Pakistan

Ten killed in two bombings, drone shot down

Article published on the 2009-03-07 Latest update 2009-03-07 13:47 TU

Police at the blast site
(Photo: Reuters)

At least seven members of Pakistan's security services and one civilian were killed by a car bomb in a village in north-west Pakistan's on Saturday, while another bomb killed two passers-by in a semi-tribal area in the same region.

The first blast took place after police went to investigate reports of a suspicious car with a man's body inside in the North-West Frontier Province village of Badaber, officials say.

Five police officers, two paramilitary soldiers and a civilian were killed. Police say that the bomb was detonated by remote control.

In Darra Adam Khel, outside the provincial capital, Peshawar, a bomb targeting a paramilitary convoy exploded, killing two passers-by and injuring four but not harming any of the paramilitaries, according to officials.

There has been no claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban are active in the area.

In South Waziristan on Saturday tribal police said that Taliban fighters opened fire when two drones flew overhead and succeeded in shooting one down.

The US has no formal agreement with Pakistan to carry out military operations on its soil and its use of drones there has proved controversial, with claims of many civilians being killed by them.