The first-ever suicide attack on a bus carrying employees of Pakistan’s prized nuclear labs in Rawalpindi has raised new questions about Islamabad’s ability to withstand increasingly bold assaults by the resurgent Taliban against the country’s military complex.

Pakistani officials said the July 2 attack targeted a bus carrying workers from a non-nuclear military plant, but military analysts quoted by ‘International Herald Tribune’ on Monday said they believed that was an effort to avoid embarrassment of admitting that a vehicle connected with the nuclear programme had been hit.

The attack comes as Pakistan’s army is fighting the Taliban on several fronts in the country’s restive tribal belt.

The Taliban and al-Qaeda have already announced that their goal is to topple the Pakistan government and gain control of its nuclear arsenal.

Singling out nuclear workers, even though they were miles outside the weapons lab, military analysts say, carries heavy symbolism in a nation that believes its ultimate strength lies in its nuclear capability. It also suggested a worrisome level of sophistication.

“It showed that their intelligence is current,” said Talat Masood, a retired general and a military analyst.

“It was a deliberate strike. They are trying to give a hint that they can strike the personnel who are working for the nuclear facilities.”

The attack killed the suicide bomber, who rammed the bus with his motorcycle, and wounded 30 workers.

Military analysts said the workers were from the Kahuta Research Laboratories, where weapons-grade uranium is produced. No high-level official or scientist was on board.

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