Pakistan suicide blast kills 35

[Goodperson]

Pakistan suicide blast kills 35

A suicide bomber has blown himself up at an army parade ground in north-west Pakistan, killing at least 35 soldiers, officials say.

About 20 people were wounded in the attack, which happened at a training ground in the town of Dargai in North West Frontier province.

Dargai is said to be a stronghold of a pro-Taleban militant group.

An eyewitness, Aurangzeb, told the BBC he saw soldiers picking up scattered body parts minutes after the explosion.

"The victims were dying. Their shoes and caps were scattered all over the place," he said.

It appeared that most of the men who died were military recruits who had been doing morning exercises.

"This is a terrorist act that appears to be a suicide bombing and we are investigating," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Dargai, located close to the Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region, is a stronghold of a pro-Taleban movement that has been banned by the government.

Last month, the army said it carried out an air strike on a religious school run by the group near the Afghan border, killing what is claimed were 80 suspected militants.

Tribesmen in the area had rallied against Islamabad's alliance with the US after the air strike.

President Pervez Musharraf said the 80 people killed in the air strike were militants, not students as protesters say.

Pakistan has deployed nearly 80,000 troops along the border to hunt militants who sought refuge after the ousting of the Taleban in Afghanistan in 2001.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6127262.stm

 

[Spring Onion]

The news had already been posted by Lahori and also here the headlien dosnt match the content in the text as there is no mention of killing of 35 .

 

[Goodperson]

could someone from admin merge the threads I have put this from BBC site which mentions figure of 35.

Even Lahori's links points to BBC site which is now updated

 

[Spring Onion]

Well mods will merge it as far the figure what can i say as i had not seen it in the text.

 

[Bull]

The news had already been posted by Lahori and also here the headlien dosnt match the content in the text as there is no mention of killing of 35 .

Its been reported elsewhere..

 

[Spring Onion]

No bull its the same news.

the death toll has been risen .

 

[Cheetah786]

so where are those sympathisers that were claiming innocnet victums were killed during that raid i do belive this happend cause of the Raid and this proves that there is no such thing as innoccent mad-rassha students.i see jana trying his best to change the subject.and what i see the regular sympathisers absent from the DEbate as they will claim military fired at this innocent person the bombs got attached to his body cause he had glue on him he came to the base for help with disposing the bombs and it went on by mistake.killing our army personal. well i ask didnt these people have families or kids why arent ya here talking about that.

one thing is for sure it will bring shoot to kill policy at the base now.and off course the symapthiser will cry when a suicide bomber is killed by bullets before he reached his destination .(oh poor guy was killed while approching the base he was innocent and the bombs he had were for self defence he wasnt going to use they killed an innocent kid).:wall:

 

[Nasir]

Imran Khan blames Musharraf for suicide attack

Islamabad, Nov. 10 (PTI): Holding Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf responsible for the death of 42 army soldiers in a suicide attack in the country, Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan today sought immediate action against him for the raids on a madrasa on Bajour tribal area, in which 80 people were killed.

"The attack in Bajour amounted to extra-judicial killings and responsibility for which has been accepted by President Musharraf," Khan was quoted as saying by local daily 'Dawn' here.

Asking the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take action against Musharraf, he said, "If the honourable chief justice does not take action now, then the people of this country are entitled to ask that what is the purpose of our judiciary? What has happened to the basic human right that every individual is innoc ent until proven guilty."

"The Bajaur incident would further radicalise the Pakistani society. The shameful and cowardly act would drive more and more into the hands of extremists. The suicide attack in Malakand was a direct consequence of Musharraf's owning up to the Bajaur killings," he said.

Khan further added, "I wonder at the irony of international justice system that on the one hand Saddam Hussain was sentenced to death by hanging for allegedly being the judge, jury and executioner of 247 Iraqi Shias despite the fact that he had not pleaded guilty while on the other President Musharraf is still enjoying power despite the fact that he has accepted the killing of 80 people in Bajaur out of whom 60 were below the age of 18."

h..ttp://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200611101440.htm

 

[Nasir]

Pakistan Will Crush Threat of Terrorism, Musharraf Tells Army

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's security forces will combat and crush the threat of terrorism threatening the country, President Pervez Musharraf told military commanders.

