22 Policemen Killed in Blast

[MastanKhan]

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Hi,

I pray that most of you realize that this suicide blast has hit real close to home. This was an attack to spread terror right in the heartland of pakistan. I read on bbc.uk some people say that the govt needs to resign---so what is the new govt going to do---they say---get out---the support for war on terror needs to be stopped---what an ostrich view of the situation---there is no getting out now---we will have to go in and completely wipe out the hideouts and dens. These lunatics won't stop their antics if we didnot support the war against terror anymore. Their love to kill, their thrill to put fear in the hearts and souls of people knows no ending.

[WebMaster]

I simply dont understand why not it is being done. An all out attack is needed. The more we wait - we lose more.

[Energon]

I simply dont understand why not it is being done. An all out attack is needed. The more we wait - we lose more.

Attack on whom exactly? These guys have metastasized all over the nation and live among the regular populace. How does one discern a fundamentalist from a radical? They no longer sport some generic look which can be picked out in a crowd.

Even if a new bombing campaign is started in west Pakistan with shiny new F-16s, do you think it will change anything? Will the bombings, killings and assassinations stop? Or will they just convince more people to take up the cause of the "true believers" who are being bombed and killed by soldiers using sophisticated western death machines?

As you can see there is no easy solution.

[BATMAN]

I simply dont understand why not it is being done. An all out attack is needed. The more we wait - we lose more.

I agree, but it is not done so far because media and political fall out, which are playing on both sides of the pitch.

Read by your self:
BBCUrdu.com

I support to issue orders to shoot at all violent protestors and those who attempt to burn any vehicle or property.

[WebMaster]

Attack on whom exactly? These guys have metastasized all over the nation and live among the regular populace. How does one discern a fundamentalist from a radical? They no longer sport some generic look which can be picked out in a crowd.

Even if a new bombing campaign is started in west Pakistan with shiny new F-16s, do you think it will change anything? Will the bombings, killings and assassinations stop? Or will they just convince more people to take up the cause of the "true believers" who are being bombed and killed by soldiers using sophisticated western death machines?

As you can see there is no easy solution.

Send the army to the western border, cities, search every area, monitor the area, snatch the weapons, and get rid of them. Pakistan is being attacked, at war. It can no longer afford to sit back and fight the war on terror. It is now Pakistans war.

[BATMAN]

All such attempts in past has been propogated by media as violation of Human rights.
Who will shutup GEO, Asma Jehangir, and all the die hard supporters of democracy?

I say we need to strat securing our cities, first and as I said earlier it should be compulsory for every one to hang clear his NIC. All bussines should be subjected to producing NIC.
Article 144 should be implemented without any delay.
Remote areas should be secured later with the help of local populace/local committies and intelligence.
Civil defence training should be imparted to every citizen.

[dk33]

There is no easy solution. I think there will be a lot less heartache if we accept right now that this is a war for the long haul. The US has barely been able to prevent attacks inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, it is naive to expect that we can prevent them in a nation of 160 million, with the indefensible borders and weak local law enforcement institutions. The best that can be done is to minimize the damage. In Swat the Army is arresting dozens of militants every day, and several with suicide vests or explosives that go into them.

How many suicide bombings have those measures prevented? I imagine quite a few. That drive needs to be maintained, along with another into specific areas of FATA to get rid of the TTP and its leadership, especially Mehsud. But this too cannot be undertaken willy-nilly. Blain and others have mentioned before that a unilateral PA operation will only create more enemies, and even those not buying into the cause of the Taliban will fight with them to avenge an "invasion of their land". Helping Mullah Nazir and the Wazir's in this time of anger (at the murder of the nine peace jirga members) for example would be an excellent way to rout out some of these people. It will be seen as a Tribal effort to regain control of their territory from people who are now attacking their hosts, and that movement needs to be built upon, while implementing the FATA development plan post haste. In the long run, only development (social, economic and institutional) will provide a lasting solution, and Swat itself is the best example of that, where the people by and large have supported the PA ops against Fazlullah, despite the lack of social and institutional progress.

The most important local efforts need to focus on the development of a fair and independent judiciary and a well trained, equipped and paid police force. People need to be able to trust their LEA’s, so you actually have citizens reporting suspicious activity, rather than worrying about how they might get into trouble with corrupt law enforcement.

Solving this problem requires a multi-pronged approach, over several years, but I think we need to start with taking advantage of the military opportunities that present themselves. ROZ's or not, economic investment will be difficult if the local Army and FC pickets, along with the RoZ's keep getting attacked by militants - so development cannot take place in a security vacuum.

[BATMAN]

The US has barely been able to prevent attacks inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, it is naive to expect that we can prevent them in a nation of 160 million

Agnostic, all 160 million does not live in five or six cities and we must raise the security plan of cities, despite our open borders.
I say again NID card shoud be made a must because we have a very adavnce registration setup and we must exploit it.
This will certainly help to keep foreign elements away or being aprehendid at check points. Even fellow citizens can point out a man with missing NIC.
A bomber will be forced to travell with lots of food and sleeping bag and will end up travelling by foot at least between cities and this will help a lot to limit their activities and once they miss their target, occassion or gathering than for them practically, It will be use less to waist themselves for no useful reason or at least the damage can be minimised.
Every checkpost and public transport hubs must have sniffing dogs.
I have seen such security cardons in Saudi Arabia. I can bet no sucide bomber can defeat such check posts, he can maximum slam his truck in concrete blocks far away from security and that's all.
At least we can save the families of our security personals in side main cities, remember they have even attacked childrens of army men.

