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ISLAMABAD: A suicide bomber killed 15 people on Sunday in an attack on police guarding an Islamist rally to mark the anniversary of an army raid on the radical Red Mosque in Pakistan's capital, officials said.
In the latest apparent act of revenge for the bloody storming of the mosque, the attacker blew himself up in a crowd of policemen just after thousands of hardliners called for the public hanging of President Pervez Musharraf.
The operation to clear the mosque a year ago left 100 people dead, and unleashed a wave of suicide attacks that pushed the newly-elected government into entering peace talks with Taliban militants based near the Afghan border.
Dozens of dead and injured policemen lay on bloodied ground after Sunday's blast, their blue uniforms ripped to shreds by the force of the explosion, an AFP photographer said.
"The whole event at the mosque went smoothly but then the suicide bomber targeted the security forces," interior ministry chief Rehman Malik told reporters at the scene.
"We are in a state of war with militants who trying to hit us everywhere," he said.
A senior police official and a senior security official both told AFP that at least 15 people were killed in the explosions. The casualties comprised 14 policemen and a civilian, they said.
"A young man walked into the police contingent and apparently blew himself up," one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.
"The blast happened 15 minutes after the meeting dispersed. A heavy contingent of police was at a main crossing several hundred metres from the mosque and they were targeted in the attack," the official added.
The government however gave lower figures, with Information Minister Sherry Rehman telling reporters that at least 12 policemen were known to have died.
Policemen's batons, helmets and riot shields were scattered around the site after the blast. Television footage showed bearded students frantically running towards the scene and ambulances bringing the wounded to hospitals.
"We were playing cricket in a nearby park when we heard a deafening blast. There were several policemen on the ground and me and my friends took them to hospital but they were dead," witness Shaqeel Ahmed told AFP.
Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the blast and ordered an inquiry, state media said. "Such incidents are against the teachings of Islam and do not serve any purpose," it quoted him as saying.
Government forces besieged the mosque on July 3, 2007, after a clash between police and militants in the building. The mosque had been running an Islamic vigilante campaign in the capital and had kidnapped several Chinese nationals.
Army commandos stormed it a week later, laying waste to parts of the building and leaving scores dead. The country was hit by dozens of suicide attacks in the following months.
Earlier on Sunday Islamic students from across the country thronged outside the Red Mosque amid tight security by thousands of police who erected barbed wire barricades and spot-searched individuals.
In fiery speeches, Islamists condemned the 2007 military operation against the mosque, blaming Musharraf for the carnage which they claimed was carried out at the request of the United States.
"Musharraf, then interior minister Aftab Sherpao, and others who were responsible for the bloodbath should be tried and hanged publicly," Islamist leader Idrees Haqqani said as the crowd pumped the air with their fists.
The speakers called for jihad (holy war) against US and NATO troops fighting militants in Afghanistan and threatened action if the Red Mosque's jailed leader Abdul Aziz was not freed.
Aziz was caught fleeing in a woman's burqa on the second day of the siege.
Pakistan's new government caused concerns in Washington, which regards it as a key ally in the "war on terror", by entering peace talks with Taliban militants after winning February elections. - AFP/de
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