Several dead in Pakistan blast

At least 14 people have been killed after a vehicle carrying a wedding party was struck by a roadside bomb in the northwestern valley of Swat, officials say.

The vehicle was passing through Matta, a town north of Mingora, the main town in Swat, on Friday when it was hit by the blast.

Haroon Khan, a local police officer, said: "There was a remote-controlled bomb explosion which targeted a wedding party."

"Two cars were destroyed including the car in which the bride was travelling. She died."

He also said that more than a dozen were wounded by the blast.

Several children, four women and the bride's father were also among the dead, while five children were among the wounded.

"Almost everyone in the family had injuries. Many had shrapnel in the head and face," said Javed Khan, a doctor at the hospital in the main town in the Swat Valley.

Continued conflict

Pakistani troops have been locked in combat with pro-Taliban fighters in the area for months.

More than 450 people have been killed in the violence since the beginning of the year. Many of the fatalities have been in the Swat valley, where the military began an offensive in October to clear out suspected al-Qaeda-linked fighters who had infiltrated from strongholds on the Afghan border.


Via Al Jazeera.


Comment:

What could have been the motive for this? It's difficult to mistake a wedding procession for a military convoy. They knew who they were killing. Are they attempting to intimidate the local populace? Was there something about the wedding they deemed "un-Islamic"? Do they just want to spread as much sorrow and death as possible?