Suicide car bomb kills 5 in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - March 20, 2008 The bomber attacked security forces in South Waziristan's main
town of Wana, a military statement said.
Al-Qaida- and Taliban-linked militants are believed to operate
in the remote tribal area in the rugged, lawless tribal regions
along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Pakistani troops have fought
intense battles there in recent years.
U.S.-led coalition forces based across the Afghan border also
have launched attacks on militants in the area. On Sunday, missiles
that witnesses say came from an unmanned drone struck a suspected
militant safehouse and killed about 20 people three miles outside
of Wana.
Only U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan are known to
operate unmanned drones in the region.
A string of militant attacks - many of them suicide bombings -
have killed more than 600 people in Pakistan since beginning of the
year. Authorities blame the attacks on militants operating in the
tribal regions along /*Afghanistan*/.
Thursday's bomber struck as Vice President /*Dick Cheney*/ was
visiting Afghanistan, where he urged Pakistan to battle extremists
in its border regions.
Standing beside Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a news
conference, Cheney said the Pakistani government, like that of
Karzai, is a target for al-Qaida and other extremists. "They have
as big a stake as anyone else," he said.
Two vehicles were also damaged in Thursday's suicide attack, the
military statement said. It gave no other details.
