"A decision by the coalition's second largest party to quit the government Monday could concentrate power in the hands of a more-Western leaning party that says it is committed to supporting the US-led war against extremist groups."
"US diplomat escapes attack in Pakistan; Fears raised that others could be targets" by Riaz Khan, Associated Press | August 27, 2008
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A US diplomat narrowly escaped an attempt on her life yesterday when two men with AK-47s jumped in front of her armored vehicle and sprayed it with bullets, staging a brazen attack that raised fears other foreigners could be targeted.
The attack - which the driver eluded by jamming the vehicle into reverse and speeding away - came just hours after the collapse of the governing coalition that drove Pervez Musharraf from the presidency as Pakistan grapples with escalating violence by Islamic militants.
Lynne Tracy, an Ohio native who heads the US consulate in restive northwestern Pakistan, left her home in an upscale and heavily guarded area of Peshawar with a bodyguard provided by the local anti-terrorism squad about 8 a.m., police chief Arshad Khan said.
Moments later, the vehicle came under heavy gunfire, Khan said. He said no one was hit by bullets but a rickshaw driver was hospitalized after his three-wheeled taxi was hit by the consulate vehicle during its rapid retreat to Tracy's home.
A late nighttime bombing at a cafe on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital killed seven people and wounded 20, police reported. Police said a homemade bomb exploded late yesterday at a street cafe and rest stop on the edge of the capital and seven people were killed and 20 wounded. The blast also damaged vehicles and left a large crater at the scene.
Senior police official Ahmed Latif described it as a low-intensity bomb and said it was unclear why the site was chosen. The casualties included truckers and laborers and not security forces, which tend to be the targets of militant attacks, Latif said.
I smell a stink already!
A decision by the coalition's second largest party to quit the government Monday could concentrate power in the hands of a more-Western leaning party that says it is committed to supporting the US-led war against extremist groups.
The government immediately announced a ban on the Pakistani Taliban - blamed for the wave of suicide bombings - and it rejected a cease-fire offer from militants in the Bajur tribal region, where the army has been on the offensive for several weeks. The fighting in Bajur has reportedly killed hundreds of people and caused 200,000 to abandon their homes.
Washington has pledged $750 million toward a five-year drive to develop impoverished areas along Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan, which it hopes will reduce extremism.
Wish the American people could get an aid package!
Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment runs deep, is considered a hardship posting for US diplomats, with many coming for one-year stints without family. Attacks on Western targets do occur, but ones targeting individual diplomats are relatively unusual.
Talat Masood, a political and military analyst, said that could start to change.
"I think [foreign diplomats] have to be very careful" he said, especially as the army intensifies its offensive in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan. "They should take a low profile; their movements should be restricted during this period."
Masood cautioned against Western nations scaling back their presence, however, saying that would further embolden Al Qaeda- and Taliban-linked militants and demoralize Pakistanis.
This kind of shit journalism, really, I'm just sick of, folks!
So when does the U.S. invade because of "Al-CIA-Duh" and "Taliban?"
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