Major Pakistan Bombings Kill 75 Over Two Days

Deadliest Bombings of 2011 on Back to Back Days

Three high profile bombings over the past 48 hours have left at least 75 people killed and scores of others wounded across Pakistan, and suggest that the Spring escalation has come a bit early in Pakistan.

Yesterday, of course, we had a TTP bombing targeting the ISI building in Faisalabad, where a bomber destroyed a nearby gas station, killing 32 but going absolutely no damage to the ISI itself. It was the second biggest attack of 2011, up to that point.

But today, another bomber loyal to the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan launched an attack on a funeral just outside of Peshawar, killing 37 people, which  is the biggest attack of the year. The funeral was for a tribal elder who was assembling an anti-Taliban militia.

In addition, a third attack, involving a land mine in Dera Bugti, killed another six people and wounded 19 others. So far it is unclear who is responsible for this one, but the odds seem good, as ever, that it is one of the many militant factions in the region.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.