A Taliban suicide bomber killed 17 Pakistani civilians and wounded 25 more in an attack today at a market in Pakistan’s northwest. The attack is the third of its kind in Pakistan in three days.
The suicide bomber detonated his vest as he was boarding a bus at the Tirah bazaar in the Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Police confirmed that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber after recovering his head and limbs.
The passengers of the bus were traveling to the neighboring tribal agency of Arkazai, Dawn reported. The government has encouraged internally displaced people who fled a military operation in Arakzai to return to their homes. The military has claimed that the Taliban have been defeated in Arakzai.
The Taliban and the allied Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have carried out two other suicide attacks since Dec. 6. Yesterday, a suicide bomber attacked the chief minister of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, wounding 10 people. The al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed credit for the attack.
On Dec. 6, a pair of Taliban suicide bombers killed 50 people, including government officials, tribal leaders, security personnel, and two journalists, in an attack on a meeting of anti-Taliban tribal leaders Mohmand. Omar Khalid, the leader of the Taliban in Mohmand, claimed the attack and said such strikes would continue as long as tribal leaders work with the government.
Over the past year, Taliban suicide bombers have also attacked numerous police, intelligence, and military installations, as well as religious institutions in Pakistan. The Taliban have demanded that the Pakistani military end operations in the northwest and halt its support for US Predator strikes against al Qaeda and other terror groups sheltering in the tribal areas.
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Par for the course.
Its like reading the weather report….1 kills 17, 1 kills 10, 2 kills 50 and so on.
Pitiable nation, Pakistan! But i won’t do it.
If the guy had strapped on some nuclear material he could have killed a lot more infidel haters. Maybe we should help arm them
“strategic depth” strikes again….
The constant and TIMELY penetration of such anti-Taliban sessions says a lot about Pakistani ‘security.’
Someone (ISI) is providing TIMELY intel to the anti-NATO Taliban so as to permit them to penetrate these gatherings.
It’s as if the ISI provides an agent provocateur to round up Shia in the FATA ( Federally Abandoned Tribal Anarchy ) and then sends in teenage ordnance.
How else to explain one successful attack after another?