The Taliban ended its lull in attacks in Pakistan with a suicide attack against a member of the provincial assembly in the Northwest Frontier Province.
A Taliban suicide bomber, said to be in his early 20s, killed Dr. Shamsher Ali Khan, a member of the provincial assembly, as he was greeting friends and constituents outside his home in Swat. Khan’s brother was also killed in the attack.
The attack took place less than a mile from Imam Dehri, the home of Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah, who ran a mosque and an illegal FM radio station there before the Pakistani military operation was launched in the spring. The military claimed that more than 2,000 Taliban fighters were killed and 8,000 more were captured during the Swat operation.
Khan was a member of the Awami National Party, the ruling, secular Pashtun party in the Northwest Frontier Province which supports dialogue to resolve the Taliban problem.
The Taliban placed Khan and other political, police, and government officials in Swat on a death list that was issued in the spring, according to Geo News.
The Taliban also assassinated a leader of the Awami National Party in the district of Nowshera on Nov. 16.
Today’s suicide bombing is the first major attack since Nov. 19, when a suicide bomber killed 19 Pakistanis outside a court complex in Peshawar. The Taliban launched their terror campaign on Oct. 5, two weeks before the military began the ground phase of the operation in South Waziristan.
Suicide attacks have targeted the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, police stations and checkpoints, markets, and anti-Taliban leaders in Peshawar.
The Taliban have also attacked the Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, police centers in Lahore, UN offices in Islamabad, and police, military, and civilian targets throughout the northwest. Anti-Taliban tribal leaders who have raised militias have also become the target of attacks.
12 Comments
Is it possible for the Taleban to overreach with their perverse violence in that part of the world like al Qaeda thugs did in Iraq’s al Anbar in the 2006-7 era?
Any insight that knowledgeable folks on this forum can provide to the “man and woman on the village streets” perspective to this carnage in Pakistan’s tribal agencies would be appreciated. How do civilized people abide this Taleban mayhem?
Is this region completely lost in 7th century feudal barbarianism or is there hope that people want to be civilized by 16th century … much less 21st century … standards?
Because I, and many I know, are thinking if this is the way the Islamist mountain people “are”, and if the Islamist mountain people want to force their Sharia law barbarism around the world through wanton slaughter, ambush and destruction – then the mountain people need to be disempowered completely (i.e. die en masse) because we ARE NOT going back to the 7th century after 1300 years of civilized human evolution.
Bill, you should add in the “trailer of what is to come” attack on DAWN columnist Kamran Shafi a couple days back. He’s one of Pakistan’s more sane voices and while he believe’s the military had a hand in it, it could also very well be the Taliban.
Arne said : “Is this region completely lost in 7th century feudal barbarianism or is there hope that people want to be civilized by 16th century … much less 21st century … standards?”
It is amazing isn’t it. They are either slow learners or de-sensitized to this sort of violence which goes on on a fairly regular basis. Some are finally moved enough to do something, hence the on-going offensives but I’m not real optimistic about the long term viability of Pakistan. If any public terroristic attacks like this start to occur in th USA or England I would think that would pretty much be all it would take for the West to “turn out the lights” once and for all in that part of the world. I think that’s why the Tali-Quedas are focusing their operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They know they can get away with it over there. As long as they don’t directly attack the West they can pretty much blow up Muslims indefinitely.
Unfortunately in the tribal areas of Pakistan, those with more and bigger guns dictate what is acceptable. The Taliban came in and disrupted the tribal/traditional Pashtoonwali code which is based on a hierarchy of leadership determined by tribe/age/wealth(land ownership) among other factors. The Taliban used guns, drug money, and sympathy by the public against a broken judicial system to worm their way into the system and take control. The “religious fundamentalist” cloak is worn to receive funding from sympathetic benefactors in the middle east.
Bungo, it is amazing, that even if you treat the destruction they cause as an act of war or just a violation of law, it doesn’t matter to the terrorist.
They seem to just keep growing in numbers all over the world. If the US indicates it is going to pull out of the area, the Taliban will just sit back and wait. The people in the US and other Nations will think the pullout is good with the death toll declining. After The US leaves the Taliban will probably come back stronger than before. Afganistan will be a 7th century country with flush toilets and a new oil and electric grid. If the people don’t have the will to overcome the Taliban, it just can’t happen.
I have ample reason to believe that now the 30,000 troops have been approved by President Obama, insecurities on Pakistan’s part to denuclearize it will increase as Obama’s speech suggests that intention quite clearly in the case of any suspicious nuclear material leakage.
Perhaps, Pakistan did not mine the Pak-Afghan border before, but unfortunately it may have to mine it now not only to stop U.S. Army incursions into Pakistan but also to stop insurgents moving to-and-fro between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Currently, my guess, if am not wrong, U.S. troops will number upto around a 100,000-strong force, probably equivalent to the force Pakistan Army has along the Pak-Afghan Border, therefore, it is hoped things will run smooth between two armies and a collection of objectives and motives is run between both of them to clear their respective targets in this region.
The problem IS P-stan..30,000+ US troops will push them across the border, MAKING the PAKI’S fight..or die. I think BUNGO may be right, if that starts happening in the WEST, well all options should be put on the table..they live in P-stan with impunity, I really hope we hit them WHEREVER they are, the P-stani’s hate us anyway, why do we let them get away with this “game” they play..
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 12/02/2009 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
Rhyno, right on!
i am glad though that Obama has clearly enunciated Pakistan as being a core element in his strategy. No longer is it an incidental side-show.
“We will strengthen Pakistan’s capacity to target those groups that threaten our countries and have made it clear that we cannot tolerate a safe haven for terrorists whose location is known and whose intentions are clear.”
In that sentence are two statements and i read them as mutually exclusive. The “cannot tolerate” bit is as clear as daylight. The Pakistani commenter above is nervous enough to suggest pak mining its border…
While Af might be The New Great Game, Pak might well turn out to be The Great New Game (gentlemen, you read it here first)–in time. And this will include de-nuking the Pak hydra, softly softly.
Whatever, at this stage i believe that Obama has shown clearly that he is not naive of Pak’s ways, any more that he is of AQAM’s ways. I reckon he’s equal to the challenge of whatever is the game in town.
I expect the first sign will be more predators and i hope somehow there will be an intelligence surge with or without pak cooperation.
Dr. Shamsher an elected memeber of Pashtoonistan assembly was killed because earlier this year he made a very bold statement in the assembly that Taliban share command & control center in ARMY General Heaadquarter Rawalpindi. This statement was like a death warrant & ISI killed him at first available oppertunity. Secondly General Kiani last week realeased policy statement that Paki army will re-start fighting for Islam. This is clear message to the secular Paki politicians that millitants are still friends of military & the democratic & secular forces shall watch out.
It is encouraging for the democratic forces in pakistan that Obama administration has recognized Paki military as number one terrorist partner & is practically doing something for it. People in Pakistan dont mind targeting GHQ or Mureedkay with drones. Rather they will be happy to get rid of militants & military with one shot & open road to progress, freedom & civilization.
I have to respectfully disagree with everyone.
As far as the US : Obama will accomplish little to nothing. He is playing strictly to his domestic political voting base. He doesn’t have the slightest idea about how to win this battle or even care if he can. His goal is strictly his own personal political survival. His “strategy” is to throw 30,000 more men into the meat grinder to shut up the “hawks” in the US and inexplicably tells the enemy he’s going to pull them out before his next election time, thus ensuring defeat. This only emphasisis his inexperience in such affairs. His Pak policy will stay the same as his predecessors which is to give them money, talk tough, share a little intel and do nothing bold unless a cataclysm occurs.
Afghanistan is a joke. It’s barely even a real country. It should really be the East part of Pakistan. It’s got what, one, maybe two cities and the rest is an empty wasteland of mountains and . desert. It has no economy except for opium, no infrastructure or anything redeeming or productive from a global standpoint. To think that anyone can get the Afs to a point where they can rely on their own army and police force for security against the Taliban in 18 months is pure folly. It won’t happen.
The real nexus of the crisis is Pakistan which the US administration and news media still won’t convey to its citizens. (I guess they think we’re too stupid for that kind of information) Pakistan holds ALL the cards. They can win this battle or lose this battle whenever they want. The problem, of course, is all of their diverse interests and real and imaginqary threats. (PS they’re not ganna lay any mines / that’s politically unacceptable these days) My guess is they will not do anytrhing decisive for a while. They’ll let things fester and wait for the other shoe to drop. I’m still trying to figure out how this ends. Like I said, if Al Queda makes another massive strike in the West that originated from Pakistan or Pakistan starts to fall to the radicals (which I find doubtful) then I would expect Western forces to intervene in a decisive manner. Until then it’s the same ol’ same ol’.
Ahmad Tariq:
“I have ample reason to believe that now the 30,000 troops have been approved by President Obama, insecurities on Pakistan’s part to denuclearize it will increase as Obama’s speech suggests that intention quite clearly in the case of any suspicious nuclear material leakage.”
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Mr Tariq, what would be the implications of such an increase in insecurities?
Bearing in mind, that the world’s insecurities have been increasing given in particular the attacks on pak’s AHQ and various installations. Given also the proximity of various pak terror groups, members of AQAM, eg LeT, to the pak army. Given the range of Taliban sympathisers within the military/isi? And so on and so forth…
And finally the stark fact that the US has never before had 100,000 personnel before in any theatre of war known to have WMD right there on location.