Islamabad, Nov 2 – The bloody wave of terror strikes continued in Pakistan as two separate suicide attacks hit the country, in Rawalpindi and Lahore, killing at least 36 people and injuring 39 Monday. The attacks come five days after a massive explosion in Peshawar’s Meena Bazar killed over 110 people.
The first suicide attack was in Rawalpindi, close to a luxury hotel and a bank. At least 34 people were killed and 32 injured in the attack. The second attack took place on the outskirts of Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, killing the bomber and his accomplice and injuring seven others.
The Rawalpindi blast occurred barely 500 metres from the Pakistani Army Headquarters, which had come under Taliban attack Oct 10 when 10 terrorists in military uniform laid siege to it and killed at least 19 people, including nine raiders, in the 22-hour standoff.
The massive explosion took place on a day when the Pakistan government offered a reward of $5 million for information on the country’s Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 of his associates.
The blast occurred at 10.40 a.m. when people had queued up at the bank to collect their salaries.
‘The suicide bomber came on a motorcycle and blew up close to people gathered to get salaries. We found parts of a suicide vest and some body parts of the suicide attacker,’ senior police official Aslam Tarin told reporters.
The blast rocked Shalimar Hotel behind Pearl Continental Hotel, located on Mall Road in the cantonment area of Rawalpindi.
Most of the victims were reported to be security forces personnel.
In the second attack, seven people were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up as police tried to conduct a search of him at a police post on a main highway on the outskirts of Lahore, the police said.
The check-post was located at an entry point to the Lahore city at a six-lane motorway between the federal capital Islamabad and Lahore.
Lahore police chief Pervez Rathore told reporters at the scene that the seven injured included three policemen.
The suicide bomber’s colleague also died in the attack.
‘Two police officers are in critical condition,’ Rathore said, adding the attackers were apparently trying to enter the city for some major attack.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have strongly condemned the terror attacks.
The army has stepped up its offensive in South Waziristan against the Taliban, which has vowed retaliation.
The government released an advertisement Monday offering cash reward totalling $5 million for concrete information on the whereabouts of Mehsud and his associates, who have stepped up terror strikes across Pakistan.
The advertisement says: ‘Anyone who captures these people dead or alive or provides concrete information, the government will award them a cash reward.’
‘The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) terrorists are daily involved in deadly activities and because of their activities innocent Muslims are going to the valley of death,’ it added.
The largest rewards of 50 million Pakistan rupees each were offered for Mehsud, senior leader Wali ur-Rehman Mehsud and Qari Hussain Mehsud, also described as a master trainer of suicide bombers.
The latest wave of Islamist militant violence in Pakistan started with a suicide bombing at the offices of the UN World Food Programme in Islamabad Oct 5.