A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed at least 35 Pakistani soldiers and injured scores today at a military training center in Northwest Frontier Province, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.
The attack in the town of Dargai took place nine days after the Pakistani army killed at least 80 suspected terrorists in an airstrike on a madrasa in the nearby village of Chingai. Thousands of tribesmen in the area had vowed to seek revenge for the strike, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for today's attack.
President Pervez Musharraf has defended the strike in Chingai, saying terrorism is a threat to national security that will be crushed. At a military commanders meeting, Musharraf said security forces had evidence the madrasa was being used as a trainign center for terrorism. Area residents described the victims as madrasa students, and 20,000 marched last week calling for the deaths of Musharraf and President Bush.
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