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Police Seize 'Time-Bomb' Van

Thursday, May 15, 2003
Gulf Daily News

The police officer ruled out involvement of any terrorist group in the blast blaming it on a local "criminal gang." He said efforts were underway to arrest the group and said there had been several attacks in the past.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- GDN
Pakistani police seized a van fitted with a time-bomb in a congested area of northwestern Bannu city shortly after a home-made device exploded harmlessly outside a Christian school, officials said yesterday.

The vehicle with 5kg of explosive packed in a tin canister fitted with a detonator and a timer was parked outside a hotel in the city's Lakki Gate area where scores of shops are located, Bannu police chief, Iqbal Khan, said.

He said the bomb, which was timed to go off around 8am on Tuesday was detected by a hotel worker at around 5am.

"Had it exploded it would have caused heavy losses in the city's most congested area," Khan said.

It was recovered almost two hours after a small home-made device exploded outside a Christian missionary school, about half a kilometre away, he said.
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2003 © Gulf Daily News.

Dan