Fresh Taliban attacks pose renewed threat to Pakistan

Source: www.chinaview.cn
2009-09-27

by Yangtze Yan

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's security officials termed the Saturday strikes a part of the Taliban militants' campaign of revenge against the operations in Malakand division and Khyber tribal agency in the country's troubled northwest. Twenty people were killed and over 100 others injured on Saturday as suicide bombers blew up vehicles in Peshawar and Bannu in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

As the United States claimed again that the incidents are a reminder that extremism still poses a threat to the people of Pakistan, the top leaders of the front terror-fighting country renewed their pledges to root out terrorism and extremism from Pakistan with full force.

A DEADLY DAY WITH TWIN BLASTS

The first attack took place in Bannu, a main town to the south of the NWFP capital of Peshawar, at 7 a.m. when a truck carrying over 150 kg of explosives blew up outside a police station, killing 10 people and injuring over 50.

The police station building was razed to the ground while several houses and shops were reduced to a pile of rubble. The blast left a 12-feet wide crater at the scene.

The second attack, five hours later in Peshawar, tore through a crowded parking area housing banks, shops and a wedding hall on a road leading to the cantonment. The explosion left 10 people dead and at least 50 injured.

Witnesses told Xinhua by phone that they saw thick smoke descending, window panes shattering and building roofs collapsing. They said blood stains and human flesh littered all over the place and people were screaming in pain.

NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a press conference that the two attacks were a part of the militants' revenge campaign against the government.

"The terror has been committed to pressure the government as it is planning Swat-like military operations in the tribal belt," the minister said, "But they (militants) will not be able to intimidate the government."

TALIBAN SEEM ABLE TO STRIKE BACK

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the Bannu strike and warned of more attacks across the country, saying that the group had decided to resume operations after lying low since its chief Baitullah Mehsud's death in August.

After the killing of Mehsud on Aug. 5 in a drone attack in South Waziristan tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, the militants have named a new leader, but some have speculated the group may have lost some of its ability to stage attacks.

Qari Hussain, a TTP leader notorious for training suicide bombers, phoned local media that it was a Taliban's strategy to suspend activities after the death of Mehsud.

Peshawar Police Officer Liaquat Ali told journalists that the police had information that terrorists might strike during the holy month of Ramazan and on Eid holidays, but they did not succeed due to tight security measures.

Local media said the Taliban have made a shocking comeback post-Eid with these deadly attacks while the nation was still in a celebratory mood. The private newspaper Dawn said in spite of the reverses they have suffered in Swat, and the death and arrest of some of their ring leaders, the Taliban have demonstrated tenacity and proved they are capable of sowing terror whenever and wherever they wish.

Analysts said that the military operations and the drone attacks have no doubt inflicted heavy casualties on Taliban militants so that they have almost "lost" Swat, but their command structure is still intact and their sources of funding and arms remain virtually unscathed.

With three months still to go, they have so far this year committed 382 acts of terror, with thousands of innocent people, including security personnel, killed, maimed and injured.

PAKISTAN TO FACE THE RENEWED THREAT

Analysts said Sunday that the suicide blasts that rocked northwest Pakistan over the weekend signal the Taliban remain a threat despite intensified military operations and unmanned drone attacks targeting the group's leaders.

A retired former intelligence chief of the region, Asad Munir, said that Saturday's strikes were a reminder of the threat from extremists, adding that the tribal area is the safe haven for the al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership and they don't want to lose it.

The NWFP information minister said that the eshawar blast could be a result of the effective action by the government against militants in Malak and division and Khyber agency.

Pakistan is battling the al-Qaeda and Taliban militants close to the Afghan border blamed for scores of attacks over the last two years. Local media said the insurgents are linked to those in Afghanistan, where violence against NATO and U.S. troops is running at record levels.

The U.S. embassy in Islamabad condemned the terrorist attacks in Bannu and Peshawar also saying that these incidents are a reminder that extremism still poses a threat to the people of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the provincial minister expressed the strong resolve of the government that efforts would continue for eliminating militancy and extremism from the country. He called on the world community to cooperate with Pakistan for effectively fighting the international war against terrorism.

In separate messages, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the Saturday attacks and expressed the government's resolve not to bow down to the terrorists.

President Zardari in a message from New York said Pakistan will continue to be the front line state in the global war against terror, adding that the terrorism and extremism would be rooted out from the country with full force.

However, Dawn said in an editorial that Islamabad still did not take on the Taliban with the kind of single-minded devotion that was needed. It said that Pakistan has no choice now but to take the war against the rebels to its logical conclusion.