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Second Taliban bomb in two days kills at least 13 at Rawalpindi army base | Second Taliban bomb in two days kills at least 13 at Rawalpindi army base |
(about 7 hours later) | |
At least 13 people have died after a Taliban suicide bomb exploded near Pakistan’s main military headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi, early on Monday morning. | At least 13 people have died after a Taliban suicide bomb exploded near Pakistan’s main military headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi, early on Monday morning. |
Police officer Sardar Zulfiqar said a suicide bomber struck just | |
outside the main military headquarters in the city next to the | |
capital of Islamabad. | |
A retired officer and five soldiers were among those who were | |
killed, while 18 people were injured, according to police officer | |
Haroon Joiya. | |
The suicide bomber was riding a bicycle and detonated his | |
explosives when he approached a military checkpoint, said Mr | |
Joiya. | |
Monday’s blast occurred after a Taliban suicide bomber struck | |
inside an army compound in the north-west of the country on Sunday, | |
killing 20 troops and wounding 30. | |
Sunday's bomb targeted a vehicle in a convoy that was about to | |
leave a military base in the town of Bannu and drive west to the | |
North Waziristan tribal area, police official Inyat Ali Khan | |
said. | |
Read more: | Read more: |
Taliban bomb attack on Pakistani army compound kills 20 soldiers | Taliban bomb attack on Pakistani army compound kills 20 soldiers |
Military officials said the blast came from an explosive planted | |
in the vehicle, hired by the paramilitary Frontier Corps. While the | |
army has its own transport vehicles, the paramilitary forces often | |
hire vehicles when they need to move troops in large numbers. | |
brightcove.createExperiences(); | |
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Shahidullah Shahid, said | |
that the attack on Sunday had been carried out to avenge the death | |
of Waliur Rehmanthe group’s former second in command who was killed | |
last year in a US drone strike. The army was the target of Monday’s | |
bomb, he said. | |
He added the group will “avenge the killing of every one of our | |
fellows through such attacks.” | |
North Waziristan is considered a safe haven for al Qaida-linked | |
militants and Pakistani troop convoys in the region are often hit | |
by roadside bombs, though attacks inside military compounds are | |
rare. | |
Last December, a suicide bomber killed four Pakistani soldiers | |
when he rammed an explosive-laden car into a checkpoint outside an | |
army camp in North Waziristan. | |
The Pakistani army has fought for years in tribal areas against | |
militants who want to overthrow the Government and establish a | |
hard-line Islamic state. | |
In a statement, the Taliban said they would be open to talks | |
with the Government - but only if the Government could prove it is | |
sincere and had enough “power,” a reference to the perception that | |
the army wields the real power in Pakistan. | |
Additional reporting by Associated Press | Additional reporting by Associated Press |
World News in Pictures | World News in Pictures |