``Terrorism is a threat to our national security,'' Musharraf said yesterday in Islamabad, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan. ``We shall never close the option of dialogue and political settlement. But we will undertake action whenever we find such militant activity.''

The military takes care to protect the lives of civilians during its operations, Musharraf said. An Oct. 30 raid by the army on a school compound in the northwestern region of Bajaur prompted protests after tribal leaders said students and teachers were among 80 people killed. The army said only terrorists training at the school were targeted.

Islamic parties in Pakistan oppose Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Security forces have arrested more than 600 suspected terrorists since 2001 and about 90,000 soldiers are deployed in the tribal region to combat al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters crossing the border from Afghanistan.

The attack in Bajaur last week took place after intelligence reports that leaders using the school were engaged in terrorist activities, Musharraf told a commanders' conference held at the army headquarters yesterday.

Various parties try to exploit the anti-terrorism issue for their vested interests and create misperceptions among the general public, Musharraf said, according to APP.

Economic Growth

Pakistan's government must control extremism while it sustains economic growth and pursues democratic changes, he said.

Muslim nations need to combat the poverty that is making their countries breeding grounds for extremists, the president told an Islamic conference in the capital two days ago. Pakistan, with a population of more than 165 million, is home to the world's second-largest Muslim population after Indonesia.

Pakistan denied a report after the Oct. 30 raid that the attack targeted Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's No. 2, who escaped a U.S. air strike in the region in January. As many as 18 civilians were killed in the Jan. 13 raid that sparked anti-U.S. protests in Pakistani cities, including Karachi and Islamabad.

Many al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters fled across the border from Afghanistan after the Taliban militia was ousted in 2001 by a U.S.-led coalition. Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, may have crossed into the border region.

``Nobody knows where he is,'' Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in a Nov. 5 interview in Islamabad. ``If anybody knows where he is, they will go after him.''

h..ttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a2jXtGrzkkvo&refer=asia

 

[niaz]

It is a great pity that even rational men like Imran Khan want to make political capital out of the sad event of Durgai. As if the young men who were recruits of the Pakistan Army ( Thus volunteering to lay down down their lives for the defence of the motherland) were criminals and killed in just revenge.

Not a single Islamist has actually condemned the attack outright, every one of the comments that I have read, justifies the attack as a counter reaction to Bajour attack. This has always been the case with all terrorists attacks in Pakistan. What they do is 'OK' but what PA does is wrong. Even the human rights activists such as Asma Jehangir are silent.

Fellow countrymen and all those admirers of bigots such as Zia and Hamid Gul, kindly read the article 'Some sobering thoughts'.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/12/op.htm

Have we become so blind in our anti US sentiments that we have lost touch with reality? We are ready to commit a national suicide as long as it is anti US or anti Musharraf. Remember what Iqbal said long time ago which translated in English means

" While nature may overlook individual transgressions, it never forgives sins of a nation"

Pakistan has no hope when people of Pakistan are so naive.

 

[Sid]

Very interestingly put Niaz. I concur. See, the problem lies with the religious clergy. First they were against the formation of Pakistan and once it came in to being, since its inception, they have tried to hijack the ideology and turn Pakistan in to a theocratic state.

People of Pakistan may be naive but the fault is not entirely of their own making. The clergy has retained such powerful control over their minds with such emphasis on 'tradition' that an average Pakistan (of course the lack of literacy playing its part) becomes so embroiled in the mess that he cannot exercise his/her rationality to make decisions of political or for that matter any other nature.

 

[Bull]

. Even the human rights activists such as Asma Jehangir are silent.

They are the same anywhere,never expect them to make anoise if a poli c e man or amry guy is killed.

On the other hand if a militant/terrorist/criminal is killed they come out crying abt the "conduct of the army/police/officials."

 

[Spring Onion]

What can u expect from people like Asma Jehangir who is benign fed on funds from abroad.

they are just there to out cry when they need money.