Pakistan Islamic varsity bombed

The bombing of Islamabad's International Islamic University was the seventh major militant attack in just over a fortnight.

At around 3 p.m. (0900 GMT), two explosions seconds apart rocked a male teaching faculty and women's cafeteria of what is one of the largest Islamic universities in the world, attracting Muslim students from home and abroad. The sprawling university teaches over 12,000 students, half of them female and including hundreds of foreigners, focusing on education that incorporates Islam in modern times.

The university's President Anwar Siddiqui's office told Arab News: "Two explosions took place at a time when classes were in progress."

Schools and colleges in the country have closed because of fears about militant attacks, officials said. In Sindh, which is home to Pakistan's financial capital Karachi, the regional education secretary said 50,000 schools and colleges have shut down until Sunday.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists have carried out a two-year campaign of suicide bombings and commando raids that have killed 2,280 people; Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.