Suicide bomber kills seven in Pakistan

Seven people were killed, including two children, when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a police outpost today in Pakistan’s Swat valley, the site of an ongoing military operation against Islamic militants loyal to a fugitive cleric.

The dead from the 12:35pm (0735 Irish time) attack also included the bomber, two civilians and two policemen at the Nimgole post near Imam Dheri, the headquarters of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah, said Amjad Iqbal, who is in charge of the media centre at the Swat military command centre.

Troops captured Fazlullah’s compound on Thursday.

“There’s nothing we could say about the perpetrators before investigating, but involvement by remnants of Fazlullah’s militants can’t be ruled out,” Mr Iqbal said, adding several other people were injured.

The attack occurred a day after the commander of military operations in Swat said insurgents in the area were on the run but remained dangerous.

Militants seized tracts of the Swat valley, a former tourist destination 100 miles from the capital, Islamabad, this summer, raising concern about the spread of Islamic militancy from along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Followers of Fazlullah had fended off security forces sent to reinforce the area’s beleaguered police since July, but have been scattered by a major army operation launched last month.

Major General Nasser Janjua said on Saturday his 20,000-strong force has retaken all the towns seized by the militants, killing 290 of them and capturing 140, while driving a hard-core group of some 400-500 into the Piochar side valley.