Explosions Rock Pakistan University

At Least 4 Killed by Twin Explosions on International Islamic University Campus

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 3:55 p.m. EDT

Suicide bombers attacked an Islamic university popular with foreigners in Pakistan's capital Tuesday, killing four students in apparent retaliation for an escalating army offensive on a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold near the Afghan border.

An Associated Press reporter close to the battle zone in South Waziristan met a group of Taliban fighters who challenged army claims of progress in the four-day assault, saying they had pushed soldiers back from the strategic town of Kotkai.

Intelligence officials also said the army had been repelled from the town after being close to taking it. They asked that their names not be used for operational reasons.

The suicide bombers hit a faculty building and a women's cafeteria at the International Islamic University, where nearly half the students are women and hundreds are foreigners.

The blasts, which left bits of flesh and body parts strewn on the floor, killed two male and two female students and wounded at least 18 others. The two attackers were also killed, officials said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack on what some people thought was a surprising target for Islamist extremists, but the president of the university and authorities said they believed it was the work of militants in the northwest.

"This attack is a very dangerous development. It marks the likely continuation of Taliban retaliation on high profile urban targets in Pakistan as the military continues its campaign in South Waziristan," a senior Western diplomat in Islamabad told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari on condition of anonymity.

"For Pakistan, it's a matter of damned if you do, damned if you don't," said the diplomat, who warned that there was likely to be more bloodshed from further attacks before Islamic militants are forced to retreat.

Authorities have been warning that militants would try to bring the war to Pakistan's cities since the army began its offensive. Many schools and universities were closed after receiving word from authorities on Monday they could be targeted.

After the attack, the government ordered all educational institutions closed for a week in three of the country's four provinces.

The university is attended by 18,000 students. It has close to 2,000 international students, many from China. While it is a seat of Islamic learning, most students take secular courses such as management science or computer studies.

"Those who call themselves champions of Islam, they have today proved by attacking the Islamic university that they are neither friends of Islam nor Pakistan" said Interior Minister Rehman Malik, whose motorcade was stoned by angry students as he left the campus on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Many students did not accept that militants were responsible for attacking a hub of Islamic learning and instead blamed shadowy forces out to discredit Islam or weaken Pakistan - variations of conspiracy theories that are often heard here after bombings.

"It shows clearly that anti-Islamic elements are involved in these attacks," said economics student Abul Hassan.

Militants from South Waziristan have claimed responsibility for a string of recent terrorist attacks, including a 22-hour siege on the army headquarters close to the capital and a suicide attack on a U.N. office in Islamabad that killed five people.

The attack comes a day after the military struck a deal with two other groups to keep them from joining the fight in the remote northwestern tribal region.

The army has deployed some 30,000 troops to South Waziristan against about 12,000 Taliban militants, including up to 1,500 foreign fighters, among them Uzbeks and Arabs. The region is also considered a major al Qaeda operations and training base.

In a brief statement, the military said troops backed by aerial bombing were advancing on three fronts, but were meeting stiff resistance from militants on high ground firing rockets and small arms. It reported four more soldiers were killed, bringing the army's death toll to 13, while 12 militants were slain, bringing their death toll to 90.

An AP reporter came across three Taliban fighters traveling in a car with darkened windows at Shaktoi, a town close the border between South and North Waziristan, which is also home to thousands of Islamist militants. They were carrying assault rifles, grenades and radios.

One of the men, who gave his name as Askari, said they had come from South Waziristan, where they and other fighters had pushed the army back from Kotkai, the birthplace of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and a major strategic prize.

"We are inflicting heavy losses on them," he said.

It is nearly impossible to independently verify information coming from South Waziristan because the army has closed off all roads to the region. Analysts say both sides have exaggerated successes and downplayed loses in the past.

Askari mocked an appeal by the army chief for villagers to support the offensive.

"The people of this area knew very well whether we are terrorists or fighters for Islam," he said.

Elsewhere, around 600 villagers who earlier fled the fighting chanted "Long live the Taliban" and "Down with America" after complaining of receiving no government aid for days. The protest took place in Kot Azam in North West Frontier Province, which lies close to the border region.

"I have not received a single penny or a handful of grain," said Akhtar Mehsud, who left his home two months ago and is now living in the ruins of an old house along with 22 members of his family. "I have now no hope from this government. The Taliban were even better than them."

