Pakistan, October 13: Taliban kidnappers who attacked Pakistan army’s headquarters over the weekend were planning to hold senior army officers hostage until more than 100 militants were released from the country’s jails, the military has claimed.
The news came as militants launched yet another attack on a military target in the country’s north-west, killing dozens of people in a crowded market with a suicide bombing that emphasised how Taliban insurgents have strengthened their hand by developing ties with sympathetic militants outside of their traditional strongholds.
The strike on a military convoy near the Swat Valley, a suicide bombing, killed 41 people. The Taliban has already claimed responsibility. Officials said 35 civilians and six soldiers died when the bomber hit one of three military vehicles that were passing through a market in the Shangla district. Scores more were injured. “It appears to be a suicide attack. The bomber hit one of three military vehicles that were passing through the busiest market in the district,” a senior police official, Khan Bahadur Khan, told Reuters.
–Agenices