Fatal blast near Pakistan army base

19/05/2008| IslamWeb

At least 11 people have been killed and 22 injured in a suicide bomb attack in Mardan, a city in Pakistan's North West Frontier province.

The blast on Sunday struck a bakery at a market close to the military Punjab Regiment Centre, destroying several shops, a military spokesman told Al Jazeera.

Major-General Athar Abbas, the army's chief spokesman, said four of the dead and four wounded were soldiers guarding the gate of the base, which appeared to have been the target.

The bomber blew himself up when he was stopped by one of the soldiers, Abbas said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The attack was the deadliest in more than two months and could complicate efforts by the new government to reach peace deals with fighters.

Those talks have already been buffeted by a suspected US missile strike that left several dead in a nearby tribal area.

Security in Pakistan has deteriorated significantly since mid-2007, with tribal fighters linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda carrying out bombings and suicide attacks.

More than 600 people have been killed in the violence since the beginning of this year.

Sunday's attack came amid efforts by the new government - sworn in at the end of March - to broker a peace deal with tribes in the semi-autonomous areas bordering Afghanistan, where the violence has been most pronounced.

Wajid Ali Khan, a government official in the North West Frontier Province, condemned the attack as "cowardly".

"We are engaged in efforts for peace and stability in this province and this seemed to be an act to sabotage our efforts," he said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Pakistani volunteers shift a victim of suicide attack at a hospital in Peshawar.

Al-Jazeera