Blasts Rock Pakistan Army Stronghold

The first blast completely destroyed the Defense Ministry bus. (IOL photo)

"There was a huge bang. Body parts were scattered across the road and there was blood everywhere," Tanveer Abbasi, an eyewitness, told IslamOnline.net.

"I fell on the ground as I felt the sky fell on me," a shocked Tanveer recalled.

The first suicide bomber hit a 40-seater bus of Defense Ministry staff in a high security zone during rush hour, killing at least 17 people and injuring 27 others.

Eyewitnesses said the bus was completely destroyed by the blast, which took place close to the army's nerve centre and President Pervez Musharraf's official military residence.

The bus was almost completely destroyed, with its roof ripped open and windows blown out.

Rescue workers had to cut open the wreckage to pull out the injured and dead.

The second bombing occurred up just 15 minutes from the first in the city's crowded Royal Artillery bazaar, another higher security zone, killing 8 people and injuring 41 others.

Hospital sources expect the death toll to rise with many of the wounded in a life-threatening condition.

Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have expressed deep sorrow and grief over the loss of innocent lives.

They reiterated government's resolve to stamp out terrorism, vowing to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.

Tribal Links

"It could be the reaction to current situation in the tribal areas", Arshad said.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Javed Iqbal Cheema said the two blasts were suicide attacks, but he refused to confirm whether Al Qaeda was involved.

"We have not received any evidences so far suggesting that Al Qaeda is behind these attacks.

"However, the initial investigations show that the same group is involved in these suicide attacks, which was behind the previous ones in near past."

Defense and security officials and analysts linked the near-simultaneous blasts to the ongoing military operations in the troubled tribal areas of North and South Waziristan.

"The suicide bombers are now vigorously targeting the army to get its morale down," Ikram Sehgal, a senior defense and security analyst, told IOL.

He said the attacks would continue as long as army goes ahead with its operation in the tribal region.

"This is the high time to pull the army out of tribal areas. As long as the army is there such attacks will continue."

Local Taliban are holding some 205 army troops in south Waziristan as hostage, refusing to release them until army troops are pulled out of the restive tribal belt.

"It could be the reaction to current situation in the tribal areas, however anything definitive in this regard can be said after complete investigations," Major General Waheed Arshad, the director general of the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR), told IOL.

Musharraf has been under American pressure to crack down on militancy in the restive frontier region, seen by Washington as a safe haven of Al-Qaeda and Taliban.

Tribal leaders scrapped on Sunday, July 15, a peace accord reached with the government in protest at army violations and restrictive measures in their region following the commando raid against the Red Mosque.

At least 60 soldiers and 250 militants have been killed in attacks across the country since the Red Mosque operation, which itself left more than 100 people dead.