By DPA
Islamabad : A suicide car bomber killed 9 people Sunday in Pakistan’s restive Swat valley, where the military is carrying out an offensive against Islamic militants, military officials said.
The bomber detonated a car full of explosives at a police checkpoint in Nimgole, about 10 km north of Imam Dheri, which until Thursday was the headquarters of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah, military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said.
“Three policemen were killed and six civilians lost their lives,” he said, adding that two children were among the dead and several people were wounded.
Arshad said Fazlullah’s forces were most likely responsible for the attack, given that they had vowed to target police checkpoints and military installations after being forced to flee Imam Dheri Thursday in the face of approaching government troops.
The military said it had cleared most parts of the country’s northwest Swat valley of pro-Taliban militants, killing 290 and arresting more than 140 in a seven-week offensive.
The offensive started late October when President Pervez Musharraf sent additional troops to rein in around 5,000 followers of Fazlullah, who were waging an armed campaign to enforce Islamic rule in the valley.
Many of them have since hid their weapons and mingled with the local population, while Fazlullah is still at large with 400 to 500 hardcore loyalists.
Islamic militancy has spilled over into Swat from Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, where hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban militants fled after US-led forces invaded Afghanistan.