Bomb blast in northwestern Pakistan kills 9
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants bombed a van carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine people, as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the tribal belt.
The violence came just over a week after longtime U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf resigned as president, triggering a scramble for power that collapsed Pakistan's governing coalition.
The party long led by slain former Prime Minister Bena zir Bhutto is now in a position to dominate the government and it is toughening its stance against Islamist extremists.
The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly bold, claiming responsibility for a wave of suicide bombings and gun attacks.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack Thursday, though police said militants were the likely culprit. It happened as a van carrying prisoners crossed a bridge in Bannu, a town in the North West Frontier Province, said Waqas Ahmad, an area police chief.
The dead included police officers and prisoners, said Jalil Khan, another police official. But he could not provide an exact breakdown.
Hours earlier, security forces drove off a Taliban attack on a fort and pounded another band of militants holed up in a health center, officials said Wednesday as fighting spread to new areas in the tribal belt along the Afghan border.
As many as 49 insurgents were reported killed in separate attacks.
Pakistan's 5-month-old government initially sought to calm militant violence by holding peace talks.
But the initiatives have borne little fruit, and U.S. officials have been pressing for tougher action against insurgent groups blamed for rising violence across the border in Afghanistan and in cities further inland.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...violence_N.htm
Lawyers protest countrywide
KARACI: The lawyers are back on the streets today, with protests taking place in all major cities. Lawyer''s leaders, are calling on the government to fulfill its promises and restore the judges. On the appeal of Supreme Court Bar Association, lawyers are protesting and staging sit-in on the key roads across the country. Political workers of different political parties are also participating in the protest. Protestors also chanted slogans against Co-Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party Asif Zardari and present government. Addressing a meeting of Lahore High Court Bar, President of Supreme Court Bar Association Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said that the lawyers movement would continue till the restoration of the judges. Aitzaz said that an international conference would be organized in Islamabad from October 9 to October 12, which will be inaugurated by deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Papers of major presidential candidates cleared
ISLAMABAD: The Chief Election Commissioner has accepted the nomination papers of Asif Ali Zardari, Justice Saeeduzaman Siddiqui and Mushahid Hussain after scrutiny here on Thursday. Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq has scrutinized the papers on which no objection has been filed from any side. Thirty-two candidates had submitted their nomination papers for presidential polls. The candidates would withdraw nominations till Saturday whereas final list would also be issued on the same day. The presidential poll will be held on September 6.