Terrorists attack school in Pakistan, killing 100 children

[Dante Von Hespburg]

Doing a Somalia comes with all sorts of undesirable side effects, number one being having to admit that you've failed. The military say one thing, the politicians say another, often it's the very same people just in different uniforms depending on where they are carreer wise or if there at that particular point in time is a military dictatorship or a pseudo democracy. You have a number of agencies all competing with each other (and often with the central government for that matter). There will be flying pigs before all those actors come together and openly admit to having failed.
If there is one consolation, it is that if there is one thing they all seem to agree on, it is that the nuclear weapons are safe. But then again, that could just be a desire to keep the outside world from interfering.

A very valid point. It's just a total and complete mess then, it's interesting how Pakistan can keep a stable enough facade that the world doesn't start to worry about those Nukes, though perhaps it has the merry luck that while the Pakistani state is a melting pot of competing agencies and factions, their all at least sensible enough to not do anything too extreme.From your description though i now have the image of Pakistan as some kind of modern day Game of Thrones, House El Presidenti for the Iron throne...

In many ways Bangladesh made a lucky escape.

[Thanatos]

Well, the death toll is now up to approximately 126-130. Good grief.

[DarthLazy]

Unfortunatelly the problem is not only in northern Pakistan. There are claims that Taliban control one third of Karachi http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-New...Street-Journal . I dont know if this is true but Karachi is one of the biggest cities of the world(25 million people). So i fear for the stability of Pakistan

I must be living under the biggest rock ever, thank you for enlightening me.

@Caligula; Peshawar is not a "peripheral area".

[Papay]

I must be living under the biggest rock ever, thank you for enlightening me.

@Caligula; Peshawar is not a "peripheral area".

I am not sure if thats true though

[justicar5]

Correct me of if i'm wrong because i'm slightly ignorant as to the inter-organizational links, but i believed the Taliban were separate to Al Qaeda in that the Taliban were in essence 'foreign invaders' to Afghanistan built up regionally to resist the Russian invasion during the cold war, and so armed and trained by the US. There popularity in Afghanistan was highlighted only a few years after the Coalitions invasion, as due to the botched nature of the Afghan government put in place and the scale of the Taliban insurgency many Afghanistani people rightly felt like that it was only under the Taliban they had any real semblance of 'protection' and stability. As to their popularity now i couldn't comment of course.

But are you saying that Al Qaeda was linked too to this attack? As far as i knew, they were always a far far smaller organization than the Taliban (who in effect were and are a state unto themselves- replete with 'Shadow government and legal systems' in Afghanistan operating in tandem with 'official' Afghanistani law and governance) that was less centralized and not a 'state' body in themselves but merely a faction who sought refugee with the Taliban after 9/11?



This is a very good question actually. Considering it was Pakistani policy to be a sort of double partner to the Coalition and Taliban at the same time, due to Pakistani policy favoring a 'friendly' power in Afghanistan. Again of course it's a damn mess in terms of governance so it's hard to say which form of foreign policy is the most coherent- i'd say though Conon is right that it's definitely the aim of the ISI.

So we may have a mess here where Pakistan's presidential government aims for closer ties with the US and to wrap up the scenario with the Taliban, while other factions within the Pakistani administration and Intelligence services are pursing a totally different and counter agenda.

Mujahadeen where home grown and received most American aid (not all but most) AQ where foreign fighters mainly funded by the Gulf States, primarily Saudi, but fund raising was going on all over the show, they also received some US financial backing and maybe training (not sure, some sources say just cash and sources for things to buy with said cash, some say more concrete help) the Taliban is weird in that it was an offshoot of both, primarily from the Mujahadeen in the North, which had been backed by Pakistan primarily (again complicated, different groups received varying amounts from different backers at different times) and had picked up, again via Pakistan foreign fighters, the Taliban itself did not fight during the Soviet Invasion, it is a successor organisation to ones did, and unified several.

[alhoon]

131 children... 131 Children

A senseless act of cruelty and brutality with little if any apparent short-term gain for those monsters and in the long term, it would bite them in the butt.
Taliban claimed to be an insurgency. Insurgents don't target kids, terrorists do.

