Violence-hit Pakistan locks down the capital for an Asian security meeting

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shaken by multiple militant attacks, Pakistani authorities have locked down the capital in a major security move as senior officials from several nations arrive for an Asian security group meeting.

A three-day holiday started Monday in normally bustling Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi. The government deployed troops and blocked key roads, making it difficult even for ambulances to pass through. Some doctors asked police to remove barricades so they could go to hospitals but were instead asked to take longer routes.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Tuesday with leaders and officials attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting.

The main event of the meeting is on Wednesday, when leaders and officials discuss how to boost security cooperation and economic ties. The group was founded in 2001 by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. Other members include Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Militants in recent weeks have killed dozens of people in multiple attacks in restive northwestern and southwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Security experts say militants have limited capacity to strike in Islamabad.

Pakistan often blames the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, who have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, for the violence. Afghanistan’s Taliban government says it does not allow anyone to use its soil for attacks against any country.

Two Chinese engineers were killed on Oct. 6 in a suicide bombing outside the airport in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. A separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the past, Pakistanis used to line up along the main roads to welcome any dignitaries visiting the country, but authorities said they had to take harsh security measures this time because of fears of militant attacks. Only state media are allowed to cover the meetings.

Among those attending are Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.

Although Jaishankar is visiting the country for the first time in more than a decade, he is not expected to hold separate bilateral meetings with Pakistani officials.

The two South Asian neighbors have a history of bitter relations, and former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also did not hold any bilateral meetings with Indian officials when he visited New Delhi last year to attend an SCO summit.

Chinese Premier Li met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday, according to a government statement. It said they reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation in areas such as the economy, investment and regional connectivity, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Chinese infrastructure project under construction in Pakistan.

Zardari offered his condolences over the killing of the two Chinese engineers. He said the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship were trying to undermine bilateral relations by targeting Chinese citizens and attempting to disrupt CPEC projects, the statement said.

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, Tajikistan's Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda, front left, listens to his Pakistani counterpart Shehbad Sharif ahead of an Asian security group meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, Tajikistan's Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda, left, shakes hand with his Pakistani counterpart Shehbad Sharif prior to an an Asian security group meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, India's Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar receives a flower bouquet from a girl upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, ahead of an Asian security group meeting. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, India's Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, second left, is greeted by a Pakistani official upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, second left, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, right, greets Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

An army vehicle moves past a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed along a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang reviews the guard of honor during a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, third left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, third right, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang, left, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attend a attends a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lawyers for 100 survivors and relatives of victims of the deadliest shooting in Maine history have begun the formal process of suing the U.S. Army and an Army hospital for what they say was a failure to act to stop the reservist responsible for the crime, attorneys announced Tuesday.

The individual notices of claim say the Army was aware of the reservist's mental health decline that left him paranoid, delusional and expressing homicidal ideations, producing a “hit list” of those he wanted to attack.

“It is difficult to conceive of a case in which Army personnel could have more warning signs and opportunities to intervene to prevent a service member from committing a mass shooting than what happened in the case of Army Reservist Robert Card,” lawyers wrote in their notices mailed Friday.

The notices of claim by four law firms are a required step in suing the federal government. The Army will have six months to determine whether to respond, after which a lawsuit may be filed. The Army had no immediate response Tuesday.

Eighteen people were killed when the 40-year-old Card opened fire at two locations he'd frequented — a bowling alley and a cornhole league hosted by a bar and grill — on Oct. 25, 2023. An additional 13 people were injured. Card was found dead by suicide two days later.

An independent commission appointed by Maine's governor concluded that there were ample opportunities to intervene by both civilian law enforcement and the Army. For now, lawyers for victims, as well as relatives and friends who suffered loss, are focusing on the Army, not on a private hospital that treated Card or on civilian law enforcement.

The Department of Defense, U.S. Army and Army Keller Hospital “broke its promises, failed to act reasonably, violated its own polices and procedures and disregarded directives and orders,” the claim said.

In September 2023, when Card threatened to “shoot up” an armory and his friend warned of "a mass shooting,” the Army did not provide critical background about two doctors recommending that Card not have access to weapons when it requested that local law enforcement officers check on his well-being, the claims said. Card's commanding officer even downplayed the threat by undercutting the credibility of the soldier who issued the warning and by declining to share all information at his disposal, the claims said.

Cynthia Young, whose husband, William, and 14-year-old son, Aaron, were killed at the bowling alley, said in a statement that the pain and trauma never go away. “As terrible as the shooting was, it’s even more tragic that there were many opportunities to prevent this and they were not taken,” she added.

The filings said there may have been a time when mass shootings were so rare that they couldn’t be predicted, but “that has not been true in America for decades.”

“Mass shootings, like what happened in Lewiston, are an epidemic in America. Consequently, those in positions of responsibility and authority are required to appreciate the warning signs and behaviors that telegraph the risk of mass violence, take them seriously, and act to prevent their occurrence," the claims said.

FILE - A man photographs a make-shift memorial at the base of the Lewiston sign at Veteran's Memorial Park, Oct. 29, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - A woman visits a makeshift memorial outside Sparetime Bowling Alley, the site of a mass shooting, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - Rain-soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - Law enforcement personnel are staged in a school parking lot during a manhunt for Robert Card in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE — In this image taken from New York State Police body camera video that was obtained by WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, Maine, New York State Police interview Army reservist Robert Card, the man responsible for Maine's deadliest mass shooting, at Camp Smith, in Cortlandt, N.Y., July 16, 2023. (WMTW-TV 8/New York State Police via AP, File)

FILE - Law enforcement gather outside Schemengee's Bar and Grille, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)