Suicide attacker kills 12 in Pakistan

Source: Associated Press

Suicide attacker kills 12 in Pakistan

Published: July 17, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A suicide bomber killed 12 people at a
rally for Pakistan's suspended chief justice Tuesday, police
said, ratcheting up tension in a country already reeling from
a burst of violence by Islamic extremists.

The attack comes before a verdict in a legal battle that has
pitched judge Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry against President
Gen. Pervez Musharraf and which could determine the military
ruler's political future.

Chaudhry was heading toward the district court in the capital
to address a gathering of lawyers who have led mass protests
against his suspension when the attacker struck, officials said.

Khalid Pervez, a senior municipal official, said at least 12
people died and another 40 were wounded.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/17/asia/AS-GEN-Pakistan-Bomb-Explosion.php

---

Source: BBC News

Last Updated: Tuesday, 17 July 2007, 16:55 GMT 17:55 UK

Bomber targets Pakistan lawyers

At least seven people have been killed in a suicide bombing
at a lawyers rally in Islamabad, Pakistani police say.

Ousted chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was due to address
the rally in the capital, but was not present at the time
of the attack, officials said.

Television footage showed blood at the scene of the bombing
and several people lying motionless on the ground. Some
reports have put the death toll higher.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6903272.stm

Man, it looks like the Talibanites have declared war on Musharref. They canceled the NW Frontier Territorities truce, blew up a bunch of soldiers, and now this.

Pakistan is getting very, very interesting, as in that ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

The Coming War in Pakistan


“Not until the military steam-roller has passed over the country (Waziristan) from end to end, will there be peace. But I do not want to be the person to start the machine.”

- Lord Curzon


What Lord Curzon, Britain’s viceroy in India from 1899-1905, discerned more than one hundred years ago, the Pakistani government is discovering today, as the fallout from its assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad last week spreads to Pakistan’s lawless, tribal North-West Frontier Province, where a military showdown with the country’s Islamic extremist movement is taking shape. The mountainous Pakistani province includes the Taliban strongholds of North and South Waziristan, which al-Qaeda calls home and Western intelligence agencies call Osama bin Laden’s hideout.


snip
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=29151

If only Musharraf had October,2001 to relive but.......
seems history has a habit of repeating itself

the real Red wild card speaks softly.
article excerpt;

Comming war in Pakistan



<snip>

Just as important, Pakistan regards China as its most important ally in its rivalry with India that has seen the two countries fight three wars in almost sixty years. One journalist noted that the government’s tolerance and attitude towards the Red Mosque’s numerous acts of civil disobedience and defiance changed when its activists kidnapped six Chinese women in late May and accused them of being prostitutes.

The Chinese government, apparently, was not amused.

It was probably even less amused when three Chinese nationals were murdered in the NWFP in response to the Red Mosque siege.


http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=29151

may take a year or two for "experts" to connect the dots of red China to the red mosque incident.

Source: New York Times via IHT


Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/12/asia/letter.php

Friday, July 20, 2007
Suicide bombers hit a convoy of Chinese workers in southern Pakistan and a police academy in the north, killing 36 people and wounding 54, as violence swept further across the country.
About 10 Chinese technicians and engineers were on a minibus leaving a lead extraction plant at Dudhar in Baluchistan for Karachi because of security concerns.

The convoy was passing through the main bazaar in Hub when a moving car blew up next to a police vehicle.

snip

...it was fortunate the Chinese workers were not hurt by the car bomb.

"It was laden with heavy explosives, but due to our spacing and our security measures Allah has been very kind," he said.

The police "sacrificed their lives and the Chinese friends were absolutely safe," Nawaz said on Dawn News television.



snip

The security situation has also begun to weigh on Pakistan's capital markets, suggesting it could soon threaten the strong economic growth that is one of President Pervez Musharraf's proudest boasts.

The Karachi Stock Exchange main share index dropped about 3.4 percent yesterday, extending a sharp slide begun the previous day, with analysts saying the violence scared off investors.

"We have to take the country forward, and with extremist activities all economic achievements made over the years will go to waste," Musharraf told a gathering of students in Islamabad.

snip

Musharraf insists the accord - under which the military scaled back its operations in the US-led "war on terror" in return for pledges from tribal leaders to contain militancy - offers the best hope of pacifying the region.

US intelligence analysts say the pact has given al-Qaeda opportunities to strengthen operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and beyond. ASSOCIATED PRESS


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=49393&sid=14563733&con_type=1

western MSM ignores the near miss and in China, stories such as these are kept out of the MSM headlines.
How long til the "freedom fighters" of Pakistan start to hammer the Chinese for ransome when they take their "engineers" hostage ?