Suicide Attacker Kills 13 in Pakistan

A regional military commander in Pakistan says a suicide bomber has killed at least 13 people and wounded at least 53 others in northwestern Swat valley.  The incident is the third deadly attack in Pakistan this week.

Pakistani police say the attacker was in a rickshaw, and blew himself up at a security checkpoint in the town of Saidu Sharif Saturday.

The incident follows coordinated suicide bomb attacks in the eastern city of Lahore that killed at least 55 people Friday morning.

A police official, Tariq Saleem Dogar, told reporters two bombers struck within seconds of each other.  Witnesses said the attacks targeted a convoy of military vehicles passing through a busy area.  At least 10 of the dead were soldiers.

Five smaller explosions were reported throughout Lahore following the attack.  The smaller blasts sparked panic but caused no deaths.

Authorities suspect al-Qaida-linked extremists were behind the suicide bombings.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Friday's attacks.  In a statement, Clinton also praised Pakistan's fight against extremism.

On Monday, a suicide car bomb killed 13 people and wounded 70 others in Lahore.

Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

This week's violence has broken what had been a relative lull in major attacks in Pakistani cities.

Pakistan's military has said an offensive last year cleared Swat valley of militants, but sporadic violence has continued there.