13/7 Mumbai blasts case cracked

13/7 Mumbai blasts case cracked, 2 from Bihar arrested: ATS

Maharashtra ATS on Monday claimed to have made a major breakthrough in the July 13 triple blasts in the city last year that claimed 27 lives, with the arrest of two of the accused hailing from Bihar.

Naqi Ahmed Wasi Ahmed Sheikh (22) and Nadeem Akhtar Ashfaq Sheikh (23) were arrested on January 12 but the mastermind of the crime Yasin Bhatkal, a top Indian Mujahideen operative, and the planters of the IEDs used in the blasts are still evading arrest, Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria told reporters.

Maria said while Naqi came to Mumbai in September 2010, Nadeem, his co-villager, from Bihar's Darbhanga district, was living in Antop Hill area of the city.

Naqi, according to Maria, came in touch with Ahmed Zarar Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal alias Imran in 2008.

He said Nadeem was called to Delhi by Bhatkal and handed over a cloth packet containing the explosive and detonators used in the blast that was handed over to Naqi.

Naqi, he said, was given Rs 1.5 lakh by Bhatkal as commission for the crime in which at least Rs 10 lakh, received through hawala channels, was used. He said Naqi and Nadeem had stolen two Activa scooters that were used for carrying out the explosions. Two motorcycles also stolen by them and kept for future use have also been recovered from Bihar.

Rubbishing media reports that Naqi was innocent and that he was being tortured in police custody, Maria said he was aware of Bhatkal antecedents.

Naqi not only assisted Bhatkal in scouting for an apartment in Habib Building in Byculla but also paid the money for accommodation, the ATS chief said.

Maria said while Bhatkal and two others, who had planted the explosives and whose names he refused to divulge lest it would hamper investigations, were eluding the police dragnet, another accused in the case--Haroon Rashid Naik--had already been arrested by ATS in a counterfeit currency case.

Naik, he said, had been arrested in August last year and ATS would on Monday seek a transfer warrant for him from the court. "We need the custody of Naik from Mumbra for investigation of economic trail and conspiracy in the case," he said.

Maria trashed media reports that Bhatkal was in the city for several months after the blasts and that he was to visit the landlady of the Byculla apartment when he got the whiff of impending action by Mumbai police due to lack of coordination between Delhi police's special cell and Maharashtra ATS and escaped.

Bomb Blast in Turkish capital

Blast kills 3, wounds 15 in Turkish capital

News Updates! A suspected car bomb went off near a high school in the Turkish capital on Tuesday, igniting other vehicles and killing three people in a nearby building, the interior minister said. The blast also wounded 15 people.

The explosion was "highly likely to be a terrorist attack," said Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin. "The explosion occurred in a place where car and people traffic is intense. It looks like the intension was to inflict as much harm to people as possible."

The parked car was purchased a week ago but it was not yet registered.

Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey have recently escalated their attacks on Turkish targets, but Islamist and leftist militants have also carried out some bombings in this NATO member and U.S. ally.

Kurdish rebels were blamed for a small bomb attack in the Mediterranean resort town of Kemer that wounded 10 people, including four Swedes on Aug. 28. Turkish warplanes bombed suspected rebel hideouts in northern Iraq last month in response to the escalation of attacks by the guerrillas.

The bodies of three people were found in a building near the car that exploded in downtown Ankara, Sahin said. Fifteen people were also wounded, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said police had information that a bomb was planted on the car, although other officials quoted a witness as saying that a burning gas canister had been tossed onto the vehicle.

The explosion sparked a series of blasts in adjacent vehicles.

Reyhan Altintas, a neighborhood administrator, said she rushed outside after hearing a loud blast. It was followed by three other blasts, apparently caused by cars catching fire.

At least five of the wounded were in serious condition, said Sahin.

"I had never heard anything like it in my life," witness Adnan Yavuz said of the initial blast. "Then came another explosion and parts of a car dropped from the tree."

The wounded were initially treated in the school yard before medics rushed to the scene and whisked them away to hospitals, NTV television said. Authorities evacuated the school as worried parents rushed to pick up their children.

