| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Attackers kill Pakistani intelligence official |
| 2003-03-04 |
| Gunmen killed a Pakistani intelligence official Tuesday in a border area near Afghanistan. Sher Nawaz Khan was killed by at least two attackers as he rode a motorbike to work in the border town of Wana, 180 miles south of Peshawar, the officials said. Somehow the image of a middle aged political functionary riding to work on a vespa, doesnt fill me with fear. The article doesnt mention if its a "shiny new" motorbike, and if he had wads of american dollar bills hanging out of his pants. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The gunmen followed Khan in a car then shot him repeatedly after knocking him off the motorbike, officials said. Khan was an official with InterServices Intelligence agency. "was" being the operative word here. In June, a group of al-Qaida suspects opened fire on Pakistani troops in nearby Azam Warsak, starting a gunbattle that killed 10 Pakistani soldiers. Two al-Qaida suspects also died, one was captured and dozens escaped. Let me see if I get this straight, Al-qaida has decided to start fighting the Pakistanis? First rule when you find yourself in a hole, is to stop digging. Apparently, thats just more of my peculiar western thinking at work again. |
| Posted by:Frank Martin |
| #4 It would be worthwhile to know 'exactly' where this guy was killed. These actions might be random (probably not) and it would make me think that the location where he was killed and nearby surroundings were worth close inspection. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2003-03-04 14:28:08 |
| #3 good point patrick - but when much of the press doesnt even recognize the ISI/Musaharaf distinction, its real hard to get find good info on different factions within ISI - I suspect even the Pakistani press doesnt present much on that - am I right??? I mean getting info on internal politics in secret agency is well, a job for professionals, no?? This war will be fascinating to read about after its over, but for now there is too much fog of war, and your point is at the heart of that fog. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-03-04 14:11:31 |
| #2 A lot of the commentary on this site has suggested that the ISI is an Islamist / al-Qaida tool. I've always suspected that it's factionalized between pro-Islamist and pro-Sanity factions. It'll be interesting to see if this killing (combined with the capture of KSM) heralds a shift within the ISI -- or the beginning of a civil war within the ISI. |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-03-04 14:06:21 |
| #1 They need to take Dire Revenge®. The ISI was the agency that captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. If you're taking Dire Revenge®, you just pick somebody and bang 'em. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-03-04 13:58:04 |