பாகிஸ்தான் இஸ்லாமாபாத் போலீஸ் வளாகத்தில் தற்கொலை குண்டு தாக்குதல்- 2 பேர் பலி

பாகிஸ்தான் இஸ்லாமாபாத் போலீஸ் வளாகத்தில் தற்கொலை குண்டு தாக்குதல்- 2 பேர் பலி

Suicide Bomber Hits Islamabad Emergency Call Center
By VOA News
06 June 2009

Pakistani policemen inspect suicide attack site at the 'rescue 15' office in Islamabad, 06 Jun 2009
A suicide bomber has attacked a police emergency call center in the capital of Islamabad, killing two police officers and wounding others.

Pakistani police say the bomber approached the building late Saturday and detonated explosives when security officers opened fire.

The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani cities that officials say are retaliation for the military's campaign against the Taliban in the country's northwest.

Earlier Saturday, two high-ranking prisoners were killed in a bomb and gunfire attack on a military convoy that was transporting detainees.

Pakistani officials identified the prisoners as Muhammad Alam and Ameer Izzat. The two men were arrested Thursday and were senior members of the militant group Tehrik-e-Nifaz-i-Shariat-e-Muhammadi. Alam was a deputy while Izzat was the group's spokesman.

Major-General Athar Abbas says the men were being taken from Malakand to the city of Peshawar for interrogation. He said it was possible they were the target of the attack.

The group's leader, Maulana Sufi Muhammad, helped negotiate the failed peace deal in the Swat Valley that required militants to disarm in exchange for the establishment of strict Islamic (Sharia) law there.

Pakistani officials say one soldier was killed and five others wounded in Saturday's attack on the military convoy.

A political scientist at Lahore University (Rasul Bahksh Rais) told a Pakistani television network (Express 24/7) the killings may have been deliberate to prevent Alam and Izzat from giving the military information about militant leaders' whereabouts.

The Pakistani military has been battling Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley area for more than a month. Pakistan says more than 1,300 militants and more than 100 soldiers have been killed during the offensive. A Pakistani military spokesman says government forces have killed 17 militants in the past 24 hours.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.