Dave Lindahl

Pakistan naval base siege ends

16 die as Pakistan naval base siege ends

Pakistani security forces Monday ended a 15-hour siege here of a key naval base that terrorists stormed overnight, sparking fierce battles that left 16 people dead, officials said.

The dead included 12 security personnel and four of the attackers who exploded themselves at PNS Mehran naval base in one of the worst and most aduacious of terror attacks in Pakistan in recent times.

Four terrorists were arrested, media reports said. The attack targeted P-3C Orion aircraft, two of which were destroyed.

The terrorists reportedly took hostage a number of people, including Chinese military personnel. Their fate was not immediately known.

A large number of terrorists, their number estimated between 10 and 25, stormed the base Sunday night, Xinhua reported citing local media reports. They were armed with automatic weapons, rocket launchers and grenades.

The mayhem began in no time as the armed men scattered in the complex with one aim: kill and destroy.

Over 20 bomb explosions quickly shook the otherwise heavily-guarded naval facility Sunday night.

Four equally powerful blasts were also heard at the nearby air force base. Television footage showed thick smoke billowing from the area.

Fierce gunfights raged through the night as reinforcements of security forces rushed to the base.

The Pakistani Taliban, which is opposed to Islamabad's pro-US policies, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, Xinhua said.

At one point, the terrorist retreated into a building within the base holding hostages as human shield to fight back the navy commandos, Rangers and security personnel.

Pakistani commandos supported by helicopters battled the terrorists.

Four militants who had camouflaged themselves in dark outfits were arrested, Geo News reported.

After 15 hours of intermittent fighting, the security forces managed to regain control of the complex, BBC reported.

A police official said 12 security personnel were killed.

The terror attack comes within three weeks of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's killing May 2 in Abbottabad by US commandos. The Taliban had vowed retaliation.

Earlier reports said four foreigners were killed. They were believed to be US engineers working at the air force base.

But a spokesperson from the US consulate denied the report.

It was the third militant attack on the navy in Karachi in a month.

At least five people were killed and 18 injured in a bombing of a Pakistan Navy bus here April 28, two days after twin blasts blew up two naval buses killing four people.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack.

On May 13, Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up near a paramilitary training centre in Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing over 80 newly-trained personnel.

Last week, a Saudi consulate official was gunned down in Karachi.

Iraq suicide car bombs kill nine

Two suicide car bombs have exploded in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 20.

A security official said the cars were queuing to enter the Green Zone when they exploded. Iraqi soldiers were among the casualties.

The heavily fortified Green Zone houses many foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices.

A BBC correspondent in Baghdad says these are the first suicide bombings in the capital this year.

Violence in Iraq has dropped significantly from the height of the insurgency five years ago, but almost daily shootings and killings still continue.

The attacks come amid preparations for an Arab summit in the international zone next month, though this is widely expected to be postponed because of the turmoil in the Arab world.

Belarus arrests Minsk bombing suspects

BELARUS has arrested two suspects over the attack on the Minsk metro that killed 12, including a man suspected of planting the bomb at the station, deputy prosecutor general Andrei Shved said on Wednesday.

"The first investigative actions are being carried out on these two people with lawyers. The first confessions have been obtained," he said, quoted by the Interfax-Zapad news agency.

"With a great deal of probability we can assume that one of the detained is the perpetrator," he added, pointing to video evidence from the Minsk metro.

The Oktyabrskaya subway station hit by the blast on Monday is within 100m of the presidential administration building.

Yesterday the Health Ministry said that 126 victims of the blast were hospitalised, and 22 of them remain in critical condition.

Viktor Sirenko, the chief doctor of the Minsk Emergency Hospital, said many victims had their legs or arms missing.

President Alexander Lukashenko suggested outside forces could be behind the blast.

Bomb blast kills seven in NW Pakistan

Suicide bomber kills seven in NW Pakistan: police

A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up near a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday killing seven people and wounding 16 others, police said.

