A suicide bomber on Sunday killed at least 11 people, including four troops, and wounded 24 others in an attack close to the gates of an army training centre in Mardan, police sources said.The bomber was on foot and blew himself up outside the gates of the Punjab Regimental Centre, close to a bakery shop in the cantonment area, the sources added. The attack was the deadliest in more than two months. Talking to a private television channel, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain condemned the attack, adding that it was the work of those who wanted to derail the peace process started by the Awami National Party (ANP) government with militants in the Malakand division. He said such tactics would not affect ongoing talks with militants.
Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that four of the dead were soldiers guarding the gate, adding that the bomber blew himself up when he was stopped by one of the soldiers. He said that the regimental centre also ran the bakery, adding that soldiers routinely guarded the commercial area.
Responsibility: The local Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, Dawn News reported. According to the channel, the Taliban said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had allowed them to carry out such attacks in retaliation for the ongoing military operation in Dara Adam Khel and Kohat.
Earlier on Sunday, Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar also warned the government against conducting any military operation in Dara Adam Khel, saying it could harm the peace efforts in the Tribal Areas, the channel said.
Mardan has suffered several attacks by militants during a wave of violence that has swept Pakistan after the army stormed the Lal Masjid in Islamabad last July to crush a Taliban-style armed movement. Militants linked to the Taliban and Al Qaeda have carried out a wave of suicide bombings threatening security, particularly in the northwest. More than 600 people have been killed in militant related violence since the beginning of this year alone.
The violence had tapered off in recent months, particularly after the new government, sworn in at the end of March, opened peace talks with tribes in the Tribal Areas.