 |
Pakistan
Blast kills more than 50 in Islamabad
Article published on the 2008-08-21 Latest update 2008-08-21 14:33 TU
A policeman guards the site of Tuesday's suicide bombing.
(Photo: Reuters)
At least 57 people have been killed after two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Pakistani military's main arms factory on Thursday. At least 100 more were wounded, say security officials.
The attackers struck almost simultaneously outside the factory in the northern town of Taxila, near the capital Islamabad, local police chief Nasir Durrani said.
"Two men apparently blew themselves up outside the factory during a shift change. The bombers were on foot and they exploded themselves less than a minute apart," Durrani said.
“It is one of the worst attacks in the history of Pakistan. The worst since the attack in Karachi on October 18th last year when Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan,” said correspondent Rana Jawad in Islamabad.
The blast came two days after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a hospital in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday, killing 30 people and after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf resigned on Monday.
“This is going to have a deep impact on the efforts by the new political government to crack down on Militants in the tribal regions,” Jawad told RFI.
Pakistani Taliban militants have warned the military in recent days that they would launch attacks in revenge for an ongoing army operation in the troubled tribal region of Bajaur on the Afghan border.
The government says that more than 500 militants and around 30 soldiers have been killed during nearly two weeks of fighting in the region.
