Militants storm Pakistan mosque killing 36 people

MILITANTS stormed a mosque near Pakistan’s army headquarters, killing at least 36 worshippers, including six military officers, during prayers yesterday as they sprayed gunfire and threw grenades before blowing themselves up, officials said.

It was the latest in a wave of strikes by suspected Islamist insurgents that has killed more than 400 people in Pakistan since October.

The rampage in a heavily fortified area in the garrison city of Rawalpindi also brought the war home to the military brass as insurgents persist with brazen attacks despite several army offensives against them in north-western regions bordering Afghanistan.