Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The death toll from two separate bomb blasts in the South and North – West of the country stands at 26 dead. This morning a bomb exploded in a market in Hub, on the border between Sindh and Baluchistan 35 km from Karachi, killing 19 people among them 7police. Investigators have yet to clarify if it was a suicide attack or a remote controlled devise: the attackers targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers heading for Karachi. The explosion which hit the shortly after the halfway point killed 7 security guards and 12 civilians, none of the Chinese workers were killed in the attack. For the first time since the wave of violence hit the country a Southern city has been targeted; it was unclear whether it was related to the Islamist militant backlash against the storming of Islamabad's Red Mosque, or was linked to a long-running separatist movement in Baluchistan.
The second attack took place in Hangu, northwest Pakistan: a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police recruitment centre killing at least 7 and wounding 13 others.