A suicide bomber killed 17 Pakistanis and wounded 40 more in an attack on the home of a politician in the city of Bhakkar in Punjab province.
The bomber struck at the home of Rasheed Akbar Khan Nowani during celebrations for Eid-al-Fitr, the holiday at the end of Ramadan. Nowani, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, is reported to have been seriously wounded in the attack.
Nowani is a member of the Pakistani Muslim League – Nawaz, or PML-N, political party which is run by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. “He contested the election independently and then joined the PML-N,” according to The Pakistani Spectator.
Today’s attack is the latest in the Taliban’s terror and military campaign that has gripped Pakistan. Suicide bombers have struck in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Wah, Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, and Bannu over the past year. More than 1,800 Pakistanis have been reported to have been killed in suicide attacks alone this year.
The Taliban has stepped up its promised terror campaign outside of the tribal areas after peace negotiations broke down and the military initiated offensives in Bajaur and Swat.
Baitullah Mehsud, the commander of the Pakistani Taliban, had previously threatened to wage “jihad” and turn the provinces of Sindh and Punjab “into a furnace” if the operations did not cease.
The Taliban insurgency has intensified in Swat, Bajaur, Kohat, Kurram, and other tribal agencies and settled districts in the region. Fighting has been especially heavy in Bajaur and Swat, where the government claimed more than 1,000 Taliban fighters have been killed over the past several weeks. Four days ago, the Taliban targeted the leader of the Awami National Party with a suicide bomber in his home in Charsadda.
13 Comments
Nowani is shia. No guess as to why they would target him. He is also of Baloch Saraiki extraction going by his name.
It could have been carried out by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni-Deoband group who has been know to target the Shias in Pakistan.
Hi Bill,
Great article. Have you seen the CNN article dated 10/6/08 on the Afghans and Taliban negotitaing for peace in a Suadi brokered meeting?
What does this do or not do for the current war effort in the region and what terms are the Afghans and more importantly NATO (although it appears that they are not involved in the talks), willing to negotiate on? I am sure that your many readers will be looking for your insight on this. I am not quite sure what to make of the whole thing. Would the Taliban be willng to lay down arms and surrender all Al Qaeda and foreign fighters in the region? I seriously doubt it at this time.
Karzai might have seen the writing on the wall when he invited Mullah Omar to come talk to him. Karzai’s brother has been implicated in the drug trade (not exactly shocking) and he may be looking for new backers.
Couple this with the Brit general’s statements on the Afghan war being “unwinnable” in the traditional sense, and Pakistan’s strategy of keeping one foot in the door with the Haqqani network makes all the more sense.
Kidartbai
You seem to be in favor of the “Strategic Depth” concept of having Afghanistan in an orbit around Pakistan rather than as a truly independent country or at least have a government with a Pakistani bent.
The militants also have aims to expand Eastward and Pakistan has yet to go to an actual “war footing” to block them.
The Pakistani death toll for past and present actions against the militants pales compared to what the US lost during the American Civil War of roughly 150 years ago. Also, the population of the US at that time was probably 18 – 20% of the current population of Pakistan, so the American Civil War numbers would be even worse if scaled accordingly to account for the differences in population size between the US of 150 years ago and present day Pakistan.
I read a Pakistani Forum and many of the members still view US/Afghanistan and India as their two primary threats with the militants in their own country a distant third.
The Pakistani death toll in recent years caused by the militants is more than from the other perceived threats, yet the country’s (Pakistan) focus isn’t on the militants. The reluctance by Pakistan to move the militants to Enemy #1 among the perceived threats is putting the country at extreme risk. Even if the Pakistani people are indifferent to that situation, the rest of the world is very concerned.
No, I completely oppose the “strategic depth” delusion led by the Ziaists and have been against it before anyone had even heard of the Taliban or Americans had heard of this newly promoted term. Very few officers in Pakistan of any repute believe in this concept anymore. Reasons for engagement with the “good” Taliban are purely for reasons of practically in most cases. Pakistan has to live with them next door and in our country. The British general’s comments and even Karzai’s comments and the Saudi-Taliban-Afghan negotiation has to be seen in that context. Pakistan is not even involved in this, so I don’t know how “strategic depth” is an issue here.
And I am well aware of causality figures as I have former batch mates who have participated in Swat and Waziristan ops, but the comparison in terms of numbers to the American Civil War does not seem to be accurate to me. And anyway absolute number of deaths aren’t deciding factors in wars. Their political liability is. This was repeated before in Vietnam vs. WWII comparisons and did no good in the end.
One question I have is this. Why hasn’t the US pushed Afghanistan to officially recognize the Durand line as the permanent border between Afghanistan and Pakistan or allowed fencing if not mining of the border? What harm would this do?
