Violence spreads in Pakistan

Rahimullah Yousafzai, an expert on the region, said: “Lal Masjid has just further provoked these people, who have already made up their minds to attack the military. It’s added fuel to fire.”

 

Meanwhile, two suicide attacks on Sunday killed 45 people.

 

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police recruiting centre in Dera Ismail Khan, in North West Frontier Province, on Sunday, killing 29 people.

 

Earlier, 16 people were killed when two suicide car-bombers ambushed a paramilitary patrol in the Swat valley, also in the province.

 

“Yesterday’s attacks are likely to be linked to the Lal Masjid,” said a senior investigator in Dera Ismail Khan who declined to be identified.

 

But he said: “We haven’t found any clues yet but we’re looking into that aspect.”

 

 

Nearly 100 people, most of them members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks in the northwest since July 3, when government forces surrounded the Islamabad mosque.

 

The army stormed the mosque compound last Tuesday, ending a week-long siege and killing 75 people, although some say the official figure is too low.

 

Many of those killed at the mosque and many of the students who studied at the complex, were believed to have been from the North West Frontier Province, and security analysts had expressed fears of a backlash over the assault.

 

Fighters based in tribal regions on the Afghan border have been expanding their influence into towns and cities across North and South Waziristan.