US weapons have mysteriously landed in the hands of terrorists in Pakistan. Now we have the Al Qaeda leadership freely accessing the foreign media in Afghanistan saying it would use Pakistani nukes against America. What is the US up to with Al Qaeda? Post-9/11 the world has had a memory lapse over the US-Al Qaeda connections especially when Sudan offered Bin Laden to the US but the latter allowed the Al Qaeda leader to move to Afghanistan. Pakistanis cannot be allowed to savor joy and success peacefully. Just when the nation was tumultuously enjoying the magical victory of our cricket team, the hard reality of our hostile environment post-9/11 clouded over us once again.For anyone who thought the US was not targeting our nuclear assets, the screaming headlines from the Afghan-based Al Qaeda leadership's interview to Al Jazeera brought the issue to the forefront once again with claims that, " Al Qaeda would use our nuclear assets against the US if they could. " ............... The absurdity of the statement notwithstanding, it can be explained only if seen as part of the campaign to legitimize a US/NATO takeover of our nuclear assets since our security prevents the US from taking them out physically.We have also seen US weapons mysteriously land in the hands of militants in Pakistan now we have the Al Qaeda leadership freely having access to the foreign media in Afghanistan. What is the US up to with Al Qaeda? Post-9/11 the world has had a memory lapse over the US-Al Qaeda connections especially when Sudan offered Bin Laden to the US but the latter allowed the Al Qaeda leader to move to Afghanistan!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Suicide bomber kills 2 troops in Azad Kashmir
Associated Press Writer= ISLAMABAD (AP) A suicide bomber blew himself up early Friday near an army vehicle, killing at least two soldiers in the first such assault in Pakistan's part of divided Kashmir, the military said, marking a possible escalation in the militant campaign against security forces.
The attack took place in Muzaffarabad, the region's capital. The military said in a statement three other soldiers were wounded and rushed to a nearby hospital.
Although Pakistan has witnessed scores of such attacks in recent months, Friday's blast was the first in its portion of Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and archrival India. Both nations claim the mountainous region in its entirety.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Without Pakistan's ISI !!!
Everyone in Washington and New Delhi mentions ISI when talking about terrorism. Really? What about the Israeli Mossad, the Indian RAW, and the American CIA? Who had links with Al-Qaeda all along? Certainly not the ISI. The fact is that ISI never had links with Al-Qaeda. Others did. And yes, ISI has links with some people inside the Afghan Taliban. But without this link, U.S. soldiers and others in Afghanistan would have been in a worse situation than they are in now.
Strategic Forecasting, Inc., the American private intelligence gathering company better known as STRATFOR, seems to have deviated from its policy of terse insightful articles by putting out a long rambling unsubstantiated tirade against the ISI, one of Pakistan's three major intelligence agencies.Recently the company produced a report that was immediately quoted in the western media, dubbing the ISI as a ‘rogue agency’ and a list of other accusations that accurately mirror the motivated and unsubstantiated statements made by the Indians, the U.S. officials and their puppet regime of Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
Full Story: http://www.daily.pk/politics/politicalnews/6765.html?task=view
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Taleban commander rival Qari Zainuddin killed in Pakistan
A pro-government tribal leader opposed to the Taleban chief Baitullah Mehsud was shot dead earlier today, dealing a serious blow to the Pakistani military's offensive against the militants in the lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Qari Zainuddin, the leader of a rival faction of Mr Mehsud’s tribe inhabiting the troubled South Waziristan region, was shot dead in his house in Dera Ismail Khan by a lone gunman, who escaped after firing.
The murder came as the military prepares an offensive against Mr Mehsud, who has been accused of a string of bomb attacks, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6559525.ece
Monday, June 22, 2009
Celebrations in Indian Kashmir after Pakistan win
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) — Residents in Indian-ruled Kashmir Sunday fired crackers in the region's main city after Pakistan beat Sri Lanka to win the World Twenty20 championship, witnesses said.
Srinagar -- the Kashmiri summer capital -- erupted in celebration after Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets and as scores of Kashmiri youth poured on to the streets and lit firecrackers.
The youths also chanted pro-Pakistan and pro-freedom slogans as Indian paramilitary troops stayed in their bunkers, witnesses said.
Thousands of Kashmiris, including women and children, were glued to their televisions sets to watch the tense final.
