‘Teenage’ Taliban bomber kills 31

Mystery surrounded the identity of the bomber yesterday.

The army and police said he was a teenager in a school uniform but the Pakistani Taliban claimed he was a soldier at the camp in the town of Mardan, in the north west, who volunteered for the attack.

It was one of the worst attacks on security forces in recent months and showed Taliban and al Qaida-linked fighters retain the ability to strike despite years of army operations against their hideouts along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

Senior police official Samad Khan said 31 soldiers died and 42 were wounded, some critically. All of those killed were cadets except for one, who was a drill instructor, said the army.

An examination at the scene indicated the bomber was a teenage boy, which is a common finding in suicide bombings in Pakistan, said Samad Khan.

The army also confirmed he was a teenager in a school uniform.

But Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told reporters the bomber was a soldier in Mardan who approached them and said “he wanted to sacrifice his life for Islam”.

“We accepted his offer and told him to target his fellow soldiers in Mardan,” said Ahsanullah Ahsan.

Former army soldiers have been suspected in attacks in Pakistan but a suicide bombing by an active duty soldier would be rare.

Troops quickly cordoned off the area. The same training camp was attacked by a suicide bomber in 2006, killing 35 soldiers.

The army has staged multiple offensives in Pakistan’s north-west aimed at taking out the Pakistani Taliban in recent years. Its efforts appear to have been largely successful but violence persists.

The United States has encouraged Pakistan to eliminate the Pakistani Taliban in the belief that the long-term stability of the Muslim nation is critical to global security. The West is particularly worried about Pakistan falling to Islamic insurgents because it has nuclear weapons.