Breaking News: Pakistan Mosque Attack Kills 30

The BBC are reporting that upwards of 30 people have been killed in a bomb attack on a mosque near the Swat valley in north-western Pakistan. It appears to be part of a wider offensive timed to coincide with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke’s visit to the country, as Reuters report:

“Earlier on Friday, police arrested suicide bombers in Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s interior minister said, as U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke consulted the country’s leaders on what needs to be done once the army wipes out the Taliban in Swat valley.

Roadblocks have multiplied in recent days in both the capital and Rawalpindi, where the army is headquartered, over fears of attacks in retaliation against the Swat offensive.”

Coming just days after the bombing of the police station in Lahore, this is yet another stark reminder that Muslims are the primary victims of Islamist violence. All the more so given that this bombing was timed to coincide with Friday prayers. Can there be any acts more despicable than targeting innocents going about their weekly pious duties?