Nine killed in explosion in central Pakistan

By Asim Tanveer

MIAN CHANNU, Pakistan (Reuters) - An explosion killed at least nine people and wounded scores in Pakistan on Monday, as an explosives cache believed to have been stored by militants ignited in a house used to teach children the Koran.

The blast flattened over a dozen mud-built houses in a village near Mian Channu in central Punjab province, far from the conflict in the northwest, where government forces have been battling Taliban fighters since late April.

There was evidence militants were using the house where the explosion occurred as police found four jackets used by suicide bombers and six rocket launchers in the rubble, said Kaleem Ullah, an official with the rescue team.

"It appears that the blast was caused by some explosives that were being stored in the house," district police chief Kamran Khan said, without elaborating.

The victims included seven children, a man and a woman, said a doctor at the town's hospital. At least 70 people were wounded, but many were still trapped beneath the rubble.

"We are facing difficulties in our rescue efforts because there is a lot of public interference," the doctor said.

Rana Sanaullah, provincial law minister, who also handles security matters, said police had arrested the owner of the house and he was a former activist of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a banned Sunni Muslim militant group involved in sectarian violence against minority Shi'ite Muslims.

Militants have launched bomb attacks in other parts of Pakistan in retaliation for the northwest offensive, and southern Punjab is home to some jihadi groups that have forged ties with the Taliban and al Qaeda.