A suicide car bomber attacked the ISI headquarters and another attacked a police station today, both in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 20 people and wounding 85 others.
The attacks were just the latest of several in and around the key northern city this week alone, and today’s strikes hit the highest profile targets. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the largest and most secretive of Pakistan’s several spy agencies.
That particular target comes as something of a surprise, particularly, as US officials have repeatedly accused the ISI of being secretly in league with the assorted Taliban factions in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
Of course, no group has yet claimed credit for the attack, so it is entirely possible that the bombing was not carried out by the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). But as they have launched dozens of attacks across Pakistan since the military’s invasion of South Waziristan, they will almost certainly be the top suspects.