The Pakistani Taliban (T.T.P.) has told a local TV network here that the presidency or Bilawal House (Karachi residence of assassinated Pakistani P.M. Benazir Bhutto) are their next potential targets.
This has to be viewed with some skepticism. Strategically, it does not make sense to name your target – especially in a country like Pakistan which has a large security aparatus. Attacks that were successful in the past were never previously announced – particularly when they attacked the Army headquarters last year. Additionally, protection around the president is permanently so tight, and with Bilawal House being such sacred ground, it would be difficult to launch an effective strike.
One caveat is that elements within the Pakistani security service tacitly supports the T.T.P.. Power in Pakistan lies not with the politicians but the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (a kind of combined C.I.A. & F.I.B.).
Karachians are still picking up the pieces from last night’s bombing. While the Taliban may be claiming responsibility our sources still say this plain grandstanding. Intel is that it was Laskhar e Jhangvi, the anti-Shia’a terror group who executed Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Pearl in 2002. Six captured members stood before a court Thursday after being held at the police HQ that was bombed.
The security apparatus here would prefer the Taliban took all the attention as crediting LeJ would only help elevate its standing from that of a small, disparate group to a more fearsome threat.
Either way, Karachi remains the nexus for further significant acts of violence.