Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for two attacks by suicide bombers in the country's northwest that left 80 dead and over 100 injured; Says it is first of many attacks to follow on US and pakistan
Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for two attacks by suicide bombers in the country's northwest that left 80 dead and over 100 injured; Says it is first of many attacks to follow on US and pakistanPeshawar: Within a fortnight of Osama bin Laden's elimination, Pakistani Taliban yesterday carried out its first major strike to avenge his death, as two suicide bombers struck a paramilitary facility in the northwestern town of Shabqadar, killing 80 people and wounding over 100. The first bomber, who was on a motorcycle, detonated his explosive vest near the main gate of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) training centre at Shabqadar, 35 km from Khyber-Pakhtunwala capital Peshawar.
Bloodshed begins: A Pakistani man carries an injured blast victim to
hospital in PeshawarPakistani security officials examine the wreckage of vehicles outside the
main Frontier Constabulary training centre following the attack by two
suicide bombers yesterday. Pics/AFPThe second bomber, who too was on a motorcycle, struck about eight minutes later as security personnel were removing the dead and injured from the spot, witnesses said. "The attack was the first revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden," Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told reporters in northwest Pakistan on phone from an undisclosed location. He warned the militants would carry out "bigger attacks". "Pakistani and US forces should be ready for more attacks," the Taliban spokesman added.
Over 115 people were also injured when the bombers struck a large group of FC personnel about to go on leave after completing a year-long training course. Most of the personnel, who were in plainclothes, were sitting in mini buses when the bombers struck. The powerful blasts destroyed about 20 shops and a dozen vehicles in a market located opposite the gate of the training centre. At least eight civilians were among the dead, police said.
Deadliest Yesterday's attack was the deadliest in Pakistan this year and came as the country's military and civilian leadership are in crisis over the killing of bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2. "It was a suicide bombing," Nisar Sarwat, the police chief of Charsadda, told the media. The two giant explosions shredded the recruits' white minivans, killing their occupants and scattering luggage across the market.
"There was a big blast," a fruit seller said. "I saw smoke, blood and body pieces all around." Police officials said they feared the death toll could rise. The condition of 40 injured at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar was described by officials as serious. "The first blast occurred in the middle of the road, and after that there was a huge blast that was more powerful than the first," said Abdul Wahid, a 25-year-old recruit hurt in the explosions.
Strike condemned The British foreign secretary, William Hague, condemned the attack as "cowardly and indiscriminate, killing many innocent bystanders and targeting those who serve to protect Pakistan".u00a0The US embassy in Islamabad issued a statement saying it "respected the nation's sacrifices" and would stand with Pakistan in the struggle to "disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida and allied terrorist organisations". Pakistan's army is facing unprecedented criticism as USu00a0 demands to know how Osamau00a0 was found in Pakistan.
Threat to ObamaAccording to an American news channel, the US discovered a plot to kill Obama. "US officials are analysing one million pages of data from the trove found in Osama's compound during the raid that killed him, and say they have learned more in the past 10 days than in the past 10 years," ABC claims. The US also claims al-Qaeda wants to murder Obama's 88-year-old Kenyan step-grandmother, Sarah Onyango. The threat by Somali group Al Shabaab prompted Kenyan authorities to beef up security around her.
'Trust deficit'Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani had earlier warned of a "trust deficit" between the US and Pakistan and said that co-operation between the CIA and Pakistan's ISI had broken down. "Traditionally the ISI worked with the CIA," he said to a magazine, but "what we're seeing is that there's no level of trust."
