Toll at nine in Pak suicide bombing

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PESHAWAR, Dec 24 (AFP): Pakistan's military said Monday that the death toll from a suicide attack on an army convoy was up to nine, with 23 people wounded.
Sunday's attack took place in the Swat valley in the country's restive northwest, where there have been three suicide attacks since President Pervez Musharraf lifted a nationwide state of emergency a week and a half ago.
The military said four soldiers and five civilians were killed, with 13 soldiers and 10 civilians wounded. It had given the toll on Sunday as seven dead and 29 wounded.
The attack took place in the town of Mingora in the troubled valley, a onetime tourist haven that has become a flashpoint for violence where the military has been battling followers of a hardline pro-Taliban cleric.
The military has launched an offensive in the Swat valley, looking to drive out followers of Maulana Fazlullah, a radical cleric who has been looking to establish Islamic sharia law in the region.
There have been more than 40 suicide attacks in Pakistan this year, as Musharraf battles a wave of militant violence.
The deadliest came in October, when twin suicide bombers killed 139 people during a homecoming rally for opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
On Friday, 56 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up during prayers at a mosque in the northwest town of Charshadda.
That attack targetted but missed Aftab Sherpao, the country's former interior minister who had overseen a government campaign against Islamic militants.
The latest bombing came just two weeks ahead of the January 8 vote, which militants have vowed to disrupt. Around 770 people have been killed in militant attacks in Pakistan this year.