Pakistan Mosque Bombed, 50 Killed; US: Pakistani Military Elements Support Taliban

Juan Cole 03/28/2009

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In Pakistan, Taliban detonated a bomb in a mosque at Jamrud in the Khyber agency near the Afghanistan border on Friday, killing 50 and wounding 100. The mosque is frequented by paramilitary troops who man a nearby government checkpoint, and who were probably the target of the blast. There is a sense in which Taliban violence in the Federally Administered Tirbal Agencies is a civil war between factions of Pushtuns.

Meanwhile on Friday the US accused elements in the Pakistani military of backing the Taliban.

Pakistani commentators generally greeted the new Obama policy toward their country with skepticism. (See below).

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page