Suicide bomber in burqa kills 16 in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber disguised in a woman's burqa blew himself up at a busy police checkpost in northwest Pakistan Monday, killing at least 16 people including four policemen, officials said.
The blast happened on the outskirts of Bannu, a key garrison town near Pakistan's troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where the army is battling Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
It was the latest in a string of deadly attacks in Pakistan since government troops stormed the Al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in Islamabad in July, and comes days before President Pervez Musharraf seeks re-election.
"A man disguised in a burqa got out of an autorickshaw when police stopped the vehicle for a search at a checkpoint. He then blew himself up," police officer Asar Islam told AFP.
Examination of remains "confirmed that it was a male suicide bomber" wearing women's clothing, while initial reports of a possible female attacker had been discounted, Bannu police chief Ameer Hamza Mahsud said.
A doctor at the local hospital, Mohammad Usman, also confirmed that the attacker was a man.
Police sources said they had earlier received intelligence that male suicide bombers dressed in all-covering burqas, a common female garment in conservative northwestern Pakistan, would soon launch attacks.
They had beefed up security at all checkpoints and the vehicle carrying the bomber was intercepted as a result, but the attacker blew himself up before they could check it, one source said.
Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said 16 people were killed and 29 were wounded and that authorities were still investigating the blast.
Officials said four policemen and four women were among those killed.
Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad confirmed that it was a suicide blast but dismissed earlier witness reports that the bombing targeted a military convoy passing through the town.
Also on Monday in Bannu more than 20 Pakistan troops went missing, feared kidnapped by militants after a gunfight.
Abdul Nawaz Khan, district officer of the Bannu frontier force, said more than 100 militants had surrounded a post and fired rockets and mortar shells. Communication with the troops had then been lost.
In a separate incident Islamic militants shot dead a paramilitary soldier before dawn in North Waziristan, the most conflict-hit of Pakistan's tribal zones, security officials said.
The rebels raided a checkpost in the border town of Datta Khel and fled in darkness after shooting the trooper, apparently using a gun fitted with a silencer, one official said.
Nearly 300 people have died in attacks in Pakistan blamed on Islamic militants, most of them suicide bombings, since the Red Mosque raid. Most of the attacks have targeted Pakistani security forces.
The mosque standoff also coincided with the breakdown of a controversial peace deal between the government and Islamic militants in the tribal belt.
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden called on Muslims in Pakistan to wage holy war against the government of key US ally Musharraf and his armed forces in a new audio message issued less than two weeks ago.
Musharraf has been under mounting pressure from Washington to tackle militants, especially in the tribal border zones, where US officials have said that Al-Qaeda is regrouping to launch attacks on Western targets.
The president, whose popularity has slumped in recent months, is aiming for re-election for another five-year term in a parliamentary vote on Saturday.
