...as the installations and targets of the criminals are unprotected.
These attacks aren't expected and there are no barriers to prevent these attacks.
It speaks loudly to the fact there isn't so much a since war within Pakistan so much as a 'police action' to bring regions of the country away from the oppressive influence of the Taliban. These acts of violence are more akin to the 'sectarian' attacks we witnessed in Iraq for so long.
...The FIA building was attacked on March 11 last year and Manawan Training School on March 30 this year. Thirty-six people had lost their lives in the two attacks.
In the end, all the 10 terrorists were dead (click here)— either killed by law enforcers or blowing themselves up after having been cornered — but they kept the city on tenterhooks for more than three hours. The entire security paraphernalia was mobilised and police, elite force, Rangers and the army were all roped in as the scale and magnitude of the attack became evident....
Obama signs Kerry-Lugar bill into law (click title to entry - thank you)
By Anwar Iqbal Friday, 16 Oct, 2009
The US president signed the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, also known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, without fanfare before leaving on a trip to New Orleans.
The bill has come under fierce criticism in Pakistan, which dampened the US desire to showcase the bill as a major milestone towards establishing long-term partnership with Pakistan.
Although Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news briefing in Washington on Wednesday that Obama would also attach a signing statement to the new law, the White House said that the president did not and had no intention to do so.
A signing statement underscores the way the executive intends to implement a law, which may differ from the text of the law itself. ‘This law is the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in the US, as evidenced by its bipartisan, bicameral, unanimous passage in Congress,’ White House spokesman Robert Gates said....
Two injured in grenade attack in Quetta (click here)
DawnNews Report Thursday, 15 Oct, 2009
The injured security personnel were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital for medical treatment, according to the police.
Earlier in the day, militants launched attacks in Lahore, and carried out bombings in Peshawar and Kohat.
Target Killings
Unknown gunmen also killed one person inside a shop and injured another, in what police are describing as a target killing.
The assailants shot the shopkeeper when Quetta’s Jinnah road was at its busiest. The attackers then abandoned the body of the victim and fled from the scene.
Quetta has been hit by four target killings in as many days, highlighting the precarious security situation in the city.
A poll in the "Dawn" Newspaper (click here)
Should western coalition forces negotiate with the Afghan Taliban?
Yes(46%)
No(49%)
Don’t know(5%)
It is very similar to the sectarian violence that spawned in Iraq. It is a matter of the local police to come to terms with how best to handle the mess. They know it is coming, they can identify the criminals when they enter the city. It is a matter of how do they control this? To confront the criminals is to spawn violence.
I don't believe a private security force is the answer. That will confuse the issue.
Huge blast strikes Peshawar, several injured (click here)
Thursday, 15 Oct, 2009
Preliminary reports suggest the attack was carried out by a car bomb, Peshawar’s CCPO Liaquat Ali told DawnNews.
The CCPO said that a car packed with explosives was parked at the scene, and that it was later detonated by remote control
Police cordoned off the area and the injured were being shifted to the Lady Reading hospital.
People trapped under the rubble were still being dug out, and sources told DawnNews that eight injured survivors and the body of a dead child were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital.
Earlier, the city of Peshawar had been placed on high alert, after reports that terrorists had entered the city.
Residents interviewed by DawnNews said that they were unhappy with the security which had been provided by the government, and that they had been trying to arrange for private protection for some time.
Initial reports suggest that the bomb exploded outside the NWFP chief minister’s driver’s house.— DawnNews
Large explosive operations such as this are usually the work of al Qaeda. Here again it isn't the military that is in a quandry to respond to unexpected local attacks, it is the police trying to deal with these thugs. It sounds as though there is a considerable bit of confusion in regard to containing and responding to this issue.
TTP claims killing 11 in Kohat blast (click here)
By Abdul Sami Paracha Friday, 16 Oct, 2009
...The police station is in a high-security zone where official residences of Kohat region’s DIG, district police officer and district coordination officer, PAF officers’ mess and flats and a security checkpost are located.
According to officials, the light green double-cabin pick-up driven by a young man slammed into the main gate of the Saddar police station. The van carried about 100kg of explosives.
The powerful blast created a six-foot deep and 10-foot wide crater. Nearly half of the police station’s building and a boundary wall of the nearby officers’ mess collapsed. Eight vehicles were destroyed and a school building and several houses were damaged.
The place was strewn with parts of victims’ bodies and some parts were found even on roofs of nearby houses. The blast was heard in places as far as Darra Adamkhel.
A student who was going to school was among the dead. Hospital sources confirmed to have received 11 bodies. The three slain policemen who died were identified as constables Fayyazul Hassan, Mohammad Noor and Khursheed. The civilian victims are Javed, Tariq, Haji Baseer
Khan, Abdul Wali, Tahir-ur-Rehman and Arshad Ali. Two bodies were mutilated beyond recognition.
The injured, two policemen and a prisoner among them, were taken to the Combined Military Hospital....
The current government in Pakistan is far from imploding. They are building alliances in the region to assist in stability. The more stability in the region, the less the criminals of the Taliban and al Qaeda can operate their killing campaigns.
Whoever expected Putin to show up on the scene? It is a good thing. There is more and more consolidation of effort between all the parties including The West. They will be contained. If there is anything Russia is BEST at, it is establishing 'stable government states' and containing chaos. If anyone can assist this to a peaceful end between India and Pakistan it will Putin. Absolutely.
It would be good if Kashmir was settled as well. I think a Saudi Price was asking Obama to intercede in Kashmir. I don't believe Obama will take up an active role with Kashmir, but, might include the issue with State Department initiatives. He and Secretary Clinton might seek to bring Kashmir to the talks.
Gilani, Putin agree to strengthen ties (click here)
By Shamim-ur-Rahman Thursday, 15 Oct, 2009
BEIJING: Pakistan and Russia agreed on Wednesday to re-launch their inter-governmental commission by the end of this year to revatalise bilateral relations, with focus on infrastructure development, energy, rail link, heavy industry and upgradation of Pakistan Steel.
The agreement was reached at a meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held here on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
During the meeting which lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, they agreed on the need for re-engaging relations, according to Pakistan’s Ambassador Masood Khan who briefed the media on the talks between the two leaders.
Mr Putin said his country would support Pakistan’s request for full membership of the SCO and indicated that he would back resumption of composite dialogue between India and Pakistan because reduction of tension between the two countries would facilitate improvement of Moscow’s relations with Islamabad....
