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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan-Militants struck at the heart of Pakistan's security establishment Saturday, killing up to 35 people in homicide attacks on a checkpoint outside army headquarters and a bus carrying intelligence agency employees, officials said.The brazen early morning attacks coincided with the announcement that Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister overthrown in 1999 by the country's current military leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf, would return from exile Sunday.Sharif, one of Musharraf's most strident political foes, may contest parliamentary elections scheduled for January."Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family are coming back to (the eastern Pakistani city of) Lahore on Sunday," said Sadique al-Farooq, a senior leader of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party.The homicide attacks came as Pakistan remained under a state of emergency, which Musharraf declared on Nov. 3, justifying it by citing the escalating danger posed by Islamic extremists. His critics have noted, however, that many of his moves have been against political opponents — including members of the judiciary, journalists and other moderates.The two suicide attackers struck in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just south of the capital, Islamabad, just before 8 a.m., as employees were arriving for work.In the first attack, an explosive-laden car rammed a bus carrying employees from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI. The other bomber hit an army checkpoint in another part of the city, said Mohammed Afzal, a local police official.Two senior intelligence officials-one of them at the scene-said at least 35 people were killed. They asked for anonymity, citing the sensitivity of their work.An army statement said it could only confirm that 15 were killed in the attack on the bus, as well as the suicide bomber. It said that two security forces personnel were critically injured in the second attack, and that the bomber died.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
