Bomb kills militant spokesman in NW Pakistan: police

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – A remote-controlled bomb exploded in a car Saturday killing a militant spokesman and his driver while wounding five others in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police said.

"Two people were killed and five others were injured in the car bombing," Peshawar police chief Sifwatullah Ghayyur told AFP.

"The bomb was planted in the car and was detonated by a remote control," he said, identifying the victims as Mubeen Afridi, spokesman for militant group Ansar-ul-Islam which operates in Khyber tribal district near the Afghan border, and his driver.

Police suspect that rival group Lashkar-e-Islam could be behind the bombing, Ghayyur said.

Bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik said that up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of explosives were used in the device which was planted under the car.

Sahibzada Anis, the head of district administration, said that the bombing took place on a busy road near the main government hospital, but there were fewer people out due to the onset of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Television footage showed the white Toyota car reduced to a pile of mangled steel as investigators collected evidence.

Markets and other businesses were immediately shut down in the area after the blast panicked residents and traders, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Last year the government launched a major operation against militant groups in Khyber which sent their leaders running into the mountains bordering Afghanistan, after the militants threatened to take over Peshawar.

Militants were also attacking convoys supplying NATO and US troops in Afghanistan passing through Khyber.