(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's government said it is trying to identify the suicide bomber who killed at least 19 people, mostly police officers, in an attack in the capital, Islamabad, yesterday. A bearded man detonated a bomb he was wearing after walking into a crowd of policemen, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The officers were guarding a demonstration by Islamic militants and sympathizers marking the first anniversary of an army assault on Islamist guerrillas at Islamabad's Red Mosque.
The rally drew thousands of men, including members of extremist groups banned by the government, according to independent Pakistani TV news channels. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, Dawn News television cited a spokesman for a Pakistani Taliban group, Muslim Khan, as saying it was retribution for the army assault on the mosque.
Government ministers, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, condemned the attack as a violation of Islam. ``It was a hopeless attempt of enemies of the country and democracy,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Information Minister Sherry Rehman as saying yesterday in Islamabad.
Malik told reporters the authorities recovered the upper part of the bomber's body. The government is offering a 5 million rupee ($72,000) reward for information that leads to the arrest of the plotters, he said.