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Counterterrorism official: 'No one is discounting the threat they pose' Volunteers help injured men to an ambulance from the site of a suicide
attack in Quetta Reuters -- Volunteers help injured men to an ambulance
from the site of a suicide attack during a Shi'ite procession ... By Saud Mehsud Saud Mehsud -- Fri Sep 3, 6:11 pm ET QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) -- A suicide bomber struck a rally in the
Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 54 people in the
second major attack this week and piling pressure on a U.S.-backed
government overwhelmed by a flood crisis.
Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast and said it
would launch attacks in the United States and Europe "very soon" --
repeating a threat to strike Western targets in response to drone
attacks that have targeted its leadership. In Washington, the White House condemned the Quetta attack on a Shi'ite
rally expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people, saying it was
"even more reprehensible" because it came during the Muslim holy month
of Ramadan as Pakistan reels from disastrous flooding. A U.S. counterterrorism official said the threat by the al Qaeda-linked
Taliban against the United States and Europe could not be discounted. The attack came just two days after Washington added the Pakistani
Taliban to its list of "foreign terrorist organizations" and charged its
leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, with plotting a bombing that killed seven CIA
agents at a U.S. base in Afghanistan last December. In Quetta, dozens of dead and wounded people lay in pools of blood as
fires engulfed vehicles. Senior police official Hamid Shakeel told
Reuters at least 54 people were killed and about 160 wounded. Hours later, the Taliban said the bombing was revenge for the killing of
radical Sunni clerics by Shi'ites, further challenging Pakistan's
unpopular civilian government. "We take pride in taking responsibility for the Quetta attack," Qari
Hussain Mehsud, a senior Pakistani Taliban and mentor of suicide
bombers, told Reuters. Earlier in the day, the Taliban also claimed responsibility for bombings
on Wednesday at a Shi'ite procession in the eastern city of Lahore in
which at least 33 people died. Those blasts were the first major attack since the worst floods in
Pakistan's history began more than a month ago. The Taliban and its
allies often target religious minorities in a campaign to destabilize
the government. ATTACK THREAT Aside from its battles against homegrown Taliban, Pakistan is under
intense American pressure to tackle Afghan Taliban fighters who cross
the border into Pakistan's lawless tribal areas to attack U.S.-led NATO
troops. The United States has stepped up missile strikes by pilotless drone
aircraft against militant targets in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal lands
since the start of 2010. On Friday, U.S. drones fired missiles at two targets in the North
Waziristan tribal region, killing seven militants, including two
foreigners, intelligence officials said. Pakistan's Taliban has responded to drone attacks by saying it would
strike Western targets. "We will launch attacks in America and Europe very soon," Mehsud told
Reuters by telephone on Friday from an undisclosed location. The group claimed responsibility for a failed bomb plot in New York's
Times Square in May and, in December 2009, a Spanish court jailed 10
Pakistanis and an Indian for attempted suicide bombings on Barcelona's
metro in 2008, saying they were inspired by the Pakistan Taliban's then
leader. "No one is discounting the threat they pose and we and our partners are
working hard to disrupt their terrorist activities," a U.S.
counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the group was
designated a "foreign terrorist organization" because "it is a threat to
the United States but most importantly a threat to Pakistan itself." Pakistan has said the army would decide when to carry out a full-fledged
assault in North Waziristan, where Washington says the militants enjoy
safe havens. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, visiting troops in Afghanistan,
said the flooding "is probably going to delay any operations by the
Pakistani army in North Waziristan for some period of time." In another attack in the northwest, a suicide bomber killed one person
outside a mosque of the Ahmadi sect, who consider themselves Muslims but
whom Pakistan declares non-Muslims. ECONOMIC CRISIS Islamist charities, some linked to militant groups, have joined in the
relief effort for the millions of people affected by the floods. U.S.
officials are concerned the involvement of hardline groups in relief
work will undermine the fight against militancy. Anger is spreading over the Pakistani government's sluggish response to
the disaster, raising the possibility of unrest. Pakistan is also facing economic catastrophe, with the floods causing
damage the government has estimated at $43 billion, almost a quarter of
the south Asian nation's 2009 gross domestic product. The International Monetary Fund will give Pakistan $450 million in
emergency flood aid and disburse funds in September to help the economy
cope with the devastation. Talks in Washington with a delegation led by Pakistan's Finance Minister
Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on the terms of an $11 billion IMF loan program left
him satisfied with the country's commitment to reforms, IMF chief
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. Under the 2008 IMF loan program, Islamabad promised to implement tax and
energy sector reforms and give full autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan.
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