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Minister blames bomb blast in Pakistan as terrorist act(Comtex Community Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)ISLAMABAD, Mar 19, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao termed the bomb blast occurred early Sunday in the country's northwestern part as a terrorist act, saying that it was "aimed at disrupting peace in the area". He was quoted by the official APP news agency as saying that steps were underway for further improving the security in the area through deploying sufficient forces. Sherpao confirmed that seven persons including six security officials lost their lives in a roadside bomb blast at Dera Ismail Khan, some 290 kilometers southwest to Islamabad. He said the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was planted near a roadside that killed six patrolling security officials and one passerby. Among the killed three belonged to police force while three were from Frontier Constabulary (FC), Sherpao said, adding that the injured have been shifted to Peshawar for treatment. Earlier, district police officer Iftikhar Ali Khattak said the blast, apparently carried out through a remote control device, hit the mobile police van in the city of Dera Ismail Khan. The van was on routine patrol when hit by the roadside device at the Kotli Imam locality of the city at 10:45 a.m. local time, Khattak said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Dera Ismail Khan is located near the South Waziristan tribal region, where the police on Saturday asked the government officials to take extra security measures as they could either be kidnapped or attacked by suspects. |