A suicide bomber rammed his car into a police residential complex in Pakistan today, killing at least 20 people.
The blast in the northwestern garrison town of Kohat came hours after the Taliban threatened more suicide attacks on a government and security forces already overwhelmed by the worst flooding in Pakistani history.
A number of houses collapsed from the force of the blast and rescuers sought to dig out their occupants.
Police official Dilawar Khan Bangash said the bomber drove a car laden with about 300 kg (660 lb) of explosives into the gates of the complex as people were breaking their dawn-to-dusk fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and the blast brought down several houses and damaged nearby buildings.
He said several people were in critical condition and the death toll could rise. Earlier, local authorities estimated that at least 50 people were injured.
Shortly afterwards, a police patrol hit a roadside bomb in the nearby town of Hangu, and several policemen were wounded.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani denounced the Kohat attack as a "most heinous crime against innocent civilians.
"While the nation is passing through difficult times due to devastating floods, these coward criminals have killed innocent Muslims when they were breaking their fast in their homes," Gilani said in a statement.
Islamist militants have killed nearly 120 people in suicide bombings since resuming a bloody campaign last week to topple the government after a one-month lull during the floods.
A Taliban spokesman today threatened more suicide attacks on security forces and government offices in response to US drone aircraft strikes on its members in tribal areas.
"Americans are carrying out drone attacks with the permission of Pakistan and we will take revenge with suicide attacks on security forces, police and government offices," Taliban spokesman Azim Tariq said.
"Drone attacks have killed dozens of innocent women and children but America has never expressed its regret."
Nineteen people, including policemen and children, were killed in a suicide bombing at a police station in the northwestern town of Lakki Marwat yesterday.
Renewed violence and the floods, which have killed more than 1,700 people and made millions homeless, have raised questions about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan, which Washington sees as a vital ally in the US war against militancy.
Reuters