Friday, September 18, 2009

Suicide Bomber Kills 25 In Pakistan Market

They are starting to look like Iraq:

An official says 25 people were killed when a suicide car bomber struck a market in Pakistan.

The attack, thought to be sectarian, targeted a hotel in Usterzai, a village on the outskirts of the rough border town of Kohat.

Kohaty is near the Afghan border with a history of violence between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim sects.

The Hikmat Ali Hotel was owned by a Shi'ite, police official Asmat Ullah said and was severely damaged.

The blast destroyed several cars, and several shops at the Kacha Paka market, near where the hotel is located, caved in.

"A restaurant and many shops have collapsed. It's chaos here. There's huge devastation," said Ibn-e-Ali, a former judge and resident of the area.

"My house is one kilometre away but the blast was so huge it felt as if it was next door."

Area mayor Syed Mehtabul Hassan said 25 bodies were pulled out of the rubble of the hotel and nearby shops and that several other people were wounded.

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