Suicide blast rocks Lahore; Pakistan's ISI profiled; North Korea ends Korean War truce; al-Hariri refuses to deal with Hezbollah

Top of the Agenda: Major Pakistan Attacks

A massive suicide blast (Dawn) destroyed police and intelligence service offices in Lahore, Pakistan, killing twenty-three people and wounding over 100. Pakistan's interior minister suggested the attack was likely staged in retaliation against the Pakistani government's broadening military offensive targeting Taliban militants in the Swat Valley region. The attack was the third in as many months (NYT) in Lahore, the biggest city in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province.

The Pakistani paper The News reports Pakistani authorities also arrested three men allegedly planning major terrorist attacks in Islamabad, the country's capital. The paper also reports that Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari convened high-level security meetings in Karachi in the wake of the Lahore attack.

Analysis:

- Al-Jazeera's Pakistan correspondent comments in a blog that the attack on Lahore, Pakistan's most iconic cultural center, shows that the Taliban has significant reach across Pakistan, not just in the country's tribal regions and North West Frontier Province.

- The BBC explains the tactical reasons why militants would attack Lahore.

Background:

- This Backgrounder profiles Pakistan's intelligence services, which might have been targeted in today's attack.

 

 

PACIFIC RIM: North Korea Tensions Escalate

Pyongyang said it was abandoning the truce (BBC) that ended the Korean war of 1950-53, blaming the decision on a U.S. and South Korean initiative to search North Korean ships for nuclear weapons.

The Korea Times reports South Korea's military has been put on "high alert" to brace for any "provocative acts" by Pyongyang.

Yonhap reports Russian and South Korean officials agreed on joint efforts to mitigate tensions on the Korean peninsula and called for a "strong reaction" internationally.

Analysis and Background:

CFR's Sheila Smith explains in an interview what North Korea's recent nuclear test could mean politically for Washington.

CFR's Crisis Guide gives an in-depth account of the history of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

 

ELSEWHERE:

Lebanon's Hariri says he won't cut deal with Hezbollah.

This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.