"The bomber came on a motorbike and detonated himself close to Ambar check post near Swabi town," local police chief Abdullah Jan said.

He said the checkpoint was close to a camp set up by a religious political party for a public meeting in Swabi, which is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Peshawar.

"The death toll has gone up to seven including a police official," he said.

"We have recovered the body parts of the suicide bomber."

Another police officer Ejaz Ali confirmed the toll and put the number of wounded at 16.

The meeting was planned by the hardline Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) party led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The event was cancelled after the bombing.

Rehman was on his way to the venue when the blast happened, party spokesman Jalil Jan told AFP.

"He is safe and the meeting has been cancelled," Jan told AFP. "We can't immediately identify the attackers. We don't know who is involved. But we can say the target appears to be the JUI leadership.

"Six party supporters were martyred and seven wounded," he said.

Police official Hayatullah Khan told AFP that Rehman's convoy was set to enter the town when the blast hit.

"We were lined up and party members came out from a nearby reception camp.

Suddenly there was a huge blast amid welcome slogans by party workers. Shrapnel hit me and I received injuries to my head and leg," he said.

The northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province bordering Afghanistan has frequently been the target of militant violence.

More than 4,000 people have died in suicide and bomb attacks throughout Pakistan since government forces launched an offensive against militants in a mosque in Islamabad in 2007.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants launch almost daily attacks across northwest Pakistan and the tribal belt that Washington has branded the most dangerous place on Earth.

Blasts at Yemen weapons factory

A blast at an ammunition factory in southern Yemen has killed at least five people and wounded 50, reports say.

The explosion shook the southern Yemeni town of Jaar and could be heard up to 10 miles (15km) away.

Reports said the plant had recently been seized by militants who, on Sunday, clashed with government forces in the town.

Officials said they expected the death toll to rise as bodies were still being recovered from the scene of the blast.

Bomb blast in Jerusalem bus station

British woman killed in Jerusalem bus station bomb

Jerusalem News Updates! A British woman was the only victim killed in a bomb blast near a Jerusalem bus station yesterday.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: “We can confirm a British National was killed in the bus bomb in Jerusalem on 23 March. We are providing consular assistance."

A woman was killed and more than 30 people wounded when a bomb ripped through a bus in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

The Briton died in an ambulance on her way to hospital. It is not clear whether the woman was a tourist or lived in Israel. The bomb was the first in more than six years.

Two kilos of explosives were positioned close to the central bus station in Jerusalem, according to reports. The bomb is thought to have been packed with metal causing shrapnel injuries to people as they queued for buses.

Two buses had stopped to pick up passengers at the time of the explosion. The 174 bus was particularly badly hit.

It came hours after militants vowed revenge for two deadly Israeli raids on Gaza.

The bombing also came several hours after two Grad rockets fired by Gaza militants hit the southern city of Beersheva.

Following the attack, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that Israel would act "aggressively, responsibly and wisely" in wake of a recent upsurge in violence.

Israeli jets staged three air strikes over Gaza overnight but there were no casualties, Palestinian sources said early this morning.

Two of the raids targeted the city of Gaza while another was aimed at a tunnel near the Egyptian frontier at Rafah, they said.

An Israeli defence spokeswoman confirmed the sorties, saying: "The air force targeted two tunnels at the south of the Gaza Strip and a terrorist target in Gaza."

"These raids followed 25 rocket hits, including four Grads, on Israel since Saturday."

Bomb explosion near Raj Bhavan

Bomb explosion during President’s visit to Manipur

A powerful bomb explosion took place near the Raj Bhavan here, where President Pratibha Patil is staying, officials said on Friday.

The bomb, allegedly planted by militants, went off at 11 p.m. on Thursday night at Ananda Singh Academy, about 2 km from Raj Bhavan, where the President was staying, they said.

No casualty was, however, reported in the blast.

Ms. Patil is on a two-day visit to Manipur.

Police and central forces are conducting round the clock patrolling and forces were deployed at all vulnerable points.

