"Suicide explosion claims at least 15 in Pakistan" by Mubashir Zaidi and Laura King, Los Angeles Times | July 7, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A powerful suicide explosion killed at least 15 people and injured dozens of others yesterday evening, shortly after a large protest rally marking the one-year anniversary of the government forces' raid on a radical mosque. Most of the dead were police officers.
Supporters of the Red Mosque held a rally yesterday in Islamabad, Pakistan, to mark the anniversary of a raid on the facility. (Faisal Mahmood/Reuters)
Holy crap! That's a LOT of PEOPLE!!!
Yeah, maybe we ought to start TALKING to them!!!!
The capital had been tense in anticipation of the anniversary. Preachers at the Red Mosque have employed fiery antigovernment rhetoric in recent days. The mosque's supporters, including female students in all-enveloping black burkas, staged rallies adjacent to the site for the last several weeks.
Then WHY is this the FIRST I'VE HEARD of it?!?
See, the SELECTIVE COVERAGE of PROTESTS again!
By the way, readers, the Red Mosque crisis was a seminal event for me.
After reporting all week that the Musharaff government was refusing to negotiate, on the seventh day the Amerikan MSM claimed the government had tried to negotiate.
Readers, they LIE about EVERYTHING (so sad)!!!
Also see: The Lovely Ladies of Pakistan
Many moderate Pakistanis had wanted the government to deal somehow with the radicals, but were dismayed when the scope and force of the raid led to a series of suicide attacks in Pakistani cities last year that exacted hundreds of casualties.
Authorities described the blast yesterday as a suicide bombing, but it was not clear immediately whether the bomber arrived on foot or by some other means. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.
Now I'm really getting suspicious!
The blast left a trail of wounded and dead police officers in bloodied blue uniforms, their helmets, caps, and shoes scattered in the street along with metal shards, broken glass, and debris. Some officers lost limbs in the blast. Ambulances rushed to the scene, as did hundreds of worshipers from the mosque and bystanders from the market.
Authorities had deployed hundreds of police to secure protests held to commemorate the raid's anniversary. But the large concentration of police left them vulnerable to attack.
Militants had made threats after the government late last month sent paramilitary troops to flush out militants from a tribal area close to Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan. The deployment marked the first time the government, which took office in March, had moved militarily against the insurgents. Until then, the government had tried to negotiate with the militants.
The operation in the Khyber region, which ended Saturday, had been criticized as a lackluster effort, with most militants having fled the area beforehand.
The United States and other Western nations have expressed deep reservations about Pakistan's efforts to make peace deals with Taliban commanders. NATO troops based in Afghanistan report that cross-border attacks have intensified since the start of negotiations with insurgents sheltering in Pakistan's tribal areas.--MORE--"
And CUI BONO with all that press, readers?
Mike Rivero was right: the U.S. and its media are demonizing Pakistan because they want to get in there!
