Deadly attack on Pakistan market

17 December 2012 Last updated at 10:24 GMT The BBC's Aleem Maqbool: "Those who carry out these attacks are not punished"

At least 17 people have been killed and more than 70 hurt in a car bomb attack on a market in the Khyber tribal area in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

Women and children were among those killed in the blast at the market in Jamrud, the main town in Khyber.

The explosion took place close to the offices of the tribal administration. The injured have been taken to hospital in the nearby city of Peshawar.

No group has said it carried out the attack as yet.

The bombing comes a day after a 15-hour stand-off between militants and security forces in the vicinity of Peshawar airport, located just about 10km (six miles) east of Jamrud town.

At least 10 militants were killed in the clash, many of them ethnic Uzbek fighters, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out that attack.

'Ball of fire'

The powerful blast in Khyber destroyed vehicles and damaged buildings in the market area.

Explosives were planted in a vehicle parked in an area of the market with a number of automobile workshops.

It is unclear what the target of the attack was although the blast took place close to the office of the assistant political agent for Khyber, one of the top local government officials in the semi-autonomous region.

Many of those wounded are said to be in a critical condition.

One witness told the AFP news agency that he was entering Jamrud when he heard the explosion and saw a ball of fire.

"I rushed to the site and saw people engulfed by flames. There were pieces of human flesh and blood everywhere. I saw a little child who was injured and crying. I took this boy to hospital," he said.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that several militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban and local insurgent group Lashkar-e-Islam, have sanctuaries in the Khyber region.

Jamrud is also known for infighting between various militant factions.

The army has carried out several offensives in Pakistan's tribal areas, including Khyber, in the past.

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Pakistan to resume India cricket

25 December 2012 Last updated at 05:27 GMT The two teams played each other in September in the the ICC World Twenty20 Pakistan is set to to play its first cricket series in India for five years amid tight security.

The first bilateral series between the two countries since 2007, comprising two T20 matches and three one-day internationals, begins with a T20 game in the southern city of Bangalore.

Ties between the two countries' cricket authorities were hit by the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 175 people died.

The attack was blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group.

India have left veteran left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan out of the series against Pakistan.

Sachin Tendulkar has retired from the 50-over format, but fellow batsman Virender Sehwag retains his ODI place.

Reports say a massive security ring has been thrown up outside a stadium in Bangalore, where the match begins on Tuesday evening.

Bomb squad officers, sniffer dogs and as many as 5,000 policemen have been deployed to maintain security, reports said.

Hardline Hindu organisations, including the Shiv Sena, have said they will hold protests outside all the match venues during the series.

"As the governments of both the countries have agreed to hold the bilateral series, no organisation will be allowed to disrupt the match," Bangalore police chief Jyotiprakash Mirji told reporters ahead of the match.

The last series between India and Pakistan in either country was in 2007-2008 when Pakistan visited India.

The South Asian rivals continued to play each other on overseas grounds, with their last match taking place in the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September.

Correspondents say the move to resume cricketing ties is a sign of improving relations between the two countries.

In July, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met in Delhi and the two sides discussed their willingness to have more sporting contact.

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Blast kills Pakistan politician

22 December 2012 Last updated at 17:38 GMT The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack in Peshawar

A suicide bomber has killed at least eight people at a political rally in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say.

A senior provincial minister and anti-Taliban figure, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, was among those killed.

The blast happened at the house of a leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), which is part of the national governing coalition, local media said.

The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack.

The Taliban has repeatedly targeted members of the ANP, which holds power in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Provincial information minister and ANP member, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, condemned the attack.

"Terrorism has engulfed our whole society," he said. "They are targeting our bases, our mosques, our bazaars, public meetings and our security checkpoints."

'Smoke and dust'

Some 100 people had gathered in Peshawar for the meeting of the ANP, which is part of the Pakistan People's Party-led national coalition government.

Mr Bilour had delivered the keynote speech and was leaving when the attack occurred, Nazir Khan, a local Awami National Party leader, told Associated Press news agency.

"There was smoke and dust all around, and dead and wounded people were lying on the ground," he said.

Mr Bilour, 69, was severely wounded in the chest and stomach and died from his injuries in hospital.

A senior police official told Agence France-Presse that Mr Bilour's secretary and a policeman were among the dead, as well as other ANP officials.

At least 18 people were injured in the blast, hospital and police officials said.

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