The blast in Lahore

It was not the first blast to hit Lahore, but Wednesday's blast was different. It not only took place in the midst of a military operation against the militants in the Malakand division, but it also took place in the midst of a campaign to assist those displaced by the operation which was now focused on Swat and Buner districts. It was also noteworthy that the militants were using Lahore to get in their strikes. In view of previous suicide-bombings in Lahore, it may well happen that, despite all the precautions of the MQM, the next place to experience this sort of terror will be Karachi. However, it may be that the terrorists have found that, in Lahore, the symbols of the state which they are trying so hard to target are easier for them to hit. In Lahore, they are after all federal institutions, or rather federal offices, in a provincial capital, and it is to be presumed that the level of security observed will be lower than that observed in the headquarters of the institutions themselves. One reason is that federal offices inevitably attract those officials who have 'good reason' to be there permanently, usually for personal reasons, often involving family. Because of this, the provincial capitals and the divisional offices in the main Centre of population are not really officered on merit, but on a sort of 'need basis'. Obviously, this is not very conducive to security.
The bombing on Wednesday appears targeted at the ISI, whose Lahore office was across the road from the actual target. It was not really targeted against the '15' office that was actually hit, and which was as provincial as the Police Training School at Manawan. It may well be too much of a price to pay, what with a senior ISI official dying in the blast, but this blast should prove groundless all the USA's suspicions of ISI backing of the militants. However, that is unlikely. The last time the militants carried out an operation against the ISI, it was at its Islamabad headquarters. And it was then that the USA made the bulk of its accusations. Therefore, as seems likely, the USA will only react as it sees fit, in accordance with its national interest, in disregard of the facts on the ground. It is thus no more than likely that the accusations against the ISI, which have been fomented by an enemy agency belonging to a hostile power (India's RAW), will not be withdrawn. Yet there is the possibility of its having itself been responsible for the blast, as operations in Lahore are always easier than anywhere else in Pakistan.