Nov. 2: A suicide bomber on Monday killed at least 35 people and injured around 50 others when he slammed his explosives-laden motorcycle into a bank in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near here, when the people were queuing to collect their salaries. The Rawalpindi blast was followed by another suicide bombing, this time in Lahore where two terrorists blew themselves up at the Babu Sabu inter-change police checkpoint, wounding 25 people, mostly policemen, officials said.
"The suicide bomber came on a motorcycle (in Rawalpindi) and blew up close to people who had gathered to collect their salaries. Thirty-five people died and around 50 were injured," a police official said. Most of the people in the bank queue at the time of the attack were pensioners and Army personnel. The blast site is only a few km from the Pakistan Army General Headquarters where the Taliban recently killed 20 people. In the next street stands the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel, a known Taliban target. In front of the bank is the four-star Shalimar Hotel.In Lahore, city police chief Pervez Rathor told reporters the suicide bombing occurred when a car was stopped at a checkpoint. "A car was stopped at the checkpoint and the two suicide bombers in the car detonated themselves. We have found legs and a head (of the alleged terrorists)", police chief Rathor told reporters. "One warden and two constables are critically wounded. The injured include four civilians," he added.The Taliban had recently announced they would target the Pearl Continental, where foreigners and the elite stay. The Shalimar Hotel also hosts foreigners.The recent terror wave across Pakistan’s major cities, including Islamabad, is said to be in retaliation to the Army’s operations in the South Waziristan tribal agency. The Pakistan Army said Monday the operation was proving successful and several militants had been killed in ongoing military action."The suicide bomber targeted workers queuing for their salaries at the National Bank of Pakistan, but the real target seemed to be the Pearl Continental," said a police official. "We think, he failed to cross the security there (at the hotel) and decided to find a softer target," he added.Schools and colleges, which had opened only on Monday, were again closed for seven days after the blast.The explosion showered the area with human flesh, blood and glass from shattered windows, said witnesses. "We found parts of a suicide vest and some body parts of the suicide attacker," the police official said.Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the bomb blast in Rawalpindi cantonment and directed that the mastermind be arrested. President Zardari said the perpetrators of such heinous crimes would not be spared. Prime Minister Gilani directed the National Disaster Management Authority to immediately rush to the site to carry out relief activities. Mr Gilani said the government was responsible for the lives and property of the masses and would not allow such incidents to occur.Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army Chief, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, whose official residence is just a couple of km from the Rawalpindi blast site, held a series of meetings on Monday to discuss the military operation in South Waziristan and the war on terror. Gen. Kayani first held a meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to discuss the ongoing military operation in South Waziristan.Later, he met Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, to take up the issue of the war on terror. Gen. Kayani also met Gen. Sir David Richard, the British Chief of General Staff, who visited GHQ.
Shafqat AliIslamabad