Major Taliban, militant attacks in Pakistan in recent years

ISLAMABAD —  Despite Pakistan’s intensified military operations in restive tribal areas following last year’s horrific Taliban massacre at a school in Peshawar, militants still have the ability to launch spectacular attacks on targets linked to the country’s military and government.

On Friday, a Taliban assault on a military base on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar left at least 29 dead, including 16 worshippers gunned down in a mosque during prayers.

Here is a look at some major attacks in recent years in Pakistan by the Taliban and other militants.

2015:

—Sept. 18: Taliban storm a military air base used as a residential area on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing 29 people, including 16 who were praying inside a mosque.

—Aug. 16: A suicide bombing at the home of Punjab province’s home minister Shuja Khanzada kills 18 people, including the minister and a senior police officer.

—May 29: Gunmen hijack a bus and kill 22 people near Pishin district in southwestern Baluchistan province.

—May 13: Gunmen storm a bus carrying Shiite Muslims in southern city of Karachi and kill 45 people.

—April, 11: Gunmen in restive southwestern Pakistan kill 20 workers at a dam construction site.

—March 17: Two suicide bombers attack two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore as worshippers prayed inside — killing 15 people.

—Feb. 14: Taliban militants storm a Shiite mosque in the city of Peshawar, killing 20 people.

—Jan. 30: A suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in southern city of Shikarpur kills 59 people.

2014:

— Dec.16: Militants attack an army run school killing over 150 people, mostly children.

—Nov. 2: Taliban suicide bomber kills 60 in attack on a paramilitary checkpoint close to the Wagah border crossing with India.

—June 9: Ten gunmen disguised as police guards attack a terminal at Pakistan’s busiest airport with machine guns and a rocket launcher, killing 13 people during a five-hour siege.

—June 8: A suicide bomber in the country’s southwest killed at least 23 Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran.

2013:

—Sept. 22: A twin suicide bomb blast in a Peshawar church kills at least 85 people.

—Aug. 17: Heavily armed Taliban fighters blast their way into a Pakistani air force base, leaving two security officers and nine insurgents dead.

—June 22: 10 Foreign climbers are killed by militants on Nanga Parbat, ninth highest mountain in world.

—March 3: Explosion in Karachi kills 45 Shiites outside a mosque.

—Jan. 10: Bombing in Shiite area of southern city of Quetta kills 81 people.

2012:

—Nov. 22: A Taliban suicide bomber struck a Shiite Muslim procession in the city of Rawalpindi, near Pakistan’s capital, killing 23 people.

—Jan. 5: Taliban shoot and kill 15 Pakistani frontier police after holding them hostage for more than a year.

2011:

—Sept. 20: Militants kill at least 26 Shiites on a bus near the southern city of Quetta.

—May 23: Pakistani commandos recapture a major naval base from Taliban attackers who struck to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid. Militants destroyed two U.S.-supplied surveillance aircraft and killed at least 10 personnel.

—May 13: A pair of Taliban suicide bombers attacks paramilitary police recruits in Shabqadar, killing 80, also in retaliation for bin Laden’s killing.

2010:

—Nov. 5: A suicide bomber strikes a Sunni mosque in Darra Adam Khel in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 67 during Friday prayers.

—Sept. 1: A triple Taliban suicide attack on a Shiite Muslim procession kills 65 in the southwestern city of Quetta.

—July 9: Two suicide bombers kill 102 people in the Mohmand tribal region.

—July 2: Suicide bombers attack Pakistan’s most revered Sufi shrine in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 47 people.

—May 29: Two militant squads armed with hand grenades, suicide vests and assault rifles attack two mosques of the Ahmadi minority sect in Lahore, killing 97.

—March 13: Two suicide bombers targeting army vehicles in Lahore kill more than 55 people.

—Jan. 1: A suicide bomber drives a truckload of explosives into a volleyball field in Lakki Marwat district in the northwest, killing at least 97 people.

2009:

—Dec. 28: Bomb blast kills at least 44 at a Shiite procession in the southern city of Karachi.

—Dec. 7: Two bombs kill 48 at a market in the eastern city of Lahore, while a suicide bomber kills 10 people outside a Peshawar courthouse.

—Oct. 9: A suicide car bomber hits a busy market area in Peshawar, killing 53.

—May 27: A suicide car bomber targets police and intelligence offices in the eastern city of Lahore, killing about 30 people.

—March 27: A suicide bomber demolishes a packed mosque near the northwestern town of Jamrud, killing about 50.

—March 3: Gunmen attack the Sri Lankan national cricket team in Lahore, wounding several of the players and killing six policemen and a driver.

2008

—Sept. 20: A suicide bomber devastates the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad with a truck full of explosives, killing at least 54.

—Aug. 21: Suicide bombers blow themselves up at two gates of a weapons factory in the town of Wah, killing at least 67 people.

2007

—Dec. 27: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and 20 other people are killed in a suicide bombing and shooting attack in Rawalpindi.

—Oct. 18: Suicide bombing aimed at Bhutto kills some 150 people in Karachi during celebrations welcoming her home from self-exile.

—July 3-11: An eight-day standoff between security forces and militants inside the compound of the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid, kills 102 people.

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