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http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/suicide_bomber_kills_11.php

“Suicide bomber kills 22 border guards at Torkham crossing in Pakistan”
By BILL ROGGIO
August 27, 2009 1:27 PM

SNIPPET: “A Taliban suicide bomber killed 22 Pakistani border guards at the main crossing to Afghanistan in the first attack since Hakeemullah Mehsud took command of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. The new leader of the Pakistani Taliban made good on yesterday’s threat to retaliate for the death of the group’s former leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US airstrike on Aug. 5.

A teenaged suicide bomber directly targeted border security forces as they gathered for the Iftar meal at their barracks at the Torkham crossing in the Khyber tribal agency.

“The guards were about to break their fast when a teenaged boy carrying a bottle of Pepsi walked toward them and blew himself up,” a witness to the attack told Reuters.

While no group has claimed credit for the attack, Taliban forces under the command of Hakeemullah are the prime suspect. Between November 2008 and April 2009, Hakeemullah’s fighters destroyed more than 700 vehicles and shipping containers in Khyber and Peshawar, and forced the closure of the Khyber Pass six times.

Just yesterday Hakeemullah threatened to avenge the death of Baitullah, and specifically mentioned the United States as the primary target.

“We will take revenge and soon,” said Hakeemullah, who was chosen last weekend to lead the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. “We will give our reply to this drone attack to America.””

UPDATE to post no. 5:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/pakistan_taliban_tak.php

“Pakistan Taliban take credit for Khyber suicide attack”
By BILL ROGGIO
August 28, 2009 10:43 AM

SNIPPET: “The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s deadly suicide attack at the Torkham border crossing in Khyber. The attack killed 22 Pakistani border guards as they prepared to break fast for the Ramadan meal.

Tariq Azam, the new spokesman for Hakeemullah Mehsud and the Pakistani Taliban, said the attack was aimed at the US and was a response to the assassination of former leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed after an Aug. 5 airstrike in South Waziristan.

“We claim responsibility for the blast,” Tariq told AFP.

“This is our first response since the death of our chief Baitullah Mehsud,” Tariq continued. “We will continue similar attacks in the future also.”

The Taliban conducted the attack at Torkham because the crossing is used by the US to move supplies into Afghanistan. “The victims of the suicide attack were all those supporting the United States,” Tariq said. “Anybody supporting the US is our enemy.”

Earlier a group called the Abdullah Azzam Brigade took credit for the attack. The Abdullah Azzam Brigade is based in Arakzai, and is one of the units commanded by Hakeemullah Mehsud.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigade is named after the influential jihadi ideologue who co-founded al Qaeda along with Osama bin Laden. Its members include Taliban fighters from the Arakzai-based Commander Tariq Group as well as Arabs from the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

Zawahiri urges Pakistanis to fight the government

The same day the Taliban took credit for the Khyber attack, Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s second in command, released a tape on the Internet urging Pakistanis to battle their government and their Army.”