Skip to main content

45 killed in Pakistan funeral blast

  • Story Highlights
  • NEW: At least 45 people died and 82 were wounded in a suicide attack
  • Blast targeted the funeral of a police officer killed by another explosion same day
  • No one has claimed responsibility for the attack
  • Next Article in World »
From CNN's Zein Basravi
Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 45 people died and 82 were wounded in a suicide attack on the funeral Friday of a district superintendent of police -- killed earlier in the day in a separate attack -- in northwest Pakistan's Swat province, according to Pakistani police.

A spokesman for the province's special branch of police said just 30 of the dead and 55 wounded have been identified.

He said the attack, which took place on a funeral procession in Minora, Swat's capital, caused an electricity blackout, which made it difficult to ascertain exact casualty numbers amid the confusion.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said the attack was probably the work of militants operating in Swat and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which have long been havens for foreign fighters.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Video Watch scenes of the deadly attack »

Earlier Friday, a bomb in Lakki Marwat, also in northwest Pakistan, killed the district superintendent of police for whom the funeral was being held, according to the Web site of the country's Office of Inter-Services Public Relations.

The district superintendent's driver was also killed in the explosion, the Web site said.

On Monday, a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi killed Pakistan's surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Mushtaq Ahmad Baig, along with his driver and five civilian bystanders, according to a military news release.

advertisement

The attacker, who detonated his bomb near Pakistan's military headquarters, also died.

Baig had assumed the surgeon general post only a year ago. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

All About Swat ValleyPakistanFederally Administered Tribal Areas

  • E-mail
  • Save
  • Print