Suicide car bomber attacks paramilitary base in NW Pakistan, kills 1 soldier

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Suicide car bomber kills soldier in NW Pakistan

MINGORA, Pakistan — A Taliban suicide car bomber shot at guards and detonated his explosives at the gate of a paramilitary base in northwestern Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing one soldier and wounding at least seven other people, said security officials.

Elsewhere in the volatile border region, the army said it had killed a top Pakistan Taliban commander in clashes with militants in the bazaar in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press. Hafeez Ullah, who identified himself as a local Taliban commander, said the goal was to free Taliban militants imprisoned at the base in Lower Dir district.

The bomber first tried to force his way onto the base by shooting at troops and policemen guarding the gate, said Maj. Suleman Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. He blew himself up after realizing he couldn’t penetrate the base, said Khan.

The guards killed a second suicide car bomber, preventing him from detonating his explosives, and also killed two suicide bombers who were on foot, said Khan.

The blast from the first bomber killed one soldier, said the army in a statement.

There were conflicting reports about how many people were wounded in the attack.

The army said seven soldiers were wounded. But a local police officer, Raffat Ali, said 12 were wounded, including 10 troops and two policemen. Two civilians also were wounded by retaliatory fire from guards trying to repel the bombers, said Ali.

The Pakistani Taliban has declared war on the government because the group deems it unIslamic and is upset at its alliance with the United States.

The military has responded by launching a series of offensives against the Taliban in the northwest, including one in Lower Dir and neighboring Swat in 2009. The army declared victory in reclaiming the areas from insurgents, but sporadic violence still occurs.

The army identified the Taliban chief killed in Miran Shah as Amir Ullah Mehsud who had a bounty on his head of almost $235,000. It described him as the top Taliban commander for parts of North and South Waziristan. The military launched an offensive in South Waziristan last year to clear the area of Taliban militants.

The Taliban have also teamed up with other militant groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan’s heartland far from the Afghan border. Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed two mosques of the minority Ahmadi sect in the city of Lahore at the end of May, killing 93 people.

Police have arrested six militants in Lahore allegedly connected to the attacks and seized almost 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of explosives, 21 hand grenades, six AK-47s and a lot of bomb making material, Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen said Monday.

“They were running a sort of bomb making factory,” said Tareen.

Four of the suspects provided logistical support to the attackers by purchasing motorcycles, cell phones and SIM cards, said Tareen. They belong to the banned militant group Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami, as do the men who carried out the attacks, he said.

Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has suggested that rather than simply fight the Taliban, the government should negotiate with the militants to try to improve security.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Monday that the government was not opposed to talking with militants as long as they lay down their arms.

“Anybody who surrenders, we are open to dialogue with him,” said Kaira.

Associated Press writers Anwarullah Khan in Khar, Mohammad Abdullah Khan in Timergarah, Riaz Khan in Peshawar and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.