"It is a great victory and one day I hope we will merge with Pakistan," said a die-hard Pakistani cricket fan, Mohammed Yaseen.
Residents in Muslim-majority Kashmir valley traditionally support Pakistan in sports events.
Indian Kashmir is in the grip of a nearly 20-year insurgency that has so far claimed more than 47,000 lives by an official count.
Islamabad denies Indian allegations that it funds and arms the insurgency. Most militant groups want Indian-ruled Kashmir to merge with Pakistan, and a few want the region to become independent.
Source AFP : http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ji-1WhB2QqpM4y2xH8FaodP8uwVA
SRI LANKA THANKS PAKISTAN!!!
Friends need no thanks. Friendship is one of the most precious passions which can never be weighed and estimated in worldly terms. Lucky are the friends who have a common enemy; because this common enemy strengthens the depth of their relation. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are two friends sailing in the same boat. A violent torrent of terrorism vitally supported by the foreign forces has been trying to push these two friends to the brink of destruction. A lot of killings, a lot of blood-shed, economic catastrophe, political unrest and a warlike situation has ruptured the whole social fabric in these two countries but still they are determined to crush the menace of terrorism; really in a marvelous and stunning manner.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka have so many things in common. Both the lands got independence against the will of India in 1947 and 1948 respectively. Since then the Indian intelligence agencies are doing their utmost to weaken the social, political and economic fiber of the two countries. The reshaping and detracting of the Taliban in Pakistan and the illegal nurturing of LTTe in Sri Lanka are two masterly designed and heinously acted upon plans of the Indian agencies..................
Full Story: http://www.daily.pk/local/other-local/10503-sri-lanka-thanks-pakistan-.html
Friday, June 19, 2009
Pakistan Army tightens noose around Bait Mehsud
The patriotic Mehsud leaders Qari Zain and Turkistan Bittani have now brought in two other Musud leaders of South Wazirisitan Mullah Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur. We had previously reported that Turkistan had joined Qari Zain now that alliance has been expanded. Using the latest surveillance techniques the Pakistani Law agencies had monitored and taped the calls made by Bait Mehsud. This led to the tracing and tracking many terrorists. This warned the authorities of bomb attacks in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and some other cities.
UK based Kashmiris blame India for inciting violence in Pakistan
LONDON (SANA): Blaming India of being behind the recent wave of terrorism in Pakistan to destabilize the country and deflect the world attention from occupied Kashmir, UK based Kashmiri parties have called upon Pakistani government to take up the issue with international community with the evidences of Indian involvement in terrorist acts.
Addressing a joint Press Conference in London, President All Parties Kashmir International Coordination Committee, (APKICC), Mohammad Ghalib, Secretary General Dr. Misfar Hussain along with other heads and representatives of Kashmiri groups demanded that Pakistan must share with International community the documentary evidences that were presented in the in camera session of National Assembly.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Osama bin Laden Is a Dead Man
Almost exactly three years ago I predicted the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And a month later he was dead. Sometimes you can see the handwriting on the wall. Zarqawi had gotten careless and had also turned the local population against him, which I figured would eventually catch up with him. And it did. Now, I see similar handwriting on the wall for Osama bin Laden.
Full Story: http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2009/6/17/131635/285/Diary/Osama-bin-Laden-Is-a-Dead-Man
Baitullah Mehsud exposed and denounced by Afghan Taliban!
“Activities within Pakistan led to differences with Baitullah Meshsud, we are Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan and we have nothing to do with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan” – says Qari Zainuddin, representative of Afghan Taliban in an interview to a local news channel today.
PKKH has been writing that Baitullah Mehsud is a foreign asset with assigned responsibility to create chaos in FATA for destabilizing Pakistan. In earlier days of conflict, PKKH presented full coverage on Baitullah Mehsud in “Who is Baitullah Mehsud?“, then on April 5, 2009 PKKH wrote “Agent Mehsud on a mission to prove his worth” and the most latest report presented is during on-going successful operation rah-e-rast “Saving Agent Mehsud“.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pakistan's army chief takes part in air operation against militants
ISLAMABAD, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani Monday took part in an air operation against militants in the country's northwest, local TV channels reported.
