India-Pakistan: Terrible Tepid Terrorism

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March 21,2008: China revealed that two Islamic terrorists who attempted to set off a gasoline bomb in a domestic airliner flight last month, were travelling on Pakistani passports, and one was from Pakistan. One of the terrorists was a Pakistani man. The woman was a Chinese citizen, a Moslem Uighur (Turk) from western China (where eight million Moslem Uighurs live). China and Pakistan have long cooperated in fighting Islamic radicalism. Since China is still basically a police state, Islamic terrorists have a much harder time of it. Since late 2001, when U.S. forces entered Afghanistan, Uighur were forced, and were forced to flee to tribal areas in Pakistan. Some have since fled to other Central Asian nations, as have some Pakistani terrorists. While Pakistanis dislike American involvement in the war against Islamic militants, they recognize that it is a problem. The parties that won the recent Pakistani elections, and oppose president Musharraf, say they will continue cooperating with the U.S. in the fight against Islamic terrorism.

The Taliban and al Qaeda forces cannot fight the Pakistani police or army in battles, and are still restricted to terrorists attacks, usually employing suicide bombers. Last year, there were 50-60 suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan (some were in obscure areas where getting confirmation was difficult). So far this year, there have been 20 such attacks, indicating that the number of suicide attacks could be up 20-30 percent over last year.

March 20, 2008: In Pakistan's Swat Valley, police arrested Islamic radical leader Chamnay Khan, and 14 other militants. Pro-Taliban forces attempted to take over the valley (a major tourist destination), but were shut down, over the last eight months, by major police operations.

In the Pakistani border area of South Waziristan, a suicide car bomber failed to get into an army base, detonating it at the gate. This still killed five soldiers and wounded over a dozen.

March 19, 2008: A large bomb went off in the capital of Indian Kashmir, killing one and wounding about twenty. This was the first Islamic terror attack in several months. The Islamic militants have been losing ground for the last few years, with several key Islamic terrorists getting captured or killed each month.

March 18, 2008: In central India, a major police operation left at least 17 Maoist rebels dead, and many more wounded. There was a clash, in a forest, between 300 police and about fifty Maoists. The police got a tip from local civilians, unhappy with all the Maoist violence. Last year, 834 people died in Maoist violence, half of them in the same general area of this clash. The Maoists are feeling the pressure, and have decided to recruit foreigners and teenagers.

March 16, 2008: In the Pakistani border area of South Waziristan, a missile destroyed a compound occupied by Islamic militants. Sixteen people died. These attacks are the result of U.S. and Pakistani intelligence activities. When a terrorist safe house is located, a missile or smart bomb is used to destroy it. Usually the weapon is American, and the U.S. and Pakistan refuse to say anything about it. Officially, the U.S. is not supposed to be operating in these border areas. But in practice, American Special Forces troops and CIA agents have been seen in these areas since before September 11, 2001.

March 15, 2008: In Pakistan, a bomb went off in a restaurant popular with foreigners, killing a Turk, and wounding a dozen other foreigners. The place served Italian food and alcohol. The latter is offensive to Islamic conservatives, as are infidels (non-Moslems) in general. This is the first terror attack in the capital several months, and the first against foreigners in over a year.

 

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