In Pakistan, Suicide Bomber Kills 24

LAHORE, Pakistan — A suspected Islamic militant walked into a crowd of police guarding a courthouse and blew himself up yesterday, killing 24 others and wounding dozens in the first major attack in Pakistan since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The blast at Lahore High Court, minutes before a planned anti-government rally by lawyers, was a bloody reminder of the security threats facing this key American ally ahead of February 18 parliamentary elections.

Echoing an extremist tactic in Iraq, suicide attacks have become as commonplace in Pakistan as in neighboring Afghanistan, adding to rising pressures on President Musharraf as he struggles to stay in office eight years after seizing power in military coup.

At least 20 suicide bombers have struck the past three months in attacks that killed 400 people, many of them from the security forces.