Suicide Bomber Kills 35 Near Pakistan's Capital

A suicide bomber killed thirty-five people outside a bank near Pakistan's capital Monday. The U.N. said spreading violence has forced it to start pulling out some expatriate staff and suspend long-term development work in areas along the Afghanistan border.

Only hours after the first blast another suicide bomber struck in the eastern city of Lahore, exploding a car at a police checkpoint just as officers went to search it. At least seven policemen were injured and two were in critical condition, reports said.

"By putting their lives in danger, our men have saved the city from enormous sabotage," Lahore Police Chief Pervaiz Rathor told reporters at the scene.

Checkpoints, where all cars are forced to drive slowly past police officers looking inside, have become common sights across Pakistan amid a surge in violence that has left at least three hundred people dead over the past month alone. The violence has grown a lot bloodier since the government launched an anti-Taliban offensive around mid-October.

Several U.N. personnel have been among those killed in the violence, and the world body's decision to curtail development work could imperil Western goals of reducing extremism by improving Pakistan's economy.

The first attack Monday came in Rawalpindi, a garrison city just a few miles from Islamabad. It occurred as many people waited outside the National Bank on a pay day to collect salaries.

"The bank is close to the army's headquarters, and a majority of the people waiting in that line were from the military," said Mohammad Mushtaq, a soldier who was wounded. Militants raided the headquarters last month, triggering a twenty-two hour standoff that left twenty-three people dead.

"I was sitting on the pavement outside to wait for my turn," said Mushtaq, who suffered a head injury. "The bomb went off with a big bang. We all ran. I saw blood and body parts everywhere."

Major General Athar AbbasAthar Abbas, the army's chief spokesman, said that four soldiers were killed in the attack, and nine were wounded. In total thirty-five people were killed, said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. Several dozen others were also wounded.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but that is not unusual in attacks that kill many civilians.

Pakistan's president, prime minister and other top officials condemned the blast, but vowed to continue the offensive in South Waziristan, an impoverished and underdeveloped tribal region next to Afghanistan where al-Qaida is believed to have some hide-outs.

Abbas said the army had captured the town of Kaniguram, one of the Taliban's bases, and killed twleve more militants in the past twenty-four hours of the offensive, which began in mid-October. The U.S. supports the operation because it believes South Waziristan is a safe haven for Islamist extremists involved in attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan.

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, met with Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Parvez KayaniAshfaq Parvez Kayani on Monday at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi. The U.S. Embassy declined to say if he was there at the time of the attack.

Washington has stepped up its efforts to use development aid in a broader battle against spreading militancy. The U.S. government recently approved $7.5 billion in aid over five years to improve Pakistan's economy, education and other nonmilitary sectors.

But the U.N. decision to suspend long-term development work in Pakistan's tribal areas and its North West Frontier Province could frustrate Washington's goals.