13 Killed in Pakistan Bombings Targeting Police Official, Music Market

Posted September 19th, 2011 at 3:06 pm (UTC-5)
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Pakistani authorities say two bombings in separate parts of the country have killed 13 people, eight of them outside the house of a counter-terrorism official in the southern city of Karachi.

Officials say Monday's suicide car bomb attack on the home of senior police officer Chaudhry Aslam killed six of his guards and two bystanders – a teacher and her son. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. Aslam escaped unharmed and vowed to “teach a lesson” to the Taliban, which has targeted him before.

Aslam's counter-terrorism department works to arrest Taliban fighters and other militants in Karachi. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said the militant group will “continue targeting” Pakistani officers who are “involved in the killing of our comrades.”

In a separate attack in the northwestern city of Peshawar, officials say a bomb attached to a motorcycle detonated remotely at a market selling music and movies. Monday's blast killed five people and wounded more than 20 others. It also destroyed shops and vehicles. The Pakistani Taliban previously has attacked CD and DVD stores for being un-Islamic, under their strict interpretation of the religion.

Pakistani police say Karachi's suicide car bomb contained more than 300 kilograms of explosives. The blast badly damaged Aslam's house and neighboring homes and left a two-meter deep crater. The scene of the bombing was strewn with cement blocks, car parts, and other debris.