MOTERCYCLE SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 6

A suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle rammed a bus in the Choor Chowk area of Rawalpindi on 2 July 2009. The blast caused extensive material damage, killed at least six people and injured at least 25 others. The bus was carrying government employees. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) -- the main umbrella group for Taliban militants in Pakistan -- has carried out several attacks throughout Pakistan in recent weeks in retaliation for the Pakistani army's ongoing offensive in the Swat Valley in the North-West Frontier Province. Rawalpindi, which is located 7 mi/12 km south of Islamabad, is the headquarters of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The army is expected to soon launch a major offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan, a stronghold of TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud that is located in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan. The threat of further terrorist attacks in Pakistan remains high. In another development, Norway has temporarily closed its embassy in Islamabad through at least 3 July after the embassy received a threatening letter. The embassy has not confirmed whether the letter was connected to the recent arrest of a man accused of planning to attack Western embassies in Islamabad. The Pakistani government stated that the Norwegian, Swedish, Czech, Hungarian, Italian and South African embassies were possible targets.