Attacks kill 16 in Pakistan

A suicide bomber in a pick-up truck attacked the north-western regional headquarters of the Pakistani spy agency overseeing a campaign against militancy today, killing 10 people.

Another suicide attack in the area killed six more.

The bombings were the latest in a string of attacks since the government launched an offensive against militants in the border region of South Waziristan, where al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding out.

The attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence agency building occurred in the city of Peshawar, which has borne the brunt of the militants’ retaliation against the army offensive.

Security forces guarding the intelligence complex opened fire on a truck laden with explosives, but the bomber was able to detonate his payload, an intelligence official said.

The blast destroyed much of the three-storey building and killed 10 people, including seven who worked for the spy agency, the army said in a statement. Another 55 people were injured.

“This is a guerrilla war,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for the North West Frontier province. “We will continue our action against these militant terrorists. That is the only way we can survive.”

About an hour later, a second suicide car bomber attacked a police station further south near the Afghan border, killing six people. Five of the dead were policemen and the sixth a civilian. Another 27 people were wounded.

The station is close to the border with North Waziristan, an area in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal region where officials believe many militants have fled to escape the recent offensive.

The bombings took place as US national security adviser General James Jones visited the country for talks with top political and security officials, including military chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

The government has vowed the militant attacks will not dent the country’s resolve to pursue the operation in South Waziristan, where officials believe the most deadly insurgent network in Pakistan is based. The army claims to be making good progress.

The US has urged Pakistan to persevere with its South Waziristan offensive because militants have used the area as a base to attack Western troops across the border in Afghanistan.

Today’s attack in Peshawar was the second to target a spy agency complex this year. A suicide squad using guns, grenades and a van packed with explosives attacked a police and an ISI building in Lahore in May, killing 30 people.

The ISI has been involved in scores of covert operations in the north west against al-Qaida targets since 2001, when many militant leaders crossed into the area following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. The region is seen as a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

Its offices in Peshawar are on the main road leading from the city to Afghanistan. The agency was instrumental in using CIA money to train jihadi groups to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.