The United Nations said at least 32,000 people have fled South Waziristan over the last week, joining more than 80,000 people who left earlier when the army began making preparations for the offensive. Authorities say more will leave in coming weeks, but don't expect to have to house them in camps because most have relatives in the region.

[zionopp]

Not only didn't the surge work, conditions in Iraq are still FAR from "stable" as the Bush devotees would have it, and the Iraqi government, such that it is, is pro-Iranian. The high rate of violence ongoing has been merely moved to deep in the "pages"
of the media.

[Biggest_Rick]

Nothing funnier than watching leftists who are indignant that anyone dares to mention the similarities in how Bush conducted the war and how Obama IS conducting the war. The Obama administration DID pretty much seek to keep the major provisions of the Patriot Act in Place. The Obama administration IS looking at their own version of a surge in A-Stan to hopefully get the same results that Bush's surge got in Iraq (something almost all the Democrats including Obama and Biden were wrong about) Gitmo is still open for business and don't look for any change in Don't Ask/Don't Tell in the near future. It is correct that A-Stan did not have a lot of troops in country during the Bush administration, but American losses were no where near as heavy because the main battlefield was in Iraq. This is the "good" war that Mr. Obama insisted needed to be fought, and yet he encourages our enemies with all the time he is taking to decide to add the troops HIS HAND PICKED General is asking for. The war can be won (defined as a stabilized stable country) but it will take a force of will I'm not sure our president has. He himself said it needed to be won. Let's see if he will do it.

[hungry1968-16]

The surge in Iraq DID NOT work. It was a failure, that cost hundreds of Americans lives. It started in January, and the violence just kept getting worse and worse, with more IED's and roadside bombs than ever.

It wasn't until August when we started PAYING THE TERRORISTS to quit killing our troops, that the violence finally went down.

Do you ever watch the ACTUAL news, or do you only watch Fox?





And how is Obama's waiting to make a decision, "encouraging our enemies"?

[Biggest_Rick]

We have a new president and at this point we cannot change the past but only move forward. Our new president must put our national security first and do everything possible to control our southern border to protect us from WMD's that could be smuggled in. George W. Bush will never be president again, so I want to hear what Barrack Obama is going to do to fix things instead of whining about all that he fells Bush did or didn't do. Funny thing is that with Rendition, using predator strikes and putting troops into A-Stan he seems to be following right along with what our last president did in the foreign policy arena.

[hungry1968-16]

Obama isn't using "rendition" any differently than any other president has through the years.

Bush DID NOT put troops in Afghanistan, and we had a skeleton crew of 26,000 troops there for most of his presidency. Afghanistan was forgotten or ignored, it wasn't truly waged as a war.

The predator is a weapon. Saying that this is a "policy of Bush's that Obama is following", is like saying Obama is acting like Bush, because "our army is using tanks and infantry, and our Air Force is using fighter jets".

[miami_don]

Are you serious? How many people did George W stop from crossing the Mexican-American border? Did or didn't George allow the Taliban to take over two thirds of Afghanistan? Your worried that Obama is not doing his job/ I want to make sure I understand you...are you serious???

[bubbadubba]

Holy warriors and martyrs, murdering college students who have not done anything to anyone just for the fun of killing because they are psychos and they enjoy it.
What happened to the "all Muslims are brothers" thing the preach?
I do agree with many, Pakistan asked for this since they let the terrorists run wild in their country. The chickens have come home to roost.
Saudi will be next because they pay terrorists off.

[briannorwood]

Osama Bin Ladin should start counting his days. I predict he will be dead before the end of the month!

[ALBrainTrust10]

MAYBE THE PAKISTANIS SHOULD WITHDRAW ALL THEIR COMBAT FORCES?

MAYBE THEY SHOULDN'T REINFORCE THEM?

MAYBE THE TALIBAN AND AL-QAEDA WILL GO AWAY?

[ibsteve2u]

Kind of makes you wish Bush had gotten serious about port and border security, doesn't it?

lolll...but we mustn't interfere "with the free flow of commerce"; the additional inspection expense might force jobs back to America and cut into somebody's profit.

[jefleshman]

This is why you cannot wish terrorism away; this is what happens when you ignore it. You begin to fight it in your own backyard. The Pakistani government has ignored the FATA in the western part of their country for too long.

Just my thoughts.

[stuart-johns2]

And let the games begin!