HAKIMULLAH DEAD, PROBABLY.
Multiple media outlets reported today that Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), succumbed to his wounds from the January 14th drone strikes on Shaktoi, South Waziristan.  Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, also stated that there was credible information that Hakimullah was dead.  (Insider Brief sources claimed on January 17th that Mehsud had [...]

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Summary
Despite widespread skepticism of the Pakistani military’s will and ability to fight the Taliban, the second Swat campaign appears to be on the road to a successful conclusion with the expulsion of the Taliban from the once scenic valley.  Backed by civilian support, Pakistan’s military leadership looks to have plotted and executed a well thought [...]

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A military helicopter went down in South Waziristan today. All eight on board were killed including Major General Javed Sultan, the recently promoted commanding officer of Kohat garrison as well as two brigadiers. The official explanation from Islamabad is that the crash was due to “technical reasons.”
However, sources report that the helicopter was [...]

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THE ARMY ADVANCES …
Hot off its relative success in sweeping Swat of militants led by Maulana Fazlullah, sources report that the Pakistan Army has set its sights on Baitullah Mehsud, the purported mastermind behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
In addition to military action, sources also report that a major facet of the newfound campaign involves [...]

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Around Christmas, sources had reported that Pakistani intelligence had indications that the violence afflicting the rest of the country — Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi — was making its way to Lahore.
Today, it did. A suicide bomber detonated himself amidst a 70-member police contingent, minutes before a weekly lawyer’s protest in front of the Lahore [...]

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This picture was taken seconds before Benazir Bhutto was fatally wounded in a hail of assassin’s bullets.

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The blasts in Karachi have left the people of Pakistan shocked and horrified while the country’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies scramble to find those responsible. As investigations continue, major questions remain unanswered.
WHAT WE DO KNOW
The tactics and means involved in the attack make us believe with near certainty that they were carried out by [...]

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