NYT : Bombers Kill at Least 15 in Pakistan

Bombers Kill at Least 15 in Pakistan

By REUTERS | November 24, 2007

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Saturday, Nov. 24 (Reuters) — Two suicide bombers killed at least 13 other people on Saturday in the Pakistani garrison town of Rawalpindi adjoining Islamabad, the military said.

One bomber rammed a car into the back of a Defense Ministry bus outside an intelligence service office, killing 13 people on board. The second bomber blew up his car at a checkpoint outside the army headquarters.

The attacks come on the heels of a string of suicide bombings across Pakistan blamed on Islamist militants amid growing insurgency and three weeks after the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared emergency rule.

“There’s a total of 15 people who have lost their lives in the attacks: two suicide bombers and 13 others,” Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, an army spokesman, said. “There were 50 people sitting in the bus. Many are injured; many are O.K.,” he said.

In addition to the bomber, at least three security officers were wounded near the army headquarters checkpoint.

The remains of the bus were visible just inside the gate of the intelligence service compound before the police cordoned off the area and put up tents to obscure the view. Police officers and soldiers also seized cameras and cellphones of bystanders.

Twin suicide blasts in Rawalpindi in September killed 25 and wounded 70, many of them on an intelligence service bus.