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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Bomb blast in Pakistan hospital kills 12
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-19 16:45 DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- A bomb blast outside the emergency gate of a hospital in Pakistan's volatile northwest killed at least 12 people and wounded 15 others Tuesday, a police inspector said. The attack occurred a day after Pervez Musharraf stepped down as Pakistan's president, adding to the political uncertainty in a country grappling with Islamist extremist threats. An Associated Press reporter at the scene of Dera Ismail Khan District Hospital saw 18 bodies on the ground. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion. "We are not sure whether it's a suicide blast," police inspector Salahuddin Kundi said. Pakistan's northwest has been plagued with militant violence. The country's tribal regions along the Afghan border in particular are considered havens for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked insurgents, many of whom are believed involved in attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. |
