Pakistan:15 soldiers killed in suicide attack at army canteen

September 13, 2007 IHT

A suicide attacker in a vehicle detonated a bomb at an army canteen in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 15 soldiers and wounding 11 others, officials said.

The bomber rammed into the canteen in Ghazi Tarbela, an army facility about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, Islamabad, according to two security officials, who sought anonymity because of the sensitive nature of their job.

Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the spokesman for Pakistan's army, said that 15 soldiers were killed and 11 wounded, some seriously, but he would not confirm what caused the blast ...

Troops from the group participated in the army raid against pro-Taliban militants in Islamabad's Red Mosque in July that left over 100 dead and triggered a spate of reprisal attacks against security forces, Geo reported.

The blast is the latest in a series of attacks to target Pakistan's army.

Two blasts on Sept. 4 killed 25 people and wounded more than 60, many on a Defense Ministry bus, in Rawalpindi, where the army has its headquarters.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and it has deployed about 90,000 troops in the country's tribal regions near Afghanistan to flush out remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida.