Suicide bombing kills nine, hurts 49 in Pakistan

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 1 (AFP): At least nine people were killed and 49 injured Monday after a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car in a restive northwestern Pakistan valley, officials said.
The bombing took place at a security checkpoint in the town of Mingora in scenic Swat valley, which has been rocked by a violent campaign to impose Islamic laws.
"According to initial reports, nine people were killed and 49 others were injured in the suicide blast at the checkpost," a security official told the news agency. He added that all who died were civilians, and a lone security official was among the wounded.
The chief of a local government hospital, Doctor Lal Noor, said that nine bodies were brought in along with the 49 who were wounded.
The mountainous Swat valley was until last year a popular tourist destination featuring Pakistan's only ski resort.
But the region has been turned into a battleground since radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan's Taliban movement, launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in the valley.