Seems that Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani is now in Pervez Musharraf’s shoes, even though presidential elections aren’t until Saturday: The role of being a marked man, that is. Multiple shots were fired at Gilani’s motorcade near Islamabad’s airport today, and at least two bullets struck the bulletproof window. More:

“The Taliban said it was behyind the attack and said it was targeting Gilani because he was responsible for offensives against their fighters in the country’s northwest.


‘We will continue such attacks on government officials and installations,’ Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the group, said.


…Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera’s correspondent, who was at the scene of the assasination attempt, said questions would be asked about the lack of security.


‘The question is how the sniper was able to conceal himself and how he was able to make his escape,’ he said.


…Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Islamabad, said the prime minister was returning from a meeting in Lahore yesterday and was due to travel to his residence after arriving at Islamabad’s airport.


‘This was a highly-skilled sniping attempt, given the vehicles were moving at high speed,’ he said.”

Expect militants to step up attacks against those in the transitional government and the fragile opposition coalition that took down Musharraf. They’re hoping for a distracting power vacuum that could give them a valuable foothold in the country.

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)