Militants kill 12 in attack on spy agency
Source: Agencies |
December 9, 2009, Wednesday
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A TEAM of militants launched a gun, rocket and suicide attack on an intelligence office in central Pakistan yesterday, killing 12 people in a strike that showed the insurgents can hit deep in the heart of the country.
The raid in Multan signaled the relentless determination of militants, despite being pressured by a major army offensive in one of their Afghan border havens. It came a day after twin bombings at a market in the eastern city of Lahore killed 49.
In the capital, prosecutors presented the Supreme Court with a list of alleged graft cases involving President Asif Ali Zardari and thousands of other officials that could be reopened if judges there declare illegal a recently expired amnesty protecting them.
The ongoing hearing could lead to legal challenges against the US-backed leader's rule, threatening political stability just as the United States needs the country to focus on battling militants also fighting across the border in Afghanistan.
Yesterday's blast ripped the facades off several buildings. Also damaged was the apparent target of the blast, a building housing an office of Pakistan's most powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.
Senior police officer Agha Yusuf said at least three militants in a car carried out the attack. One of them first fired a rocket and an automatic weapon at a police checkpoint. Then the men drove the car to the intelligence agency and detonated it.
He said security personnel were among the 12 dead.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack came as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited nearby Afghanistan, where he said Washington was ready to work more closely with Pakistan to fight the militants.
"The more they get attacked internally... the more open they may be to additional help from us. But we are prepared to expand that relationship at any pace they are prepared to accept," he said.
The raid in Multan signaled the relentless determination of militants, despite being pressured by a major army offensive in one of their Afghan border havens. It came a day after twin bombings at a market in the eastern city of Lahore killed 49.
In the capital, prosecutors presented the Supreme Court with a list of alleged graft cases involving President Asif Ali Zardari and thousands of other officials that could be reopened if judges there declare illegal a recently expired amnesty protecting them.
The ongoing hearing could lead to legal challenges against the US-backed leader's rule, threatening political stability just as the United States needs the country to focus on battling militants also fighting across the border in Afghanistan.
Yesterday's blast ripped the facades off several buildings. Also damaged was the apparent target of the blast, a building housing an office of Pakistan's most powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.
Senior police officer Agha Yusuf said at least three militants in a car carried out the attack. One of them first fired a rocket and an automatic weapon at a police checkpoint. Then the men drove the car to the intelligence agency and detonated it.
He said security personnel were among the 12 dead.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack came as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited nearby Afghanistan, where he said Washington was ready to work more closely with Pakistan to fight the militants.
"The more they get attacked internally... the more open they may be to additional help from us. But we are prepared to expand that relationship at any pace they are prepared to accept," he said.
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