Pakistan reeled from an upsurge in violence by Islamic militants yesterday after bloodshed erupted again in Karachi and troops clashed twice with al-Qaeda-linked fighters in tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden may be hiding.
Thirty-five foreign militants and 15 troops were killed in gunbattles near the northwestern tribal town of Wana on Wednesday, the military revealed yesterday. Three civilians were also killed in the crossfire, raising the toll to at least 53.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The clashes marked the first eruption of fighting between troops and al-Qaeda-linked combatants since the army wound down a major offensive late March after losing 46 troops, and opened talks by offering amnesty to them if they agreed to register and lay down arms. They have refused to register.
Down on the Arabian Sea coast, one of the army's top generals, Karachi corps commander Lieutenant General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, survived a brazen attack on his convoy on Thursday as he was driven to work through an upmarket beach suburb.
Gunmen sprayed his convoy with bullets, killing seven soldiers, three policemen and a pedestrian.
The military said the attack was a clear bid to kill the commander.
It is the first time a senior military figure -- other than President Pervez Musharraf -- has been directly attacked in Pakistan and marked a turn in the kind of violence which has riven Karachi for decades and intensified over the past month.
"It is now the leadership of the institution the militants are targetting. It is certainly a new dimension and a more serious one," a senior security official told reporters, pointing out that most attacks in Karachi have been religious, ethnic, political or anti-Western in nature.
Hayat is one of the Pakistani army's 11 corps commanders, who fall directly under the army chief and deputy chief.
The strike on his convoy was the sixth deadly attack in Karachi in just over a month.
Two devastating suicide bomb attacks on mosques packed with worshippers from the Shiite Muslim minority, the assassination of a senior cleric from the Sunni Muslim majority, a double car bomb attack near the US consul general's residence, a parcel bomb at the port and three days of riots left 51 dead.
Pakistan's commercial capital is a hotbed of Islamic extremists and its crowded apartment blocks have been used as hideouts by several senior al-Qaeda fugitives, including alleged Sept. 11 terror attack planners Ramzi bin al-Shaibah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.
Law enforcers see the upsurge in violence as a gang war between police and militants, following a series of arrests of hardline Islamic extremists linked to attempts to kill Musharraf as well as suicide attacks in 2002.
But some officials said it could be connected to the army's renewed offensive against al-Qaeda-linked fighters in the northwest.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
TIGHTENING: Zhu Hengpeng, who worked for an influential think tank, has reportedly not been seen in public since making disparaging remarks on WeChat A leading Chinese economist at a government think tank has reportedly disappeared after being disciplined for criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a private chat group. Zhu Hengpeng (朱恆鵬), 55, is believed to have made disparaging remarks about China’s economy, and potentially about the Chinese leader specifically, in a private WeChat group. Zhu was subsequently detained in April and put under investigation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Zhu worked for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for more than 20 years, most recently as the Institute of Economics deputy director and director of the Public Policy Research Center. He
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS