Taliban responsible for deadly attack on Pakistan paramilitary training centre
Two explosions have ripped through a paramilitary training centre in north-west Pakistan, killing at least 70 people in the deadliest attack since Osama bin Laden was killed by US commandos.
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Pakistani Islamists burn a US flag against the killing of Osama bin Laden during a protest outskirt of Quetta Photo: AFP/GETTY
By Rob Crilly in Islamabad 6:00AM BST 13 May 2011
The Pakistan Taliban immediately claimed responsibility and said bigger attacks were to follow.
A suicide bomber on a motorbike struck at the gates just as young recruits boarded buses to go on leave after their course.
Police in Shabqadar, close to the border with Afghanistan, said a second explosion came seconds later.
The death toll – the highest this year – is a bloody reminder of the price paid by Pakistan's security forces in their war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location: "This was the first revenge for Osama's martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
A vegetable vendor near the Frontier Constabulary training centre said some recruits were seated in white minivans and others were loading luggage atop the vehicles.
"There was a big blast," he said. "I saw smoke, blood and body pieces all around."
Twelve vehicles were also destroyed in the blasts One of bin Laden's wives has told interrogators he lived in Pakistan for the past seven years, deeply embarrassing the Pakistan government.
Pakistan's civilian government said on Thursday it would review counter-terrorism co-operation with the United States as it comes under growing domestic pressure to punish Washington for the apparently unauthorised bin Laden raid.
It has been accused of sheltering the world's man but officials point out that no country has paid a higher price for tackling the Islamist threat, with more than 30,000 people killed since Sept 11 2001.
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