I agree that we don't have to go all out at least untill it is not established who is the master mind behind all this trouble and what are the real motives apart from killing, after all Al-Qaeeda knows it is not foreign army which will eventually fly away.
We have to consider, who is being benifited from targeting police or civilians? Al Qaeeda or Taleban or ????
Imagine the intensity of bombings has been increased just before the elections!
This indicate to me more of an attempt to sabotage elections.
I cannot rule out political parties, specially the nationalists parties like GA Sindh, ANP OR BLA etc.
IMO, survilance of the activists of such parties must be raised also.

[dk33]

Batman,

Even if the 160 million does not live in the cities, you have to admit that there is no way to protect those cities the way the Green Zone is - and my point is that even with that level of protection, the US has found it hard to prevent attacks. The risk can only be minimized, and the measures you mentioned can only be successful if we undertake institutional development - especially of local law enforcement. That would be part of the multipronged approach I mentioned. But in the long run, without socio-economic development and a ideological defeat of this perverted interpretation of Islam, this threat wil not go away.

This will be a long fight.

[dk33]

Who was the real target?

By Shahnawaz Khan

LAHORE: A suicide bomber targeted policemen standing behind barricades along the Lahore High Court’s wall (on McLeod Road) next to GPO Chowk on Thursday morning. He killed 22 people – 17 policemen and five passers-by.

This is the second bombing of its kind in the city. The first took place outside a Shia mosque in Mochi Gate on October 10, 2004.

So who was the target of Thursday’s attack? Lawyers or the police? The police had been deployed to keep an eye on a lawyers’ rally, which was supposed to gather force at GPO Chowk. The rally was late by 10 minutes.

Lawyers have said they were the target. “The explosion took place about 10 minutes before hundreds of lawyers gathered at GPO Chowk. If the bomber had struck us, the death toll would have been manifold,” they said.

They said Lahore High Court Bar Association president Ahsan Bhoon come to the LHCBA general house meeting 10 minutes late, which meant that the meeting ended about 10 to 15 minutes late. “The attack took place during those 10 to 15 minutes,” they said.

However, Inspector General Ahmad Nasim and other senior police officers present at the scene said the bomber had targeted the police to demoralise the force.

A police source told Daily Times that the police had acted on intelligence reports about the presence of suicide bombers in Isa Khel, Mianwali. “The police arrested them and got death threats from someone called Kaleemullah Mehsud, who claimed to be an associate of Baitullah Mehsud,” he said, quoting newspapers of January 8. “This could be militants acting on the death threats.”

The intelligence community has seconded the police’s view. An intelligence source said, “The attack could be a reaction from terrorist elements to the recent arrest of their colleagues from Bhakkar, Sargodha, Isa Khel and Lahore. Law enforcement agencies had, on Eidul Azha, arrested two suspected suicide bombers from Isa Khel.”

Another source said, “The bombing could be a reaction to the arrest of three militants from Bhakkar. Bhakkar police seized a large amount of explosives from them. The militants were given to the intelligence and during interrogations, one of the militants led the intelligence to Lahore. Maj (r) Ehsanul Haq was arrested, which led to the arrest of five more militants from Sargodha and one more from Lahore.” The intelligence community and police are investigating the matter. The police have also formed a seven-member special investigation team under the supervision of Tassaduq Hussain, the Lahore deputy inspector general (investigation), to look into the bombing.

The team has prepared a sketch of the bomber after reconstructing his face, collected from the bombsite. The team has also sent the bomber’s body parts to a forensic lab for a DNA test.

Lahore, till now, had been largely unscathed by the wave of terrorism sweeping Pakistan. However, it seems the ‘menace’ has come to the city.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

The good news here is that law enforcement is being proactive. They have made arrests, and that those arrests could **** someoen off enough to call in threats and potentially conduct this bombing is encouraging.

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

If anyone read 'Eaters of the Dead' by Michael crichton, they would know what I am saying----the army needs to move in and kill the source head---we cannot sit back and circle the wagons----the gloves need to come off----the army needs to act like a millitary machine---the generals have been acting like old worn out engines---with no compression in the pistons and rings---.

Going through a crisis tells you about the mettle of the people of that nation----uptill now all I hear from my countrymen are sob-stories---these are our brothers---these are the victims of millitary actions---these people are misguided---they are brain washed----they are very poor people---PARA MILLITARY FORCE DOES NOT WANT TO KILL ITS OWN PEOPLE.

The lunatics---their heads should have been loped off years ago---years ago pakistanis had holier than thou attitude towards these millitants----they were their mujahideen brothers---they were the warriors who would kill the heathens---they were given the standards of the soldiers of the armies of the KHULFA RASHIDEEN---.

