Old 01-22-14, 04:51 AM
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Caretaker
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Spanish cyclist escapes, six guards don't

This news item in today's Guardian newspaper has got me thinking about the morality of touring in an area where you need an armed guard.

I'm sure the cyclist (presumably touring) in question is feeling bad today and feeling to some degree responsible for the deaths of six and injuries to others.

Whatever the reasons for someplace being too dangerous to tour maybe it's time to say 'give it a miss till the situation improves' and choose a different route.

Gunmen shot dead six guards protecting a Spanish cyclist on Wednesday in a violent and remote area of western Pakistan where a bus bomb killed 24 Shia pilgrims a day earlier.

The cyclist, who suffered minor wounds, had crossed into Pakistan's western province of Baluchistan from Iran, they said. Six guards were wounded.

Police said they did not know why he was cycling through such a dangerous area. He was assigned the escort by security forces because the province is plagued by kidnappers, Taliban militants, a violent separatist insurgency, sectarian killers, paramilitary death squads and drug traffickers.

Two young Czech women taking the same route by bus were kidnapped in March and are still being held.

The cyclist and his guards were travelling through Mastung district when gunmen attacked. "Six of our security men have been killed trying to save the Spanish cyclist, who has suffered minor injuries," said Shafqat Anwar Shawani, the assistant police commissioner for Mastung district. One attacker was also killed, he said.
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