stave off religious violence during the Muharram holiday.

Allah Dad, a local resident, said the bus was filled mostly with Afghan refugees on their way to the border.

A taxi driving near the minibus was also hit, and the driver killed, he added.

He said as many as 12 people were killed, and seven more injured in the incident.

“They opened fire when the bus didn’t stop,” Dad said. ”There is a lot of tension in the area and a lot of troops. The roads to Afghanistan have been sealed.”

Also today, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to the Pakistani capital.

The bomb exploded prematurely and two people were injured. The man was believed to be heading for a nearby mosque crowded with worshippers, according to officials.

Muharram is a month of mourning for Shiite Muslims, when they recall the seventh-century death of Hussein, grandson of Islam’s prophet, Muhammad.