Global General
Suicide bombs kill 39, wound 95 in Pakistani city
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-12 19:50
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In more recent months, the attacks were smaller, fewer and confined to remote regions near Afghanistan.
But on Monday, a suicide car bomber struck a building in Lahore where police interrogated high-value suspects -- including militants -- killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Also this week, suspected militants attacked the offices of World Vision, a US-based Christian aid group, in the northwest district of Mansehra, killing six Pakistani employees, while a bombing at a small, makeshift movie theater in the main northwest city of Peshawar killed four people.
The attacks show that the loose network of insurgents angry with Islamabad for its alliance with the US retain the ability to strike throughout Pakistan despite pressure from army offensives and American missile strikes against militant targets.
The violence also comes amid signs of a Pakistani crackdown on Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida operatives using its soil. Among the militants known to have been arrested is the Afghan Taliban's No. 2 commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are believed to have lost their top commander, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a US missile strike in January. The group has denied Mehsud is dead but has failed to prove he's still alive.
Militant attacks in Pakistan frequently target security forces, though civilian targets have not escaped.
During the bloody wave of attacks that began in October -- coinciding with the army's ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal area -- Lahore was hit several times.
In mid-October, three groups of gunmen attacked three security facilities in the eastern city, a rampage that left 28 dead. Twin suicide bombings at a market there in December killed around 50 people.