Kayani flew an F-16 fighter jet himself to hit positions of the militants in Swat and Malakand of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Kayani, who wore the uniform of a pilot, was accompanied by a co-pilot during the air operation. It is the first time in Pakistan's history that an army chief directly took part in an operation. Earlier, speaking at an operational base at Sargodha in the eastern Punjab province, Kayani said that the operation "Rahe Raast" (true path) in Swat and Malakand had been launched to guide the astray people to the right track.
He said that the operation was not a solution to the problem and a solution would be hammered out in accordance with the traditions and culture of the tribal area. He said that Pakistan did not require advice from anywhere. Describing it as an important war, the army chief said that the utmost care was being made to avoid civilian casualties in the operation. He said that more than 100 soldiers had lost their lives in the war but their sacrifices would not go in vain and the militants would completely be wiped out. Kayani said that some misguided elements had nothing to do with Islam and rather they were maligning the name of Islam and creating problems for the country. He said that salaries of troops engaged at the western borders were being enhanced from the first of next month while others would receive the benefit from January next year. Pakistani security forces launched the military operation against Taliban militants late April after militants in early April entered the Buner district from the neighboring Swat district and refused to vacate the area despite their pledge to do so.
Pakistan orders manhunt for Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud
The Pakistan government has ordered the army to hunt down the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in his mountain hideout in South Waziristan.
"Baitullah Mehsud is the root cause of all evils," said the governor of North-West Frontier province, Owais Ghani, announcing the operation in Islamabad.
The precise details of the Mehsud manhunt remain unclear and the military said it was "evaluating the orders". But the operation promises to be a tough campaign against a determined enemy in some of the world's most difficult fighting terrain.
South Waziristan is a rugged mountainous area that was the scene of fierce battles between British colonial forces and tribal rebels during the 1930s and 40s. It is considered a possible hiding place of Osama bin Laden.
Mehsud, a former bodybuilder and border smuggler, is the most prominent of Pakistan's Taliban leaders. His Tehrik I Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group has allies across the tribal belt and has participated in recent battles against the army in the Swat valley....
China drug body investigates fake "Made in India" drugs
The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) of China is investigating the allegation that a consignment of drugs labeled "Made in India" were, in fact, fake pharmaceuticals produced in China.
According to a report in China Daily, SFDA spokesperson Yan Jiangying said: "We are highly concerned about the case and are sending investigating officials to the Chinese provinces involved, including Guangdong."
Yan added the SFDA would continue working with the police in the joint war against fake and inferior drugs in terms of technological support and the handing-over of cases.
Last week the Nigerian Government Drug Regulatory Authority (NAFDAC) reported about the detention of a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labelled 'Made in India' but produced in China.
"After a laboratory analysis by NAFDAC, the drugs have been found to be fake and had it not been intercepted, about 64,2000 adults would have been affected," it said.
According to the Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, the consignment containing Maloxine and Amalar tablets, used for the treatment of Malaria, were valued at 32.1 million Naira and were produced, packed and shipped from China.
Quoting SFDA's drug safety inspection bureau director Cui Enxue, the China Daily said overseas pharmacy companies should deal only with registered Chinese drug producers and traders that are recognised by SFDA.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=9e563abb-9572-4e12-a97b-cbf2f582bc0e&Headline=China+drug+body+probes+fake+Made+in+India+drugs
Friday, June 12, 2009
Four including Dr Sarfraz martyred in Lahore blast
Updated at: 1514 PST, Friday, June 12, 2009
LAHORE: At least four people including Jamia Naeemia principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi were martyred and several others injured in a suicide blast at Jamia Naeemia situated in Garhi Shahu area of Lahore, Geo News reported Friday.The blast occurred after the Friday prayers when the people were making their way out of the mosque after offering the Friday prayers.Jamia Naeemia principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi was present at his office at the Jamia Naeemia at the time of blast, the eyewitnesses said.The blast was so powerful that the outer walls of the Jamia Naeemia Masjid collapsed. The nearby buildings were harmed in the blast. The blast occurred when a lot of people were present in the mosque.The personnel of the security forces cordoned off the area and started the relief operation. The injured are being rushed to the Meo Hospital. Emergency has been declared in the hospitals of the Lahore.The security forces are searching the building on the apprehension of another bomb.There are reports that the blast was suicide attack.
