Islamabad, October 24: Three bombings hit northwest Pakistan, killing 24 people, as the army pushed a weeklong offensive deeper into al-Qaida and Taliban territory close to the Afghan border.
In one of the blasts Friday, a suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked a major Pakistani air base, killing seven people — the latest attempt by militants to strike at the heart of this nuclear-armed nation’s security forces.
About 200 people have been killed this month in a string of militant attacks on military, police and civilian targets. The onslaught is undermining confidence in the U.S-backed government and risks sapping public support for the assault in South Waziristan.
The civilian government and powerful military are under intense international pressure to root out Islamist militants that are also blamed for rising attacks on U.S. and NATO troops across the frontier in Afghanistan.
The bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint on a road leading to the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex at Kamra, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad. The sprawling complex is the country’s major air force maintenance and research hub, servicing and building jet fighters and radar systems.
The blast killed two security officers and five civilians who were on their way to work at the base, said police officer Akbar Abbas. Some 13 people were hurt.
Hours later, an explosion struck a bus traveling in the Mohmand tribal region, further north than South Waziristan.
Four women and three children were among the 17 killed, said Zabit Khan, a local government official. He said it was unclear whether the bus struck a buried bomb or the explosive device was detonated by remote control.
Also Friday, a car bomb exploded in the parking lot of a recreational facility housing a restaurant and a marriage hall in Peshawar, the main city in the northwest. Fifteen people were wounded in that blast.
Pakistan reported fighting in several parts of South Waziristan Friday and said its soldiers had seized some high ground from militant control.
A statement reported two more soldiers were killed, bringing the army’s death toll to 20, and that 13 more militants were slain — six of them Uzbeks — bringing their death toll to 142. Reporters are blocked from entering the region, meaning verifying information all but impossible.
–Agencies