Today I will change my tone towards my pakistani brethren---I will say that they are very innocent in their minds----their thoughts are very innocent when it comes to fighting crime, terror, suicidal attacks and a threat of death and destruction from within. At times, I have felt that my people are clueless as to how to maintain some kind of law and order in the country---take the political leaders---they are openly making statements against the govt---they were openly condoning suicide bombings awhile ago---look at the sindh situation after Benaizr;s assasination----police officers incharge had no clue how to stop the loot and plunder---now they are being terminated---could they please be executed for treason, cowardice and inability to lead---and put to death---.

But, in a nation, when everyone is fighting everyone else, and the egos of individuals hold more importance and are more significant and important than the welfare of the nation what do you expect. What I am saying is that you cannot make chicken soup from chicken s h i t. In order to fight this menace---pakistanis will have to change their priorities---they will have to change their thinking---they will have to look at life, a little differently---they will have to think beyond their noses and think of the larger community first---truthfully their honeymoon period is over for now---the beautiful bride that they seemingly had married----is actually the dragon of death and destruction which had been wearing the cloak of religion to hide its true face.

[khanz]

I feel so bad for the victims and their famillis R.I.P

this needs to be stopped asap we need to find their leaders like mullah radio and go in guns blazing .

[ahf_nuke1]

Our security forces should be trained specially to tackle these kinds of attacks first, thats what we need urgently because these bombers are mainly targeting army and police they need to be trained and well equipped. After this we need to start programs to spread the awareness through media that these bombings are not good islamically and morally. People who are doing it majority of them are brain washed and not educated well enough. We need to take some kind of measures to literate these people other wise this is a very dangerous poison for our country.

[mujahideen]

Such acts should be condemned and the elements behind these attacks should be bought to justice.

[Tiki Tam Tam]

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Hi,

If anyone read 'Eaters of the Dead' by Michael crichton, they would know what I am saying----the army needs to move in and kill the source head---we cannot sit back and circle the wagons----the gloves need to come off----the army needs to act like a millitary machine---the generals have been acting like old worn out engines---with no compression in the pistons and rings---.

Going through a crisis tells you about the mettle of the people of that nation----uptill now all I hear from my countrymen are sob-stories---these are our brothers---these are the victims of millitary actions---these people are misguided---they are brain washed----they are very poor people---PARA MILLITARY FORCE DOES NOT WANT TO KILL ITS OWN PEOPLE.

The lunatics---their heads should have been loped off years ago---years ago pakistanis had holier than thou attitude towards these millitants----they were their mujahideen brothers---they were the warriors who would kill the heathens---they were given the standards of the soldiers of the armies of the KHULFA RASHIDEEN---.

Today I will change my tone towards my pakistani brethren---I will say that they are very innocent in their minds----their thoughts are very innocent when it comes to fighting crime, terror, suicidal attacks and a threat of death and destruction from within. At times, I have felt that my people are clueless as to how to maintain some kind of law and order in the country---take the political leaders---they are openly making statements against the govt---they were openly condoning suicide bombings awhile ago---look at the sindh situation after Benaizr;s assasination----police officers incharge had no clue how to stop the loot and plunder---now they are being terminated---could they please be executed for treason, cowardice and inability to lead---and put to death---.

But, in a nation, when everyone is fighting everyone else, and the egos of individuals hold more importance and are more significant and important than the welfare of the nation what do you expect. What I am saying is that you cannot make chicken soup from chicken s h i t. In order to fight this menace---pakistanis will have to change their priorities---they will have to change their thinking---they will have to look at life, a little differently---they will have to think beyond their noses and think of the larger community first---truthfully their honeymoon period is over for now---the beautiful bride that they seemingly had married----is actually the dragon of death and destruction which had been wearing the cloak of religion to hide its true face.

Mastan,

I have practical experience regarding terrorism.

While it is indeed a correct surmise to hit the "head", the problem is that the "head" lies protected by various layers and to get to them is not that easy. Further, the heads are no within the country and are instead directing the operations from safe sanctuaries abroad.

One could well argue that an SAS covert operation be launched. True, but that would also invite a full scale war, which is not what any nation, in the current circumstances, would like to embark on. Therefore, what you see is mere 'firefighting' and aggressive rhetoric. Unfortunate, but a geopolitical reality!

And worse still, unlike the global powers, the third world countries have to be totally on guard from international criticism and human rights ninnies, who go ballistic even if someone in uniform sneezes! Third world countries unfortunately are victims of international morality that they themselves are not subjected to since none dare and even if they dare, the first world could not care less and the world is damned!

If the country stands as one, instead of whimpering or pandering sob stories, as you say, then indeed these terrorists can be shown their place and sorted out. But unfortunately, we have within the ranks of our population who find it fashionable to out- "West" in their shrill whimpers of human rights and anything the govt does.

Therefore, you are right - the nations of the third world who have terrorism causing the chaos and mayhem have to steel up and allow the govt free hand to sort this menace and vermin out.

Your post addresses the problem in a very frank and honest approach, even though a few issues, I may have a differing view!

I agree condemning is no longer the answer. It is time to act and give a free hand to the govt and the military!