The Pakistani Taliban, a homegrown offshoot of the one in neighboring Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the blast in Saidu Sharif, a town in the Swat Valley, where Pakistani soldiers launched a major offensive against Taliban-linked militants last April. Their rare entry into Swat sparked months of fierce battles in an enclave where Muslim extremists had previously held sway without government intervention. The area was thought to have been mostly pacified since then.
Naveed Ali, AP
A suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan killed scores of people and injured dozens Saturday at a security checkpoint. Here, an injured victim walks away from a burning vehicle at the site.
But police said a suicide attacker driving a 3-wheeled rickshaw careened into a roadblock used by Pakistani police and soldiers Saturday, and that at least five security personnel are among the dead. More than 50 people were wounded, police told several news agencies.
It comes less than a day after twin bombings in the heartland city of Lahore, where 55 people died when suicide bombers targeted Pakistani troops patrolling a bazaar filled with shoppers and worshipers streaming out of Friday prayers at nearby mosques. Those attacks hit deep inside an army-controlled quadrant, raising concerns about the Pakistani military's own security measures.
Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban group Tehrik-e-Taliban, told CNN by phone that his organization was behind both the Lahore attacks and the rickshaw bombing in Swat.
The Taliban considers Pakistani troops traitors for cooperating with NATO forces fighting terrorists along the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan's military gives tacit approval to American drones that frequently fire missiles into tribal areas and often inadvertently kill civilians. It's also stepped up its own operations against Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters, and teamed with U.S. forces to successfully capture the Taliban's military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Karachi last month. Militants have in turn launched counterattacks on Pakistani soldiers.
Authorities used cement blocks and sand bags to cordon off Saturday's blast site, along a road leading to the city's main courthouse. Two rickshaws and a car were left burning. Windows in nearby houses were shattered by the blast.
This latest wave of violence in Pakistan could complicate matters for Washington, which has been pressuring Islamabad to help more in the U.S. and NATO-led fight against militants in neighboring Afghanistan. An increase in attacks inside Pakistan could force the country to divert resources to fight insurgents at home, rather than abroad.
