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Roadside bomb hits minibus, killing 15 and wounding 12 in Pakistan border region

By: Abdullah Khan, The Associated Press

Posted: 09/16/2012 12:03 AM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 09/16/2012 9:07 AM

Local residents remove a body from the site of a roadside bomb blast that killed at least 15 people and wounded 12 others in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border in the Jandol area of lower Dir, Pakistan on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012. Officials said they did not know who set off the bomb, but such attacks are common in the country's remote tribal regions, where militants from both Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are active. (AP Photo/Rohullah Shakir)

TIMERGARAH, Pakistan - A roadside bomb ripped through a minibus in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border Sunday, killing 15 passengers and wounded 12 others, police said.

The bomb was buried in a dirt road in Lower Dir district and apparently detonated by remote control as the minibus passed by, said Ejaz Abid, the local police chief. There was little left of the vehicle after the explosion, just a mass of crumpled metal.

Two children were among the dead, said Mahmood Aslam, a local government official. The vehicle was not carrying any tribal elders, anti-Taliban militia commanders or others from the area frequently targeted by militants, he said.

"I don't understand why the passenger vehicle was targeted," he said.

Dilawar Khan, a survivor, said he heard a huge blast, and the passengers suddenly dove to the ground.

"I was listening to people's cries but unable to see anything as dust and smoke engulfed the air," said Khan. "Then I found myself in the hospital with my leg and hand bandaged," he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban has carried out many similar bombings in the northwest.

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