Pakistan ? The latest in a series of suicide bombings has raised concerns that militants are trying to gain ground in Pakistan as the country waits for the winning opposition party to cobble together a coalition government.

A prestigious naval war college in the normally quiet city of Lahore was the target Tuesday when two suicide bombers killed at least seven people and injured 19 others. It was the fifth suicide attack since the Feb. 18 parliamentary elections in which opposition parties routed allies of President Pervez Musharraf.

Party leaders are now in negotiations over how to form a coalition government, which may be creating an atmosphere of uncertainty through which the militants are trying to spread their influence, analysts said.

“There is no government in Pakistan today because it’s in an in-between period,” said Talad Masood, a retired general and political analyst. “It’s neither here nor there. The militants are taking advantage of that insecurity.”

In the last week, two suicide bombings in the volatile North-West Frontier province have killed nearly 100 people.