Blast in Pakistan Islamic school

13/07/2009| IslamWeb

At least nine people, including seven children, have been killed and dozens wounded after a bomb exploded in an Islamic seminary in Pakistan, police said.

More than a dozen mud-built houses collapsed after the powerful explosion shook the village near Mian Channu in Punjab province on Monday.

The seminary was based in a house in which children were taught the Quran.

"It appears that the blast was caused by some explosives placed inside the house," Kamran Khan, the police chief in the area, said.

A doctor at the town's hospital said at least 60 people were wounded and many more people remained trapped under rubble.

Local television reported that the blast destroyed at least 150 homes.

Remote village

Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said the location of the blast was very remote.

"The village is off the radar. It hasn't been seen as a target worthy of an explosion of this size," our correspondent said.

"The size of the crater suggests the number of explosives used was a massive amount. The only time we've seen craters of that size are in major urban centers.

"There is a theory developing that the village itself was not the target and that this could have been some sort of arms or munitions dump where an explosion happened quite by accident."

The blast comes amid a major offensive by Pakistani troops to drive out Taliban fighters from their strongholds in tribal regions near the Afghan border.

The Taliban has vowed to fight back and launch counter attacks.

PHOTO CAPTION

Pakistani security officials gather at a blast site.

Al-Jazeera