Battle rages at home of Pakistani general

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Gunmen opened fire today at the home of the army commander heading the military offensive against Taliban militants in Pakistan’s northwest, sparking a gunbattle just hours after a suicide attack at a police checkpoint, officials said.

The overnight attacks in Peshawar city were the latest of several targeting security forces and blamed on militants retaliating for the military’s assault on Taliban militants in the nearby Swat Valley region. More than 60 people have died in the wave of attacks since May 27.

The attack on the Peshawar home of Lt. Gen. Masood Aslam triggered a gunbattle that killed two suspected militants, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the provincial information minister.

Hours earlier, a coordinated suicide attack on a police checkpoint in the city killed one officer and wounded a dozen other people. The assailants lobbed a grenade at the checkpoint and when police rushed to respond, a suicide bomber ran forward and blew himself up, said police Superintendent Nisar Marwad.

“We are faced with a Baghdad-like situation, and now we must think to divide the city of Peshawar in different zones like Baghdad to secure the city,” Hussain told the Associate Press, referring to parts of the Iraqi capital that are heavily fortified to guard against insurgent attacks.

The Peshawar attacks came after Pakistani troops and militants engaged in multiple battles Thursday as fighting in the northwest spread and intensified.