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Pakistan mortar shell 'kills 14' | |
(about 8 hours later) | |
At least 14 people have been killed in a mortar attack in Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province, military officials say. | |
The mortar was fired during an exchange between militants and security forces in the Darra Adam Khel area. | |
Militants effectively control large swathes of the region and the army is engaged in an operation to try to remove them. | |
Earlier a suicide bomber injured 15 in an attack in North Waziristan. | |
Checkpoint attack | |
A local citizen from Darra Adam Khel, which lies to the south of Peshawar, told the BBC: "The people were standing in an open ground outside their homes when the mortar struck. | |
"They were afraid that their houses could be hit during the fighting." | |
The dead reportedly included women and children. | |
Local citizens were adamant that the mortar had been fired by the military. | |
However, a military spokesman denied this. | |
"At least 13 civilians were killed when militants fired a mortar shell from Mirwali," the spokesman said. "It hit a house at Abbas Chowk near Darra Adam Khel." | |
"One soldier was also martyred, after which security forces responded and engaged the militants' positions." | |
Darra Adam Khel is close to Pakistan's tribal belt, which has seen a great deal of unrest over the past two years. | |
US officials say the tribal region is a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters. | |
In the North Waziristan attack, the suicide bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into a police checkpoint at Baran Pul, about 50km (31 miles) from Miranshah. | |
The checkpoint is the main entry point to the rest of Pakistan from North Waziristan and has been targeted by suspected Taleban militants before. | |
Senior police official Tahuir Daur told the BBC that the vehicle exploded about 50 to 60 metres from the checkpoint, killing the driver, when one policeman fired at it. |
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