Three foreigners among nine killed in Pak blast

9 persons,including three foreigners,were killed and nearly 70 others injured on Wednesday when a security forces convoy was targeted with a roadside bomb in Pakistan.

At least nine persons,including three foreigners,were killed and nearly 70 others injured on Wednesday when a security forces convoy was targeted with a roadside bomb in the restive Dir area of northwest Pakistan. The bomb exploded as the convoy carrying security personnel,foreign aid workers and journalists was on its way to a school-opening ceremony in Lower Dir district of North West Frontier Province,district police chief Mumtaz Zarin Khan said.

The explosion occurred when the convoy was passing by another state-run girls’ school located a few kilometres from Tirmargarha,the main city of Dir district,witnesses said.

At least three foreigners and four girl students were among nine people killed in the blast,district administration chief Ghulam Muhammad said. There was confusion about the identities and professions of the dead foreigners. The US embassy said it was investigating reports that USAID workers were among the dead.

Initial reports from the remote area had said four foreign journalists were killed in the blast but this was later ruled out by officials. Forty one girl students,four Pakistani journalists and five security personnel were among the 70 people injured,officials said. Four of the students were in a serious condition. An emergency was declared in the hospitals in Timergarha.