Pakistan

Suicide bomber kills four in Swat Valley

Article published on the 2008-10-16 Latest update 2008-10-16 13:52 TU

The site of the blast.
(REUTERS/Abdul Rehman (PAKISTAN)

Four people have been killed and some 30 injured in Pakistan after a suicide bomber drove into a police station in the volatile Swat Valley in the north of the country. The attack happened after militants and security guards traded gunfire and is the latest in a series of bombings on security forces in the region.

Three security personnel and one policeman were killed and most of the 30 injured were security forces and police. Mingora city police chief Dilawar Khan Bangash told Agence France Presse that two civilian bystanders were also hurt.

"It was a huge blast. Three security force personnel and one policeman were killed. The police station was destroyed," he said.

Under pressure from the United States, the government is cracking down on militants with links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the region.

Most of the Swat Valley is now under military control the army said earlier this week.

Security forces in the mountainous Swat, which is a former tourist resort, have been fighting militants who tried to enforce Islamic Sharia law last year.

The government attempted to persuade independent ethnic tribesmen to assist in its military operations, but militants have fought back, killing dozens of security forces and tribal elders they claim to be on the government's side.

The attack came a month after 60 people were killed in a suicide bombing at the Marriott hotel in the capital Islamabad.