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A naval personnel collects body parts from the site of a suicide bombing outside Pakistan's naval headquarters in Islamabad - Source: Reuters -
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A suicide bomber blew himself up outside Pakistan's naval
headquarters in Islamabad, killing a guard and critically wounding
two navy personnel.
The violence comes a day after US President Barack Obama announced
a dramatic escalation in the war in Afghanistan, a move Pakistani
officials fear will push militants across its borders and
complicate the army's battle against the Taliban at home.
The guard was killed as he tried to keep the bomber from entering
the naval headquarters, according to Fazeel Asghar, chief
commissioner of Islamabad. A total of 11 people were wounded,
including a six-year-old child.
"The attacker was wearing a coat. He was asked to take it off and
show identification. When he opened the coat he was wearing a
suicide vest which exploded," Asghar told reporters.
Workers collected body parts as paramilitary soldiers armed with
AK-47 assault rifles guarded the area.
It has become a familiar scene in Pakistan, where militants have
killed hundreds of people in bombings since the army launched a
major offensive in South Waziristan, seen as a global hub for
militants, in October.
Obama said the United States would not tolerate Pakistan allowing
its territory to be a safe haven for militants and urged Islamabad
to fight the cancer of extremism.
In an address to unveil a new strategy for the eight-year conflict
in Afghanistan, Obama said a cancer had taken root in Pakistan's
border region with Afghanistan and promised US help to end
it.
"We will strengthen Pakistan's capacity to target those groups that
threaten our countries, and have made it clear that we cannot
tolerate a safe-haven for terrorists whose location is known and
whose intentions are clear," Obama said.
"We need a strategy that works on both sides of the border," he
added, outlining a plan to send 30,000 additional US troops to
Afghanistan.
That may be difficult.
Anti-US sentiment is running high in Pakistan.
President Asif Ali Zardari is fighting for his political
survival and lacks the clout needed to influence the powerful
military, which ultimately decides whether to escalate the campaign
against militants.
Surveying the scene of Wednesday's attack, university student
Sheikh Waqas Hasan expressed concerns over Obama's Afghanistan
strategy.
"The surge won't help. It may make us more vulnerable. We'll see
more attacks. If they want more troops, they should first seal and
fence the border and then step up operations in Afghanistan," said
Hasan.
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