Targeting a convoy of Chinese workers. By Zarar Khan for the Associated Press:
KARACHI, Pakistan - Suicide bombers hit a convoy of Chinese workers in southern Pakistan and a police academy in the north, killing 36 people as violence swept further across the country.
The convoy was passing though the main bazaar in Hub, a town in Baluchistan province near the port city of Karachi, when a moving car blew up next to a police vehicle, officials said.
Hub police chief Ghulam Mohammed Thaib said 29 people were killed, including seven police. About 30 other people were wounded, some critically.
"It was laden with very heavy explosives but due to our spacing and our security measures, Allah has been very kind," Maj. Gen. Saleem Nawaz, a commander of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Constabulary said.
The police "sacrificed their lives and the Chinese friends were absolutely safe," Nawaz said on Dawn News television.
The Chinese citizens worked at a lead extraction plant in Dudhar in Baluchistan and were temporarily leaving the area for Karachi due to security concerns, police said.
Some officials suggested the bomb was remote-controlled. But Thaib and Nawaz, whose men also were guarding the minibus carrying some 10 Chinese technicians and engineers, said it was a suicide attack.
Television pictures showed how the blast ripped off the front of several roadside shops. Several damaged cars and buses lay rammed into one another among a tangle of bricks and clothing.
And another bombing targeting police:
In the northwest, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives when guards prevented him from entering the parade ground of the police academy in Hangu, 45 miles southwest of Peshawar.
The bomber killed six bystanders and one policeman, and another 24 people were wounded, academy chief Attaullah Wazir said.
Suicide attacks, bombings and shootings blamed on Islamic extremists and a bloody army siege of radicals in Islamabad's Red Mosque have killed about 270 people in Pakistan so far this month, stirring doubts about the country's stability.
Yep, allah was very kind, alright.
The situation in Pakistan is getting scarier by the minute. We can only hope their nukes are well guarded.
"Suicide attacks, bombings and shootings blamed on Islamic extremists ....."
.....probably because its the truth....
"It was laden with very heavy explosives but due to our spacing and our security measures, Allah has been very kind," Maj. Gen. Saleem Nawaz, a commander of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Constabulary said.
The line on the Musharraf book tour kick-off remains unchanged at 17AUG.
China likes to meddle and give out technical aid to pakistan, and now the hands that feeds is getting bit. China will not be immune to islamofacists.
Perhaps the solution is to really go after the radical clerics. How about for every suicide bomb, a radical cleric is "disappeared"?
This just in from Lee Hamilton:
"On Wednesday a co-chair of the Iraq Study Group told CNN that U.S. forces should go into Pakistan to rout al Qaeda from the safe haven it has found in the mountainous tribal region on the border with Afghanistan.
Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who also served as the vice chairman of the 9/11 commission, said "I am very concerned that you have a safe haven in Pakistan today where they (al Qaeda) can regroup, rethink, and get ready for more attacks.""
By all means, Mr. Hamilton, there is no time like the present...
Perhaps the solution is to really go after the radical clerics. How about for every suicide bomb, a radical cleric is "disappeared"?
That won't even make a dent in the supply. Make it 100 clerics per bomb and you might have better results.
Then the question is: which countries see the clerics "disappeared"? A bomb goes off in Pakistan will Musharraf take such drastic steps? If we get rid of the ones in the US (in our case, deportation or exile) in response to a bomb in Iraq or elsewhere then what will that mean in Pakistan or Saudi? They're still churning them out.
Zena
I doubt that Beijing really cares what happens to their citizens abroad. They only care when their embassy in Belgrade gets bombed.
Oh...chinese workers being evacuated for security concerns?
That makes sense now...since th chinese are aiding and abetting the enemy anyway, this was a revenge hit...the durkas thought their allies were deserting them. They won't attack their best source of weapons without good reason...like abandonment.