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A suicide attacker in a vehicle detonated a bomb yesterday at a canteen inside a high-security base used by a Pakistani counterterrorism quick-reaction force, killing at least 15 soldiers and wounding 11 others.The attack at Ghazi Tarbela, in Pakistan's volatile northwest, came on the same day the army reported that up to 50 militants had died in a battle with its forces in the South Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border.
The blast came hours after visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John D Negroponte met in Islamabad with President General Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in Washington's war on terrorism.
The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks to target Pakistan's army.
The commandos were taking dinner in their mess at Tarbela town when a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up at its gate," a security official said.
The Tarbela facility, about 100km south of Islamabad, is the headquarters of a counterterrorism quick reaction force and it will be a severe blow to the army that militants have apparently been able to penetrate it.
Extremists are pressuring shopkeepers in the region not to sell music or movies and barbers not to trim beards, or face punishment for encouraging un-Islamic behaviour.
Before dawn yesterday , a bomb planted in a market near the city of Kohat destroyed six stores selling music CDs, two tailor shops and one barber shop. No one was reported hurt.
In another incident, gunmen riding on three motorcycles threw a grenade and opened fire yesterday at a bus in Karachi, killing six people and wounding six others.
Four among the dead were supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.
A spokesman for the Jamaat-e-Islami party's student wing, Islamic Jamiat Tulba blamed their rival Mutahida Qaumi Movement for the attack, although he didn't offer any evidence to back up his claim.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops backed by gunships killed more than 70 militants in two days of heavy fighting in North Waziristan.
At least two soldiers also died in the latest clashes yesterday, which erupted when forces repelled a attack on a checkpost in the tribal area, bordering Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Musharraf told Negroponte during a two-hour meeting in Islamabad that "Pakistan's commitment should never be in doubt as it was in Pakistan's own national interest".
He also urged against pending US legislation that would tie aid payments to Pakistan's performance in fighting Al-Qaeda, and "underscored the need for better understanding of Pakistan counter-terrorism efforts in the US."
Negroponte also reiterated Washington's full backing for Musharraf.
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