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16 Pakistan soldiers killed in ambush

ISLAMABAD: At least 16 paramilitaries were killed on Thursday when an explosion ripped their truck in Mingora in the Swat district of the North West Frontier Province, a day after the Pakistan army deployed 2,500 additional troops in the area for ant-militancy operations.

The truck was transporting ammunition and Frontier Corps personnel. Reports from the area suggested that the truck hit an improvised explosive device planted on the road. Some suggested it was caused by a suicide bomber. But the police are not ruling out that the munitions in the truck may have caused the deadly explosion. The intensity of the blast damaged several shops in the area. Dozens of bystanders are reported to have been injured.

(According to Agence France Presse, 17 troops were among 30 killed in the blast).

Swat is home to Maulana Fazlullah, who uses an illegal radio station to preach jihad against the Musharraf regime for its perceived pro-U.S. policies, and campaigns for Taliban-style rule. He has also campaigned against women’s education and a government polio vaccination programme.

According to a report in Dawn, the radical cleric who heads the Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi, controls 59 villages in Swat, and has put together a 2,000-strong fighting force.

Gen. Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz who met to discuss the political situation condemned the blast and said the government would spare no effort to eliminate militancy and extremism and restore peace in the country, according to the official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan said.

At a press conference in Karachi, Benazir Bhutto said militancy was feeding on the country’s poverty, and madrassas with hidden sources of income were brainwashing the poor. The Pakistan People’s Party leader said action had to be taken to disband “political madrassas” that had become arsenals.

Ms. Bhutto, who was targeted by suspected Islamist suicide bombers hours after she returned to Pakistan ending eight years of self-imposed exile, announced that she would visit Larkana, her home district in the Sindh province on Saturday.

A new police official has been named to head investigations into the attacks on Ms. Bhutto’s homecoming parade. Saud Mirza heads the criminal investigations department of Karachi police, and replaces Manzur Mughal.

Mr. Mughal was forced to quit after Ms. Bhutto said she did not trust him, as he was present at the alleged torture of her husband Asif Zardari in custody in 1999.

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