Suicide attack kills 42 soldiers

A SUICIDE attack at Pakistan’s main army training base killed at least 42 soldiers yesterday, the military said.

Suspicion fell on pro-Taliban militants who had vowed revenge for a deadly helicopter attack on an Islamic school last month.

If it is confirmed that the Islamic militants carried it out, the attack would be the insurgents’ deadliest yet against the Pakistani army.

Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said 42 soldiers died and 20 were injured. About 200 soldiers had lined up for morning exercises when the attack occurred.

Shortly after the attack in Dargai, a town in the North West Province that borders Afghanistan, security agents captured a suspected accomplice of the suicide bomber after chasing him into a nearby village, an intelligence official said. The official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, did not reveal the suspect’s identity.