20 dead in Pakistan blasts, gun attack

ISLAMABAD (PAN’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces on Saturday, officials said.

A massive explosion occurred at 8am when a civilian vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Dug Dara area of Upper Dir district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a local police official said on condition of anonymity.

Giving an eyewitness account, Mohammad Idris said the vehicle was comprehensively destroyed as a result of the bombing. Some of the wounded were in critical condition, he added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban are often blamed for such attacks. Many residents are members of a Peace Force fighting against the militants in the area.

In the North Waziristan tribal region, nine people were killed and more than 15 others injured when a suicide bomber struck the main headquarters of a prominent anti-Taliban commander.

The bomber struck at Maulvi Nabi Hanfi’s base in the Spin Thall area of Orakzai Agency on the border between Waziristan and Kurram, a political administration official told Pajhwok over the telephone.

Five children and four suspected militants from the Nabi group were killed in the assault, which wounded 13 others. The wounded, some of them in critical condition, were evacuated to a hospital in Hangu district.

In southwestern Balochistan province, seven security personnel were killed during an attack on their check-post in the Gwadar area, a local TV channel reported. The attackers on motorbikes and vehicles fired on the post.

DawnNews said the assailants also fired rocket-propelled grenades at the check-post in Peshikan area, killing seven security officials and wounding three others. They managed to flee the site.

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