2007年VOA标准英语-Militants Attack, Threaten Government in Pakist

A wave of deadly attacks in Pakistan is raising fears of a widespread militant¹ backlash days after government forces raided a radical² mosque³ in the capital.  Suicide bombings in Pakistan's tribal⁴ areas have killed at least 50 people in the past 48 hours and tribal militants⁵ reportedly have pulled out of a peace agreement with the government.  From Islamabad, VOA Correspondent Benjamin Sand reports.

A Pakistani paramedic gives initial treatment to a soldier injured in the suicide bombing, at a local hospital in Matta,  15 July 2007

The latest violence occurred in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province.

Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad says militants ambushed⁶ a police convoy⁷ as it passed through a local marketplace in the district of Swat.

"There were two suicide bombers⁹ who attacked the convoy and also one IED blast," Arshad said.

He says at least 13 people were killed and 52 injured.

And in the same province, just hours later, a powerful blast at a police recruiting center killed at least 11 Pakistanis.
 
Saturday, a suicide bomber⁸ killed 24 paramilitary soldiers in Pakistan's remote tribal area near the Afghan border.

Officials say the violence is an apparent response to last week's military raid on a radical Mosque in central Islamabad.  At least 85 people were killed during the assault of Lal Masjid or the Red Mosque.

The pro-Taleban mosque was a well-known center for Islamic militancy¹⁰ and attracted numerous supporters from the volatile¹¹ tribal areas.

Pakistani troops gather at site of suicide bombing in Matta, a town in Swat mountainous area of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, 15 July 2007

Sunday, Pro-Taleban militants in the North Waziristan tribal area said they are withdrawing from a controversial peace agreement with government forces. 

Under that deal, tribal leaders agreed to expel foreign extremists who were using the area to stage cross border attacks into Afghanistan.  In exchange, the government ended most of its security operations in the area.

The militants accused the government of breaking the deal by deploying¹⁴ thousands of new troops to the area and attacking "local Taleban."

General Arshad told VOA the militants are in no position to dissolve the peacce agreements.

"The peace agreement was not with the local so-called Taleban.  They were with the tribes, so it is the up to the tribes to say what they want to say about the agreement, not the local militants," Arshad said.

U.S. and Afghan officials have sharply condemned¹⁵ the controversial peace deals. 

Security analysts¹⁶ say Taleban and al-Qaida militants have used the agreements to establish safe havens¹⁷ and guerilla bases inside Pakistan.