President will on Friday lay the foundation stone of an Information Technology Park at Mantripukhri near here, officials said.

Ms. Patil would also meet representatives of some social organisations before leaving for Delhi at 11 a.m., the sources said.

Meanwhile, normal life was paralysed in the city following the 40-hour strike called by Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF) to boycott the President’s visit.

The MPLF, formed by three major insurgent organisations of the United National Liberation Front, Revolutionary People’s Front and People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak has been fighting for an ‘independent Manipur’

Dave Lindahl

Suicide bombing kills 34 in Peshawar funeral

At least 34 mourners were killed and 42 injured Wednesday in a suicide attack at a funeral near Pakistan's Peshawar city, media reports said.

The blast occurred in Adezai area of Peshawar city, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, Geo News reported.

About 150 people were attending the funeral of the wife of a pro-government tribal leader when the explosion took place in Adezai area, around 20 km southeast of Peshawar, DPA said.

Adezai is a village where a militia group called Aman Lashkar is supporting the government in the fight against the Taliban, the report said.

'It was a suicide attack,' said Siraj Ahmad, a senior government official in Peshawar. 'Thirty-four people are dead and 42 injured.'

A witness told Geo television that the lone suicide bomber was about 35 to 40 years of age and he shouted 'God is great' before detonating the explosives.

Another witness said the blast threw him to the ground. 'When I got up I saw there were bodies lying everywhere.'

The suicide attack came a day after a car bomb near the office of the military's Inter-Services Intelligence agency killed 26 people and injured 131 in Faisalabad, a key industrial city in Punjab province.

The Taliban took responsibility for the Tuesday's bombing.

Nasim Sadiq, the top government official in Faisalabad, said Wednesday that around 200 kg of explosives were detonated by remote control.

'They had parked the vehicle near the compressor of a CNG (compressed natural gas) station and wanted to blow up the compressor,' Sadiq was quoted as saying.

Baghdad Suicide Bomb Blast

10 officers die in Baghdad suicide blast.

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb on Monday morning at a police station north of Baghdad, killing at least 10 police officers, police and health officials said.

Monday's attack in Samarra, 95km north of Baghdad, comes less than 10 days after a suicide bomber targeted Shi'ite pilgrims returning from a religious ceremony at the city's al-Askari mosque. Thirty-six were killed in that attack.

Two police officers said the Monday morning suicide bombing also wounded at least 22 people. A hospital official confirmed the casualty figures.

Samarra has been a flashpoint spot ever since a 2006 attack by al-Qaida destroyed part of the golden-domed mosque in the city revered by Shi'ites. The event sparked a vicious bloodbath between the country's Shi'ite majority and Sunni minority that swept through the country.

Shi'ite pilgrims flocked to the site earlier this month to celebrate an important religious holiday, the death of the imam for whom the mosque is named, and extra forces were brought in to beef up security in the city.

Also Monday, police and hospital officials in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah said a teenager died and 47 were wounded during overnight protests.

Around 20 shot

A Sulaimaniyah police official said that around 2 000 people took part in scattered demonstrations around the city, 260km northeast of Baghdad, late on Sunday. Many Kurds are frustrated by the tight grip with which the two ruling parties control the Kurdish autonomous region.

The official said Kurdish security forces opened fire in the air to disperse the crowd.

Hospital officials said around 20 people were shot, including a 17-year-old who later died of his wounds. The others were hit by flying stones.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The Kurdish region has been spared much of the violence that has consumed the rest of Iraq since the US-led invasion, and the area attracts many foreign businesses looking to make a foothold in the country.

But Kurds have become fed up by the lack of jobs and economic opportunity for people not affiliated with the two main political parties.

Last Thursday, two people were killed and nearly 50 injured in a protest at the Sulaimaniyah headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Since then, demonstrators have thronged the city's streets.

Dave Lindahl

Afghan Khost province bomb blast

Eight dead in Afghan suicide car bomb.
Eight people were killed and 30 others injured in a suicide car bombing in Khost, eastern Afghanistan, police said, updating an earlier toll and warning it could rise further.

