Attacks on three cities Thursday put Pakistan at the vortex of a "guerrilla war," with militants shuttering the nation's cultural capital of Lahore - a city of dance and music that had once vowed to stand up to the Taliban.
Coordinated assaults in quick succession targeted three security facilities in Lahore, underscoring the ability of militants to strike anywhere, while Pakistan's army prepares for a ground assault on a militant stronghold near the Afghan border more than 300 miles away.
Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the war against Islamic militants, has been hit by major attacks nearly every other day since a suicide bomber made it inside a secure U.N. compound in the capital, Islamabad, on Oct. 5. Five U.N. workers died in that assault, and more than 150 people have been killed in terrorist attacks since.
"The enemy has started a guerrilla war. The whole nation should be united against these handful of terrorists, and God willing we will defeat them," Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. With attacks in Peshawar and Kohat, officials put Thursday's death toll at least 40.
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