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Explosion rocks NW Pakistan, 7 dead
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-12 15:59

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Seven people are dead after an explosion in a district next to the troubled Swat Valley.

Local Mayor Bakhte Alam says many more are wounded in the Monday blast in a Shangla district market.

Police official Tahir Khan says it may have been a car bombing.

The explosion is the latest in a string of attacks in the country, signaling the Taliban are still strong.

Swat has been the focus of an intense military offensive against the Taliban. The army says it has largely cleared the valley of the insurgents, though some were on the run.

Many of the Taliban are believed to have melted into the rural areas or gone to neighboring districts.