Three US soldiers killed in Lower Dir ‘suicide’ blast

* Taliban bomb army convoy carrying local and American troops, journalists to opening of girls' school, kill 9


* 115, including two US soldiers and 95 school girls, injured


* US embassy says military personnel were in Pakistan to train FC




TIMERGARA: Three US soldiers and four female students were among nine killed on Wednesday when a blast targeted a military-led convoy in Lower Dir, said police.




The US soldiers were travelling in a convoy with local troops, journalists and officials to the opening of a girls' school, according to the AFP news agency.




At least 115 people - including 95 schoolgirls - injured in the attack have been admitted to hospitals in Timergara. "Some seriously wounded people have been sent to Peshawar," a doctor told Daily Times.




While the ISPR said an improvised explosive device was used in the attack, the AP news agency said there were conflicting reports about the source of the blast. Some officials said it was a roadside bomb detonated by a remote control, while others claimed it was a suicide car bomb.




US embassy: According to a statement by the US embassy in Islamabad, the US troops killed in the attack were training FC soldiers on a request by the Pakistani government. "Three Americans were killed and two injured in an explosion," according to the statement. The embassy said the US troops were in Lower Dir to attend the inauguration of a school for girls that was recently renovated with US assistance.


A statement by the Pakistan Army said the dead included a Frontier Corps soldier. However, it only said three "foreigners" were among the injured.




Local police sources said a US Army major and five FC personnel were among the wounded. The AP news agency quoted a local journalist as saying that two of the "foreigners" were wearing civilian clothes, not uniforms. Two Pakistani reporters travelling in the same convoy said Pakistani military guides referred to the "foreigners" as journalists.




District police chief Mumtaz Zarin told Daily Times that nine people - including four schoolgirls and "three foreigners" - were killed in the remote-controlled blast. Security sources in Peshawar said they were investigating if the TTP had been tipped off about the presence of Americans in the convoy. Local authorities appear confused by the foreign troops' plans to attend the inauguration of the school, as "they had little role in the project". A local said the blast destroyed the school building completely. "Fortunately, the students were not inside the classrooms, otherwise the number of casualties would have been much higher," said Noor Muhammad. abdullah madani/agencies