Peshawar

PAKISTAN PESHAWAR — Two explosions went off minutes apart in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar today, killing at least 34 people and injuring nearly 100. The blasts occurred after midnight in an area of the city that has political offices and army housing. The first explosion was relatively small. A suicide bombing rocked the area a few minutes later, causing the fatalities. The attack took place as CIA Director Leon Panetta and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were holding talks in Islamabad.

The Red Cross has suspended operations across much of Pakistan following the killing of a British nurse working for the organization late last month, the group announced Thursday. The move means many thousands of people will go without medical and other development assistance for the duration of the suspension. A bustling field hospital for war wounded in the northwestern city of Peshawar will close once patients have been transferred to other facilities, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber in a rickshaw detonated his explosives near a group of police officers in northwest Pakistan’s main city of Peshawar yesterday, killing three people, police said. The attack was the latest in a string of strikes that has killed more than 300 people over the past six weeks. The bloodshed appears aimed at distracting the government from its offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal region. Five other people were wounded in the blast at an intersection on the main road that circles the city, police official Shaukat Khan said.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 15 mourners, officials said. The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest. Islamist militants are fighting against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Thousands of civilians and security officials have been killed over the last few years in the militants' attacks,...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Taliban gunmen attacked a school van in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing four children and the driver in an assault they said was carried out to punish local tribesmen for resisting the insurgent movement. At least 12 boys, two girls, and two female teachers were wounded in the attack in Matani on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar, said police officer Qayyum Khan. Two local tribal leaders in Matani have formed militias to stop militant infiltration into Peshawar from the nearby border regions with Afghanistan.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Dilawar Khan's son had stopped off at his tea shop on his way back from school when a powerful car bomb exploded outside it. The 12-year-old was among the dozen killed in yesterday's blast at a bus terminal. The explosion tore through a dozen vehicles waiting to transport passengers from the northwestern city of Peshawar to other areas of the country. Some of the minibuses were blackened and destroyed. There were 32 wounded, officials said. "God should destroy these terrorists," Khan cried at a hospital in Peshawar.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber attacked a funeral attended by an anti-Taliban politician in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing at least 15 mourners, officials said. The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest. Islamist militants are fighting against Pakistani security forces in and around Peshawar, which lies close to border regions with Afghanistan where extremists hold sway. Thousands of civilians and security officials have been killed over the last few years in the militants' attacks,...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Gunmen killed a Pakistani working at the Iranian Consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar yesterday, adding to security fears in the country as it presses an offensive against the Taliban along the nearby Afghan border. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred amid tensions between Pakistan and Iran over Tehran’s allegations that Pakistani intelligence agents had a role in a deadly suicide bombing last month in Iran. The attackers opened fire on Abul Hasan Jaffri while he was in a car near his home in a central part of Peshawar,...

ISLAMABAD - Gunfights, military airstrikes, and a suicide bombing Friday killed as many as 70 people in the tribal agencies bordering Peshawar, the provincial capital of northwestern Pakistan, in some of the worst violence in months in a strategic corner of the country. In Khyber Agency, along the border with Afghanistan, a suicide bomber set off an explosion at the gates of a militant base, killing 23 people and wounding at least three others, said the local administrator, Mutahirzeb Khan.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A car bomb killed nine people close to the main northwestern city of Peshawar yesterday, the latest in a rash of attacks that are challenging police claims of progress against Islamist militants in the region. Twenty others were wounded in the blast on a main road leading to Pakistan’s border area with Afghanistan, government official Siraj Ahmed Khan said. Three children were among the dead. The target of the bombing was not immediately clear. It was the third major bombing in or near the city in the last week.

ISLAMABAD - Gunfights, military airstrikes, and a suicide bombing Friday killed as many as 70 people in the tribal agencies bordering Peshawar, the provincial capital of northwestern Pakistan, in some of the worst violence in months in a strategic corner of the country. In Khyber Agency, along the border with Afghanistan, a suicide bomber set off an explosion at the gates of a militant base, killing 23 people and wounding at least three others, said the local administrator, Mutahirzeb Khan.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Dilawar Khan's son had stopped off at his tea shop on his way back from school when a powerful car bomb exploded outside it. The 12-year-old was among the dozen killed in yesterday's blast at a bus terminal. The explosion tore through a dozen vehicles waiting to transport passengers from the northwestern city of Peshawar to other areas of the country. Some of the minibuses were blackened and destroyed. There were 32 wounded, officials said. "God should destroy these terrorists," Khan cried at a hospital in Peshawar.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - As US-funded Afghan jihadists battled the Soviets in the late 1980s, the unassuming American-run bar in this frontier city bulged with gossiping foreigners. Today, with another Afghan conflict winding down, the watering hole echoes with emptiness. Through it all, Khan Afsar, the Khyber Club's unlikely bartender, had a front-row seat. Except Afsar did not actually have a seat in his spot behind the bar, and all the standing recently became too much. So he has quit after nearly 25 years of six-day work weeks that he says left him with...

NORTH KOREA PYONGYANG - North Korea hailed Kim Jong Il's son as "supreme leader" of the 1.2-million strong military, stepping up its campaign to install the young man as the nation's next leader even as millions continue mourning the father a week after his death. The new title and public show of support from the military leadership sent a strong signal that the nation will maintain Kim Jong Il's "military first" policy for the time being. NIGERIA 61 dead in clashes between sect, police MAIDUGURI - Fighting between a radical Muslim sect and...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Taliban gunmen attacked a school van in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing four children and the driver in an assault they said was carried out to punish local tribesmen for resisting the insurgent movement. At least 12 boys, two girls, and two female teachers were wounded in the attack in Matani on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar, said police officer Qayyum Khan. Two local tribal leaders in Matani have formed militias to stop militant infiltration into Peshawar from the nearby border regions with Afghanistan.

England LONDON - The north London neighborhood of Tottenham exploded in anger last night after a young man was shot to death by police. Two patrol cars, a building, and a double-decker bus were torched as rioters clashed with officers in front of the Tottenham Police Station, where people had gathered to demand justice for the death of a 29-year-old killed in an apparent gunfight. In Tottenham, shop windows were smashed as residents looted the stores, pushing shopping carts full of stolen goods down the street.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - As US-funded Afghan jihadists battled the Soviets in the late 1980s, the unassuming American-run bar in this frontier city bulged with gossiping foreigners. Today, with another Afghan conflict winding down, the watering hole echoes with emptiness. Through it all, Khan Afsar, the Khyber Club's unlikely bartender, had a front-row seat. Except Afsar did not actually have a seat in his spot behind the bar, and all the standing recently became too much. So he has quit after nearly 25 years of six-day work weeks that he says left him with...

PAKISTAN PESHAWAR — Two explosions went off minutes apart in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar today, killing at least 34 people and injuring nearly 100. The blasts occurred after midnight in an area of the city that has political offices and army housing. The first explosion was relatively small. A suicide bombing rocked the area a few minutes later, causing the fatalities. The attack took place as CIA Director Leon Panetta and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were holding talks in Islamabad.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber struck a funeral attended by anti-Taliban militiamen in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 36 mourners and wounding more than 100 in the deadliest militant attack in the country this year. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. The blast near the city of Peshawar was not far from the tribally administered regions bordering Afghanistan where militants are at their strongest. The area struck is home to several tribal armies that battle the Pakistani branches of the Taliban with the government’s encouragement.