Saya bilang dan saya ulang: Islam itu adalah laknat buat ummat manusia, artinya juga buat orang Islam sendiri..
-- BBC News South Asia 10 February 2011 Last updated at 11:09 GMT Pakistan attack: 'Schoolboy' suicide bomber hits Mardan The BBC's Aleem Maqbool said the bomber was reportedly dressed in school uniform A suicide bomber has blown himself up at a military parade ground in Pakistan's north-west, killing at least 31 people, officials say. The bomber was said to be a teenage boy dressed in school uniform. He attacked as recruits conducted morning exercises inside an enclosed military area of the city of Mardan. Correspondents say there has been a relative lull in the number of attacks on the army in the region, where Taliban militants are active. A Taliban spokesman said the militants had carried out the bombing. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the bomber managed to slip past at least six checkpoints because he wore the uniform of a college located inside the cantonment - the city's enclosed military area. Continue reading the main story At the scene image of Orla Guerin Orla Guerin BBC News, Mardan In the aftermath of the bombing, police and soldiers are manning the entrance to the Mardan compound. There is a queue of ambulances outside the main entrance, and the security forces are checking everyone coming in and out. A group of schoolboys dressed in blue blazers stopped on their way home from school to tell us that they believed the attack was simply wrong. "This is against humanity. A lot of people died. I don't know how a kid could do this," said 16-year-old Mohammed Salman, who was sitting in his classroom when he heard the explosion. Another boy said pupils would now be afraid to go to school, knowing that a child of their own age had carried out such an atrocity so close to where they live. The Taliban have been trying to launch an attack in the Mardan cantonment for years, our correspondent says. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack, which struck the Punjab Regiment's parade ground. "Such cowardly attacks cannot affect the morale of the security agencies and the resolve of the nation to eradicate terrorism," he said in a statement. Mardan police official Abdullah Khan told the BBC that the teenage bomber had worn the uniform of the Aziz Bhatti College. The bomber struck at 0800 (0300 GMT) as recruits were doing physical training on the parade ground, he said. The attack comes days after the authorities launched a major offensive against militants in the tribal region of Mohmand, near Mardan. Thousands fled the area after the army used helicopter gunships and heavy weapons to pound suspected militant positions. Mohmand, on the border with Afghanistan, has long served as a sanctuary for the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Taliban claims Militants have increasingly been using teenage bombers across Pakistan. Correspondents say Pakistani troops have uncovered camps in the north-west where children as young as 10 or 12 were being trained to become suicide attackers. Pakistan map But militants have focused suicide attacks on civilian targets such as places of worship and sporting events in recent times. Speaking to AFP news agency from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said the organisation carried out Thursday's attack, and was proud to avenge people killed by US drone attacks and by military operations in the tribal areas. The Taliban, he said, would continue to carry out attacks on "those who protect the Americans". Pakistan's government supported the Taliban when the group was in power in Afghanistan from 1996-2001, but later became an ally of the US when it led an invasion in 2001. Islamabad denies it is not doing enough to fight the militants, saying it has lost more than 2,400 troops in the war since 2002. ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
