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In 14 Months, Attacks Kill 1,188 In Pakistan

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The Associated Press

Published: September 30, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Suicide attacks have killed nearly 1,200 people in Pakistan since July 2007, most of them civilians, according to military statistics Monday that underscored the ferocity of the threat facing the U.S. ally in the war on extremist groups.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting between Pakistani troops and insurgents in the lawless tribal regions of the country's northwest has caused some 20,000 Pakistanis to flee across the border into Afghanistan, the United Nations said.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has seen a surge in attacks by Islamic extremists since the July 2007 army attack on militants holed up in Islamabad's radical Red Mosque, during which about 100 people were killed.

The most recent major suicide attack was the Sept. 20 truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel in the capital, which killed at least 54 people, including three Americans.

Figures released at a military briefing Monday said 88 suicide attacks had taken place across Pakistan since the Red Mosque siege, killing 1,188 people. Of those, 847 were civilians and 341 were troops or police. More than 3,000 people were wounded.

Pakistan cites such figures in part to deflect American skepticism of its commitment to the fight against Islamic militants amid lingering suspicion that elements within the country's intelligence agencies maintain links with extremists.

MILITANTS' TARGETS

Some of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani government or military targets since the siege of the Red Mosque in July 2007:

•Sept. 20: A suicide truck bombing kills at least 54 people and wounds more than 250 at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

•Aug. 21: Suicide bombers blow themselves up at two gates of a weapons factory in Wah, killing at least 67 people and wounding at least 100.

•March 11: Suicide bombs rip through a seven-story police headquarters and a house in Lahore, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 200.

•Feb. 16: Suicide car bomber attacks election rally in Parachinar, killing 40 people.

•Dec. 27: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and 20 other people are killed in a suicide bombing and shooting attack in Rawalpindi.

•Oct. 18: Suicide bombing aimed at Bhutto kills some 150 people in Karachi during celebrations welcoming her home from self-exile.

•July 15: A suicide bomber kills 15 police and 14 civilians in Dera Ismail Khan and wounds 52. Victims include those taking medical and written exams to become police officers.

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