A suicide bomber killed 33 Pakistanis after detonating a jeep laden with explosives at a market in the insurgency-infested northwest.
The bomber detonated at a market in the largely Shia town of Ustarzai in the district of Kohat. The Pakistanis were gathering to purchase supplies for the upcoming religious festival of Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.
More than 300 pounds of explosives were packed into a jeep, which was then driven into a car in the bazaar and detonated. The blast leveled nearby buildings and more civilians are thought to be trapped beneath the rubble, AFP reported. More than 50 people have been wounded.
Young Shia men descended on the bazaar after the attack and denounced both the Taliban and the Pakistani government. “Shiite youths took control of the bazaar and attacked two police vehicles with sticks and chanted slogans condemning the Taliban and the Pakistani government,” AFP reported.
A group calling itself the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al Almi took credit for the attack. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is an anti-Shia terror group that has integrated with al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has an extensive network in Pakistan and serves as the muscle for terror attacks. The group has conducted numerous suicide and other terror attacks in the tribal areas, the Northwest Frontier Province, and in Punjab province.
Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has a strong presence in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Agencies, particularly in South Waziristan and Arakzai. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi formed alliances with Taliban commanders Baitullah and Hakeemullah Mehsud as well as with Jaish-e-Mohammed and al Qaeda. Elements of these groups formed the Fedayeen-e-Islam. The Fedayeen-e-Islam took credit for the deadly September 2008 suicide attack on the Islamabad Marriott Hotel and the March 2009 storming of a police station in Lahore.
Senior leaders of the Fedayeen-e-Islam include Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior deputy to Baitullah who trains child suicide bombers; Qari Mohammed Zafar, the operational commander of the September 2008 attack on the Islamabad Marriott; Asmatullah Moaviya; and Rana Afzal.
8 Comments
Aren’t these Taliban lovely people? How can we not be winning the propaganda war over in Afghanistan & Pakistan? They kill far more civilians than any American. This is the stuff we should be hammering home about in their media.
That will really increase support for the Taliban. (Sarc)
I would say that this group is not the Taliban, just as Al Qaeda is not the Taliban.
Then again, the Taliban doesn’t condemn these horrendous attacks either.
I find it interesting that if the Taliban truly wants to win the propaganda war, all it would need to do is turn its back to these types of groups/tactics.
I don’t think you guys understand the Taliban or Al Qaeda properly. By targeting the Pakistani Shia civilians they’re trying to recreate the same conditions that lead to the eventual US withdrawal from Iraq.
For them and most Pakistanis, killing the Shia is a good thing, it’s a good story since the Shia are infidels that collaborate with “the jews and the crusaders”. By attacking the Shia they’re adding more religious legitimacy to their movement and radicalizing Pakistani society. By radicalizing Pakistanis they’re able to recruit more people. They’re trying to create another Iraq in Pakistan, but the demographic conditions in Pakistan suit them more.
peace
I concur with hanee. I’ve seen no evidence that the attacks on the Shia in Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kurram, etc. have hurt the Taliban.
Concour with Roggio (Parachinar is the one I remember) and Hannee.
Noting that certain western “media” outlets and internet locations will attempt to spin this so as to blame the US.
LOADED
FINGERS,
R
“For them and most Pakistanis, killing the Shia is a good thing”
The Shia should flee Pakistan while they can. Forces the enemy to change targets, such as devoutly Sunni Punjabis, while at the same time saves the current persecuted people from annihilation.