Bomb outside court kills 2, wounds 4 in Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — A bomb ripped through the parking area at a court in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing two men guarding a Shiite Muslim lawyer, authorities said.
Troops waging an offensive elsewhere in the region killed at least four suspected Taliban fighters, the military said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast in Dera Ismail Khan, but the city has witnessed both Taliban-related violence and sectarian fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The lawyer, Mastan Khan, was among four people wounded in the remote-controlled explosion, police official Bawahal Khan said.
Minority Shiites and majority Sunnis generally live in peace in Pakistan, but extremists often target each other's leaders and activists. The schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims dates to the seventh century, centering on the debate over who should succeed Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan's northwest has been pilloried by violence in recent years, much of it due to a spreading Taliban insurgency. The army is battling the militants on multiple fronts, with the most prominent offensive at the moment in the Swat Valley and surrounding districts.
A military statement Wednesday said that in the previous 24 hours, troops had killed four suspected Taliban fighters during search operations in Swat and neighboring areas. Twenty-two suspects were taken into custody, while at least 18 militant hide-outs and homes were destroyed, it said.
The information is nearly impossible to verify independently because access to the conflict zone is restricted.