Pakistan army base blast probe 'progressing well'

The investigation into a deadly attack on Pakistani troops waging a counterinsurgency campaign along the Afghan border is progressing well, investigators said today.

They spoke as a previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that killed 42 soldiers.

“Body parts of the suicide bomber have been collected for DNA tests,” said a security official engaged in the investigation of the blast.

The attack was carried out yesterday at the army’s main training base in Dargai, about 60 miles north of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.

“We have vital clues and the investigations are proceeding well,” said the official.

The official refused to provide further details, but suspicion immediately fell on pro-Taliban militants who had vowed revenge for an airstrike an a Muslim boarding school last week that killed at least 80 people.

The government claimed the school was being used to train pro-Taliban guerrillas, but local residents said almost all the victims were children or teenagers.