Suicide Bomber Targets Pakistani Air Force Bus

Pakistani officials say a suicide attack on an Air Force bus has killed at least eight people and wounded about 40 others.

Military officials say the attacker riding a motorcycle rammed into the bus Thursday morning near the Sargodha airbase in central Punjab province.

In the tribal North West Frontier Province, Pakistani security forces are battling Islamic militants in the Swat Valley region. Fighting erupted Wednesday after militants fired at army helicopters and torched a police station shattering a brief truce.

Military officials say as many as 70 militants have been killed in the latest round of fighting.

There has been a surge of militant activity in Swat Valley since cleric Maulana Fazlullah launched an illegal FM radio station, urging a holy war against the government.

Pakistan last week sent around 2,500 troops to Swat Valley to counter the Islamists. A day later some 30 people died - mostly soldiers - in a bomb attack against a military vehicle.

By VOA News

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