[DarthLazy]

131 children... 131 Children

A senseless act of cruelty and brutality with little if any apparent short-term gain for those monsters and in the long term, it would bite them in the butt.
Taliban claimed to be an insurgency. Insurgents don't target kids, terrorists do.

No. There already is ( so they say ) an operation targeting the Taliban, this is their retaliation. The most significant impact of this would be just how bad the image of Imran Khan's government is affected with all the recent countrywide protests currently ongoing.

[Sphere]

I'm interested to see some thoughts on why the Taliban thought this would be a good idea? Considering Pakistans either negligence in helping NATO/ clandestine factional support of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The government in Islamabad does not control the tribal Pashtun areas on the Afghanistan border. The relationship between the two has largely been live and let live. The Pashtun tribes don't want the government around, and the government doesn't want a Pashtun insurgency.

A few months ago the military launched an offensive in the tribal regions. This is retaliation. Making the costs too high for the government has more or less worked in the past.

[Roma_Victrix]

131 children... 131 Children

A senseless act of cruelty and brutality with little if any apparent short-term gain for those monsters and in the long term, it would bite them in the butt.
Taliban claimed to be an insurgency. Insurgents don't target kids, terrorists do.

Precisely. It takes a special kind of coward to target the children of your enemies. What did the children ever do to anyone? A real man, who is manful in word and deed and attacks his enemies head on, is the only type of person worthy of respect. These Taliban are just perverted cockroaches that need to be exterminated to a man, or should I say to an insect? In either case I hope the Pakistani military, which I otherwise find loathsome and corrupt, shoves a gigantic boot up their ass.

[General Maximus]

Man, just saw this news on TV. A heart saddening thing. Death toll is now 141 people which consists of 9 adults, and minus all those students ones still heavily injured and fighting for their lives in the hospitals.

TV reports showed really sad scenes. Wailing parents, shocked and traumatized children who couldn't even properly speak after that but were still being interviewed by media, and a general anger on the camera against Pakistani army and their leader Nawaz Sharif and his government. And the interviewed students revealed that the terrorists killed everything that moved, so some survived by lying low and still.

Pakistan's government should now realise that state-sponsored terrorism can turn back on itself. And that they should really stop ignoring the situation in Baluchistan, Waziristan and the lands on the Afghan borders. Those provinces at times practically lack order.

Islamic or not, state-run terrorism (which Pakistani secret services thoroughly endorsed to use against India and others) has lots of bad effects besides shaming both the religion and the sponsor nation's name again and again.

Here in India, somehow suddenly all the schools are being checked for security and more so for colleges. There is no threat of terrorist attacks on educational buildings here, but results showed that schools have security only in name. And cities like Mumbai and Delhi are on high alert.

And is it just me, or the targeting of children and school students has increased in the violence of last two decades?

[Visna]

A very valid point. It's just a total and complete mess then, it's interesting how Pakistan can keep a stable enough facade that the world doesn't start to worry about those Nukes, though perhaps it has the merry luck that while the Pakistani state is a melting pot of competing agencies and factions, their all at least sensible enough to not do anything too extreme.From your description though i now have the image of Pakistan as some kind of modern day Game of Thrones, House El Presidenti for the Iron throne...

Working down the checklist Pakistan ticks quite a few boxes to qualify as a failed state.

[Dante Von Hespburg]

Mujahadeen where home grown and received most American aid (not all but most) AQ where foreign fighters mainly funded by the Gulf States, primarily Saudi, but fund raising was going on all over the show, they also received some US financial backing and maybe training (not sure, some sources say just cash and sources for things to buy with said cash, some say more concrete help) the Taliban is weird in that it was an offshoot of both, primarily from the Mujahadeen in the North, which had been backed by Pakistan primarily (again complicated, different groups received varying amounts from different backers at different times) and had picked up, again via Pakistan foreign fighters, the Taliban itself did not fight during the Soviet Invasion, it is a successor organisation to ones did, and unified several.

Cheers for the run down mate, it's interesting to note basically how far-reaching (and arguably short-sighted...though we can all say that with the benefit of hind-sight) foreign funding and organization of paramilitary groups- religious or otherwise can impact in the long term in terms of them superseding their mission statement. They evolve entirely into bodies of their own agenda.

The government in Islamabad does not control the tribal Pashtun areas on the Afghanistan border. The relationship between the two has largely been live and let live. The Pashtun tribes don't want the government around, and the government doesn't want a Pashtun insurgency.

