This time around militants have targeted a crowded mosque during friday prayers near the town of Jamrud in the Khyber tribal region of north-west Pakistan. The mosque collapsed after the suicide bomb attack which killed almost 48 people. These are official figures and actual numbers could be higher. It is not known whether Taleban insurgents or Shia-Sunni sectarian divide is responsible for the attack. This shows the extent of spread of violence in the interior regions of Pakistan.

Khyber agency in north-west Pakistan has been a nerve center after Pakistan’s security officials concentrated forces in the region to carry out operations probably coordinated by US intelligence officials to fight the al-Qaeda and other millitants who attack supply convoys of Nato forces in Afghanistan. So this attack could be retaliation by Taleban.  There have been instances of violent disputes between local tribal militias groups too.

They say religion is the main of cause of radical Islamists but this brutal attack on mosque does show that their fight is no longer about religion. It is about control over regions. It really reflects descent of Pakistan into total violent chaos where innocent men, woman and children continue to be biggest casualty.

Via BBC/Sky News