16 killed in Swat police centre blast

ISLAMABAD: At least 16 police recruits were killed and several people injured in a suicide attack on the Police Training Centre in Pakistan’s
troubled Swat region on Sunday, officials said.

The blast took place when the recruits of a community police force were undergoing training in Mingora.

Soon after the attack, authorities imposed curfew in Swat. Troops were patrolling the town and people shut their businesses in fear of more bombings, the officials said. It was the first major attack in Mingora since the Pakistan army claimed to have cleared the valley of Taliban last month.

The attack came just two days after Hakimullah Mehsud’s appointment as the new Pakistan Taliban chief was announced. Hakimullah had vowed to take revenge for the death of his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud.

Condemning the attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered a probe into the incident and said the government was determined to carry on the fight against militancy. ‘‘We will not allow the enemies of the country to succeed in their evil designs,’’ he said.

Even on Saturday, the army said it had destroyed a major training camp for suicide bombers in the area.
The government in April had launched military offensive against Maulana Fazlullah-led Taliban in Swat, Dir and Buner areas of Malakand.