Lahore (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A bomb in a vehicle went off near a petrol station in Charssada, north-western Pakistan, on Monday, killing six people and wounding several more. The wounded were moved to hospital, police said. It is still not clear however whether the blast was caused by a car bomb or a vehicle carrying explosive that had stopped for gas.
The town where the incident took place is located some 60 kilometres north-east of Peshawar, near the border with the Mohmand tribal region, which is controlled by the Taliban who are currently involved in harsh combat with Pakistani security forces.
Sources in Islamabad also reported that up to 24 militants were killed on Monday in air strikes and clashes in Pakistan's North-West.
In Kabal village about 20 kilometres north-west of Mingora, seven suspected Taliban militants were killed during a gunfight with soldiers late Sunday.
Overnight in Mingora, a suicide bomber blew himself up wounding four soldiers as they tried to arrest him, a military source said.
On Saturday, air strikes by Pakistani fighter jets killed 16 militants, wounded 30 others, and destroyed several Taliban hideouts in South Waziristan.
Late Sunday, Taliban and intelligence sources reported that at least 17 militants were shot dead in South Waziristan as warlords apparently vied for supremacy.
A group of fighters loyal to Nazir Wazir was ambushed by another group loyal to Baitullah Nazir, leader of a Taliban faction recently killed by a US drone. Wazir himself is said to have died but the news could not be officially confirmed.
In-fighting among Taliban factions seems to suggest that Pakistan’s Taliban are fracturing.
A few days ago Pakistan’s Christian community began a series of actions to protest against what happened to the Gojra community, including a demand the country’s blasphemy laws be repealed.
A number of Christian groups of various denominations joined in prayer in Lahore to remember the “martyrs of Gojra”.
So far 169 people have testified before the Lahore High Court in the Gojra case. For its part the Punjab government has established a 12-member committee to monitor relief and rehabilitation work in Gojra.
On Pakistan’s Independence Day hundreds of Pakistani Christians gathered to protest in front of the US Embassy in Islamabad.
Increasingly more and more people are calling on the government to repeal the blasphemy laws, even as the latter continues to harm.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace recently reported that on 10 August Sufian Masih, a 18-year-old man in Gujranwala (Punjab), was charged with desecrating the Qur‘an.
