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STRATFOR.com
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THE INTERNET SOURCE FOR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE
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Consulate Bombing: New Opposition to Musharraf?
June 14, 2002
Summary
Eleven people were killed June 14 by a suicide bombing outside the U.S. consulate building in Karachi, Pakistan. A previously unknown group claimed responsibility for the attack. This raises questions about whether Pakistan's established militant groups are attempting to cover their tracks or if new opposition to the government is developing.
An unidentified US official examines the wreckage of a van in front of the US consulate building in Karachi, 14 June 2002, after a powerful car bomb attack in which 11 people were killed. The United States shuttered its diplomatic missions in Pakistan as well as the American Center in Islamabad after a car bomb attack outside its consulate in Karachi.
Image Credit: l'Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Analysis
A suicide attacker crashed a bomb-laden car into a guard post outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11 people and injuring at least 25 others on June 14. The massive blast -- which came only hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld departed from Pakistan -- incinerated a dozen cars and sent debris flying a half-mile, but no Americans were believed to have been killed.
The attack likely was aimed at both the United States and the government of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, since Washington has been pressuring Islamabad to rein in Kashmiri militants. A previously unknown militant group calling itself al-Qanoon claimed responsibility for the bombing -- just as another unknown group claimed to have launched a grenade attack against a church in Islamabad in March. The emergence of these groups begs the question of whether the attackers actually are from an established militant group or if they signify fresh opposition to the Musharraf regime.
Musharraf has proved himself a survivor over the past nine months, but threats to his hold on power remain. Although his decision to side with the United States against the Taliban was unpopular with many in Pakistan, he forged ahead. His situation was made worse by Indian and U.S. demands that he curb operations by militant groups in Kashmir. At the height of the tension, it appeared that Musharraf's only choices were either to take no action against Islamic militants and risk a nuclear war with India, or to crack down and risk upheaval at home.
(The Rest of the Story)
(c) 2001 Stratfor, Inc.
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Dan
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