Gilani attends funeral of Armymen killed in mosque attack
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today attended the funeral of military personnel, including a serving major general, who were killed in a terrorist attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today attended the funeral of military personnel, including a serving major general, who were killed in a terrorist attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi.
The funeral prayers for six victims of the attack, offered at a ground near the Joint Services Headquarters in Chaklala, were also attended by Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, former army chief Gen (retired) Mirza Aslam Baig and Gen Tariq Majid, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Maj Gen Umer Bilal, the Director General of the Armoured Corps, and four senior army officers were among 40 people killed when a group of militants stormed a mosque frequented by military personnel in Rawalpindi yesterday.
A total of 83 people, including a former army vice chief, were injured.
Hashim Masood, the son of Lt Gen Masood Aslam, the commander of the army's Peshawar-based corps which plays a key role in ongoing operations against the Taliban, was also killed in the attack.
President Asif Ali Zardari, the supreme commander of the armed forces, was conspicuous by his absence at the funeral prayers.