Twin Taliban suicide bombings at Pakistan's largest weapons complex killed at least 59 people Thursday, heightening the turmoil following Pervez Musharraf's ouster as president.
The ruling coalition, made up of traditional rivals who were united primarily in their determination to force Musharraf from office, meanwhile appeared to be veering toward collapse. The two main parties have been unable to bridge key differences such as whether judges fired by Musharraf should be quickly reinstated and who should succeed him as president.
Pakistanis have urged the civilian government to stop bickering and turn quickly to tackling the country's problems from an economic downturn to extremist violence in the volatile northwest, where fighting between security forces and Islamic militants has escalated in recent weeks.
The bombers struck two different gates of the government weapons complex just as workers were leaving. The complex, comprising 12 factories, is located in Wah, a garrison city 20 miles west of the capital, Islamabad.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the perimeter is guarded by a dedicated paramilitary force. Experts have suggested that facilities related to Pakistan's secretive nuclear weapons program are located in the Wah area, possibly including a uranium enrichment plant. Abbas insisted the complex attacked on Thursday was producing only conventional weapons.
At the hospital, relatives searched frantically for loved ones as doctors worked to save those most seriously injured.
A young man, Mohammad Asif, stood wailing after identifying the lifeless body of his 60-year-old father in an ambulance.
Among more than a dozen bodies seen by an Associated Press Television News reporter at the hospital were two wearing uniforms, though an army spokesman said he had no information that security forces were among the dead.
Regional police Chief Nasir Durrani said authorities believed they had found the remains of the two bombers and would try to reconstruct their faces to try to identify them.
Maulvi Umar, a spokesman for Pakistani Taliban groups, told The Associated Press the attacks were in revenge for military airstrikes in Bajur, a militant stronghold near the Afghan border.
Tanvir Lodhi, a spokesman for Pakistan Ordnance Factories, said 59 people were killed. Mohammed Azhar, a hospital official, said 70 were wounded.Sharif wants to restore the all the justices, who could help him if he decides to seek revenge against Musharraf, who ousted the former premier in a 1999 coup, jailed him and then banished him to exile in Saudi Arabia.
Analysts say he also may be worried the former chief justice would revive corruption cases against him or facilitate legal action against Musharraf - a destabilizing move sure to dismay the country's Western backers, especially the United States.
The coalition also must agree on a candidate for president. The new leader must be elected by lawmakers by mid-September.
The People's Party insists that as the largest party in the coalition, it has the right to choose the new head of state, something unlikely to go over well with Sharif.
MY OPINION
In my opinion I think this people need some help, because they are killing their own people, and their are killing them self.
I'm concern for the innocent families that live there, living with scared and afraid of going out of their home, school, or work, scared of not having another day of life or losing their families. The government should do laws that could protect the people of that country so the can live safe and better.
Now I understand why alot of people emigrate from those countries, to the United States to find freedom and future, a plece were Democracy exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment