shami2k

May these terrorists burn in hell.

Bomb in Pakistan's Rawalpindi kills up to six | Special Coverage | Reuters

Bomb in Pakistan's Rawalpindi kills up to six
Thu Jul 2, 2009 7:49am EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page
By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber on a motorcycle hit a bus carrying workers from a nuclear facility and blew himself up in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Thursday, killing up to six people, police said.

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of bombings in recent weeks in response to a military offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest of the country.

"About 25 people were on board and as the bus reached a square, a motorcyclist hit its fuel tank," city police chief Nasir Durrani told reporters. "According to our reports, five to six people were martyred and 16 wounded."

Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, is home to the headquarters of the Pakistani army and other state agencies.

A senior police officer said the bus was carrying workers from a main nuclear facility, the Khan Research Laboratories.

A bomber attacked a bus carrying workers from the same facility in 2007.

The army went on the offensive in the Swat region two months ago after the Taliban seized a district 100 km (60 miles) from Islamabad, raising alarm at home and among allies who need Pakistani help to fight al Qaeda and tackle Afghanistan's insurgency.

Nearing the end of the offensive in Swat, the military has been attacking Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in his South Waziristan stronghold in mountains on the Afghan border.

The army says Mehsud, who carries a U.S. reward of $5 million and a Pakistani reward of 50 million rupees ($615,000), is behind 90 percent of militant attacks in Pakistan.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Aarzoo