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Top Pakistani army officer assassinated
In the latest strike by militants in Pakistan's anxious and battened-down capital, a senior army officer has been assassinated in rush hour traffic by a gunman who escaped on a motorbike.
In what is believed to have been the first such targeted killing of a high-ranking soldier, Brigadier Moinudin Ahmed's unprotected jeep was sprayed with automatic gunfire at around 9.30am yesterday. The officer and another soldier were killed, while the driver was wounded.
The attack on the crest of a hill on the outskirts of the city is the latest in a wave of strikes across Pakistan that has left more than 170 dead. Ahead of last week's launch by the Pakistan military of a long-anticipated operation against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, officials had warned the public to expect retaliatory attacks from militants. But the wave of violence of the past two weeks, including deadly strikes in Lahore and Peshawar, has shown the militants using increasingly sophisticated and varied tactics.
The shooting of Brig Ahmed follows a suicide bomb attack on an Islamic university in the city, an assault on army headquarters in neighbouring Rawalpindi and a strike on a UN office in the capital. Although security has been massively stepped up, with roadblocks multiplying and increasing numbers of security personnel carrying out checks, many fear the situation is deteriorating. Schools have been shut across many parts of Pakistan following the attacks.