Pakistan probes attack that killed 15 soldiers
Saturday, 15 September 2007
ISLAMABAD, Sept 14 (AFP): Pakistan today was investigating a suspected suicide bombing that killed 15 elite commandos, the latest in a string of attacks targeting the military amid a surge of militant violence.
The attack on a mess hall at a high-security military camp followed two days of deadly clashes in Pakistan's lawless tribal zone and coincided with a visit of US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad confirmed 15 commandos had been killed and 11 were injured, six of them seriously, at the camp, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
President Pervez Musharraf, who is also the head of the country's armed forces, condemned the "unfortunate incident."
"Such cowardly acts of killing innocent people cannot be left unpunished," he said, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan.
The commandos were eating when the attacker detonated his explosives outside, officials said.
Pakistan has been beset by violence since troops stormed the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad in July. Suicide attacks have killed nearly 250 people since then including 31 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi this month.
The violence has piled pressure on Musharraf, a key US ally in the "war on terror," as he struggles with a political crisis ahead of general and presidential elections.
Pakistani troops backed by gunships have killed more than 70 militants in two days of heavy fighting in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where the United States says Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden may be hiding.
At least two soldiers also died in the latest clashes Thursday, which erupted when Pakistani forces repelled a mass insurgent attack on a checkpost in the North Waziristan area, the army said.
Musharraf told Negroponte during a two-hour meeting in Islamabad that "Pakistan's commitment should never be in doubt as it was in Pakistan's own national interest," a foreign ministry statement said.
He also spoke out against pending US legislation that would tie aid payments to Pakistan's performance in fighting Al-Qaeda.
Negroponte has reiterated Washington's full backing for military ruler Musharraf and played down indications that the United States could launch unilateral strikes against militants on Pakistani soil.
In Pakistan's latest confrontation with the insurgents, troops fought off militants who attacked an army checkpost in North Waziristan's Nawaz Kot district overnight, top military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
The army said Pakistani helicopter gunships and artillery also pounded militant hideouts in part of the tribal zone of South Waziristan on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing up to 40 militants.
Dozens of Islamist fighters also attacked a checkpost on Wednesday and kidnapped 12 troops in the country's northwest.
A militant spokesman warned on the same day that they would start killing more than 200 captive soldiers who surrendered in South Waziristan nearly two weeks ago.
The attack on a mess hall at a high-security military camp followed two days of deadly clashes in Pakistan's lawless tribal zone and coincided with a visit of US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad confirmed 15 commandos had been killed and 11 were injured, six of them seriously, at the camp, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
President Pervez Musharraf, who is also the head of the country's armed forces, condemned the "unfortunate incident."
"Such cowardly acts of killing innocent people cannot be left unpunished," he said, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan.
The commandos were eating when the attacker detonated his explosives outside, officials said.
Pakistan has been beset by violence since troops stormed the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad in July. Suicide attacks have killed nearly 250 people since then including 31 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi this month.
The violence has piled pressure on Musharraf, a key US ally in the "war on terror," as he struggles with a political crisis ahead of general and presidential elections.
Pakistani troops backed by gunships have killed more than 70 militants in two days of heavy fighting in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where the United States says Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden may be hiding.
At least two soldiers also died in the latest clashes Thursday, which erupted when Pakistani forces repelled a mass insurgent attack on a checkpost in the North Waziristan area, the army said.
Musharraf told Negroponte during a two-hour meeting in Islamabad that "Pakistan's commitment should never be in doubt as it was in Pakistan's own national interest," a foreign ministry statement said.
He also spoke out against pending US legislation that would tie aid payments to Pakistan's performance in fighting Al-Qaeda.
Negroponte has reiterated Washington's full backing for military ruler Musharraf and played down indications that the United States could launch unilateral strikes against militants on Pakistani soil.
In Pakistan's latest confrontation with the insurgents, troops fought off militants who attacked an army checkpost in North Waziristan's Nawaz Kot district overnight, top military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
The army said Pakistani helicopter gunships and artillery also pounded militant hideouts in part of the tribal zone of South Waziristan on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing up to 40 militants.
Dozens of Islamist fighters also attacked a checkpost on Wednesday and kidnapped 12 troops in the country's northwest.
A militant spokesman warned on the same day that they would start killing more than 200 captive soldiers who surrendered in South Waziristan nearly two weeks ago.