DEBKAfile Special Report
October 23, 2009, 1:33 PM (GMT+02:00)
Pakistani brigadier targeted by Taliban
Pakistani brigadier targeted by Taliban
At least 7 people were killed, 13 injured when a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up Friday, Oct. 23, outside the big Kamra aeronautical complex 60 km west of Islamabad. DEBKAfile's military sources report this is where Pakistan houses most of its nuclear bombs and air-air and air-ground missiles. In Mohmand, 15 wedding guests were killed when their minibus hit an explosive device and in Peshawar a car bomb injured 15 people at the Sawan hotel.
Taliban fighters began to battle their way towards Pakistan's nuclear arsenal on Saturday, Oct. 10, by attacking the roads connecting the capital and high command with the nuclear ordnance centers in northern Pakistan near the town of Kohat, at Wah and in Kamra in order to cut them off.
Terrorist pressure to reach Pakistan's nuclear arsenal at these sites was first reported by DEBKA-Net-Weekly on May 15.
Friday morning, the Pakistani military spokesman said the suicide bomber was stopped at a checkpoint where he blew himself up before he could enter the Kamra complex. This was the closest a terrorist had come to the cluster of bases where Pakistan maintains the bulk of its nuclear bombs and air-air and air-ground missiles for delivery by its air force.
This month, surging Taliban attacks have left more than 180 dead, the level mounting sharply as the Pakistani army continued its offensive against Taliban and al Qaeda strongholds in South Waziristan. Thursday, a Pakistani army brigadier and his driver were killed in a shooting attack in Islamabad. He was the second high officer to die this week in what appears to be a targeted assault on Pakistani commanders in retaliation for the South Waziristan drive. Tuesday, twin blasts killed seven people at Islamabad University.
DEBKAfile's military sources report that three Pakistani columns are advancing very slowly in the mountainous tribal region amid sporadic clashes. Most of the insurgents have pulled back to the 15,000-ft peaks.
