Attacks a reaction to army's success: Qureshi

Qureshi said militants are retaliating and attacking innocent citizens to create panic.

LISBON: The recent wave of attacks in Pakistan are a reaction to the success of the army's anti-terror operations, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday during a visit to Portugal.

"It is a reaction to the successful operations we've had against the militants in Pakistan," Qureshi said following a meeting in Lisbon with his Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado.

On Monday, at least 19 people were killed in a suicide attack against a police station in Pakistan, where the Taliban allies of al Qaeda have stepped up their campaign which has claimed more than 3,700 lives in three years.

"They are retaliating and they are attacking innocent citizens to create panic and to break the resolve that exists in the country," Pakistan's top diplomat said.

Qureshi is on a tour of European capitals to call attention to the plight of victims of recent devastating floods in Pakistan that submerged an area the size of England and left eight million people dependent on aid for survival.

He said he wanted to thank European leaders for the aid provided so far and to discuss the "measures that need to be taken for early recovery and the reconstruction phase".

"And we also want to ensure that the money being contributed is utilised in the most efficient and transparent manner," he added.

After Portugal, Qureshi will visit Spain and Poland before meeting in Brussels with the European Union's foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.