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Suicide Attack Kills 15 in Pakistan's Swat Valley

Bomber Targets Police Recruits

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In this image taken from footage aired by the Pakistani GEO news channel, Pakistani police officer examine the site of suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed many community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/GEO Channel) (AP)

Map locates the Swat Valley in Pakistan, where security forces destroyed a Taliban training camp (W. Castello - AP)

In this image taken from a footage aired by the Pakistani GEO news channel, Pakistani police officers examine the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen of community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/GEO Channel) (AP)

Pakistani paramedics carry a police officer, who was injured in the gunbattle with militants, after receiving initial treatment at a local hospital in Bannu, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. Police in northwestern Pakistan say a group of militants have killed an anti-terrorism officer and his two police guards in an ambush. (AP Photo/Ijaz Mohammad) (Ijaz Mohammad - AP)

Pakistani army soldiers examine the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

Pakistani police officers and media gather at the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

A Pakistani police officer examines the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

A Pakistani police officer stands at the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

Pakistani firefighters battle with a fire, after an explosion, in Chaman, a Pakistani town along the Afghan border, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. An explosion ripped through a line of trucks ferrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, setting several oil tankers ablaze Sunday at a backed-up Pakistani border crossing, police said. (AP Photo/Shah Khalid) (Shah Khalid - AP)

Pakistani police officers gather at the site of a suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town in Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Abdullah Khan) (Abdullah Khan - AP)

Pakistani army troops patrol on a road after the suicide bombing over a police station in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen of community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Abdullah Khan) (Abdullah Khan - AP)

Pakistani police officers and media men gather at the site of suicide bombing in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen of community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

Pakistani paramedics shift an injured police officer onto a stretcher upon his arrival at a local hospital in Saidu Sharif, a town in Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

Pakistani police officers unload one of their injured colleagues at a local hospital in Saidu Sharif, a town in Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. A suicide bomber killed more than a dozen community police recruits in Pakistan's Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali) (Naveed Ali - AP)

A policeman surveys the site of the Mingora bombing, which occurred despite a heavy military presence in the valley. (By Naveed Ali -- Associated Press)

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By Haq Nawaz Khan and Joshua Partlow

Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 31, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 30 -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosives amid a gathering of police recruits in the heart of Pakistan's Swat Valley on Sunday, killing at least 15 and demonstrating the Taliban's power to attack despite the heavy military presence in the area.

A second explosion in Pakistan targeted a NATO convoy of fuel trucks near a border crossing with Afghanistan in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, causing no deaths but frustrating efforts to supply U.S. and other foreign troops.

The explosion in Swat took place in the main city of Mingora, where police were training recruits for a new force to help maintain security improvements brought about by a Pakistani military offensive in the valley this year. A police official on duty, Muhammad Ayaz, said the attacker sneaked into the police station disguised as a recruit and blew himself up near about 70 people.

The attack raised concerns among residents and officials about the Taliban's ongoing ability to target security forces, despite the military offensive that began in April. The military says it has been able to largely regain control of Swat, but many Taliban leaders remain free. The fighting in Swat and surrounding areas earlier this year drove about 2 million people from their homes, although many have returned.

One Mingora resident, Wazir Khan, said the blast caused panic across the city: Shopkeepers closed their businesses, people stayed inside and a curfew was imposed. The police in Swat were often outgunned by the Taliban over the past two years and regularly ceded authority to the fighters, forcing the military to step in. The Pakistani government plans to create a special police force, including retired soldiers, to bolster security.

The bombing in Baluchistan occurred Sunday evening at the Chaman border crossing. Police said about 20 vehicles, including oil tankers intended to supply NATO forces in Afghanistan, were set ablaze or otherwise damaged. The border had been closed for a few days because of a dispute between guards. Hundreds of trucks had been lined up waiting for the gates to open Monday when the blast occurred, officials said.

A suicide bombing at the Torkham border checkpoint in northern Pakistan on Thursday killed at least 18 guards.

Partlow reported from Kabul. Special correspondent Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report.