DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, (Reuters) – Taliban militants attacked Pakistani forces and recaptured a strategic town yesterday while two suicide bomb blasts at an Islamic university in the capital killed six people and wounded at least 20, officials said.
The government made an immediate link between the university attack and an offensive against the Taliban, with Interior Minister Rehman Malik saying “all roads are leading towards South Waziristan”.
Fighting for control of the lawless area is a major test of the government’s ability to tackle an increasingly brazen insurgency that has seen a string of attacks in various parts of the country.
