Pakistan car bomb kills nine

A car bomb killed nine people close to the main north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar today.

Twenty others were wounded in the blast on a main road leading to the border area with Afghanistan, according to a government official. Three children were among the dead.

The possible target of the bombing was not immediately clear. It was the third major bombing in or near the city in the last week and challenges recent police claims of progress there against Islamist militants.

Government officials and security forces in Peshawar have been often attacked by the Pakistani Taliban, who have bases close to the frontier with Afghanistan.

Pakistani security forces have traditionally had very little presence or authority in the tribally ruled region.

In December, city police chief Liaqat Ali pointed to a drop in attacks in 2010 as evidence authorities had \"broken the back\" of the insurgency in the city.

He said the improvement was because of police and army actions close to the border area and more police patrols and checkpoints in the city


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