Re: Pakistan ‘suicide blast kills 35’ (merged)
I have talked to quite a few people in Pakistan, and as I said earlier the militants have massively miscalculated by attacking our soldiers. Now people are rallying around the army, and turning against the tribals.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=31402
**Dargai fallout **
The Dargai attack which killed 42 soldiers should perhaps make doubters like Hamid Karzai in Kabul and his military allies in NATO sit up and take note of the terrible fallout Pakistan has to deal with for its active participation in the war against terror. The Afghan president has incidentally condemned the attack and has used it to reiterate what he says is a need for both Afghanistan and Pakistan to have a joint strategy in fighting terrorism. As for the investigation itself, according to reports, so far there has not been much success in finding a young man who is alleged to have been the suicide bomber’s accomplice. The details of the attack also reveal a startling lack of security given that the bomber, allegedly wrapped in a chaddar, ran into the midst of a large group of soldiers and exploded the bomb. The death toll could have been far lower if someone had checked him or even tackled him, and it makes one wonder why security was not stepped up after the Bajaur bombing.
**The Dargai attack will however make even the most strident opponents of the government’s action in Bajaur think that it probably was correct in claiming that the bombed madressah had close links with militants. In fact, one should not forget that the day after the Oct. 30 bombing, a large demonstration in Bajaur was organised during which a comrade of the dead owner of the madressah vowed to take revenge for the attack and also warned that suicide attacks would be launched against the Pakistani military. One is not condoning the decimation of the madressah (indeed in this space one has strongly argued for an alternative to an outright bombing) but the claim that all of the dead were innocent students rings a bit hollow following the Dargai attack. **