A suicide car bomb went off Friday morning in Khost city capital of Khost province, 150 km southeast of capital Kabul, killing nine people and injuring over 30 others, a provincial official said.

"So far, I can confirm nine people including a policeman were killed and over 30 others injured in the blast," Amir Badshah Mangal, Director of Public Health Department in the province told Xinhua.

He said many women and children were also among the killed and wounded persons, adding that many of seriously wounded are receiving treatment in the provincial capital hospital.

The death toll could rise, as many injured remain in critical conditions, he added.

The suicide bomber was also killed in the explosion.

however, local residents said that the bomber had the intention of attacking the house of Khost governor, nearly 150 meters a way from explosion site.

A witness told Xinhua's reporter that the blast damaged several shops and houses around the blast site in west of Khost city.

Nor group or individuals have not claimed responsibility for attack while Taliban militants have been behind most suicide and roadside bomb attacks across the war-ravaged country.

The eastern Khost and neighboring Paktika province has been the scene of Taliban-led insurgency over the past couple of years.

Dave Lindahl Scam

Bomb blast in Northwest Pakistan

Bomb blast in Northwest Pak, 1 Policeman killed, 3 injured

Bomb blast near security checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwest city of Peshawar, One Policeman killed, three others injured.

Although nobody was hurt when the first bomb went through the checkpoint, a second remote-controlled bomb detonated as police rushed to the scene and struck them, the BBC reports.

The police checkpoint had been abandoned following a bomb attack last year.

No terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban have killed hundreds of people in the region in recent years.

Last week, at least nine people were killed in a bomb attack near a police station in Peshawar.

Dave Lindahl Scam

Chehlum procession bomb blast in Lahore

5 killed, several hurt in Chehlum procession bomb blast in Lahore.

At least five people killed and score of others sustained injuries in a bomb blast in Hazrat Hussain’s (AS) Chehlum procession in Lahore on Tuesday (today).

According to initial report provided by the police, a bomb blasted in Hazrat Hussain’s (AS) Chehlum procession in front of Karbal Gamey Shah near Urdu Baazar area of Lahore.

The police and rescue teams rushed to the blast site and cordoned off the area. Many high officials also reached on the scene.

The dead bodies and injured were moved to Mayo and other near by hospitals. SAMAA

Dave Lindahl Scam

Roadside Bomb Blast in Afghanistan

Roadside bomb kills atleast 13 peoples in Eastern Afghanistan.

A motorized rickshaw packed with civilian passengers struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday, triggering a blast that killed all 13 people in the vehicle.

The blast happened in Khoshamad district of eastern Paktika province, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, adding that women and children were among the dead. Further details were not immediately available.

Civilians are increasingly the victims of the escalating Afghan war, particular from planted bombs on roads and in markets. A recent United Nations report said it documented 2,412 conflict-related civilian casualties in the first 10 months of 2010.

More than three-quarters of them were caused by militant activity, a 25 percent increase from the same period in 2009, the report said. At the same time, civilian casualties attributed to pro-government forces decreased.

Also Wednesday, a roadside bomb in southern Zabul province killed four border police officers who were patrolling the area, said Gen. Abdul Raziq, the commander for border police in the south. He said the officers struck the bomb in their truck while driving through Shamulzoh district.

In western Herat province Tuesday night, a rocket hit a civilian house during a firefight between insurgents and NATO forces in the area, government spokesman Shafiq Berozyan said. One child was killed and another 10 people were wounded, he said.

These incidents came after two deadly roadside bombings this weekend.

On Saturday, six civilians were killed when their minivan hit a bomb while driving in southern Helmand province. On Sunday, a station wagon carrying a family of nine people struck a bomb in northern Baghlan province, killing all of those aboard.

Bomb Blast at Detroit-area store

2 workers killed in blast at Detroit-area store

Rescue workers spent all day and into the night combing through the pile of crumpled drywall, twisted metal and broken bits of couches, dining sets and dressers that was once William C. Franks Furniture store in the hope that two buried workers might be found alive, just as the store's owner was.

