Attack targets official motorcade in Pakistan

Gunshots today struck a motorcade that was apparently en route to pick up Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gillani, but he was not in the procession at the time, police and aides to the prime minister said.

However, the incident, being treated by Pakistani authorities as an assassination attempt, was a worrying reminder of the instability gripping the nuclear-armed U.S. ally, which is in the midst of battling a growing Islamist insurgency.

Gillani, who took office less than six months ago, had flown from the capital to the eastern city of Lahore for a visit. The attack targeted an official motorcade that some aides to the prime minister said was on the way to pick him up, but his office refused to confirm that, citing security reasons.

Decoy motorcades, together with last-minute changes of route or mode of transport, are sometimes used when senior Pakistani officials are traveling, in order to deter potential attackers.

Former President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month, was the target of multiple assassination attempts. And the head of Gillani’s Pakistan People’s Party, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated on Dec. 27.

Gillani’s press secretary, Zahid Bashir, initially issued a statement saying shots had been fired at the prime minister’s car but that he was uninjured, leading to erroneous reports that he had been in the car or the motorcade at the time the shots were fired.

Gillani was taken by helicopter to the prime minister’s residence, said an aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Police said the shots were apparently fired from a hill overlooking the road toward the airport on which the motorcade was traveling. Pakistani television showed bullet impact marks on the driver’s-side window of the armored black Mercedes, but they did not penetrate the vehicle.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pakistan’s Taliban movement has threatened retribution for government forces’ recent offensive in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. The government suspended military operations this week in deference to the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but said troops would respond to any attack by militants.

Special correspondent Zaidi reported from Islamabad and staff writer King from Istanbul, Turkey.

 laura.king@latimes.com