Warning Issued for Possible Suicide Attacks

The US Embassy in Pakistan issued a warden message on 8 May to warn its citizens of the increased threat of possible suicide attacks on Westerners in the country.

According to the statement, the US Mission has received non-specific information regarding terrorist attacks, possibly suicide attacks, against US persons and interests, as well as places frequented by Westerners. The major cities including Islamabad , Karachi , Lahore and Peshawar were listed as possible targets for such attacks.

Media reports on 8 May also indicate that Pakistani intelligence agencies have warned the government of possible suicide attacks by jihadi groups based in Waziristan against police and security officials across the country.

Local media sources have also indicated that the suspected suicide bombers have already reached the state of Punjab from Waziristan in preparation for attacks. In response, security cordons have been reportedly strengthened around police outposts, the National Police Academy and the Sihala Police Training College in Punjab .

Pakistan has experienced a surge in suicide attacks on civilians in the recent past. At
least 80 people have been killed in such attacks across Pakistan since January. The incidents also included an assassination attempt on the Interior Minister on 28 April in Charsada , North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Groups with the motive and modus operandi to conduct anti-government suicide attacks include the Taliban and affiliated Pashtun extremists, jihadi groups headed by Lashkar-e-Toiba and Baluchi separatists.

Anti-government attacks have the potential to take a direct anti-foreign and particularly anti-Western turn. In addition to being at incidental risk from sectarian and anti-government violence, foreigners continue to present a softer indirect target for terrorist groups aiming to destabilize President Pervez Musharraf's regime.