Taliban attack Pakistani military in Rawalpindi, Bannu

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Threat Matrix:

Bill Roggio

January 20, 2014

 

 

The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan killed 31 soldiers and Frontier Corps troops, as well as five civilians, in a pair of attacks in the country over the past two days.

 

In one of the attacks, which took place today in Rawalpindi, the garrison city where the Army General Headquarters is based, a suicide bomber killed "13 persons including 8 Security Forces personnel, 3 school children and 2 other civilians" in an attack at a bazaar, according to the Inter Services Public Affairs.

 

Yesterday, the Taliban killed 23 security personnel, including paramilitary 15 Frontier Corps troops and five regular army soldiers, in a bombing that targeted a military convoy in Bannu. It appears that a bomb was planted on a truck that was rented by the Frontier Corps to transport troops to the town of Ramzak in North Waziristan.

 

The Taliban claimed, however, that the Bannu attack, which they said was executed to avenge the death of former emir Hakeemullah Mehsud, who was killed last year in a US drone strike, was carried out by a suicide bomber. Additionally, the Taliban said they will continue to fight for the "implementation of sharia," or Islamic law, and the establishment of the Caliphate. In the same breath, the Taliban said they were sincere about peace talks with the government. From the Daily Times:

(Snip)