Pakistan Edges Toward Civil War

Is Pakistan going to war? The series of attacks from the Tehrik-i-Taliban and other jidahi groups in Pakistan the last two weeks are capable of inciting civil war, says the Financial Times. The jidahi offensive, which has blatantly targeted the U.N. and Pakistan’s police and army, comes directly in the wake of the assassination of Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, and overlaps with the army’s attacks in South Waziristan (a response to the Taliban’s attack on army headquarters in Rawalpindi 10 days ago). The targeting of the pluralist Punjab, the army’s alliance with jihadi groups, and the decline of mainstream Islamist parties in political polls have all contributed to a fertile breeding ground for war.