Kidartbai
What would be the actual impact for the realities on the ground if Afghanistan announced that the Durand Line was acceptable? The militants would suddenly become peaceful farmers?
I though that there was a general movement across the world to ban – limit the usage of landmines because of the toll it exacts on the innocent civilian population.
Border Fence
The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is over 1500 miles. If it was built for the entire length, the Haqqani network and other militant groups would respect it and not try to destroy it? The manpower and the needed resources would be at risk while the fence was being built. It would require a huge amount of military personnel to patrol and protect which Pakistan would have to remove from the Indian border forces. I haven’t seen enough Pakistani forces moved from the East to the West to believe that would happen.
You have some ideas that sound good in theory, but have various issues at the implementation level. The Pakistani government controls very little along the border with Afghanistan, yet still devotes plenty of resources along the Eastern Border with India.
Eastern Border
Nothing can stop army from defending Pakistan: COAS
RAWALPINDI: Nothing can stop the army from defending Pakistan, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani said on Monday.
He was making an informal address to soldiers during a visit to forward posts on the Line of Control and the Line of Actual Contact with India in the Northern Areas.
“No odds [can] deter [the army] from pursuing its obligations towards national defence,”
“
There is no doubt among American students of National Security that Pakistan has become the world’s most dangerous place. We must address solutions to the growing civil unrest in Pakistan, the urgency with which Al Qaeda must be defeated within Pakistan’s borders, and persuade Pakistan that AQ is a much larger threat than India. In doing so, we must articulate how we plan to strengthen our partnership with Pakistan to achieve the aforementioned. In the face of a global economic meltdown, however, the question becomes will this hotbed of volatility be swept under the rug and left for the next administration? We will see.
bard207, a border fence is better than no fence. Not saying it will magically solve the problem. You keep assuming that the Pakistan army has the resources of a superpower and not that of a 3rd world country’s military. How long did it take for the US to pacify much of Iraq with all of it’s immense resources and technological superiority? And that too after co-opting former Baathists and Sunni tribals.
Give Pakistan the resources (more helicopters, NVDs, F-16 upgrades, UCAVs etc.) to fight all over FATA and then we may get somewhere.
And it’s it strange that Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of infiltration from a border that they do not recognize as legitimate. Recognizing the border politically may have no practical effect, but it would have a strong political and moral effect.
Kidartbai
bard207, a border fence is better than no fence. Not saying it will magically solve the problem. You keep assuming that the Pakistan army has the resources of a superpower and not that of a 3rd world country’s military. How long did it take for the US to pacify much of Iraq with all of it’s immense resources and technological superiority? And that too after co-opting former Baathists and Sunni tribals.
Give Pakistan the resources (more helicopters, NVDs, F-16 upgrades, UCAVs etc.) to fight all over FATA and then we may get somewhere.
And it’s it strange that Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of infiltration from a border that they do not recognize as legitimate. Recognizing the border politically may have no practical effect, but it would have a strong political and moral effect.
More resources?
Pakistan’s Worrisome Pullback
Relations between the U.S. military and the Pakistani army, critical allies in the “war on terror,” are at their worst point since Sept. 11, 2001, senior Western military officers and diplomats here say, as Pakistani troops withdraw from several tribal areas bordering Afghanistan that are home to Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders and thousands of their fighters.
Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, chief of the Pakistani army, has told U.S. military and NATO officials that he will not retrain or reequip troops to fight the counterinsurgency war the Americans are demanding on Pakistan’s mountainous western border.
Instead, the bulk of the army will remain deployed on Pakistan’s eastern border and prepare for possible conflicts with traditional enemy India — wars that have always been fought on the plains of Punjab. More than 80 percent of the $10 billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan since the Sept. 11 attacks has gone to the military; much of it has been used to buy expensive weapons systems for the Indian front rather than the smaller items needed for counterinsurgency. …….
Pakistan Troops To Get Help From US Military
After a long delay, a small group of American military trainers and advisors will arrive shortly in Pakistan to help with the training of the paramilitary Frontier Corps that patrol the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan that American military commanders have called a “safe haven” for the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Bajur
Pakistani tribal villagers chant slogans against U.S. and Pakistan government after an alleged U.S. missile attack in Damadola village in the Pakistani tribal area of Bajur near Afghanistan border Thursday, May 15, 2008.
(Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo)
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell tells ABC News that the first small group of trainers will arrive in Pakistan in the “next couple of weeks.” He says their role will be to “train the trainers,” small numbers of Pakistani trainers who will then go into the tribal areas to train the Frontier Corps.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen first told the LA Times two weeks ago that obstacles to the team’s arrival had been overcome and that he expected them to arrive soon. Morrell says their numbers will be larger than a dozen and not be a big operation. Another Defense Official says the overall number of trainers will be 25 including a smaller contingent of British trainers.
