Peshawar In Pakistan Rocked By Another Blast

PESHAWAR: A bomb attack near the Pakistani city of Peshawar killed at least six people on Sunday, police said.

“The blast took place at a bus stop and it seems the bomb was planted,” said Raheem Khan, a police inspector. Ten people were wounded.

Pakistan’s Taliban militants, who have close ties to al Qaeda, have carried out a series of attacks to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a Pakistani town on May 2.

They have attacked paramilitary cadets, a US consulate convoy, a naval base and other targets.

The United States reiterated its call on Pakistan to become a more reliable partner in its war on militancy after it was discovered that bin Laden had apparently been living in Pakistan for years.

The Taliban have proven resilient in the face of several army offensives against their strongholds, seemingly carrying out suicide bombings at will.

NATO Team Attacked In Afghanistan

At least five people were killed and about 30 wounded after twin bomb blasts struck the Afghan city of Herat.

The fatalities occurred after a roadside bomb in the centre of the city, which is not far from the western border with Iran.

In the second assault, a suicide bomber attacked the Nato-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) base on the outskirts of the city.

The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks in Afghanistan.

'Several attackers'

An Afghan intelligence official in Herat said the first attack was a "powerful" bomb blast.

"It happened at a busy place at a busy time. The windows of nearby buildings were broken. I was nearby when the explosion took place," he said.

Witnesses at the scene of the PRT base said gunshots could still be heard. It is not yet clear if there are more casualties.

At least two suicide bombers were said to have attacked the compound, while a number of insurgents tried to get inside.

''The attack on the PRT is still going on. We know there are several attackers. Helicopters are hovering overhead," a senior police official told in an interview.

He said shops had been closed and that police and army officers had been deployed across the city.

PRTs are typically joint military and civilian operations designed to help build up Afghan government capacity in a province. There are 28 of them across Afghanistan.

Most foreign reporters says Herat - a relatively peaceful city - is due to be soon handed to Afghan control, and so the attack is quite significant.

Earlier, Nato generals in Afghanistan apologised after civilians were killed in an air strike on Sunday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had criticised the coalition for the attack, which killed nine people.

Bomb Blast In NW Pakistan Kills Five

A bomb exploded in a market in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region on the Afghan border on Saturday, killing five civilians and wounding 10, officials said.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence since al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. raid in a northern Pakistani town on May 2. Pakistani Taliban militants allied with al Qaeda have vowed to avenge bin Laden's killing.

The latest blast occurred in Salarza area, about 15 km (9 miles) north of region's main town of Khar.

"The explosive was planted somewhere in a restaurant. Many people were there when it exploded," Saad Mohammad, a government official in the region, told Reuters.

He said five people were killed in the blast. Residents have formed a tribal force to fight Taliban militants in the area that borders Afghanistan.

A suicide car bomber killed 27 people in an attack outside a police station in the northwestern city of Hangu on Thursday.

Early this week, Taliban assaulted a heavily guarded naval base in the southern city of Karachi. Ten military personnel were killed and two aircraft destroyed in the attack.