A suicide car bomber attacked a police station Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing four people and wounding about two dozen, underscoring the continuing security threat to the country despite army operations against militants. Also, a paramilitary commander said his forces had killed 25 militants in another area of the volatile frontier region. The blast on the police station in Karak in North West Frontier Province also toppled a mosque next door, said Ajmal Khan, a government official. Two police and two civilians were killed, and both police and civilians were among the wounded. The wounded were transported to a nearby hospital where some were listed in critical condition. No one claimed responsibility, but militants have targeted police, security forces and government offices in various parts of Pakistan in recent years. Meanwhile, a commander of the paramilitary Frontier Corps said it killed 25 militants near the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel during a joint operation with police on Thursday and Friday in the area of Spina, after getting a tip that militants were hiding there. One security force member was killed and five others were wounded in the fighting, Commander Safwat Ghayur said. Also Saturday, at least one person died and several others were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a procession in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, said Dr. Qutbuddin Khan, who works at a local hospital. The procession was marking the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). One killed in attack on Pakistan religious rally Gunmen opened fire on a religious procession in northwestern Pakistan Saturday, killing a man and wounding several others, officials said. Two or three armed men hiding behind the trees opened fire on hundreds of people carrying banners and reciting hymns in the Dhaki More neighborhood of Dera Ismail Khan district, senior police officer Bashar Khan said. The rally was organized by a Sunni Muslim party. No arrests were reported. Khan said seven participants in the rally were wounded in the attack, one of whom died later in hospital.
