Peshawar, February 10
In one of the deadliest strikes on the Pakistan army, a schoolboy suicide bomber sneaked into a heavily guarded Pakistani army training centre in the country’s northwest today and blew himself up in the midst of a parade, killing 31 soldiers and leaving 40 more wounded.

“It was a suicide attack by a 12-year-old bomber in school uniform,” top police officer Abdullah Khan said on the early morning attack on the army’s elite Punjab Regimental Centre at Mardan, 60 km northeast of Peshawar.

Thirty-one army personnel were killed and 40 others injured, most of them critically in the powerful blast at 0815 am. An army spokesman confirmed the incident.

The police said the condition of some of the injured was critical and the toll could go up. The responsibility for the hit was claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban, who threatened to carry out even “bigger strike” to avenge US drone strike and military operation in the region.

The hit on the Punjab Regimental Centre was one of the worst strikes on the Pakistan army deeply involved for last two years in operations in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa province bordering Afghanistan to flush out Taliban militants.

Khan said the schoolboy managed to sneak into the sprawling heavily-guarded compound carrying a lethal payload apparently in his school bag and triggered the explosion as the troops were readying for the daily parade.

Television quoted witnesses as saying that the blast was so powerful that it blew soldiers away from the ground.

The bomber was able to sneak into the centre as he was wearing uniform of school located bang opposite the army facility.

Superintendent of Police Sirajul Hasan said the boy was carrying 9 kg of explosives and the legs and body parts of the teenage bomber had been found.

But there was conflicting reports about the identity of the bombers. While police and military officials said the strike was carried out by a schoolboy, the Taliban claimed that it was the handiwork of a soldier, who had turned over.

It was not immediately clear how the bomber got into the heavily guarded centre undetected. An attack on the same facility in 2006 had killed 35 soldiers.

Troops sealed off the area and even policemen had a difficult time getting through. The local army hospital declared an emergency as ambulances rushed in casualties.

Some of the critically injured army personnel were flown to military hospitals in Peshawar and Rawalpindi The forces have taken charge of rescue operations and civilian rescue agencies and media were not allowed entry into the heavily protected military facility.

Mardan is 50 kilometres away from the Mohmand tribal district where the army recently launched a major attack.

Officials have said more than 25,000 people have fled the area in the past one week.

Pakistan on Thursday test-fired nuclear-capable Hatf-7 cruise missile with a range of 600 km that can hit targets in India. The test of the indigenously developed missile was “part of a process of validating the system,” said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations. The statement did not say where the test was conducted.

The successful test of Hatf-7 or Babur cruise missile was witnessed by Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen Khalid Shamim Wynne, who said the launch would “go a long way in consolidating Pakistan’s strategic deterrence capability and further strengthening national security.” “Pakistan’s resolve and commitment to continue its strategic programme will remain paramount,” he said.

The test was “warmly appreciated by the President and Prime Minister,” who congratulated the scientists and engineers on their success, the statement said.

The Babur can carry strategic or conventional warheads and has stealth capabilities, the statement said.

Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal on Thursday inducted three ministers from his communist party even as he failed to finalise a power sharing deal with his main ally Maoists, more than a week after he was elected as Nepal's new leader.

Khanal administered the oath of office and secrecy to CPN-UML leaders - Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Bishnu Poudyal and Gangalal Tuladhar - after several rounds of discussion with UCPN-Maoist which ended inconclusively, party sources said.

But Maoist leaders were not present at the President's Office where Prime Minister Khanal was administering the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers.

Adhikari was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister while Poudyal and Tuladhar are yet to be allocated portfolios. Tuladhar has been named the government spokesman.

Khanal was elected as the new prime minister by the Constituent Assembly after 17 rounds of election. However, the two main allies, CPN-UML and the Maoists, have failed to arrive at an understanding over the distribution of portfolios.

UCPN-Maoist, the largest party in the House is demanding important portfolios, including the home ministry. The Maoists decided not to join the cabinet today as their demand for the important home ministry portfolio was not yet fulfilled. "We will not join the cabinet today as our demands are not fulfilled," said Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma. The negotiations between the Maoists and the CPN-UML will continue after the formation of a mini-cabinet, he added.

"As the CPN-UML did not clarify its stance on seven-point agreement reached between the its chairman Khanal and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on February 3, we decided not to join the government," Maoists vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha told journalists after meeting with the PM Khanal. The Maoists and the CPN-UML are blaming each other for the delay caused in the cabinet formation and sources said Khanal's party is unwilling to give the Home and Defence portfolios to the former rebels.

Berlin, February 10
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set on the sharp end of some unwelcome exposures himself today as a former ally spills the beans on the controversial Australian and his whistle-blowing organisation. “Inside WikiLeaks” is billed as a warts-and-all account of Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s time as chief programmer and media spokesman for what his tell-all book calls “the world’s most dangerous website.”

BRIEFLY

Six dead in Ireland plane crash
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Prince Charles (right) meets members of the pop group Steps after their performance in aid of The Princes Trust in London on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

NRI author wins children’s book prize
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Testosterone ‘interferes with empathy’
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