27 Apr 2011

Buses attacked in Pakistan

11:45 am on 27 April 2011

At least 17 people have died in a series of attacks on buses in Pakistan.

Officials say armed men attacked and set fire to a passenger bus, killing at least 13 people, including women and children.

That attack took place in the town of Sibbi, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

And in Karachi, which is home to Pakistan's main naval base, there have been two bomb attacks on buses carrying Pakistani naval personnel.

At least four people have been killed and more than 50 wounded.

The police say the roadside explosives were so strong they also damaged several nearby houses.

The BBC reports that Karachi - the country's commercial capital - has been hit by a wave of recent political and ethnic attacks.

Human rights groups say such attacks claimed 775 lives last year and scores more have died in 2011.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban have also carried out attacks in the port city in the past.