Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
May 19, 2008
Pg. 9
By Jane Perlez
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 22 at a market close to an army base in the North-West Frontier Province on Sunday, local officials said, just days before the government was expected to complete a peace deal with Taliban militants.
The blast, outside a bakery during the busy evening shopping hour, occurred near the gate of the base, the Punjab Regimental Center in the city of Mardan.
The attack was the first major suicide bombing in Pakistan since a coalition government took office at the end of March.
The television station Dawn reported that a local Taliban group had claimed responsibility.
There was immediate speculation that the bombing was an act of revenge against the government for a United States missile attack last week on militants in the tribal agency of Bajaur, in which Pakistani officials said 14 people were killed.
It appeared that the suicide bomber’s targets were soldiers at the base.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Army, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said four soldiers who had been guarding the entrance to the base were killed.
The suicide bomber blew himself up when he was stopped by one of the soldiers on guard duty, General Abbas said.
The new government has authorized talks with the leading umbrella group of militants, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban. It is headed by Baitullah Mehsud, whom the government has accused of being involved in the assassination last December of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister.
A 16-point peace accord covering the tribal agency of South Waziristan, the stronghold of Mr. Mehsud, is nearly complete, government officials said last week.
Under the terms of the accord, the army has moved back from some of its positions in South Waziristan.
The Bush administration has expressed concern about an agreement between the government and the militants, arguing that it would allow the Taliban and Al Qaeda more freedom to consolidate forces for attacks against American and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.
Last week, Mr. Mehsud’s group and the Pakistani Army exchanged scores of prisoners. On Friday, the militants freed their most prominent prisoner, the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizuddin, who had been held by the Pakistani Taliban for more than three months.
Mehmood Shah, a retired Pakistani general, said Sunday night that the suicide bombing in Mardan may have been carried out by a local Taliban group without Mr. Mehsud’s authority.
“There is no coordination among them,” Mr. Shah said of the groups within the umbrella organization. “They hardly obey the leadership.”
Mardan is in a district of the North-West Frontier Province that abuts Swat, a scenic area of Pakistan that has been under assault from the Taliban.
In Swat, the new provincial government, run by the secular Awami National Party, has been negotiating with the Taliban for a peace accord. The Taliban’s demands in Swat include the withdrawal of the Pakistani Army and the enforcement of Shariah, the Islamic legal code.
The suicide attack at Mardan could be ominous for the government, which has prided itself on the relative peace from the militants since it took office.
In the first 10 weeks of this year, before the coalition came to power, 17 suicide bombings were recorded in Pakistan, some of them in the major cities, and many of them aimed at army and intelligence installations. There had been a lull since the government took office two months ago.
May 19, 2008
Pg. 9
By Jane Perlez
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide bomber killed 11 people and wounded 22 at a market close to an army base in the North-West Frontier Province on Sunday, local officials said, just days before the government was expected to complete a peace deal with Taliban militants.
The blast, outside a bakery during the busy evening shopping hour, occurred near the gate of the base, the Punjab Regimental Center in the city of Mardan.
The attack was the first major suicide bombing in Pakistan since a coalition government took office at the end of March.
The television station Dawn reported that a local Taliban group had claimed responsibility.
There was immediate speculation that the bombing was an act of revenge against the government for a United States missile attack last week on militants in the tribal agency of Bajaur, in which Pakistani officials said 14 people were killed.
It appeared that the suicide bomber’s targets were soldiers at the base.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Army, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said four soldiers who had been guarding the entrance to the base were killed.
The suicide bomber blew himself up when he was stopped by one of the soldiers on guard duty, General Abbas said.
The new government has authorized talks with the leading umbrella group of militants, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban. It is headed by Baitullah Mehsud, whom the government has accused of being involved in the assassination last December of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister.
A 16-point peace accord covering the tribal agency of South Waziristan, the stronghold of Mr. Mehsud, is nearly complete, government officials said last week.
Under the terms of the accord, the army has moved back from some of its positions in South Waziristan.
The Bush administration has expressed concern about an agreement between the government and the militants, arguing that it would allow the Taliban and Al Qaeda more freedom to consolidate forces for attacks against American and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.
Last week, Mr. Mehsud’s group and the Pakistani Army exchanged scores of prisoners. On Friday, the militants freed their most prominent prisoner, the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizuddin, who had been held by the Pakistani Taliban for more than three months.
Mehmood Shah, a retired Pakistani general, said Sunday night that the suicide bombing in Mardan may have been carried out by a local Taliban group without Mr. Mehsud’s authority.
“There is no coordination among them,” Mr. Shah said of the groups within the umbrella organization. “They hardly obey the leadership.”
Mardan is in a district of the North-West Frontier Province that abuts Swat, a scenic area of Pakistan that has been under assault from the Taliban.
In Swat, the new provincial government, run by the secular Awami National Party, has been negotiating with the Taliban for a peace accord. The Taliban’s demands in Swat include the withdrawal of the Pakistani Army and the enforcement of Shariah, the Islamic legal code.
The suicide attack at Mardan could be ominous for the government, which has prided itself on the relative peace from the militants since it took office.
In the first 10 weeks of this year, before the coalition came to power, 17 suicide bombings were recorded in Pakistan, some of them in the major cities, and many of them aimed at army and intelligence installations. There had been a lull since the government took office two months ago.