Gunmen attack Pakistan army camp, kill seven

PAKISTAN: Gunmen killed seven security personnel at an army camp close to Islamabad on Monday, officials said, hours after a protest march against the resumption of NATO supply convoys passed through the area.

The encampment was attacked from a bridge over the river Chenab, close to the industrial city of Wazirabad, less than 150 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of the capital.

Hours earlier, thousands from the Defence Council of Pakistan coalition of right-wing and hardline Islamist groups crossed the bridge on a “long march” from Lahore to Islamabad to protest against the reopening of NATO supply routes to Afghanistan.

Pakistan is battling an Islamist insurgency in its lawless northwest tribal region, but attacks in the area of Monday’s incident, in the prosperous and generally peaceful province of Punjab, are unusual.

“At least seven security personnel including a police official embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and five others were injured due to firing by unknown assailants near Wazirabad,” the military said in a statement.

AFP