Pakistani Taliban Claim Lahore Bombing; ISI Possible Target

The death toll in the Lahore bombing on Wednesday was announced to be 26, with 250 wounded.

Aljazeera English suggests that an Inter-Services Intelligence building may have been among the targets.

The Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (The Movement of Pakistani Taliban) , led by Baitullah Mahsud, has claimed the Lahore bombing as its own operation.

Pakistan has put a bounty on the head of such Taliban leaders, including Mawlana Fazlullah.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials said Wednesday that the campaign to take over the city of Mingora, in which nearly 300 Pakistanis have been killed, is nearing a successful conclusion and that the city should be in government hands within 2 days.

Pakistani businesses, until recently thriving to the extent that Pakistan was being referred to as a new Asian tiger, have fallen on hard times. The military campaign in Swat has had negative effects, along with declining world demand.

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