Militants who want no Western influence in the nuclear-armed country that Washington sees as critical in the battle against extremist hard-liners in Afghanistan have not let up attacks, despite security crackdowns in their strongholds.Police confirmed a blast had taken place in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan.
”It was near a market and several shops have collapsed,” said Tariq Gurmani, a resident of the town in Punjab province, adding he had seen several wounded people.
The suspected attack was another reminder that President Asif Ali Zardari’s weak civilian government has yet to devise a strategy to put down an insurgency.
The army is seen as the institution best able to unite Pakistan in times of crisis, even though military coups have hurt the country’s democratic credentials.
But its vulnerability to increasingly daring militants became clear this month when suicide bombers and gunmen killed at least 40 people in an attack on a mosque near army headquarters, 30 minutes from the capital Islamabad. The United States believes Pakistan’s military has no intention of trying to seize power, US Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said during a visit to an ally that is struggling against Taliban militants.
