Several Fatalities In Pakistan Blasts

Pakistani security officials scan the site of a bomb blast at a Karachi, which killed at least six people on September 18.

A number of blasts in Pakistan have caused several fatalities.

A bomb located in or next to a van exploded on September 19 in a shopping area of the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Initial casualty reports range from four to 10 dead and some 20 injured.

The AFP press agency quoted a police official as saying eight were dead and 22 injured.

Some 10 shops were reportedly damaged in the blast. Police and bomb-disposal experts have secured the scene.

Peshawar is the main city in northwestern Pakistan, where tribal areas stretch along the border with Afghanistan.

The region is the base for many Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Earlier on September 18, two explosions just minutes apart at a market in Karachi killed at least six and wounded more than a dozen.

Police said the explosives had been detonated remotely and had been filled with pellets and ball bearings, making them especially deadly.

No one has yet to claim responsibility.

Police foiled a similar bomb plot in the same area last month.

Elsewhere, a bus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran to Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, was targeted by a car bomb.

Police said two people were killed and nine injured in that attack.

No one claimed responsibility, but the Taliban regularly targets Shi'ites.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, dpa, Reuters, AFP, and AP