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23 die in botched attack on brigadier
Source: Agencies |
September 8, 2011, Thursday
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A PAIR of suicide bombers attacked a top army officer in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta yesterday, missing him but killing his wife. At least 22 others died, including several guards, a senior officer and two children.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and a spokesman for the group said Brigadier Khurram Shahzad, the deputy head of the region's Frontier Corps, was targeted because of an incident several months ago that left five people dead at a checkpoint in the city.
In yesterday's blasts, the first attacker detonated his vehicle next to a group of Frontier Corps officers close to Shahzad's house. Hurling grenades, the second attacker than stormed the house and blew himself up inside it, according to police officer Naseer Ahmed Kurd.
Police officer Hamid Shakil said at least 23 people were killed and more than 60 were injured.
Two of the dead were children traveling in a rickshaw. A colonel in the corps was also killed, he said.
Shakil said one of the suicide bombers was carrying an ID card showing him to be a 21-year-old Afghan refugee.
The bombing comes just days after Monday's disclosure of the arrests of the three al-Qaida suspects in the city.
The Pakistan army statement making the announcement had stressed the level of CIA involvement - a possible sign of an upswing in cooperation between two uneasy allies after the rancor surrounding Osama bin Laden's killing.
Of yesterday's bombings, Shakil said: "This attack was maybe in reaction to the recent arrests, but we are investigating."
Islamist militants are seeking to topple Pakistan's Western-allied leaders and take over the country.
Allied to the insurgents fighting US forces across the border in Afghanistan, they have attacked hundreds of government, police, army and civilian targets since 2007, when the violence began in earnest. Many thousands have been killed, and Pakistani authorities have struggled to counter the threat.
Quetta is a dangerous city, and is thought to be home to al-Qaida and Taliban leaders. It lies close to the border with southern Afghanistan, the heart of the insurgency in that country.
It is also wracked by separatist violence, but those rebels have tended not to deploy suicide bombers.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and a spokesman for the group said Brigadier Khurram Shahzad, the deputy head of the region's Frontier Corps, was targeted because of an incident several months ago that left five people dead at a checkpoint in the city.
In yesterday's blasts, the first attacker detonated his vehicle next to a group of Frontier Corps officers close to Shahzad's house. Hurling grenades, the second attacker than stormed the house and blew himself up inside it, according to police officer Naseer Ahmed Kurd.
Police officer Hamid Shakil said at least 23 people were killed and more than 60 were injured.
Two of the dead were children traveling in a rickshaw. A colonel in the corps was also killed, he said.
Shakil said one of the suicide bombers was carrying an ID card showing him to be a 21-year-old Afghan refugee.
The bombing comes just days after Monday's disclosure of the arrests of the three al-Qaida suspects in the city.
The Pakistan army statement making the announcement had stressed the level of CIA involvement - a possible sign of an upswing in cooperation between two uneasy allies after the rancor surrounding Osama bin Laden's killing.
Of yesterday's bombings, Shakil said: "This attack was maybe in reaction to the recent arrests, but we are investigating."
Islamist militants are seeking to topple Pakistan's Western-allied leaders and take over the country.
Allied to the insurgents fighting US forces across the border in Afghanistan, they have attacked hundreds of government, police, army and civilian targets since 2007, when the violence began in earnest. Many thousands have been killed, and Pakistani authorities have struggled to counter the threat.
Quetta is a dangerous city, and is thought to be home to al-Qaida and Taliban leaders. It lies close to the border with southern Afghanistan, the heart of the insurgency in that country.
It is also wracked by separatist violence, but those rebels have tended not to deploy suicide bombers.
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