At least 12 dead after car bomb explodes in Pakistan refugee camp

GlobalPost

At least 12 have been killed in a car bomb attack on a Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan and over 30 wounded, as explosions ripped through the large community as refugees gathered to receive their rations of food.

The camp hosts people fleeing the violence currently plaguing Pakistan's border regions with Afghanistan, wrote the BBC, which noted that police feel the camp may also be used as a hideout for militants — perhaps prompting the attack.

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Most of the dead hailed from the Bajur and Khyber tribal areas near the Afghan border, wrote the Associated Press, which noted the Pakistani army has carried out operations against Taliban fighters in both those areas.

"It was very terrible, very terrible. We were very near. It was very loud," said aid group official Mumtaz Bangash to the Associated Press. "I have seen so many injured people."

"The bomb exploded in a car parked near the administration office where refugees had lined up to get ration and new arrivals were being registered," said Fuad Khan, a police official responsible for camp security, to AFP.

"Several camps in the vicinity of administration office were also ripped off by the bomb blast," he added.

The United Nation's World Food Program provides rations to many of the camp residents, and it remains unclear how their operations will be affected by this new security concern, added AFP.

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