Pakistan: Taliban's Mass Fatality Terror Continues

By Animesh Roul

Taliban militants and affiliates continue to attack both military and civilian targets relentlessly in Pakistan to avenge the ongoing army offensive in the Northwest Pakistan. On December 15 (Today), militants have exploded a car bomb (vehicle bone improvised explosive device) at a busy market place bustling with shoppers in Dera Ghazi Khan. The blast took place just outside the home of Zulfiqar Khosa, a senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party and a provincial legislator. At least 33 people have died so far (and counting) and over 90 people sustained minor to severe injuries. Apparently, militants have targeted Khosa, knowing very well that there will be mounting civilian casualty if they target the area at that time of the day. However, Khosa survived the latest terror strike, though his home was badly damaged by the severe impact of the blast.

The blast in DGK was the latest in a series of attacks that rocked Pakistan since October 2009.

Myriad Mayhem:
Multan: on December 08, Taliban militants launched a multiple attacks (including Suicide bomber, gunmen and grenade attacks) targeting the office of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Qasim Bella cantonment area, Multan, killing 15 people and injuring several others including women and children in Multan. Taliban’s Azam Tariq has claimed responsibility for the attack on the ISI office.

Lahore: On December 07, two powerful bomb blasts occurred in a crowded market in Allama Iqbal area of Lahore. Over 50 people have died in this twin blasts including women and children.

Peshawar: Elsewhere on the same day, Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance of Session Court in Peshawar. Nine people, including two Policemen have died in the explosion. This was the second attack on judicial establishments in the area, after the November 20 suicide attack near the Judicial Complex on the Khyber Road that killed nearly 20 people.

Operations Galore:
Rah-e- Nijat: Pakistan’s ongoing army’s offensive code named Rah-e- Nijat (Path to Slavation) has focused on South Waziristan, which is the nerve center of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Taliban has suffered a body blow in this military offensive and estimated 589 terrorists have been dead so far since the operation started on October 16, 2009. Presently army is on a clearing operations at Kulal Raghzai, Jandola and Ramzak sectors.

Khwakh Bad-e-Shum: In Khyber Agency, Pakistani security forces have launched another operation targeting affiliates and support services of Taliban code named “Khwakh Bad-e-Shum,” mostly focusing hideouts and supply lines of terrorists in the Tirah valley, Bara, Gurgury and Shin Qamar areas.

Rah-e-Rast: The search and sweep operation is still ongoing in Swat and Malakand region. Even though Pakistani Army has claimed to have wiped out Taliban from Swat, the militants are still going strong in these areas. Early this month, Taliban suicide bomber killed Shamsher Ali Khan, the Awami National Party legislator in the NWFP Assembly from Swat.

In Pakistan, Taliban militants have targeted them all: Army, police, legislators, anti-Taliban Islamic clerics and common people. Often these indiscriminate attacks confuse many counterterrorism professionals for the sheer scale of violence and mindless killings with absolutely no logic and no visible trends to analyze the real motive of the Pakistani Taliban and affiliates. If one looks at the stepped up Taliban violence in the Pakistan’s cities and towns, it would be premature to conclude that Army is getting success in its operation against Taliban forces in Tribal agencies.