Twelve dead in Pakistan suicide blast

A suicide car bomber struck a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s volatile northwest today, killing at least 12 people, police said.

The blast on the outskirts of Peshawar came as Pakistani MPs voted for a new president and underscored the challenges facing the country’s leaders.

Mohammed Sulman, a top police official, confirmed the death toll and said other people were trapped in the debris from two buildings that were damaged at a nearby market.

Hospital officials said wounded people were pouring in.

The US has pushed Pakistan to crack down on insurgents in its northwest.

The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for several recent suicide bombings they called for revenge for military offensives.

Civilians dug frantically with their hands in hopes of finding survivors.

Television footage showed obliterated vehicles and pieces of the destroyed checkpoint scattered across a large area. The blast left a crater three feet deep.

Nisar Khan, an area police official, said more than 50 people were injured, with some in critical condition. At Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, officials said about 30 wounded people had arrived for treatment.

“They have got multiple wounds,” physician Mohammad Idrees said. “Some of them have their arms and legs broken, and others have got head injuries. We have declared an emergency here.”

Sher Zaman, 15, speaking from a hospital bed, said he was selling fruit from a cart at the market when he heard a large explosion and was knocked down when something hit him in the chest. He said residents quickly gathered and helped transport casualties to hospitals.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.