03-13-2008, 01:43 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Bloodshed in Pakistan </b>
The Pioner Edit Desk
Now Lahore gets a taste of jihad
Tuesday's two powerful bomb explosions in Lahore are a grim reminder that Islamist terrorism in Pakistan continues unabated despite the recent election and the new alignment of political forces. At least 28 people are said to have been killed and 170 injured in two separate blasts as jihadis targeted the regional office of the Federal Investigation Agency as also the posh colony of Model Town where are found the residences of many prominent politicians, including that of Mr Asif Ali Zardari. Though none has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks, these have nevertheless been attributed to Al Qaeda and/or Taliban, or elements of jihadi groups that are sympathetic to both. They follow the pattern of recent attacks that have targeted the Army, police and intelligence services. Lahore, which had been largely spared terrorist depredations in the past, has seen three attacks in quick succession this year. There had been an attack recently on the Naval College which saw at least four fatalities and another earlier near the High Court that killed at least 19 people. It is now being speculated that Lahore is under attack because many police officers from Pakistan's Punjab were involved in last year's operation to flush out radicals from Lal Masjid in Islamabad in which a large numbers of extremists died. Most certainly these suicide attacks are in retaliation to the activities of Government troops in the country's North-West Frontier Province, especially in the Swat valley, where they have engaged pro-Taliban and Al Qaeda forces for several months. It is clear that these attacks mark a new phase in Pakistan's encounter with terror, with jihadis, having decided to bite the hand that has fed and lovingly nourished them till now, turning their ire on Punjab province.
Terrorist activity in Pakistan is no longer a phenomenon to be found in remote areas of the North-Western Frontier Province but is increasingly making its presence felt in the country's heartland, close to where its rulers - in uniform and civvies - live and the middle-classes reside. Clearly, the jihadis hope to weaken the resolve of the Government agencies and the will of the Pakistanis to combat them. Yet, these attacks may well have the opposite effect. Survey after survey of popular opinion indicates that support for Al Qaeda, the Taliban and radical Islamist organisations has all but evaporated in recent months whereas it had been fairly strong till late last year. This has been confirmed in Pakistan's general elections in which the people have preferred to vote for moderate democratic parties and rejected Islamic parties with extremist ideologies. The new Government that will be sworn in, therefore, has a strong mandate not just to usher in political change but also to combat terrorism in the name of Islam.
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The Pioner Edit Desk
Now Lahore gets a taste of jihad
Tuesday's two powerful bomb explosions in Lahore are a grim reminder that Islamist terrorism in Pakistan continues unabated despite the recent election and the new alignment of political forces. At least 28 people are said to have been killed and 170 injured in two separate blasts as jihadis targeted the regional office of the Federal Investigation Agency as also the posh colony of Model Town where are found the residences of many prominent politicians, including that of Mr Asif Ali Zardari. Though none has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks, these have nevertheless been attributed to Al Qaeda and/or Taliban, or elements of jihadi groups that are sympathetic to both. They follow the pattern of recent attacks that have targeted the Army, police and intelligence services. Lahore, which had been largely spared terrorist depredations in the past, has seen three attacks in quick succession this year. There had been an attack recently on the Naval College which saw at least four fatalities and another earlier near the High Court that killed at least 19 people. It is now being speculated that Lahore is under attack because many police officers from Pakistan's Punjab were involved in last year's operation to flush out radicals from Lal Masjid in Islamabad in which a large numbers of extremists died. Most certainly these suicide attacks are in retaliation to the activities of Government troops in the country's North-West Frontier Province, especially in the Swat valley, where they have engaged pro-Taliban and Al Qaeda forces for several months. It is clear that these attacks mark a new phase in Pakistan's encounter with terror, with jihadis, having decided to bite the hand that has fed and lovingly nourished them till now, turning their ire on Punjab province.
Terrorist activity in Pakistan is no longer a phenomenon to be found in remote areas of the North-Western Frontier Province but is increasingly making its presence felt in the country's heartland, close to where its rulers - in uniform and civvies - live and the middle-classes reside. Clearly, the jihadis hope to weaken the resolve of the Government agencies and the will of the Pakistanis to combat them. Yet, these attacks may well have the opposite effect. Survey after survey of popular opinion indicates that support for Al Qaeda, the Taliban and radical Islamist organisations has all but evaporated in recent months whereas it had been fairly strong till late last year. This has been confirmed in Pakistan's general elections in which the people have preferred to vote for moderate democratic parties and rejected Islamic parties with extremist ideologies. The new Government that will be sworn in, therefore, has a strong mandate not just to usher in political change but also to combat terrorism in the name of Islam.
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