Two separate bombings today killed at least 31 people, including 25 soldiers, in Pakistan's restive north-western region, dpa quoted police officials and media reports as saying. A suicide car bomber ploughed his explosives-laden car into a security wall around an army post when a military convoy was passing by in Doaba town in the restive Hangu district in North Western Frontier Province (NWFP). "It was a suicide bombing. The deaths of 25 security personnel and two civilians have been confirmed," said Deputy Superintendent Police Farid Khan. "More than 60 security personnel, soldiers as well as policemen, and three civilians are injured," he added. The powerful blast damaged 10 vehicles of the army convoy and one police van parked near the post. The security forces cordoned off the area and the injured were moved to a local military hospital. Some of the victims were reported in critical condition. A Taliban spokesman Hakeemullah Mehsud, accepted responsibility for the carnage, speaking to various media organizations by telephone from some undisclosed location. He said more such attacks were to follow if the Pakistani security forces did not withdraw from the tribal region, and if the US did not halt missile attacks carried out by drone aircraft which have killed dozens of second-tier al-Qaeda leaders and Taliban militants.