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Morrell calls the trainers’ arrival a “positive first step” that shows a willingness from Pakistan to confront the threat from the tribal areas.
Since early this year, Pentagon officials have been privately and publicly urging Pakistan’s government to accept the training teams. But Pakistani officials have been hesitant citing domestic political concerns and instead requested additional weapons and equipment that seem more suited for a conventional fight with India than a counterinsurgency fight in the tribal areas.
Sending advisors to train the Frontier Corps is part of a Pentagon push to improve the fighting capability of the Frontier Corps which has often been described as a rag-tag force unable to meet the security needs of the tribal regions. This year the US has already spent $25 million to equip the Frontier Corps with new body armor and other communications equipment. For next year, the Pentagon will spend $70 million on the Frontier Corps,$40 million for improving their communication networks and the rest to equip the troops. An additional $5 million will be provided by the State Department to assist with counternarcotics efforts. …….
As long as it is mainly Frontier Corps instead of regular Army in the fight with the militants, Pakistan hasn’t shown that it is serious about the militants.
Why don’t they flip things and put the Frontier Corps on the Eastern Border with India and send the regular Army to fight the militants on the Western Border?
Unregistered mobile sims are being used in criminal and terrorist activities in Bhakkar.
The criminal activities murders, robberies and animal theft are being done with the help of unregistered mobile sims.
It was disclosed by district police sources that few months back when a Uphone sim belonged to a franchise was found involved in a murder of a young guy in Bhakkar city.
When the matter was investigated, police found that a Uphone sim which had no identification /issuing record with company was used in this murder incident.
By tracking the calls history it was came in to knowledge that the same sim had been used by a person named Imran Bhidwaal, who is one of the owners/partners of a franchise (mobile company branch)
The story is started in late 2009 when a young guy belonged to a well off family of Vehari district Punjab and a girl set up mobile phone friendship. The girl belonged to an influential political family of Bhakkar city.
Later on the story uncovered in front of the other family members. In retaliation and grudge a fake friendship plan was planted by the relatives of this girl. They used another girl who trapped this guy in friend ship relations. For communication purpose the unregistered Uphone sim was taken from Bismillah mobiles and used.
The fake girlfriend invited this guy in her city (Bhakkar). On reaching in the city the unfortunate guy was shot dead by anonymous murderer. After this incident happened the fake girlfriend returned the mobile sim to the franchise owner and Imran Bhidwaal started using it for his own. The Uphone communication record disclosed several other secrets belonged to the same kind of activities in Bhakkar. The police registered an FIR in Thana Sadar Bhakkar against anonymous murderers and their helpers. The procedural investigations to the suspects are in progress.
Although The Punjab government declared Bhakkar district a ‘Red Zone’, in 2009 following apprehensions that the Taliban, under attack in South Waziristan, could enter Punjab from abandon banks of River Indus but in spite of that no formal activity was seen here. Bhakkar is situated in Punjab on the Indus River bank which is a natural boundary between Bhakkar and D.I. Khan,( Khyber Pakhtoonkhawah) and there are several crossing points on the Indus River, where folks cross the river through ferryboat service and easily enter into the both provinces within 30 minuts.
These corridors are also used by terrorists who cross the river and can easily hit the other parts of Punjab. There is not even a single check point of police at these entry points or the surrounding areas of Indus River (called Kucha area) especially on Punjab border side. To avoid and eliminate the terrorist activities the Pakistan Telecommunication Authorities (PTA) have already suspended the mobile phone services in D.I. Khan city but at River banks and its surroundings areas the mobile phone signals works strongly and terrorists at both sides of the river can freely communicate and warn their friends on the other side before any unexpected activity of law enforcement agencies. This easy approach between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhawah province (Old NWFP) for terrorist element is an eye opening threat to Bhakkar city and south western Punjab where there already a Punjabi Taliban threat has become a big issue. The Indus River corridors in Bhakkar and Layah districts are big source of trafficking terrorists. To help and meet each other. Its eradication must be the first priority of law enforcement agencies in Punjab, Pakistan.
An other terrorist network has been caught by the Law enforcement agencies in Dera Ismail Khan (Khyber Pashtoon Khawah).
We astonish that why Punjab government does not take action in Bhakkar against these criminal groups who are providing help to terrorist by supplying Unregistered mobile sims.
If authorities do not open their eyes these net works will continue spread their roots in Punjab as well as in Sindh province.
Pakistan is one step forward to destabilization.
It is wise decision to take urgent steps before it is too late.