Pakistan’s capital is again the scene of a suicide attack after an explosive-laden car rammed into the Anti-Terrorism Police building. A deadly roadside bombing also took place in Dir, while the parliament continues to be briefed on the security situation in Northwestern Pakistan.
Eight police were wounded in the Islamabad suicide attack. “One part of the building was completely gutted, and about one and half dozen vehicles damaged,” Geo TV reported. The attack occurred in the same location as Pakistan’s National Training Center and Police Academy.
Police also detained a suspected suicide bomber at the Islamabad airport today.
Today’s attack is he latest in a series of Taliban and al Qaeda strikes targeting security forces, government officials, and civilians in Pakistan’s major cities and in the northwest. The last major attack occurred in Islamabad at the Marriott Hotel. More than 50 were killed, including 23 Westerners, and mre than 270 were wounded in teh bombings that destroyed the popular hotel.
Ten Pakistanis were killed in a roadside bombing in the settled district of Dir in the Northwest Frontier Province. A police van transporting civilians was targeted, killing four policemen and three prisoners, Geo TV reported. Three children were also killed in the strike as a school bus was close to the attack.
Dir has been the scene of fighting between the local tribes and the Taliban as some tribal leaders have formed militias to oppose the extremists. The Taliban responded by attackinga mosque filled with Ramadan worshippers, killing 25 and wounding more than 50.
Today’s attacks occurred as Pakistan’s military and intelligence services are briefing the parliament on the security situation in northwestern Pakistan. The military admitted that Swat, Shangla, and other unnamed districts outside the tribal areas are under Taliban control. The government has fought in Swat for 11 months and has been unable to clear the region of the Taliban.
The Taliban have been waging a deadly insurgency in northwestern Pakistan and in regions in Baluchistan.
2 Comments
Somehow I think that these are not the only areas under Taliban control. The Pak’s are in for a long hard fight with the t-ban and aq.
Saw this one coming after the last missile strike. AQ seems to be playing tit for tat.
It appears that they (AQ & Taliban) are no longer getting tipped off. If so, its a positive sign.
The attacks on the Pakistan government increase
when it appears we (US) are getting better hits.