Source/Credit: CIA, BBC, SBS
By SBS | May 3, 2011
It's no secret that Pakistan is a troubled country.
Since its separation from India in 1947, and the further division of East Pakistan to become Bangladesh in 1971, the country's internal politics have never successfully reconciled the demands of its varied ethnic and language groups.
This has left communities in particularly impoverished areas open to penetration by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, who build schools and infrastructure in order to gain power, as well as employing terror.
The assassination of popular, democratic ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007 further inflamed divisions and left moderate Paksitani political groups with few options for a unifying leader.
Pakistan is also a major centre for the production of illicit drugs including heroin, opium, morphine, and hashish, bound for Iran, Western markets, the Gulf States, Africa, and Asia.
In 2007, there were an estimated 2,300 hectares used for opium poppy cultivation. Around 600 hectares were eradicated as part of a government campaign, but the trade continues to boom.
Militancy and Islamic extremism have always been an issue - especially in the Waziristan province that borders Afghanistan and the north-western Swat Valley, but there has been much more activity in recent years.
In December 2007, Asif Ali Zardari - the widower of Benazir Bhutto - was voted in to power as head of her party, forcing Pervez Musharraf to resign.
Musharraf had allied himself with the US in its 'War on Terror', but he opposed the use of military force on al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents, whereas Zardari expressed no such sentiment.
Major recent incidents
There have been scores of suicide attacks in Pakistan over the past decade. The following is a look at some of the most deadly.
In January, 2008 around 90 fighters were killed in clashes in South Waziristan, where Islamic militants openly challenged the army.
In September, the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was devastated in a suicide truck bombing which left at least 50 dead, and Islamic groups claim responsibility.
In November, militants reached the Indian city of Mumbai from Pakistani waters and beseiged various luxury hotels and tourist spots, killing 164 people and injuring 308 over the course of three days.
India pointed the finger at Pakistan, and demanded it act. Islamabad denied involvement but promised to co-operate with India's investigation.
Sharia law
In February, 2009, Pakistan's government implemented Sharia law in the troubled Swat valley in a bid to broker a permanent ceasefire with militants there.
The US perceived this as territory being ceded to militant groups.
The following month, gunmen in attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Five policemen were killed and seven players hurt.
Another 40 people were killed when gunmen stormed a police academy in Lahore shortly afterwards.
The Swat agreement was not enough to prevent Taliban-linked militants seeking to extend their power-base, and broke down in April, 2009, forcing the government to launch an offensive after militants took over.
By July, Pakistan and India pledged to work together to fight terrorism, despite their continuing conflicts on other matters.
In August, almost one year after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan issued a global alert for 13 suspects. A US drone killes the leader of Pakistan's Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, in South Waziristan the same month.
Hakimullah Mehsud becomes the new Taliban leader, pledging revenge for the strike that killed his predecessor.
A suicide bombing in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed 120 people shortly after his pledge.
In January of 2010, a suicide attack on a volleyball match in north-west left more than 100 people dead.
In August of that year, the worst floods almost a century killed at least 1,600 people and displace up to 20 million. Poverty across the nation is exacerbated, sparking fears of more violent extremism.
The next month, a series of US drone strikes in the north-west angers Pakistan, and it temporarily suspended NATO's supply route into Afghanistan.
In December, 50 people were killed in a double suicide attack in Mohmand, near the Afghan border, during a gathering of tribal elders.
A new issue emerged in early in 2011, after Punjab governor Salman Taseer voiced support for the amendment of harsh blasphemy laws that allow prosecution over slights to Islam.
Taseer was killed in Januaary by his own bodyguard, who was angered he had criticized the laws.
Osama Bin Laden
On May 2, 2011, US President Barack Obama announced the killing of al-Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden - widely credited with ordering the September 11 terror attacks on New York's World Trade Centre that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The discovery of Bin Laden living in Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital, in a mansion, is likely to strain US relations with Pakistan and Zardari, a proclaimed US ally.
Former president Musharraf has already spoken out about the attack, saying the US violated Pakistani sovereignty in carrying out the operation.
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