Bomb blast wounds 13 in Rawalakot district

MUZAFFARABAD: Thirteen police and civilian explosives experts were wounded Wednesday when a homemade bomb they were trying to defuse in Pakistan-administered Kashmir detonated, said police official Iftikhar Kiani. The explosives were hidden in a milk container planted on a road leading to a military base, he said.

The explosion took place in Rawalakot district, more than 120 kilometres (74 miles) south of regional capital Muzaffarabad, and was the latest in a spike of attacks in the disputed Himalayan region, which is also claimed by India.

“The bomb was planted in a casket of milk in front of a local school. The school might have been the target, we are investigating” said Chaudry Mohammad Raqeeb, a senior administrative official.

Bomb disposal experts were called to the scene, but the device exploded early Wednesday as they were working to disable it.

Two of the wounded men were transferred to the garrison town of Rawalpindi outside the capital, Islamabad, because of the serious nature of their injuries, said Kiani.

“This is the same chain of blasts taking place in Kashmir,” said Sajjad Hussain, a senior police official in Rawalakot, referring to five other bombings that have hit the region since June last year.

source: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-bomb-wounds-10-in-rawalakot-district-ss-01