Bombing destroys Pak mosque
15:08, 13 June 2009
LAHORE. June 13. KAZINFORM Suicide bombers attacked a mosque and a religious school within minutes yesterday in two Pakistani cities, leaving one of the country?s most prominent anti-Taleban religious figures dead in what authorities called a targeted killing; Kazinform refers to the Arab News.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for either blast, but relatives of Sarfraz Naeemi said he had received death threats recently after condemning suicide attacks as un-Islamic and the Taleban as murderers.
Pakistan has been rocked by a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks in recent weeks blamed on militants taking revenge for a military operation against the Taleban in the Swat Valley region. More than 100 people have been killed since May 27, and places of worship have been targeted three times since last Friday.
The government has vowed to rid the country of militants, and it has been emboldened by broad support for the Swat campaign from a public that has started openly denouncing the militants after years of ambivalence. After the blast that killed Naeemi, hundreds of outraged seminary students gathered at the scene and demanded the Taleban leave Pakistan; Kazinform cites the Arab News.
See www.arabnews.com for full version