Car bomb attack kills four in Pakistan

A suicide bomber killed at least four people including two children yesterday while militants destroyed a Nato tanker in a region of Pakistan known for harbouring Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The attacker detonated a car bomb outside a police station in Gomal, near the northwestern city of Tank, which neighbours the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan where Pakistani troops are battling Islamist militants.

"The bomber struck... outside the police station, killing one policeman and three passers-by, including two children," district police chief Ejaz Abid told AFP.

He said 11 people, including five policemen, three passers-by and three prisoners in the police lock-up were wounded.

"This was a car bomb attack, which is a reaction to the ongoing operation in South Waziristan region," Abid added.

Pakistan sent about 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships into battle against the Taliban in South Waziristan in October, and says they are making progress and militants are fleeing.

During a visit to Pakistan that ended last Friday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he would ask Islamabad about plans to broaden its campaign to neighbouring North Waziristan.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas responded by saying it would take "between six months to a year to completely stabilise" South Waziristan, which was needed before security forces opened up any new fronts.

Attacks blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) show no sign of abating, with bombings increasingly killing and maiming civilians.

Another senior police official, Ghazanfar Hussain, who confirmed the incident and casualties, said he was carrying out routine desk work inside the station when a large blast rocked the building.

Attacks blamed mostly on the Taliban have killed more than 2,900 people across Pakistan since July 2007, concentrated in the northwest and major cities.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi condemned yesterday's bombing and "emphasised that terrorism will never be allowed to succeed in its nefarious designs", a foreign ministry statement said.

Pakistan is also under US pressure to do more to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants along its western border with Afghanistan.

Taliban militants yesterday attacked and destroyed a fuel tanker in northwest Pakistan supplying Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, police said.

A group of 15 armed militants ambushed the truck outside Peshawar, opened fire and set the tanker on fire, senior police official Mohammad Karim Khan said.

Militants launch frequent attacks on supplies shipped through the troubled Khyber region for US and Nato-led forces fighting Taliban insurgents across the border.