Islamabad, Sep 7: Taliban suicide bombers hit the house of a top Pakistan military commander in southwestern city of Quetta Wednesday, killing 26 people, most of them soldiers and wounding 82 others.
The suicide bombers, who detonated more than 90 kgs of explosives, in and around the house of Deputy Inspector General of the paramilitary force ‘Frontier Corps’ (FC), Brigadier Khuram Shehzad, missed him but killed his wife, a colonel and many other soldiers.
“Twenty four bodies have so far been recovered in the twin suicide attack in which the residence of the Brigadier was totally damaged. The DIG himself is critically injured,” Duniya television quoted local police chief Hamid Shakil as saying. The TV channel said more bodies were buried under the rubble.
Two of the dead were children travelling in a rickshaw on the road in front of the house. Claiming the responsibility for the attack - first such incident in Quetta - the Taliban spokesman said it was in revenge against the arrests of some top militants, including Younis al Mauritani and two others.
In the blasts, the first suicide bomber detonated his car laden with 90 kgs of explosives next to a group of Frontier Corps soldiers and officers standing in front of their commander’s house, while the second attacker managed to sneak into the premises and blew himself up inside.
The house, located in a highly guarded area of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, was blown up by the impact of the twin blasts, local police chief Hamid Shakil said.
Local TV channels reported that wife of the Deputy Inspector General Frontier Corps was killed in the attacks, while the Brig was critically injured and rushed to nearby military hospital.
The blast took place days after the Pakistan army announced the security forces arrested a top al-Qaeda leader.
Two other senior al-Qaeda operatives, Abdul Ghaffar al Shami (Bachar Chama) and Messara al Shami (Mujahid Amino) were also arrested along with al Mauritani.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 7 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 7 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 8 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST