Rocket attacks kill 8,injures 41 in NW Pakistan

MIRANSHAH, PAKISTAN: At least eight civilians were killed and 41 others injured when suspected Islamic militants fired five rockets overnight into a city in northwest Pakistan, police said on Wednesday.   

The attack was the latest amid worsening unrest in Pakistan after security forces stormed a pro-Taliban mosque in the capital Islamabad earlier this month.  Four houses were destroyed in the attack on Bannu, a town on the fringes of restive North Waziristan tribal district where security forces are battling pro-Taliban militants.   

"The dead included one woman and seven other civilians," local police officer Mohammad Ghulam told AFP, adding that seven policemen were among the injured.    Police said the five rockets landed within 30 minutes soon after midnight, creating loud explosions that spread panic in the town.   

"Police have sealed all entry and exit points and also tightened security in the town," Ghulam said.  The attack came a day after top Pakistani militant commander Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up to avoid arrest when he was cornered by security forces in a southwestern district.   

Mehsud, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, was believed to be linked to the wave of suicide attacks since July 4 that claimed more than 100 lives. Violence also surged in the northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan after pro-Taliban militants scrapped a peace agreement with the government on July 15.   

Under the agreement tribal leaders had agreed to prevent militant attacks across the border into Afghanistan and stopped sheltering Al-Qaeda linked foreigners in the lawless region.