LAHORE: Teams of gunmen launched coordinated attacks on three law enforcement facilities in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore and car bombs hit two other cities yesterday, killing a total of 39 people in an escalating wave of anti-government violence in which more than 100 people have died in the past week.
The attacks in Lahore, near the border with India, and a car bomb in Kohat in the northwest come ahead of an expected military offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border.
The violence, coming days after a daring raid on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, underscored the risk posed by militants to Punjab, Pakistan's most economically important province and the country's traditional seat of power.
"First the (North West) Frontier province was on the front line, now they are playing their games in Punjab," Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, though suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban who have claimed other recent strikes.
President Asif Ali Zardari said the bloodshed that has engulfed the nation over the past two weeks would not deter the government from its mission to eliminate violent extremists.
"The enemy has started a guerrilla war," Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. "The whole nation should be united against these handful of terrorists."
The wave of violence practically shut down daily life in Lahore. All government offices were ordered closed, the roads were nearly empty, and major markets were closed.
Pakistan is under pressure from the United States to crack down on Islamic militancy as President Barack Obama considers a huge boost in troop numbers fighting in neighboring Afghanistan.
The US has trained Pakistani instructors from the center in the past, the US embassy said.
Security officials said many of the gunmen were wearing suicide vests and blew themselves up when cornered. Sajjad Bhutta, a senior government official, said the attackers appeared to be both from the lawless tribal regions along the Afghan border and from Punjab.
"They were not here to live. They were here to die. Each time they were injured, they blew themselves up," he said. "They were well trained to the extent they could jump over the walls and shoot well."
The attacks in Lahore spread fear and sirens from police and other emergency vehicles wailed over the city.
The escalating violence has unnerved investors in Pakistani stocks, but yesterday the main index was 0.44 percent up in early trading.
"The market is sort of used to terror attacks," said Mohammed Sohail, chief executive at brokers Topline Securities. "These high-profile targets are a concern, but investors are optimistic that eventually the Waziristan operation will take place and the terrorists will be attacked."
Pakistan's government has said a ground offensive against an estimated 10,000 hard core Taliban is imminent in South Waziristan. The government said most attacks in the country are plotted in South Waziristan and carried out by Taliban, often with the help of allies from militant groups based in Punjab province.
A US drone aircraft fired two missiles at a house in the North Waziristan region, killing four Afghan Taliban militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Reuters-AP