(Now I Get It) Pakistan Bomb Kills 41, Support Grows for Army Strike

[tekisui]

Source: Bloomberg

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- A bomb attack on a military convoy passing through a northwest Pakistan marketplace killed 41 people a day after the army ended a Taliban siege of its headquarters, taking the death toll from four days of attacks to more than 100.

The bomb in the mountain bazaar of Alpuri killed four army troops and two policemen, besides dozens of civilians, said Amir Muqam, the parliament representative from the Shangla valley, where the attack took place. “At least 48 are injured, many are in a serious condition,” he said in a phone interview.

The past week’s Taliban attacks, notably the unprecedented assault on army headquarters, which ended at dawn yesterday, may have bolstered public support for the military to launch a new offensive against the guerrillas, as the U.S. has been seeking.

The violence is “a declaration of war that has united Pakistanis in favor” of an army strike on the main Taliban stronghold, Ishtiaq Ahmed, an international relations professor at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, said before today’s bombing. Such an attack “is only a matter of time,” he said.

The headquarters attack is likely to further an eight-year- old erosion of the military’s covert alliance with jihadist groups, Ahmed said. “Slowly but surely, the battle lines between the army and militants are getting clearer,” he said.

The army is ready to strike a major Taliban faction in the mountainous border region of Waziristan, the military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, told a press conference today. “It is the government’s decision when to start operations,” he said.

more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a8JOoZY4l4UM
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I couldn't figure out why the Pakistani military and government were so widely publicizing their intentions to attack the Taliban's stronghold. It seemed counter-productive, and obvious that the Taliban would take the threat and 'strike first'. But, now it makes sense. Pakistan wanted to goad the Taliban into carrying out some sensational attacks to get the popular support for the upcoming attack. Will it be a tit-for-tat campaign of violence? Civil War? Or, will Pakistan finally seperate themselves from the extremists?

[Arctic Dave]

1. If they are going to retaliate, why project so much?

Are they giving them enough time to prepare or leave?

[tekisui]

3. It seems to me they are getting the Pakistani people on board.

I am not sure where the Taliban would leave to. This is done with the support and help of the US. The Pakistani Taliban has been more isolated recently and the Pakistani military wants to go in for the kill. But, they had to get the people on board. I think the Taliban have been preparing for quite some time, as is evidenced by there brazen attack on the Army headquarters. That isn't something that could pulled off on the fly(unless there was support from within). It is a tangled mess in Pakistan.

[Arctic Dave]

5. Pakistan difinitely has a messy house. It will be interesting to see what they do.

My "guess" is they give the US free reign to use predator strikes. If Pakistan goes in and gets routed the population would confidence in the leaders and military giving the Taliban a huge victory.

[thunder rising]

2. Why would the Taliban "bomb attack" a convoy in friendly area marketplace?

The result of killing four army troops, two policemen, and dozens of civilians and injuring 48 indicates indicates this was no little pipe bomb. So, was it a car bomb or a truck bomb?

[tekisui]

4. Are you thinking false flag?

I wouldn't put anything past the ISI. I don't see how the Army headquarters could have been taken without internal support and planning.

[thunder rising]

6. Yeah ... I am. Sacrifice a couple of soldiers and a mass of locals for $5B in US aid