Peshawar, Pakistan – A woman detonated explosives hidden under her burka at a police checkpoint Monday, killing herself and 14 others in what appeared to be Pakistan’s first female suicide attack, officials said.
The blast in the troubled town of Bannu underscored the growing Islamic militant threat, five days before President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally, seeks re-election.
Militants attacked a security post in the same northwest region later Monday and 24 policemen were feared captured, officials said.
The bomber was in a rickshaw when it was pulled over by police at a checkpoint in Bannu, said Ameer Hamza Mahsud, the police chief.
Investigators determined that it was a suicide attack and that the bomber was a woman , Mahsud said.
There was no claim of responsibility.
A wave of violence including suicide attacks in otherwise peaceful parts of Pakistan have fanned concern that the country is sacrificing its stability at the behest of Washington.
That debate has tarnished the standing of Musharraf but not deterred him from seeking another five-year presidential term.
Allies of Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, are confident that he will win Saturday’s ballot among federal and provincial lawmakers despite bitter opposition.
Opponents accuse him of using authoritarian tactics to stifle dissent.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered three officials suspended after 83 people, including dozens of journalists and lawyers, were hurt when police used batons and tear gas during a weekend protest against Musharraf.
Judges watched television footage of the clashes on a screen set up in a courtroom packed with lawyers and journalists, some with bandages on their arms and heads.
Government officials said they had complied with the court’s order to suspend Islamabad’s city and district police chiefs as well as the deputy head of the municipal administration pending an investigation.
