Pakistani police say at least one person has died after a string of bombs
exploded on Monday in the southern city of Karachi.
At least
25 others were injured when six small bombs were detonated within an hour of
each other in neighborhoods dominated by ethnic Pashtuns.
A local police
chief (Babar Khattak, Sindh province police chief) said the bombings were
probably carried out to create panic and unrest.
Last month peace
negotiations between the government and Pakistani Taliban militants broke down,
after leader Baitullah Mehsud announced he was suspending talks. Mehsud vowed to
retaliate after government forces launch an attack and captured a militant area
in the Khyber tribal region.
Meanwhile in the capital, police
investigating Sunday's suicide attack near the radical Red Mosque said they
found the severed head of the suicide bomber responsible for the
blast.
Nobody has claimed responsibility
for that attack, which killed 18 people.
It happened just after several
thousand Islamists had rallied nearby to mark the first anniversary of an army
siege and raid on the Red Mosque. Officials said most of the victims were
police.
President Pervez Musharraf condemned the bombing as a terrorist
act.
More than 100 people were killed during fighting at the mosque in
early July last year. Pakistan security forces stormed the compound after an
eight-day siege. The mosque's hardline clerics and supporters had waged a
violent campaign to impose strict Taliban-style law in Pakistan.