The Taliban followed today’s suicide attack outside a nuclear weapons complex in Punjab province with bombings in Peshawar and Mohmand.
In this pair of attacks, the latest in the Taliban’s terror spree, 15 Pakistanis have been killed and 19 more have been wounded. The Taliban have vowed to wage war against the government until the military ends the offensive in the Mehsud tribal areas in South Waziristan.
The bombing in Mohmand was the deadliest attack today. The Taliban detonated an anti-tank mine, hitting a bus that was transporting a wedding party. The explosion killed 15 of the passengers and wounded six more.
The military is currently conducting operations against the Taliban in Mohmand as well as in South Waziristan, and the road the bus was traveling on is frequently used by the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force leading the fight against the Taliban in Mohmand, Dawn reported. Yesterday, the military claimed it killed 15 Taliban fighters during air and artillery strikes in the Taliban-controlled agency.
Earlier this year, the military claimed the Taliban were “defeated” during operations in the area that ended in March, but the Taliban have remained entrenched.
In Peshawar, the Taliban detonated a car bomb outside a popular restaurant in the Hayatabad residential area in Peshawar, Dawn reported. The attack wounded 13 civilians; nine are said to be in critical condition.
Peshawar has suffered three major attacks during the Taliban offensive, which began on Oct. 5, one day after Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud announced he would avenge the death of his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, and insisted that the military halt attacks in the tribal agencies. There have been 14 major attacks throughout Pakistan in 18 days (see list below).
Earlier today, a suicide bomber detonated at a security checkpoint near the Kamra Air Weapon Complex in the district of Attock in Punjab province. Seven Pakistanis, including three policemen, were killed. The complex is said to be involved in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, a charge that Pakistani officials deny.
Meanwhile, the military said its forces remain on the offensive in South Waziristan, and claimed 142 Taliban fighters and 18 soldiers have been killed since the operation began on Oct. 15. The Pakistani military has denied that it caused civilian casualties during the fighting in South Waziristan.
The Army received a major setback earlier this week after its forces were ejected from the town of Kotkai just one day after taking control of the town. The battle for the town is still ongoing as the military is fighting to take the high ground. Kotkai is the home of Hakeemullah and Qari Hussain Mehsud, the notorious commander who trains child suicide bombers.
Major attacks in Pakistan since Oct. 5:
Oct. 23, 2009: The Taliban detonated an anti-tank mine and hit a bus transporting a wedding party in Mohmand. The explosion killed 15 of the passengers and wounded six more.
Oct. 23, 2009: The Taliban detonated a car bomb outside a popular restaurant in the residential Hayatabad area in Peshawar. The attack wounded 13 civilians; nine are said to be in critical condition.
Oct. 23, 2009: A Taliban suicide bomber killed seven people during an attack at a security checkpoint near the Kamra Air Weapon Complex in the district of Attock in Punjab province.
Oct. 21, 2009: The Taliban assassinated a brigadier general and his driver during an ambush in Islamabad.
Oct. 20, 2009: A pair of suicide bombers detonated their vests at Islamabad’s International Islamic University, killing five.
Oct. 16, 2009: A pair of suicide bombers, including a female, attacked a police station and a building housing an intelligence service in Peshawar, killing 11.
Oct. 15, 2009: Terrorist assault teams attacked the Federal Investigation Agency building, the Manawan police training centre, and the Elite Force Headquarters in Lahore. Twenty-six people, including nine terrorists and 12 policemen, were killed.
Oct. 15, 2009: A suicide bomber rammed a car into a police station in Kohat, killing 11 people, including policemen and children.
Oct. 12, 2009: A suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives as a military convoy passed through a checkpoint in a market in Alpuri in Shangla. Forty-one people, including six security personnel, were killed in the attack.
Oct. 10, 2009: An assault team attacked the Army General Headquarters and took 42 security personnel captive. Eleven soldiers were killed, including a brigadier general and a lieutenant colonel, along with nine members of the assault team; and 39 hostages were freed.
Oct. 9, 2009: A suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives in a bazaar in Peshawar, killing 49 civilians.
Oct. 5, 2009: A suicide bomber entered the World Food Program office in Islamabad and detonated his vest, killing five UN workers, including an Iraqi.
5 Comments
Including women and children.
So where is the Muslim/Pakistani mass condemnation of an attack that kills a large number of members of a wedding party. They seem apparent if ISAF do it accidently but non-existent when the Taliban do it deliberately.
Kp, It’s just hysterical, isn’t it? You would think Islamic governments (political and religious structures) should openly cross-hands in a global consortium with eachother to denounce this radical, satan-worshipping cult of death for their psycho/sociopathic, brutal, and most importantly, deliberate attack on innocent women and children and consequently facilitate immediate action to stem the spread of this backwards neurological disease islamist roaches call “jihad” — but no.
Right now, you can only do your part and hope that a lucky Pakistani soldier gets to unload his POF H&K G3 at some mujs with great accuracy.
Maybe thats why we shouldn’t care what they think. Their false outrage of civilians dying is just idealogical propaganda. They probably could care less. They just use it to further their goals of a Worldwide Muslim Caliphate and/or ultimate destruction of the Great Satan.
There are some that don’t feel that way but thats a difficult life to live in a Muslim country. Potentially deadly so there aren’t many outspoken ones.
“So where is the Muslim/Pakistani mass condemnation of an attack that kills a large number of members of a wedding party. They seem apparent if ISAF do it accidentally but non-existent when the Taliban do it deliberately.”
Pakistanis are not Afghans. Also, ISAF being western powers, they are held to higher moral standards. Besides, terrorists being what they are are expected to hurt the innocent. Same does not go for the supposed guardians against such barbarians.
Its sort of a backhanded compliment.