Bomb blasts in Pakistani garrison town kill 16

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Sep 4 (Reuters) A bomb on a bus believed to be carrying Pakistani Atomic Energy Commission employees in the city of Rawalpindi killed at least 12 people today, military and government officials said.

A second bomb went off on a motorbike in the city, where the Pakistani army has its headquarters, killing at least four people, police said.

''The blast occurred at 7.20 a.m. (0750 hrs IST) and 12 to 13 people are dead,'' said a military official, who declined to be identified, referring to the bus blast, which went off about one kilometre (half a mile) from army headquarters.

Pakistan has seen a surge of militant violence since July, when commandos stormed a radical mosque in the capital, Islambad, which adjoins Rawalpindi, and a peace pact broke down with militants in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.

While most of the violence has been in the northwest, there were two suicide bomb attacks in Islamabad in July.

The violence comes as Pakistan is entering a period of political uncertainty, with the army chief and president, General Pervez Musharraf, preparing to try to secure a new term and his opponents vowing to end his rule.

Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said the bus was believed to be carrying employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

But military spokesman, Major General Waheed Arshad, said authorities were trying to determine which department the people worked for.

''It's terrorism because innocent people were killed in both blasts,'' Arshad said.

The bus was completely destroyed and mutilated bodies lay on the street, a witness said.

Soldiers cordoned off the area.

REUTERS NC HS0948