Bomber kills 15 in Pakistan one year after mosque siege

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A suicide bomber targeted police officers in Pakistan's capital yesterday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens while thousands of Islamists marked the one-year anniversary of a deadly military crackdown on a mosque nearby.

The blast - apparently the deadliest in Islamabad in about a year - again brought Pakistan's battle against militancy, mainly staged in the northwest tribal regions near Afghanistan, home to the usually tranquil capital.

The attack occurred in an intersection near a police station and a shopping center. Just moments before the explosion, an Associated Press reporter passed by the scene and saw more than 20 police officers gathered there. Afterward, the area was covered in blood, glass, police riot gear, and body parts.

Naeem Iqbal, a police spokesman, said at least 15 people died, most apparently police.

Less than a half mile away, thousands of Islamist students and clerics had gathered in memory of last year's siege of the radical, pro-Taliban Red Mosque.

It was not clear if the events were linked, and a mosque official condemned the attack.

Yesterday's blast was eerily reminiscent of a suicide attack that killed at least 13 people and wounded 71 last July 27, the day the Red Mosque reopened after the military operation. That explosion occurred at a restaurant crowded by police guarding the reopening of the mosque and several of those killed were officers. Yesterday's explosion appeared to be the deadliest blast in Islamabad since then.

The latest attack also came following recent threats of revenge from Pakistani Taliban leaders angered by a paramilitary operation against insurgents in the tribal Northwest. A Taliban spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said that based on witness accounts, the attacker was a man appearing to be "35, 37 years old" who ran into the crowd of police. He said police have found the "upper part" of the man's body, but did not give more specifics.

Malik said the nation has to think about "who is destabilizing our country" and take action.

"We have to take them out from our ranks," he said. "We have to combat them."

Imtiaz Khan, the casualty medical officer at Federal Government Services Hospital, said at least 36 wounded people were admitted there, nearly all security officials. He said two had died, while 12 were in critical condition.

Violence levels have fallen in Pakistan since last year, but attacks still occur as resentment continues in many corners against the country's partnership with the United States in the war on terrorism.

In June, a suicide car bomber killed at least six people near the Danish Embassy in Islamabad. A statement attributed to al-Qaeda took responsibility for that blast, believed to have targeted Denmark over the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.

In mid-March, a bomb explosion at an Italian restaurant killed a Turkish woman in Islamabad, and wounded 12 others, including four FBI officials.