Gunmen again target army officer in Pakistan

The militants hope the wave of attacks, which has killed some 300 civilians and security forces in the past month, will weaken the army's resolve as it pushes deeper into South Waziristan, the mountainous stronghold of the Taliban and al-Qaida in Pakistan.

Gunmen opened fire on the army officer, who holds the rank of brigadier, shortly after he drove from his home in a residential district of Islamabad, said police official Khan Khurshid Khan. The gunmen sped away after the attack, he said.

Hospital official Arshad Khokhar said the brigadier and the soldier, who was also in the vehicle, were in stable condition. A brigadier is equivalent to a brigadier general in the U.S. Army.

The brigadier was wearing civilian clothes when he left his home in his official vehicle, said Khan. Such vehicles often bear army insignia on the license plates.

It was unclear if the officer was involved in the South Waziristan offensive, which was launched in mid-October.

The shooting followed two similar attacks against army officers last month in Islamabad.

Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed a brigadier and a soldier on Oct. 22 as they were riding in an army jeep in Islamabad in what was believed to be the first assassination of an army officer in the capital.

Less than a week later, gunmen attacked another brigadier as he was driving to a bank in Islamabad with his mother, but they escaped unharmed.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicions fell on the Pakistani Taliban, which has declared war on the government because the group deems it unIslamic and is angry about its support for the U.S. war on terror.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for scores of attacks in Pakistan, many of them carried out by suicide bombers. The recent shootings could indicate the militants are turning to targeted assassinations to stoke even more fear.

The Pakistani army has vowed to continue the South Waziristan offensive despite the increase in militant attacks. The military says hundreds of insurgents have been killed in the operation and hundreds more have been wounded.

A Taliban spokesman disputed the army's claims earlier this week, saying the group has not lost even a dozen fighters. The militants say they are intentionally drawing the army farther into the isolated region to trap them as winter approaches.

Details are impossible to confirm since South Waziristan has been sealed off to outsiders since the offensive began. Journalists have only been allowed in on carefully orchestrated government trips.

The Pakistani government has been eager to portray the militants as on their heels. Pakistani intelligence officials shared a speech intercepted Thursday with the Pakistani Taliban leader warning his fighters they will go to hell if they flee the army offensive.

The authenticity of the speech, which was broadcast over a wireless radio network Tuesday, could not be independently confirmed.

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