Two suicide bombers targeting the Pakistani military have killed
at least 45 people in Lahore, officials said, in a challenge to
government assertions that crackdowns have weakened Taliban
insurgents.
A third bomb exploded near a police station in Lahore later on
Friday, police said, wounding up to four people and further
rattling nerves in the eastern city near the border with
India.
Militants have renewed pressure on the US-backed Pakistani
government, with five bomb attacks this week alone.
"Two suicide bombers attacked within the span of 15 to 20 seconds
and they were on foot," provincial police chief Tariq Saleem Dogar
told reporters after the earlier attack.
Those killed in that attack, the bloodiest this year, in a military
neighbourhood included nine soldiers, military officials said.
Almost 100 people were wounded.
Pakistani authorities have said security crackdowns have weakened
al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants fighting to topple the
government, which is under pressure at home and abroad.
But the Taliban have renewed pressure on unpopular President Asif
Ali Zardari. A lull in violence could have provided some relief for
Zardari, who faces calls from opponents to hand over his strongest
powers to the prime minister.
If that does not happen, Pakistan could face new political turmoil
while being pressed to defeat the Taliban.
The five blasts this week included a car bomb suicide
attack on a
police intelligence building in Lahore on Tuesday
that killed 13 people , and a shooting and bombing at a
US-based aid agency that
killed 6 in the northwest .
Stubborn insurgency
Kamran Bokhari, South Asia director at the STRATFOR global
intelligence firm, said the blasts were not as sophisticated as
others. He expected a new Taliban push.
"This new wave was expected as they are under pressure to
demonstrate that, despite the several hits they have taken, they
continue to sustain operational capability," he said.
Apart from facing a stubborn insurgency at home, Pakistan is also
under heavy American pressure to open a new front and go after
Afghan Taliban militants in border sanctuaries, a move that would
tax its stretched military.
While Taliban bases have been smashed in government offensives in
militant strongholds such as South Waziristan, fighters have a
history of melting away to rugged areas which are hard for the
military to penetrate.
"The militant network is not substantially or reasonably damaged
and they are still capable of striking," said analyst Khadim
Hussain.
A Reuters photographer said soldiers cordoned off the site of
Friday's first two blasts and were not allowing anyone near. Troops
were deployed on rooftops and an army helicopter flew
overhead.
Rescue workers with stretchers rushed towards the blast site.
Police official Mohammad Shafiq told reporters the heads of both
attackers had been found. Suicide bombers often strap explosives to
their bodies and the blasts take off their heads.
Pakistani markets have mostly shrugged off violence, which has
spread from militant strongholds in the northwest near the Afghan
border to major cities.
The market temporarily dipped after the Lahore attacks, before
Pakistani stocks ended on a more than 18-month high on foreign
buying on Friday, passing through the 10,000-point
level.
The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index rose 146.29 points, or 1.48%, to end at 10,025.99.
