A suicide car bomber blew himself up killing a police officer on a key motorway linking several cities and towns in Pakistan when he was intercepted by a security patrol.
A suicide car bomber today blew himself up killing a police officer on a key motorway linking several cities and towns in Pakistan when he was intercepted by a security patrol, the latest in a string of terror attacks that have rocked the country.
Acting on an intelligence report that a suicide car bomber had left Peshawar in the northwest to strike a target in the eastern city of Lahore, police stopped a vehicle at Lillah, 140 kms from Islamabad, early this morning. The man who was driving the car got out and walked towards the police team.
When some policemen approached the car to search it, the second man inside it detonated the explosives, reports said. A highway patrol inspector was killed in the blast. However, regional police chief Aslam Tarin expressed doubt about reports that a second man was in the car because investigators had not found any body parts in the vehicle.
"Investigations are continuing and only one man has been arrested," he told reporters. The arrested man, who is in his early 20s, was taken away by intelligence officials to an undisclosed location for questioning.
The arrested man could not speak Urdu fluently. Police officials said the attackers could have caused major damage if they were not stopped as they were planning to target a thickly populated area in Lahore.
The car was packed with over 30 kg of explosives and the explosion was heard from 15 km away, officials said. The blast was the latest in a series of deadly bombings and suicide attacks unleashed by the Taliban across Pakistan about two weeks ago. Most of the attacks have targeted security facilities, including the army's fortified general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Last week, two suicide bombers struck the International Islamic University in Islamabad while the UN food agency's office in the capital was targeted earlier this month.
Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the military operation against the Taliban in the tribal belt will be taken to its logical conclusion despite these attacks as "failure is not an option" for Pakistan.
Troops yesterday took control of Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud's hometown in South Waziristan, where over 170 militants and 23 soldiers have so far died in fighting which began eight days ago.
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