The Resurgence of Attacks
A truck bomb exploded outside the popular Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September, killing more than 50 people and wounding hundreds. The bomb went off as government leaders, including the president and prime minister, were dining a few hundred yards away, at the prime minister's residence. It is one of the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan's history.
About 170 people were killed and about 300 wounded in a series of attacks that began on November 26 on several landmarks and commercial hubs in Mumbai, India. Indian officials said ten gunmen carried out the attack, which was stunning in its brutality and duration; it took Indian forces three days to end the siege. While a previously unknown group, Deccan Mujahedeen, initially claimed responsibility for the attack, Indian and U.S. officials said they have evidence that the Pakistan-based militant Islamic group Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved. Lashkar-e-Taiba, which translates to Army of the Pure, was established in the late 1980s with the assistance of Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intellgence, to fight Indian control of the Muslim section of Kashmir. The accusation further strained an already tense relationship between the two countries. While President Asif Ali Zardari first denied that Pakistani citizens were involved in the attack, in December, Pakistan officials raided a camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and arrested several militants. In Feb. 2009, Pakistan's interior minister acknowledged that "some part of the conspiracy" had occurred in Pakistan.
Also in February, the government agreed to implement a system of Islamic law in the Swat valley and a truce with the Taliban regime. This accommodation will essentially provide the Taliban with a safe haven in Pakistan, effectively ending the government's attempts to stop the insurgency. Taliban militants now control approximately 70% of the country, according to The New York Times.
A group of 12 gunmen in Pakistan attacked the national cricket team of Sri Lanka and their police escorts. Six policemen were killed in the attack, as well as two bystanders. Six cricketers were wounded. Several countries' teams have refused to travel to Pakistan for games, citing their team members' safety. The Sri Lankan team is the first to travel to the country in over a year.
