Struggle for influence between Zardari and Sharif has pushed Pakistan further into chaos in the last couple of months. The country was already in turmoil because of rising militancy in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), an economic slump, and the growing strength of Islamic fundamentalists demonstrated by the brazen attack against visiting Sri Lankan cricket players earlier this month. In broad daylight (around 9 a.m. local time) gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the players, killing six security personnel.

In order to establish some sort of control over its territory in NWFP (the Swat Valley), now under heavy Taliban influence, the Pakistani government signed a peace agreement with the militants. Now, Taliban rules the valley and is introducing Shariah law in the area. According to Bloomberg, they have already replaced government-appointed judges with mullahs.

Rising militancy is not limited to the remote NWFP; even big cities are getting hit. AFP says that earlier today a suicide bomber killed 14 people in the city of Rawalpindi. Last month an American UN official was kidnapped by separatist militants in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan. He has not been released and is said to be seriously ill.

Bhumika Ghimire