Suicide Bombers Attack University in Pakistani Capital
By VOA News
20 October 2009
Pakistani police officers examine the site of a suicide bombing in Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan, 20 Oct 2009
Two suicide bombers attacked a university in Pakistan＇s capital Tuesday, adding to a wave of deadly assaults seen as retaliation for the army＇s new offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan.
Pakistani officials say the blasts at the International Islamic University in Islamabad killed at least six people, including the bombers. At least 20 people were injured.
The explosions hit a faculty building and a women＇s cafeteria. Women make up nearly half of the more than 12,000 students at the university.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan＇s interior minister said all terrorist attacks in Pakistan lead back to South Waziristan.
Many schools in Pakistan closed this week, fearing retaliatory violence stemming from the offensive in the region.
Officers claimed troops killed some 20 militants during overnight fighting. The deaths would bring the total number of suspected militants killed to nearly 100 since the operation began Saturday.
There is no independent confirmation of the army＇s or the militants＇ accounts of the fighting because no journalists are traveling with the Pakistani military and the region is extremely dangerous for outsiders.
Pakistani army commanders say some 30,000 troops are battling about 10,000 militants in South Waziristan, including foreigners. They say they expect the offensive to last six to eight weeks, before winter weather makes fighting difficult.
Officials say more than 100,000 civilians fled South Waziristan before the assault, and thousands more left their homes in the past three days.
Authorities blame extremists for attacks across the country that killed more than 175 people in the last two weeks.
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