After US, Indian Nuclear Security Breached!
Both India and the United States have been quite vocal in the recent past voicing ‘concerns’ about Pakistan’s nuclear security and raising false alarms about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons ‘falling to the Taliban’. In an ironic twist, the nuclear safeguards of both these nations have been breached within days of each other, raising fresh doubts about the safety of their own nuclear weapons. Pakistan’s nuclear command and control system, on the other hand, continues to be one of the most advanced in the world.....
For full story plz visit: http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/after-us-indian-nuclear-security-breached/
Late-night gunbattle rocks Peshawar
PESHAWAR: A heavy exchange of fire took place between law-enforcement agencies and unidentified attackers in front of the Corps Commander House on the Khyber Road on Thursday night, police said.
An official of the Eastern Police Station told Dawn that two unidentified attackers were killed after troops guarding residence of the Corps Commander opened fire. ‘We are not sure why they (troops) started firing. Only soldiers can offer comments on the incident,’ the official said.
Big flames were seen on the main road in front of the Corps Commander’s residence and the fire brigade was called in to extinguish the fire. Officials said that identity of the dead had not been ascertained.
‘It is premature to say that the dead were attackers or passersby,’ an official source said.
Soon after the incident, army and police sealed the Khyber Road and started a search operation in an area that houses Governor House, Chief Minister House, Judicial Complex and Civil Secretariat and sensitive installations.
The firing lasted more than 20 minutes. Witnesses also confirmed that two bodies were lying on the road. The residence of the Corps Commander is located near the Pearl Continental Hotel, which was bombed on Tuesday night.
Police said the search operation was in progress and surrounding areas had been cordoned off.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Indian Atomic Scientist Goes Missing from Kaiga Atomic Energy Station
CHENNAI/KARWAR: A nuclear scientist, who is a native of Chennai, has gone missing from Kaiga Atomic Energy station. L Mahalingam, who is from Anna Nagar, Chennai, was reported missing since Monday morning. His wife Vinayaka Sundari has lodged a police complaint, saying her husband who had gone out jogging had not returned home. He had left behind his wallet. The Mallapur police is undertaking a search. ‘‘We cannot rule out the possibility of a kidnap. His wife told us that they never had any problems at home and there are no police records on an threat perception to Mahalingam,’’ a police officer from Karwar said. Police told TOI that Mahalingam who was a scientist with the training section at Kaiga, had access to the nuclear plant and to sensitive data. ‘‘The colony residents, where Mahalingam and family lived, are not cooperating with the police. They are not refusing to give details. This colony in Mallapur is surrounded by 1,000-odd acres of dense forests. There are lots of man-eating leopards in this forest. Police with the help of CISF is planning to comb some portion of the forest,’’ the official said.
Aid agencies seek urgent funding for relief work
ISLAMABAD: International agencies working for the people displaced by fighting in Malakand division are facing a shortage of funds and have warned of a major cut in relief work if immediate financial assistance does not arrive.
The agencies have called upon the UN system in Pakistan to speedily arrange funds for frontline non-government organisations working in the affected areas.
According to a joint statement issued here on Wednesday, nine international agencies said they were facing a shortfall of over $42 million which might affect their work of helping over one million internally displaced persons.
The agencies are: ActionAid, CAFOD/Caritas, Care, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Strike ends, protests continue in Ocupied Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police fired warning shots and tear gas to quell demonstrators Tuesday in Indian Kashmir even as schools, shops and government offices reopened as separatist groups ending a weeklong strike called to protest the deaths of two young women.
At least 69 people were injured in two separate clashes between government forces and Kashmiri people near Shopian, the hometown of the two women, officials said.
The unrest erupted May 30 after the bodies of a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law were found in a shallow stream in Shopian, south of Srinagar. Locals claim the women were raped and killed by Indian soldiers, sparking angry demonstrations that spread across the Kashmir valley and clashes with security forces.
Operation in Bannu 70 Militants killed
PESHAWAR: Military is reportedly shelling Taliban hideouts in Bannu district killing 70 militants.
Bannu’s district co-ordination officer, Kamran Zeb Khan, tells the forces shell the militants hideouts on the second day of operation killing 70 militants after a deadline given to tribal leaders in the region to hand over militant suspects had expired.
