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Suicide Bombings Kill 16 in Northwest Pakistan


Suicide bombers blew up vehicles in two attacks Saturday, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 100 others in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Police say a bomber in the city of Peshawar threw a grenade at a crowd of people outside a bank, before detonating about 100 kilograms of explosives in his vehicle. The blast killed at least 10 people.

The attack in Peshawar's commercial district overturned cars, shattered windows and scattered debris throughout the streets.

Earlier, a suicide bomber crashed his explosives-laden truck into a police station, killing at least six people in the town of Bannu.

A Taliban commander (Qari Hussain) claimed responsibility for the Bannu blast, and warned of further attacks.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the bombings. And North West Frontier Province's information minister (Mian Iftikhar Hussain) said the attacks would not deter the government from fighting militants.

The U.S. embassy in Pakistan issued a statement saying the attacks highlight "the vicious and inhuman nature of this enemy" whose true target is the democratically elected government of Pakistan and the security of all Pakistanis.

Pakistan's northwest region lies along the border with Afghanistan and has many al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

This violence comes just two days after a suspected U.S. missile strike in North Waziristan killed 12 people.

Pakistani officials say U.S. drone aircraft are believed to have fired more than 40 missiles at suspected al-Qaida and Taliban members in northwest Pakistan in recent months. The strikes have killed several high-level militant commanders, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

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