Taliban avenges Osama's death; kills 80 in twin attacks in Pak

Peshawar/Islamabad (PTI) - Taliban suicide
bombers on Friday killed 80 people, mostly soldiers, at a
paramilitary academy in northwest Pakistan, claiming it to be
the "first revenge attack" for the slaying of al-Qaeda chief
Osama bin Laden and vowed further "bloodshed" in retaliation.
Over 115 people were also injured when the bombers
struck a large group of Frontier Constabulary personnel in
attacks minutes apart outside the complex, hitting the
soldiers as they were about to set off on leave after
completing a year-long training course.
Eighty people, most of them Frontier Constabulary
personnel, were killed, provincial Senior Minister Bashir
Bilour told reporters.
The bombers, who came separately on motorcycles,
struck the sprawling complex after dawn, with the first
attacker detonating his explosive vest near the main gate of
the Frontier Constabulary training centre at Shabqadar, 35 km
from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa capital Peshawar.
Eight minutes later even as security personnel were
removing the dead and injured from the spot, the second
motorcycle-borne bomber struck creating mayhem at the centre,
witnesses said.
Over 115 injured people were taken to hospitals in
Shabqadar and Peshawar, officials said.
"The attack was the first revenge for the killing of
Osama bin Laden," Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman
Ahsanullah Ahsan told reporters in northwest Pakistan on phone
from an undisclosed location.
He warned the militants would carry out "bigger
attacks".
The Friday's attack was a deadliest in Pakistan this
year and came as the country's military and civilian
leadership are in crisis over the killing of bin Laden in
garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2.
Police officials said they feared the death toll could
rise. The condition of 40 injured at the Lady Reading Hospital
in Peshawar was described by officials as serious.
The Frontier Constabulary personnel had recently
completed their year-long training and passed out during a
parade held on May 5.
They were going home for a 10-day leave when the
bombers struck, officials said.
Most of the personnel, who were in plainclothes, were
sitting in mini buses when the bombers struck.
The powerful blasts destroyed about 20 shops and a
dozen vehicles in a market located opposite the gate of the
training centre.
At least eight civilians were among the dead, police
said.

PAK-BLASTS 2LAST
Footage on television showed rucksacks, footwear and
other belongings lying scattered amidst pools of blood at the
site of the attack.
Frontier Constabulary commandant Akbar Hoti told
reporters that precautions taken by his force had limited
casualties.
"We were taking precautions, such as sending the
personnel on leave in batches of 15. More casualties were
caused by the second blast," Hoti said.
This was the first major terrorist attack in Pakistan
since al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in the US
raid in Abbottabad, also in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Taliban and other militant groups had vowed to
avenge bin Laden's death.
It was also the deadliest attack since November last
year, when a suicide bomber killed nearly 70 people at a
mosque at Darra Adam Khel in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped force
that has received US aid in recent years, has been at the
forefront of the campaign against the Taliban in northwest
Pakistan.
Scores of its personnel have died in bombings and
suicide attacks by the Taliban.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani condemned the attack.
Gilani said militants have no regard for human life or
religion and were "pursuing their own nefarious agenda".
Reiterating his government's resolve to fight
militancy, he said "such cowardly acts could not undermine the
war against these elements".
The morale of the people is high, providing impetus to
the government's efforts to eliminate militancy and extremism,
Gilani said.