Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed 11 people on Tuesday in an area of northwestern Pakistan where many citizens fled last year to escape a large army offensive against the Taliban, police said.
The explosion, which killed three police officers and eight civilians, struck the patrol vehicle as it travelled through the town of Dera Ismail Khan, said Mohammed Aslam, a senior police official in the area.
The victims included a senior police officer in the area as well as his guard and driver, Aslam said. The civilians who were killed included two schoolchildren, he said. Another 15 people were wounded.
Thousands of people fled to Dera Ismail Khan in mid-October when the army launched a big ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban's main stronghold in the South Waziristan tribal area. Many insurgents also escaped ahead of the fighting and have struck back with scores of attacks in the northwest, including in Dera Ismail Khan.
The military has launched several smaller operations in the tribal areas in pursuit of those militants who fled, including one in mid-March in Orakzai that has killed hundreds of suspected fighters.
Washington has pressed Pakistan to push into North Waziristan as well, an area used by scores of Taliban and al-Qaida militants to launch attacks against US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Even though many fighters fled to North Waziristan following last year's big offensive, the military has been reluctant to expand its operations there for fear of blowback from militants who have historically focused their attacks in Afghanistan rather than Pakistan.
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