Batgram: Five killed in suicide attack

Pakistan

Batgram: Five killed in suicide attack

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At least five people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide bomb attack in Batgram on Monday.

11 July,2011 11:00 am

A suicide bomber struck a public meeting in Pakistans northwest on Monday where a cabinet minister had been due to speak, killing six people including a child.Amir Muqam, minister without portfolio from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, had not yet arrived at the venue when the bomb exploded in a town near the Swat valley, where the Taliban once led a two-year insurgency.We had informed the local administration some time ago and there should have been proper security arrangements in place, Muqam said after the attack in Batgram, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Swat.The death toll has now risen to six after one of the injured people died of his wounds in the hospital, police official Ghuman Hussain said.A child, two women and two policemen were among the dead, he said.Top local administration official Khalid Khan Omarzai told that more than 20 people had been injured.I can confirm now that it was a suicide attack. The bomber came on foot. He blew himself up when police stopped him for a body search at the entrance of the venue of the public meeting, he said.The attack again highlighted poor security in Pakistans troubled northwest.Ill certainly go there and see what happened. Ill also go to the hospital to meet the injured people. Im not satisfied with the arrangements made for the public meeting, Muqam added.Almost simultaneously, an accidental explosion ripped through an arms depot just outside the capital Islamabad, killing one soldier, injuring three others and bringing down the roof of a small barracks, officials said.