Bombing kills 17 on Pakistan bus

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27 September 2013

A bomb has exploded in the back of a bus carrying government employees in northern Pakistan, killing 17 people and wounding dozens.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but militants battling the government in northwestern Pakistan often target troops, officials and symbols of the state.

The bomb went off as the bus was traveling through the outskirts of the city of Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was carrying workers at the end of the work week back to their home city of Charsadda.

The explosion also wounded 42 people, said police.

Pakistani television showed images of the bus with its rear end completely mangled.

One witness who was not identified, told Pakistan's Geo Television channel that he was driving his car behind the bus when the blast ripped open the back end. He said dozens of people sitting on the roof of the bus - a common sight in this country's overcrowded traffic - were thrown to the side.

Militants in northern Pakistan who are trying to overthrow the government and establish a hard-line Islamic state have been waging war in the northwest against the military.

Pakistan's newly elected government came into office in June with a promise to open negotiations with the militants to end years of conflict.

But the talks seem to have gone nowhere so far. Last Sunday, two suicide bombers attacked a church in Peshawar, killing dozens of Christians who were just finishing their service. Militants in northwestern Pakistan also killed a major general in the Pakistan Army earlier in September.

AP

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