The Hindu : Front Page : 65 killed in suicide blasts near Islamabad

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65 killed in suicide blasts near Islamabad

Nirupama Subramanian

Gilani calls for debate on terrorism

Our enemy lurks silently within our society: Premier
Tehreek-e-Taliban claims it carried out attacks

ISLAMABAD: At least 65 people were killed and over 100 injured in twin suicide bombings at the gates of Pakistan’s main military ammunition factory 45 km from the capital on Thursday , the second attack since Pervez Musharraf stepped down as President earlier this week.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack at the Pakistan Ordnance Factory in Wah cantonment near the historic town of Taxila.

The attack came two days after a suicide bombing at a hospital in the North-West Frontier Province town of Dera Ismail Khan in which 35 people were killed. The Taliban had owned this bombing too.

After Thursday’s bombings, Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the group, telephoned Pakistani media and warned there would be more such bombings including in Islamabad and Karachi unless the security operations against militants in Bajaur tribal agency and in the Swat valley were not stopped immediately.

Helicopter gunships and ground troops have been pounding at militant hide-outs in Bajaur for the last several days, forcing thousands of people to flee the area.

Wah police said the bombers struck at two different gates almost simultaneously at about 2.30 pm, during a shift change after apparently finding it difficult to gain entry into the sprawling complex of arms and ammunitions factories that supply the Pakistan armed forces.

Run by the Ministry of Defence, it employs over 40,000 workers, most of them civilians. When the bombers detonated themselves, hundreds of these employees, all civilians, were going in or coming out of the gates.

Condemnation

In the National Assembly, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani condemned the bombings and asked for a debate on how the government should deal with the challenge posed by terrorism and militancy, urging all members to put their heads together to find a solution to the problem.

“This is our country, and we have to save it. Let’s debate this for however long we want, but the House should find a solution and tell the government how to deal with the situation,” he said, adding that the policy was to hold a dialogue with the tribals to end the “root cause” of terrorism, but there would be no talks with those who do not lay down arms.

“We cannot allow terrorists to challenge the writ of the government. How is it fair that terrorists can give the government one week time to resign and threaten to start bombing if they don’t get their way? We have to secure the lives and property of our people. If we do not stop them now, tomorrow they may attack this very House, they may cause a terrorist incident inside the house, they may take the members hostage,” he said.

Mr. Gilani said the terrorists had killed Pakistan people’s Party Benazir Bhutto, and had attempted to kill retired General Pervez Musharraf, and members of the previous government including Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Interior Minister.

Earlier, speaking at the graduation ceremony of women police officials, Mr. Gilani urged tough action against terrorism.

“The war on terror cannot be won on defensive. We have to take the battle to the doorsteps of the extremists,” he said. “We are not being attacked by any outside military or a known army. Our enemy lurks silently within our society. This is our own war,” he said.

But the ruling coalition is still struggling to find its feet after the departure of General Musharraf. The issue of the restoration of the judges dismissed by him when he imposed his November 2007 emergency has taken the coalition to the brink.

Pakistan Muslim league (N) told the Wall Street Journal his party may have no choice left but to pull out of the coalition and sit in opposition if the judges are not all restored unconditionally. PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari is said to be reluctant to reinstate the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary.

Choosing a candidate for the presidency is also a potential minefield for the coalition. Late on Wednesday, the PPP parliamentary party said after a meeting that its choice for President was Mr. Zardari.

The party central executive committee is set to meet on Friday to take a final decision on this.

But the PML(N), which has said it wants the next President to be from Balochistan preferably, may have reservations about Mr. Zardari’s possible candidature, though it had initially left the choice to the PPP.

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