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DE RUEHPW #0447 2600401
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O 160401Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL PESHAWAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7621
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 4388
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI IMMEDIATE 1613
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE IMMEDIATE 1606
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 0890
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL IMMEDIATE 1237
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA IMMEDIATE 0512
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 0650
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE IMMEDIATE 0560
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO IMMEDIATE 0513
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA IMMEDIATE 0602
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUMICEA/USSOCOM INTEL OPS CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4652

C O N F I D E N T I A L PESHAWAR 000447 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  9/16/2018 
TAGS: PTER MOPS PGOV PK
SUBJECT: SUICIDE BOMBING NEAR PESHAWAR PICKING UP AGAIN? 
 
REF: PESHAWAR 435 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne M. Tracy, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate 
Peshawar, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (a), (b), (d) 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
¶1. (C) After a lull in suicide bombings in the Peshawar area 
following the February elections, the militants seem to be 
employing the tactic in the provincial capital vicinity in the 
wake of sustained military operations in Bajaur and Swat.  A 
suicide truck bomber killed approximately 40, including eight 
policemen September 6, 15 kilometers south of Peshawar.  The 22 
year old bomber was stopped by police short of his likely 
intended target: the NWFP Provincial Assembly.  This was the 
second suicide attack in the vicinity of Peshawar during the 
last month.  The attacker likely drove from Dara Adam Khel, 
where GOP is currently conducting one of its three military 
operations.  In Nowshera on September 8, local authorities 
intercepted a young man wearing a vest with explosives.  With 
continuing operations in the FATA and Swat by the GOP it remains 
to be seen if the likely additional attempts by suicide bombers 
will be prevented. 
 
¶2. (C) A suicide bombing near Peshawar on September 6, killed up 
to 40, including eight policemen, and wounded 80 others.  Police 
at the Zangli checkpost, near the southern entrance to Peshawar, 
stopped a pickup truck, whose driver then detonated his vehicle. 
 According to Consulate police contacts, the likely target was 
the NWFP Provincial Assembly building in Peshawar, while members 
were voting for Pakistan's new president. 
 
¶3. (C) The Zangli police checkpost, on the Peshawar-Kohat Road, 
known as the Indus Highway, is approximately 15 kilometers south 
of Peshawar city.  The explosion destroyed the police checkpost 
and approximately 40 shops on both sides of the road.  Law 
enforcement estimates of the weight of the explosives range from 
40 kg to 150 kg.  The explosion at Zangli created an eight foot 
long and four foot deep crater on the road.  Local taliban from 
Dara Adam Khel claimed responsibility for the bombing. 
 
¶4. (C) The September 6 explosion at Zangli checkpost was the 
second successful attack in the Peshawar vicinity in the last 
month.  On September 8, in Nowshera, a seventeen or eighteen 
year old young man was intercepted by police wearing a vest 
packed with explosives.  A military convoy was the intended 
target.  On August 12, a roadside remote-control bombing of a 
Pakistan Air Force bus in Peshawar killed 11 Air Force personnel 
(Reftel).  Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistian (TTP) spokesman Maulvi 
Omar was quoted by local press as warning the government that 
more such attacks would be made across the country if the 
military operations in Darra Adam Khel, Swat and Bajaur were not 
immediately stopped. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶5. (C) This latest suicide bombing appears to mark a renewed 
determination by the militants to resume strikes in Peshawar 
that had largely subsided after peace deals were struck earlier 
this year.  Some attacks outside of Peshawar had continued, most 
recently and notably the suicide bombing at the Pakistan 
Ordnance Factories outside Rawalpindi on August 21.  The attacks 
in the Peshawar vicinity appear to be picking up again as the 
military press militants in Bajaur and Swat as well as in areas 
south of Peshawar around Dara Adam Khel and Hangu.  Although the 
Police succeeded in stopping what may have been a major attack 
on a government institution, it was at a cost of eight of their 
own.  With the continuing GOP operations additional suicide 
bombing attempts by the militants are likely. 
 
TRACYLM