Aug 12, 2008 4:45 am US/Mountain
Roadside Bomb Kills 11 Pakistani Troops
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CBS) ―
A roadside bomb hit a Pakistan air force bus in a northwestern city Tuesday, killing at least 11 military personnel and wounding 10, police said.
The explosion hit the vehicle on a bridge on the outskirts of Peshawar, provincial police chief Malik Naveed Khan said. The bus was heading from the city to the nearby air force base in Badaber.
He described the bomb used in the attack as an "improvised explosive device," however, CBS News' Farhan Bokhari reported other sources suggesting a suicide attack.
Dawn News TV reported that the blast left a large crater. Its reporter at the scene said the vehicle had been destroyed and was still burning.
Air force spokesman Air Cmdr. Humayun Waqar Zephyr confirmed the attack but said he had no details.
The bombing follows threats from Taliban militants to launch attacks on the government for military operations in the northwestern frontier region bordering Afghanistan, and Bokhari said the security forces were warning Tuesday of an upcoming series of attacks by al Qaeda in Pakistan's north.
Tuesday's blast was the first such incident after the arrest last week of as many as 11 people suspected of planning to wage suicide attacks in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province.
"There were already indications of a major attack underway. The interrogations of the people arrested in Lahore gave us some pointers," a Pakistani security official told CBS News on condition of anonymity, adding that "more attacks are expected in the coming days."
Western diplomats in Islamabad warned the attack may have been meant to coincide with political uncertainty in Pakistan, as members of a newly elected coalition government push for the impeachment of U.S.-allied President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf has remained a key U.S. supporter in the war against Islamic extremists since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"It is possible that in al Qaeda's thinking, this is just the time to strike hard and destabilize Pakistan, to remind people that blood on the streets is caused by a policy pushed by Musharraf," said a senior Western diplomat in Islamabad, who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
CBS News Interactive: Assault On Al Qaeda
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