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A TALIBAN SUICIDE bomber has killed at least 13 people in a market next to Pakistan’s military headquarters, a day after one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent years.
A further 18 people were wounded in the blast which tore through RA bazaar in Rawalpindi, Islamabad’s twin city, only 15 metres from the army’s General Headquarters early this morning.
It came a day after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) killed 26 soldiers and wounded at least 25 others in a suicide bombing in the northwestern town of Bannu.
Upturn in violence
Two high-profile attacks in 24 hours mark a sharp upturn in violence from the TTP after a period of relative quiet following the death of their leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike in November.
Haroon Joya, a senior police official at the scene of Monday’s blast, told reporters six soldiers and seven civilians had been killed.
“It was a suicide attack, we are collecting evidence from the spot. We have collected some body parts suspected to be of the suicide bomber,” he said.
Earlier, the top government official in Rawalpindi, Sajid Zafar Dall said 18 people were wounded in the blast.
“The attack occurred when children were going to school”, he said.
Our initial assessment is that the bomber was possibly on a bicycle and he then approached the target on foot.
The blast left the market place a mess of twisted shutters and rubble, with pieces of human flesh scattered on the ground, an AFP reporter said.
The TTP have been waging a bloody campaign against the Pakistani state since 2007, carrying out countless bomb and gun attacks, often on military targets.
The military headquarters came under attack in 2009, when militants laid siege to the complex for 24 hours. A total of 19 people died including eight militants.
Security officials examine the site of the suicide bombing. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed this morning’s attack as payback for a deadly military raid on a radical mosque in Rawalpindi in 2007.
“It was carried by one of our suicide bombers to take revenge for the Red Mosque massacre,” he told AFP.
“We will continue our struggle against the secular system.”
Eyewitnesses described the power of the explosion.
“I was reading a newspaper after opening my shop and all of a sudden I heard a big blast,” Liaqat Ali, a grocery shop owner near the site told AFP.
Army troops secure a road leading to the site. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
“The intensity of the blast threw me off my chair. I rushed outside and saw smoke and smoke everywhere. I saw injured laying and screaming on ground.”
Police and commandos cordoned off the area as ambulances took wounded to a nearby military hospital.
Analysts said the Taliban’s ability to carry out two such high-profile attacks in quick succession raised fresh questions about Pakistan’s strategy for dealing with the homegrown militant threat.
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I never really understood what the death penalty is trying to achieve. It seems to take the assumption that criminals won’t commit a serious crime for fear of the consequence of being put to death.
If criminals committing serious crimes had a fear of the consequences then half the prisons of the world would be empty
The same could be said for long prison terms. It depends on how you look at the prison system really. If you look at it as simply a way to deter other criminals then it is not effective on it’s own. If you look at it as a way to rid society of a particularly dangerous person then it is generally effective.
I think it better than the irish policy of killing someone and been released after 5/6 years, then strolling off to the airport and going on holidays…
you wouldn’t be saying that if you committed murder in ireland. I reckon the whole system has to be overhauled and reform detention centre’s for re-offenders. Kind of like emerald city in the tv show ‘OZ’ but more realistic. Education and learning what make’s each individual tick is the key here, not lock them up eave them out mentality.
Yeah as you say it applies to long term sentences as well, they don’t seem to work as a deterrent either. The whole justice system seems fundamentally flawed. No matter what the punishment its going to be reactive, without proactive measures to stop crime all that will happen is more and more prison overcrowding
Bring it to ireland
What? State sanctioned Barbarism? No thanks http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/opinion/152-innocents-marked-for-death.html?referrer=
To test in pidgeons of course
I get the usual points raised by anti death penalty crowd. But in that case it would be good if life jail term actually meant life jail term – not 10 years.
Companies get sued for false advertising. Life jail in Europe is the biggest false advertising to me I heard.
Watch the brilliant documentary ‘Into the Abyss’ by master filmaker Warner Herzog.
It will really force you to re think those views you have in favour of the death penalty :)
Backward, uneducated, god loving savages…god and violence go hand in hand and a terrible example to children…”we kill people to show that killing people is wrong”…duh!…spa’s
An eye for an eye
And everyone is blind.
@Paul Lane – how do you make out that God and violence go hand in hand? Did you just make that up?
Not true, the last man will have one eye left. Serious crimes deserve serious punishment including the loss of ones right to life. We are too soft in this country and should have at least one method of execution available to our courts.
Have ye read the bible? God be like “Here sheep, kill your son if you love me”. Sheep be like “ok”. God be like “Ahhhhhhh, only joking, I will kill the majority of the human race one day”.. God is a violent wind up merchant :)
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Being locked up behind bars with no human contact other than being fed is punishment enough .
Exclusive from our star witness Michael Clinton!
Can’t see a police officer facing the same treatment for killing an innocent person like in recent times..
In Texas if you kill someone you could get the death penalty in Ireland you could be freed in 5 years with a couple of million euros in the bank account all set for a new life in the sun.
Who has the better justice system?
Death penality is and can be proved wrong when evidence found can acquit someone of a crime. No point in saying oops we made a mistake after someone is injected to death
I suppose it’s slightly preferable to having the cops execute them before they even get charged.
Could use it in the southern parts. Cork could be the Texas of Ireland!
Ah Texas will you ever learn?
Good enough for them they won’t do it again
What about those who didn’t do it and are executed Brian?
Good, we should have the death penalty here!
Trolling would be a capital offence and you’d be first to be ceremoniously despatched
As long as innocent people can be executed, there is no justification for this. What about the lad in Alabama last week who was exonerated after 30 odd years on death row? Anyone who supports this is a savage, backward animal. If it’s such a deterrent why is the crime rate in the good ole US of A still so high? Ask yourselves that before you thump your bible you rotten rednecks.
Should be same here for those found guilty of capital murder, terrorism and child rape
Good these thugs brought pain n suffering by murdering ppl so I say fair play if they’re execution is painful
The most worrying thing about a barbaric law like the death penalty, is how many people in this country seem to think it’s actually a good idea.
Child rape, while probably the most horrible crime imaginable, still doesn’t warrant the death penalty. Firstly, most of these rapes are committed by relatives, so if the death penalty was in place the chances of it being reported would drop drastically. Secondly, it creates an added incentive to murder the child, insofar as the rapist will think their chances of not being caught would be better if the child wasn’t around to talk about it. The justice of the rusty knife would be far more applicable in these cases.
Just a quick question. …should someone who murders someone else and leaves family and love ones with that person forever, be allowed to live and have their loved ones be able to visit chat and engage in their lives?? I think not if you take someone’s else’s life you should not be allowed live yours regardless of how barbaric it may be after all that person didn’t cars how much he or she hurt the other person
have your say