Pakistan suicide bomb kills anti-Taliban mayor, 11 others

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in a market in northwest Pakistan crowded with shoppers ahead of a Muslim holiday, killing 12 people, including a mayor who once supported but had turned against the Taliban, officials said.

In the heavily guarded capital, police shot and killed another suicide bomber before he was able to detonate his explosives at a checkpoint, an officer said.

The suicide bomber hit in the town of Adazi as shoppers thronged a market where goats were being sold to celebrate the upcoming festival Eid, killing the mayor, Abdul Malik, and 11 other people, including a young girl.

"That place turned into hell where the dead and injured were lying everywhere, and blood and flesh were spread around," said witness Khan Zamir.

Malik, the mayor, had once been a Taliban supporter but switched sides and formed a militia to fight the militants. He had survived several recent attacks on his life.

AP