PAKISTAN: Crowds gather outside the offices of the Pakistani intelligence agency after a bomb and gun attack killed four people and left at least 40 others injured

Record ID: 353913

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Crowds gather outside the offices of the Pakistani intelligence agency after a bomb and gun attack killed four people and left at least 40 others injured
  • Date: 24th July 2013
  • Summary: SUKKUR, PAKISTAN (JULY 24, 2013) (REUTERS) (PART MUTE) (QUALITY AS INCOMING) ***NIGHT SHOTS*** VARIOUS OF AMBULANCE DRIVING THROUGH CROWDS OF PEOPLE PEOPLE GATHERING OUTSIDE COMPOUND WHERE ATTACK TOOK PLACE ARMOURED POLICE VEHICLES DRIVING DOWN STREET PEOPLE GATHERING OUTSIDE COMPOUND WHERE ATTACK TOOK PLACE SOUNDBITE (Urdu) UNIDENTIFIED MAN, SAYING: "My brother is a tele
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB3P0B13YIGIAYHW7OFP9WFYY0
  • Story Text: A bomb and gun attack on the offices of the Pakistani intelligence agency in the southern town of Sukkur on Wednesday (July 24) killed four people and wounded at least 40, police officials said, in a brazen challenge to the country's powerful military.
    The city headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Pakistani military intelligence force, seemed to be the main target, police Deputy Inspector General Javeed Odho said.
    It was unclear who carried out the attack, but previous such high-profile operations have always been claimed by the Taliban.
    Security personnel cordoned off the area as crowds gathered around the compound, with worried relatives waited outside along with the media.
    One man was waiting for news of his brother.
    "My brother is a telephone operator in the Commissioner's House. He told me 'Terrorists have entered the place. Please tell someone to come in,'" he said.
    The intensity of the attack and the high-profile target unsettled a country that has long been inured to weekly bombings.
    It also raises questions about the new government's aim of starting talks with militant groups.
    Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged to seek negotiations and reconciliation with militant groups who were willing to talk before he won last May's elections. But attacks have increased since he took office and the government has yet to present a security strategy.
    Militants have launched such sophisticated attacks before. Last year, they attacked Kamra, a major airbase, and damaged an aircraft.
    The year before, Taliban gunmen attacked a naval base in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi. Ten military personnel were killed in the 16-hour assault.
    In 2009, they attacked the national army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a city that is the stronghold of the armed forces.
    Such attacks are embarrassing for Pakistan's military, which has ruled the country for more than half of its 65-year history.
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