Double suicide bombing in Pakistan

A prominent anti-Taliban Muslim cleric has been killed in a suicide attack in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Moderate cleric Sarfraz Naeemi was attacked at his office at his mosque complex after leading Friday prayers. Two other people were killed and 11 wounded, official Sajjad Bhutta said. The young attacker posed as a religious student and avoided police checks at the main gate of Mr Naeemi's complex. "He came through a small door that opens onto a side alley and entered the office in the guise of a disciple," Mr Bhutta said. Meanwhile, in the garrison town of Nowshera, in North West Frontier Province, four more people were killed and 20 wounded when a car-bomber attacked a mosque next to an army depot. The blasts came as Pakistani forces stepped up attacks on militants across the northwest. Security forces have made progress in more than a month of fighting against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, and in recent days have begun operations in several other parts of the region. The militants have responded with a series of bomb attacks. The offensive in Swat has broad public support and the bombs in response appear to be hardening opinion against the militants. Mr Naeemi was an outspoken critic of suicide attacks, which he said were un-Islamic. "The military must eliminate the Taliban once and for all," Mr Naeemi said last month. "Otherwise they will capture the entire country which would be a big catastrophe." The fighting in Swat and other parts of the northwest has displaced about 2.5 million people and aid officials have appealed to donors to step up their help.

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ITN | June 12, 2009

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