A few months ago the military launched an offensive in the tribal regions. This is retaliation. Making the costs too high for the government has more or less worked in the past.

A really interesting situation (If we remove the horror of this current incident, and i'm more many other actual 'on the ground' violent effects of such an arrangement). So basically on top of the Pakistani governments own factional interests, you have the locals on the border, who are in a situation that perhaps in a Western country would call for a Reformation? But again Pakistan's central government can't 'cut and run' so to speak due to policy and strategic commitments in case of foreign (specifically Indian) aggression and needs those tribal border areas (and by inference a stable and friendly Afghanistan- regardless of government in power over there).

Indeed though i can see contextually attacks like this would make for a more cautious approach to any serious attempt of incursion.

The Chaos here rather highlights something of interest though guys, basically. If like i believe we can all agree Pakistan is a 'failed state' (As Visna rightfully points out, it really does tick most of the boxes) in the sense of a chaotic and un-working government riddled with agency and factional interests and with border regions basically beyond it's control. And with such atrocities as this being committed and more importantly reported in the world wide media.

At what point do states like the US, UK, India, China(?), The Rest of NATO/ UN (don't laugh at that last one...) have a remit to step in and sort it all out in a way acceptable to all parties? I mean we know that the US, Afghanistan and so by extension most NATO states have a political interest in a democratic and stable Afghanistan, which means a democratic, on-side and stable Pakistan. So there's the political interest, and instances like this give a 'moral' justification. So is this a possibility in the near future?

I'm not talking invasion -Afghanistan/Iraq style, i mean merely that the US or some other interested party strongarms/helps out the central government to get...well...working again, sorting out the inner agency issues as well as perhaps mediating a solution with the tribal regions/ potentially using some strongarm tactics and displays. Is that a feasible thing to be desired? Or is their the potential for Pakistan to get it's act together...somehow? I just can't see there ever being a chance for a stable Afghanistan when the border regions are so open to use by any faction with an axe to grind either side.

[Sphere]

I'm not talking invasion -Afghanistan/Iraq style, i mean merely that the US or some other interested party strongarms/helps out the central government to get...well...working again, sorting out the inner agency issues as well as perhaps mediating a solution with the tribal regions/ potentially using some strongarm tactics and displays. Is that a feasible thing to be desired? Or is their the potential for Pakistan to get it's act together...somehow? I just can't see there ever being a chance for a stable Afghanistan when the border regions are so open to use by any faction with an axe to grind either side.

To be fair, even the US military cannot control the tribal Pashtun regions in Afghanistan. They used to set up posts in the remote valleys, but they proved to be nothing more than targets and were eventually withdrawn. The US/Kabul are now content to hold the urban centers and leave the rural area's to be run by the Taliban.. The US strategy is largely the same as the Pakistan one; containment and a negotiated a live and let live peace.

Also, cool map that puts even CKII to shame...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...federacies.jpg

[Aymer de Valence]

Sick to death of hearing atrocities committed by these groups on the news. They seriously need to be wiped off the face of the map, along with their supporters.

[Davius]

Peaceful. So peaceful.

[Yayattasa]

Pakistani borders MUST seriously be redrawn to account for the majorities and minorities, but I doubt a referendum would work there in a national level.

[snuggans]

Sick to death of hearing atrocities committed by these groups on the news. They seriously need to be wiped off the face of the map, along with their supporters.

how do you go about wiping off the map a minority that will blend back into an intimidated population that have nothing to do with an attack? even the 'caliphate' wanna-be's blend right back in as soon as things start exploding around them.

[white-wolf]

Condolonces to Pakistani brothers.

Verily, Taliban, AQ and ISIS minded people are the enemy of Humanity and they should be eradicated as bugs.

[Samraat Mahendra Maurya]

Sad story, Condolences to all those Pakistani families who lost their lives.


It's weird, The Islamic world and Middle East was so tolerant, relatively peaceful and knowledgeable until the 16th century, what happened!?! It went from the golden age of learning to the golden age of terror and is, in most parts, a backward hell hole.

[Sharukinu]

Why am I not moved by this incident? Have I become desensitised, or is it just too horrible for me to even conceive?