14 Mar 2010

Suicide bombers strike in Kandahar

10:01 pm on 14 March 2010

Police say at least 10 people were killed by a suicide bomber in a rickshaw at a security checkpoint in north-west Pakistan.

At least 37 people were wounded by the explosion near Mingora, the main city in Swat Valley.

The BBC reports that it follows threats by Taliban militants to deploy thousands of suicide bombers in retaliation for an army offensive.

In other attacks, two suicide bombers killed at least 54 people in Lahore on Friday.

The attacks, which occurred within seconds of each other, targeted military vehicles as they passed through crowded areas. One was in a market as people gathered for prayers, and the other in a busy residential area.

At least nine soldiers were among the dead and about 100 people were wounded.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings but earlier in the week the Taliban destroyed a building used by intelligence services in Lahore, killing 13.