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Suicide Bomber Strikes Peshawar

   VOA News 24 December 2009
   Pakistani volunteers assist an injured person

Photo: AP

   Pakistani volunteers rush an injured person to a hospital in Peshawar,
   Pakistan, 24 Dec 2009

   A  suicide  bomb  attack has rocked the northwestern city of Peshawar,
   killing at least five people and wounding more than 10 others.
   Pakistani  officials  say  a  suicide  bomber  walked up to a security
   checkpoint  Thursday and detonated his explosives after he was stopped
   by police.
   Officials  say  the  checkpoint  -  near  the  offices  for Pakistan's
   national airline - is along one of the city's busiest roads.
   The  area  is  also  home to some media companies, a Church school and
   several other businesses.
   The  explosion comes just two days after a suicide bomber killed three
   people  and wounded at least 17 others in an attack on a press club in
   Peshawar  -  the  first such attack against a media institution in the
   city.
   Peshawar  has  experienced  frequent bombings in recent months, and on
   Wednesday,  Pakistani  officials promised provide tighter security for
   journalists in the country.
   Authorities  say,  in Tuesday's attack, a policeman stopped the bomber
   at  the  gate  of the club and tried to search him, at which point the
   bomber detonated his explosives.
   The  U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Pakistan as the
   fourth-deadliest  country  in  the  world  for  journalists this year,
   behind the Philippines, Somalia and Iraq.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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