Officials say blast wounds 19, destroys car in Pakistani port city of Karachi, cause unclear

Officials: Blast wounds 19 in south Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan — Officials say an explosion has wounded 19 people in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi. The cause was unclear.

The blast also destroyed a car and occurred near a procession of minority Shiite Muslims for the Islamic holy month of Muharram.

Government official Osama Qadri said 19 people were wounded Saturday.

Police official Majid Dasti said investigators were checking if a gas cylinder accidentally detonated or if a bomb went off.

Ethnic, political and sectarian violence is common in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city.

However, it has been spared during the recent surge of militant attacks in Pakistan that have killed more than 500 people. Some suspect that is because the Taliban use the city to relax and raise money.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

MIR ALI, Pakistan (AP) — A suspected U.S. missile strike killed three people Saturday in a northwest Pakistani tribal region where militants focused on fighting the West in Afghanistan are concentrated, two Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The strike was apparently the latest in a lengthy campaign of such attacks by the U.S., which rarely discusses the covert program but has in the past said it has taken out several top al-Qaida operatives. Pakistan publicly opposes the strikes but is believed to secretly aid them.

Saturday’s strike occurred in the Babar Raghzai area of North Waziristan and also wounded two people, the officials said. The identities of the dead were not immediately clear. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media on the record.

The area targeted is used by militants from two major factions that are battling U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan — the Haqqani network and the militants of warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

U.S. missile strikes in North Waziristan are sensitive largely because Pakistan has a truce with Bahadur. He agreed to stay on the sidelines as the Pakistani army has waged an offensive in South Waziristan against the Pakistani Taliban, a group that has focused on attacking the Pakistani state.

Missile strikes on his territory could endanger that deal, analysts have said. However, in the past the U.S. has indicated it will not hesitate to launch the drone-fired missiles if it tracks down an important target.

The South Waziristan ground offensive was launched in mid-October, but many leaders of the Pakistani Taliban are believed to have fled to other parts of the lawless tribal belt — including North Waziristan and the Orakzai tribal regions.

The military has carried out airstrikes in Orakzai and may launch a wider offensive there in the coming weeks.

A statement from the military Saturday said that a targeted airstrike at a compound in Orakzai had killed some civilians along with eight suspected militants.

“Military authorities have deeply regretted the loss of civilian lives,” said the statement. It said the families of the civilian victims would be compensated.

Information from the conflict zones is difficult to independently verify because of restricted access.

Also Saturday, a local government official said the Taliban had beheaded a tribal elder who fought against them in the Bajur tribal region. The remains of 45-year-old Gul Mohammad was found in Mamund town near a road, Faramosh Khan said.

A note from the Pakistani Taliban attached to the body accused the elder of spying on militants.

Earlier this year, Pakistan’s army declared it had vanquished militants in Bajur after a six-month offensive.

Associated Press writer Anwarullah Khan contributed to this report from Khar.