Bomber blows up Pakistani troops

KARACHI, Pakistan - A suspected suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani military convoy yesterday, killing at least 21 people in a scenic valley that has become another front in the nation's war with Islamic extremists. Most of the dead were troops.

The blast in Swat district set an ammunition truck on fire, according to officials and witnesses. Scores, including civilians, were wounded.

While battles have been raging for years in Pakistani tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan, a recent surge of violence in Swat, a tourist spot to the northeast known as the Switzerland of Pakistan, illustrates the potential for a widened war that could also take in hitherto undisturbed areas.

The attack came as the military moved 3,000 personnel into Swat in a possible prelude to a confrontation with Maulana Fazlullah, a firebrand, pro-Taliban cleric.

Fazlullah - who leads the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law - uses an illegal FM radio signal to broadcast calls for Islamic revolution.

Fazlullah is said to have thousands of black-turbaned followers willing to fight to defend him. The group was officially banned in 2003 by Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, but has continued to operate illegally.

Fazlullah, rumored to be allied with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, rose to prominence last year when he spoke out against education for girls and women and issued decrees against polio vaccinations, which he derided as a U.S. conspiracy to make men infertile.

The conflict between Fazlullah and the government has been taking its toll on the region, with tourism money drying up this year.

"It used to be the favorite recreation center of tourists, including foreigners," said Shirin Zada, a resident of Swat. "But that's no more the case."