A suicide car bomber killed three police officers in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, while two government officials died in another suicide attack near the Afghan border, officials said. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, they follow Taliban and al-Qaida calls for attacks to avenge the army raid on Islamabad's Red Mosque, The Associated Press reported. The car bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle after police had stopped him at a roadblock and asked him to get out, said Mohammed Iqbal, a local police official. Several more people were injured in the attack near Mingora, the main town in the remote Swat Valley, Iqbal said. The two government officials died when a suicide bomber on foot blew himself up in front of the government headquarters in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, two intelligence officials said. The attack happened in Miran Shah, the main town of the region, which is considered a stronghold for militants linked to both the Taliban and al-Qaida.