After more than 12 hours of searching, crews on Wednesday night instead recovered the bodies of a salesman and clerical worker who were killed in the natural gas explosion at the store in downtown Wayne, about 15 miles from Detroit.

Now, investigators must determine whether natural gas caused Wednesday morning's explosion as crews clean up the mess.

Eric Smith, a fire battalion chief who was assisting from Westland, noted the roof was made of concrete, making it difficult for anyone to survive the disaster.

"You always hold out hope, but with that kind of weight, there wasn't much to keep the structure from coming down," Smith said after the second body was removed.

The explosion that happened around 9 a.m. not only destroyed the store, it shattered windows at nearby businesses.

"It sounded like a bomb," said 47-year-old Lisa Johns, who said she was watching television in bed at her home nearby and rushed to the scene. "The power went off and came back on two or three minutes later."

Groups of firefighters entered the building four and five at a time, scraping away at the rubble using long poles with hooks on the end. Bobcats and front-loaders moved around the area. Video footage shot from TV helicopters showed dozens of rescuers working on and around the remains of the store.

Wayne City Manager John Zech said rescuers using search dogs found the body of salesman James Zell, 64, of neighboring Westland, in the debris Wednesday night. Later, Shawn Bell, Wayne's deputy fire marshal, said workers found the body of a woman in the rubble.

The woman's name was not immediately released. Zech had said earlier the missing woman was a clerical worker for the store in her 50s who also was from Westland.

Owner Paul Franks, who was pulled out shortly after the blast, was in serious condition in the burn unit at the University of Michigan's medical center.

Consumers Energy spokeswoman Debra Dodd said the utility believed natural gas was involved, but the cause of the blast has not been determined. The company had received a call of a possible gas leak in the area several hours earlier and a worker had been trying to track down the source when the explosion took place, Dodd said.

Police evacuated homes and businesses near the store. Several residents were offered hotel rooms for the night as a safety precaution. City officials late Wednesday declared a state of emergency in a bid for financial help for the state.

Shortly after the blast, from beneath the debris, flames and spewing water, Jennifer Gietzen, 36, heard yelling and saw some movement.

Her husband, Chris Gietzen, and workers from the auto shop the couple manages then ran into the remains, climbed "10 feet high on a pile of twisted everything" and started digging after finding Franks, the burned and struggling store owner.

"He was trying to pull himself out, but his leg was stuck," Chris Gietzen, 35, told The Associated Press.

Zech said Franks' father founded the high-end furniture store, which local residents said has been in business for more than 40 years. Mayor Al Haidous described the store as a "jewel" in the city.

Afghan car bomb attack

'Three die, 12 hurt in Afghan car bomb attack'

Three people died and 12 people were injured in a car bombing that hit Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan Monday, officials told AFP.

"Initially we received one dead body and two of the wounded died later, taking the death toll to three," said Mohammad Afzal, a doctor at the city's main hospital. He added that 12 people had been injured, mostly police.

The city's police chief, Khan Mohammad, said the explosion was a car bombing in front of a bank -- where locals said police went to collect their salaries -- and that one of the dead was a police officer.

"This was a car bomb attack which exploded next to police vehicles in front of Kabul Bank," Mohammad said.

Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan and the birthplace of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, is at the heart of a nine-year Taliban insurgency, with some 140,000 US-led international troops in the country.

It has been flooded with international troops in recent months and there is a regular stream of convoys and patrols on the streets. Local commanders say security in the city has been improved as a result.

Explaining what happened in the blast, local police officer Basir Khan told AFP: "Police had come to the bank to get their salaries and they had parked vehicles outside.

"A vehicle packed with explosives was parked next to police vehicles and it exploded."

An AFP reporter at the scene said that gunfire was heard following the blast, which shattered windows around 200 metres away. The area has since been sealed off.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry in Kabul, Zemarai Bashary, confirmed there had been a blast but said he could not give further details.

