On Thursday, December 4th, at least 18 people were killed and 67 injured in Peshawar, North West Pakistan, in a car bomb. Peshawar is close to the border of Afghanistan, an area that is prone to violence from al Qaeda and Taliban hiding there. The explosion was in a busy shopping area where people were getting ready for the Muslim Holiday Eid al-Adha, which begins on Monday. The bomb wrecked a mosque and a hotel, and set a string of vehicles and shops on fire. Footage on television showed major chaos as civilians were trying to help the injured people. One man, a 28 year old goldsmith said he saw a white van explode in the street when he was walking home. He is currently in the hospital being treated for a gash on his face. Bilal said, “Something struck me in the face, and I fell down. There was fire and smoke and the cries of the injured people.” Police chief Malik Naveed Khan said the bomb seemed to contain chemicals that were made to spread fire. Government and religious buildings were under guard but "it is not possible to prevent this kind of terrorism unless you have extremely credible information", he said. The explosion was near a Shia Muslim community centre. Violence is drastically increasing in the country's north-west. Sunni Muslim militant groups have launched gun and bomb attacks on the minority Shia in recent weeks. About 20% of Pakistans 168 million people are Shia. While all of this is going on, tensions are escalating between Pakistan and India over the terror attacks in Mumbai. Militants recently vowed to step up attacks on Pakistani forces in retaliation for cross-border US missile strikes into the region, where Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding. Another car bomb today killed six people at a checkpoint in the Orakzai tribal region, just south of Peshawar. The driver blew up the car as police and tribesmen waved for it to stop. It seems like everything in Pakistan just continues to escalate. As I stated in my presentation, this has put a major strain on the US and Pakistani alliance. People are now skeptical that Pakistan will help us in the war on terrorism.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/05/peshawar-car-bomb
Brittney Nicola
12/5/08
SOC 202
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