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Police injured in Pakistan attack Pakistan mortar shell 'kills 14'
(about 8 hours later)
A suicide bomber has driven a car loaded with explosives into a police check post in north-western Pakistan, injuring at least 15 policemen. At least 14 people have been killed in a mortar attack in Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province, military officials say.
Police said the attack happened at Baran Pul, about 50km (31 miles) from Miranshah in North Waziristan region. The mortar was fired during an exchange between militants and security forces in the Darra Adam Khel area.
The check post is the main entry route to the rest of Pakistan from North Waziristan and has been targeted by suspected Taleban militants before. Militants effectively control large swathes of the region and the army is engaged in an operation to try to remove them.
The lawless region is known to be a hub of Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. Earlier a suicide bomber injured 15 in an attack in North Waziristan.
Senior police official Tahuir Daur told the BBC that the vehicle exploded about 50 to 60 yards from the check post when one of the policemen fired at it. Checkpoint attack
The police had reinforced defences at the post with sandbags a week ago, which prevented the blast from damaging its walls. 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.
Mr Daur said the blast was so powerful that the police have not been able to find a single body part of the bomber. "They were afraid that their houses could be hit during the fighting."
Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters use North Waziristan and other tribal areas to launch attacks in Afghanistan. The dead reportedly included women and children.
Foreign fighters from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East are all thought to be based there. 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.