PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A roadside bomb destroyed an air force truck on a bridge today in Pakistan’s volatile northwest and killed up to 14 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it “an open war” and retaliation for recent military operations in the region.
The escalation in violence raised new doubt about the government’s controversial policy of negotiating for peace with Islamic militants. Western officials say it has given Taliban and al-Qaida time to regroup and more freedom to operate.
today’s powerful blast tore a large hole in the bridge and reduced the truck to a smoldering wreck, and the site was littered with debris and blood. A crowd of bystanders gathered at the scene as victims were ferried away in ambulances. Firefighters hosed down the blackened carcass of the truck, and air force investigators gathered evidence.
An AP Television News cameraman at the scene said he saw at least 12 dead bodies and about a dozen wounded people. He said the victims included civilians.
Provincial government spokesman Mian Iftikhar Hussain said 14 people were killed in all, mostly air force personnel, and more than 12 people were wounded. Jehangir Khan, another police officer, said the dead included seven air force personnel.
A 5-year-old girl in a nearby vehicle was among the dead civilians, said Nisar Khan, a Peshawar police officer. He said police were trying to trace relatives of the girl.
A bomb disposal officer at the scene, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said it was planted under the bridge and contained between 66 and 88 pounds of explosives.
Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar said the attack in Peshawar was retaliation for recent military operations in the border region near Afghanistan. “It is an open war between us and them,” he told The Associated Press.
“We have done it in reaction to the government operations in Swat and Bajur,” Umar said. “If this kind of operations continue against us in Swat and in the tribal areas, we will continue this.”
There is increasing pressure from the West on Pakistan’s government to act against Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds in its frontier region with Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials have sought peace agreements in the border region in hopes of curbing Islamic extremists who have been blamed for a wave of suicide attacks across the country in the past year.
NATO contends the cease-fire deals have allowed militants based in the frontier region to step up attacks in Afghanistan, while U.S. officials warn that al-Qaida leaders hiding along the border could be plotting another Sept. 11-style attack on the West.
Also today, a senior Interior Ministry official confirmed that authorities were probing the identity of a suspected militant reported killed this week in clashes in Bajur tribal region, where the army has pounded militant positions.
A senior intelligence official identified the militant as an Egyptian known as Abu Saeed and said he was believed to be a close aide of al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri. Authorities had intelligence the militant had died but did not have the body, the official said.
A top al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, who had appeared in videos issued by the terror group, is also known by the alias Abu Saeed al-Masri.
The ministry official said Pakistani authorities were trying to confirm whether the Abu Saeed reported killed was the same man. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Two Taliban spokesmen contacted by The Associated Press in Afghanistan, Qari Yousef Ahmadi and Zabiullah Mujahid, said today that they had no information about it.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the fighting in Bajur had killed at least 150 militants in the past week. Officials have reported at least nine paramilitary troops died. Independent confirmation of the toll has not been possible. Thousands of residents have reportedly fled the area.
In late July, an al-Qaida explosives and poison expert, Abu Khabab al-Masri, died in a suspected U.S. missile strike in the Pakistani border region of South Waziristan.
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Associated Presss Habib Khan in Khar and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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