KARACHI, Pakistan – A roadside bomb hit a bus taking Pakistani navy employees
to work in Karachi on Thursday, killing five people in the third such attack
this week and just days after the army chief claimed to have "broken the
backbone" of militants.
Within hours of the bombing, the Pakistan Taliban — the country's deadliest
militant group — claimed responsibility for the latest Karachi explosion.
The series of attacks in the country's largest city and economic heart show
the determination and reach of al-Qaida-linked extremist networks despite
American-backed Pakistani army offensives against their main bases in the
northwest close to the Afghan border.
The early morning blast mangled the bus and damaged nearby buildings. Four of
the dead were sailors, while the fifth was a passer-by, said navy spokesman
Salman Ali and Seemi Jamali, a doctor at the city's Jinnah Hospital. Five people
were wounded.
Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said the bombing targeted the navy because
it's part of the Pakistan army, which backs Washington in the war against
terrorism, and was carried out by "our men."
"We are attacking the Pakistan army as it is supporting America against us,"
he told The Associated Press in a telephone call from an undisclosed
location.
On Tuesday, remote-controlled blasts 15 minutes apart in different parts of
Karachi ripped through two navy buses, killing four navy personnel. The Taliban
also claimed responsibility for those two attacks, and warned of more unless the
army stopped its campaigns in the northwest.
Karachi is home to 18 million people and is the economic heart of Pakistan.
It is far from the northwest, but has not been spared the Islamist violence
wracking the country over the last four years. The Pakistan navy is based in the
city, which is on the Arabian Sea.
The army has launched several offensives in the northwest, but bombings
against government and security force targets, as well as indiscriminate attacks
on public places, have continued. The Pakistani Taliban have little direct
public support, but their identification with Islam, strong anti-American
rhetoric and support for insurgents in Afghanistan resonates with some.
Last Saturday, Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani told graduating
cadets that their force had "broken the backbone" of the militants. Those
comments followed American criticism of the army campaign, which has struggled
to hold border areas it has retaken from the insurgents. AP
