Over the past year of growing violence and chaos in Pakistan, the Karachi Stock Exchange has surged more than 44%, placing it among the world's top-performing stock markets according to Bloomberg. (NYT [8], Oct. 3) On Sept. 29, a bomb placed in a Peshawar marketplace killed more than 40 and injured over 100. (BBC News [9], Oct. 1) On Oct. 3, Taliban militiants attacked the headquarters of local chieftain Nabi Hanafi Karwan in Spin Thall, Bulandkhel district, Orakzai agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas. A car bomb and suicide attacker overwhelmed the guards, and gunmen followed, killing 17. Nabi Hanfi has been leading an anti-Taliban militia. (The News [10], Pakistan, Oct. 4; AP [11], Oct. 3)
In Baluchistan, where a Sept. 24 earthquake left 500 dead in a remote area, Baluch Liberation Front commander Allah Nazar has rejected government appeals for a ceasefire while rescue operations are underway. He told Reuters that the army "are directly involved in the large-scale killings of Baluch men. They want to crush us and make money from the disaster relief." Two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the region Oct. 2. (Reuters [12], Oct. 2)
Baluchistan is Pakistan's chief oil and gas producing region; hydrocarbon infrastructure has repeatedly been attacked by the rebels, and a greater local share of the wealth it generates is a key grievance. (IBT [13], Sept. 14) Pakistan's Oil and Gas Development Company [14] is one of the country's biggest publicly traded companies. (NYT [15], Oct. 3)
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