PAKISTAN is experiencing a flood of bombings as a result of the army's attempts to rein in Taliban and secessionists in Waziristan, Baluchistan and the Northwest Province. This week at least four died when a driver blew up his truck loaded with explosives in the Northwest Province capital Peshawar, which has experienced near-daily bombings. More that 600 have died in the past month, mostly civilians, and 250,000 displaced as a result of the army offensive. The army announced victory in its offensive against Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) in South Waziristan, having captured most of the towns once under militants' control. More than 30,000 troops face 10,000 TTP militants, who have been blamed for most of the bombings that have killed more than 2,500 people over the past two years. Last week, in a particularly bold attack, insurgents rammed a truck bomb into a regional office of the country's main intelligence agency in Peshawar, killing 11 and injuring more than 60, just hours before American National Security Adviser General James Jones began meetings with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad. A similar blast in Peshawar during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Islamabad in October killed 86 and injured 200. "The underlying idea is to shake the people's confidence in the military's efforts," said Hassan Askari Rizvi, a military analyst in Lahore. "It's a kind of strategy -- well planned, well thought-out -- to pressure the government through ordinary people."
