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4 killed as car bomb ends lull in Pak violence

AFP, Mardan
Four people were killed and 30 hurt when a car bomb ripped through a police station in northwest Pakistan yesterday, ending a lull in attacks since a new government took power last month.
The powerful blast in the city of Mardan reduced the police station to a pile of rubble and wrecked an adjoining hotel and several shops, said senior police officer Mohammad Akhtar Khan.
"There was a huge explosion. It was an apparent car bomb planted next to the wall between the hotel and the police station and both were wrecked," Khan told AFP by telephone.
"TWo policemen including an officer and two civilian workers were killed," Khan added.
A security official said 30 people were wounded in the explosion
and that some of the shops were also practically destroyed by the force of the blast.
"There were some people inside the hotel and the shops were opening, then there was a deafening blast. Debris flew in the air and there was thick black smoke," witness Sikander Khan told AFP
"People are saying that a man in a Suzuki car came to the hotel, parked his car outside and then entered to order a cup of tea and then disappeared," he said.
Several people were earlier believed to be buried in the rubble but police had now accounted for everyone, said another police official, Mohammad Zulfiqar.
"We arc using bulldozers to clear the massive debris, hopefully no one is still buried under it." he added.
Ten policemen inside the station were injured by shrapnel, Zulfiqar said, adding that an esti-
mated 45 kilogrammes (99 pounds) of explosive was used.
There was no immediate claim or attribution of responsibility.
The blast is the first since Pakistan's new government was sworn in at the end of March, vowing to hold talks with Taliban militants and to reverse pro-US President Pervez Musharraf's strongarm tactics.
It came despite a unilateral ceasefire announced this week by Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, who has denied accusations by the previous government of masterminding the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto.
Mardan is the home town of the new chief minister of North West Frontier Province, Amir Haider Hoti, a secular politician who is playing a key role in negotiations with (he rebels.