"At this stage I can confirm there has been an explosion in Kandahar city.

"We don't know at this stage what the target of the blast was or the type of the blast," he said.

Earlier this month, four policemen and two children were injured in a car bomb close to the police headquarters in the city.

President Barack Obama announced 30,000 extra troops for Afghanistan last year as part of a surge strategy to try to turn around the conflict.

In a review of the strategy published earlier this month, Obama insisted it was on track although he stressed that gains were fragile.

Bomb blast in Chabahar - Iran city

Deadly bomb attack in Iran city of Chabahar.

A bomb explosion in the south-eastern Iranian city of Chabahar has killed at least 38 people and injured many more, the official Iranian news agency says.

The blast, reported to be a suicide attack, took place outside the Imam Hossein Mosque, the Irna agency said.

Irna said the governor-general of Sistan-Baluchistan province had confirmed the incident.

The province is prone to unrest, with the mainly Sunni population often claiming discrimination by Shias.

The attack reportedly targeted pilgrims marking Ashura, the Shia day of mourning for the martyrdom of a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

There is no confirmation of who carried out the attack and details remain unclear.

Irna quoted the head of the Chabahar Security Council, Ali Bateni, as saying there were two attackers and one had been arrested.

One militant group known to operate in the province is Jundullah (Soldiers of God), which says it is fighting for the culture and faith of the ethnic Baluch people.

Last month the group was designated a terrorist organisation by the US.

Tehran often accuses the US of using militants in the region as mercenaries to attack Iran's interests.

In July, 27 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a Shia mosque in the provincial capital, Zahedan.

In October 2009, Jundullah said it was behind a suicide bombing that killed 31 people, including several top commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guards, in the Pishin region of Sistan-Baluchistan.

Sistan-Baluchistan is one of Iran's most deprived provinces and its location also makes it a key route in the international drugs trade.

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Bomb Blast in Northwest Pakistan

Suicide bomber kills 15 in northwest Pakistan.

Pakistan News Updates! A suicide bomber blew himself up him in a busy market in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 15 people.

The blast took place close to Pakistan’s border regions with Afghanistan, where Islamist militants are strong.

The target of the attack in Kohat city was unclear, though insurgents have exploded bombs in public places before, presumably to spread terror and undermine confidence in the government.

The market is home to a bus stand where people were gathering to return home to the border region.

Shad Ali, a doctor who heads the health administration in Kohat, said 15 were killed and 25 injured.

Islamist militants seeking to overthrow Pakistan’s broadly pro-Western government have carried out scores of bombings in recent years, mostly against Western or government targets. The army has responded with offensives in some parts of the northwest.

On Monday, 50 people were killed in two blasts at a government compound in Mohmand, also in the border area.

A spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban, the main militant group in the northwest, claimed responsibility for that attack earlier on Wednesday.

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Suicide Bomb Blast in Mohmand tribal region - Pakistan

28 killed in Pakistan twin suicide bomb attack near tribal region.

Pakistan News Updates! A suicide bomb attack in north-west Pakistan has left at least 28 people dead and many injured.

Twenty eight people were killed and 40 others injured on Monday when two suicide attackers targeted a government compound in the restive Mohmand tribal region in northwest Pakistan.

The first suicide bomber blew himself up outside a compound housing offices of the political administration in Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency.

An anti-Taliban militia was holding a meeting inside the compund when the attack took place.

Security forces attempted to capture the second attacker, who then detonated his suicide vest, causing widespread destruction.

An official of the local administration said 28 people were killed. Over 40 people were injured, officials at a state-run hospital said. Several seriously injured persons were taken to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Security forces cordoned off the site of the blast and authorities imposed curfew in Ghalanai. The entry points of Mohmand Agency too were cordoned off and additional security personnel were deployed at all check posts in the region.

Officials said the bombers were trying to target an anti-Taliban militia that was holding a meeting in the government compound.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. In July, 104 people were killed when two suicide bombers targeted a government compound in Yakaghund village of Mohmand Agency.