The Hindu : Front Page : Suicide attack in Pakistan kills 8

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Monday, Jul 07, 2008
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Suicide attack in Pakistan kills 8

Nirupama Subramanian

Attacker at religious rally targeted policemen

Rally was to commemorate Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa siege anniversary
“Anti-national forces behind the bombing”

ISLAMABAD: At least eight policemen were killed and several injured on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the site of a rally of religious leaders and students commemorating the first anniversary of the Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa operation.

The suicide bomber struck at about 8 p.m., just as the rally in national capital was drawing to a close and people were leaving.

He targeted a group of unarmed policemen standing together near a shopping centre called Melody Market, some distance from the rally outside the Lal Masjid.

Interior Adviser Rehman Malik, who visited the site of the blast, confirmed it was a suicide bombing. He said eight policemen were killed, and 23 wounded in the blast.

“There were 12,000 people here and any one of the men could have done it, and he did it,” he said.

Mr. Malik, who is the de facto Interior Minister, said the forces behind the bombing were “anti-national,” and were trying to destabilise Pakistan.

“Only those forces that are against the interests of the nation could have done this. They are doing this in Balochistan also. But we know how to deal with these elements,” he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. Recently, the Tehreek-i-Taliban, a South Waziristan based group, warned of bloody reprisals in the rest of the country for government action against militant gangs in the Khyber agency adjacent to the North West Frontier Province capital, Peshawar.

The bomb attack, which specifically targeted policemen, could also be linked to a pledge by militants to avenge the operation against Lal Masjid, which has already seen a violent backlash of suicide bombings.

Security at Sunday’s rally was tight. The Interior Ministry said it deployed nearly 3,000 policemen in the entire area around the Lal MAsjid. The roads leading to the mosque were closed to traffic.

Those taking part in the rally had to go past multiple checks, including body frisking, metal detectors and handbag checks.

AP reports:

The siege of the Lal Masjid came amid an increasingly violent anti-vice campaign led by the mosque’s administrators in which roaming bands of students harassed music and video shops, sometimes kidnapping women accused of being prostitutes. Tensions boiled over into gunbattles with security forces trying to enforce government authority.

The government said 102 people, including 11 security personnel, were killed in the standoff that began on July 3 last year.

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