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Pakistani soldiers patrol near a check post along the road leading from South Waziristan to Dera Ismail Khan - Source: Reuters -
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Suspected Taliban militants shot and killed a Pakistani army
brigadier and his driver in the capital as the military continued a
major offensive against the insurgents in their strongholds near
the Afghan border.
Exposing the country's frayed nerves, the stock market dipped
nearly three percent on false reports that a bomb had been found
and shots fired at a courthouse in the capital, Islamabad.
The false alarm came as the country remained on high alert for
possible retaliatory strikes by Taliban militants while the army
attacks their strongholds in South Waziristan.
The offensive is a test of the government's determination to tackle
Islamic fundamentalists, and the campaign is being closely followed
by the US and other powers embroiled in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, suspected militants shot and killed Brigadier
Moin-ud-din Ahmed, deputy force commander of the United Nations
Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), who was on vacation in Islamabad.
"Everyone in the mission is very shocked," Kouider Zerrouk, UNMIS
spokesman said.
UNMIS, one of the world's largest UN peacekeeping missions with
around 11,000 personnel, was set up to monitor and support the 2005
peace deal than ended the two-decade civil war between Sudan's
north and south.
Ahmed, whose rank is equivalent to a US brigadier-general, one step
below a full one-star general, is the second senior officer to be
killed in less than two weeks following a commando-style raid on
army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
A shopkeeper, Naveed Haider, said he saw a man running, his face
covered with a yellow cloth, before he heard gunshots.
"A man with a motorbike was waiting for him on the street. He sat
on it and they fled," the witness said before taken away by police
for questioning.
Police said Brigadier Haider's driver was also killed and a
bodyguard wounded.
Pakistani forces launched an offensive on Saturday to take control
of lawless South Waziristan after militants rocked the country with
a string of bomb and suicide attacks, killing more than 150
people.
Analysts have warned of the possibility of more urban attacks as
the militants are squeezed out of their strongholds, with the
Taliban hoping bloodshed and disruption will cause the government
and ordinary people to lose their appetite for the offensive.
On Tuesday, two suicide bombers attacked an Islamic university in
Islamabad, killing at least four people, and the next day
authorities ordered schools and colleges to close across the
country.
The KSE-index fell three percent on Thursday's false rumours
of an incident at a courthouse, but recovered to close down 1.01%
at 9,154.00 after falling 3.36%.
"Investors are very jittery at this point due to the law and order
situation," said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at brokers' Arif Habib
Ltd.
Remote and rugged South Waziristan, with its rocky mountains and
patchy forests cut through by dry creeks and ravines, is a global
hub for militants.
About 28,000 soldiers are battling an estimated 10,000 hard-core
Taliban, including about 1,000 tough Uzbek fighters and some Arab
al Qaeda members.
The army said 24 militants and two soldiers were killed in the
fighting on Thursday.
Foreign reporters are not allowed anywhere near the battle zone and
it is dangerous even for Pakistani reporters to visit.
Independent confirmation of casualty figures has not been
possible.
More than 100,000 civilians have fled the area, with about 32,000
of them leaving since October 13, the United Nations said.
The army has launched brief offensives in South Waziristan before,
the first in 2004 when it suffered heavy casualties before striking
a peace pact.
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