Bannu sits alongside South and North Waziristan, two semi-autonomous tribal districts bordering Afghanistan where al Qaida and the Taliban are believed to be entrenched.
Indefinite curfew has been imposed in Bannu and Swat ahead of expected operation in the area.
Pakistan has launched an offensive against the Taliban in Swat and Bannu.
It was not immediately clear if the shelling in Bannu and Swat signalled the opening of a new front against the militants.
15 dead in Pakistan hotel blast, Taliban blamed
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistani police have scoured the charred rooms of a luxury hotel in northwest Peshawar for clues after a suicide car bomb killed 15 people in the city troubled by Taliban violence.
A top provincial official said the massive blast at the Pearl Continental Hotel late Tuesday was likely the latest in a string of revenge attacks by Islamist militants over a six-week offensive against them in the northwest.
Hunting for the dead, police moved from room-to-room in the five-star hotel, large parts of which were reduced to rubble when at least two attackers shot security guards and then slammed an explosives-laden truck into the building.
Four more bodies were pulled from the dust and rubble early Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 15, police said, with more victims feared trapped under the debris........
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
COAS, Air chief visit Mingora
RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani and Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman visited Mangora in Swat on Monday. The General Officer Commanding briefed them on the current operations and the future consolidation strategy. The Malakand commissioner briefed them on the emerging civil plan for the division. staff report
Monday, June 08, 2009
Pakistan Tribesmen Battle Taliban
Hundreds of tribesmen are continuing an offensive against Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan, officials say.
At least 11 Taleban are said to have been killed in the three-day offensive.
It follows the bombing of a mosque on Friday, which killed 38 people in Upper Dir district. Villagers blamed the bombing on Taliban fighters.
Nearby Swat valley has been the scene of heavy fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants. Upper Dir has also seen sporadic clashes......
Indian intelligence service RAW is interfering in Pakistan
BERLIN: Former President Pervez Musharraf has said he felt there was conspiracy to weaken Pakistan but nothing could happen to the country as long as the armed forces were intact and strong. In an interview with German Magazine, he said anyone who wanted to weaken and destabilize Pakistan just had to weaken the Army and their intelligence service, ISI, and that was what was happening. Lots of articles have been written claiming that Pakistan will be divided, that it will fall apart or become Balkanized. Musharraf said he was totally against the Obama’s term “AfPak”. He said he did not support the word itself for two reasons: first the strategy puts Pakistan on the same level as destabilized Afghanistan, second there was an Indian element in the whole game. “We have the Kashmir struggle, without which extremist elements like Lashkar-e-Taiba would not exist,” he added. He said there were many Indian extremists who had links with extremists in Pakistan. So if the world was serious about combating terrorism, he said, they should not leave India out. Originally, he said, Richard Holbrooke was supposed to be the US special representative for all three countries, but the strong Indian lobby in America prevented that. To another question Musharraf said Indian intelligence service RAW was interfering in Pakistan. One of the most brutal insurgents against Pak forces, Brahamdagh Bugti, the grandson of the late Nawab Bugti, was sitting in Kabul, protected by the Afghan government and provided with weapons and money by the Indian intelligence agency RAW, he said. He said he had his own training camps and sent his fighters to Balochistan where they terrorized people and damaged the civil infrastructure. “RAW is also interfering in the Swat Valley,” he said adding all these Taliban fighters in Swat got their arms and money from Afghanistan.
FSL report confirms gang-rape
SRINAGAR (SANA): Report of the Forensic Science Laboratory has confirmed gang rape of a teenager and her pregnant sister-in-law in south Kashmir’s Shopian district last week.
They said that the report about the cause of death of the victims would be presented to the authorities on Sunday after experts hold deliberations with the team of doctors who conducted the postmortem. “The FSL report confirms the initial postmortem report which had said that the victims were gang raped,” sources added.
They said doctors held a closed door meeting with the chief and the deputy chief medical officer, Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, Pulwama this afternoon. “Later the report was handed over to the top police officials,” they added.
It’s in place to mention here that Dr Sofi had headed the team of doctors which conducted the postmortem of the victims on May 30 after the bodies were recovered.
In their initial report, the doctors had stated that Asiya Jan, 16, and her pregnant sister-in-law, Neelofar, had been gang raped. “Doctors had mentioned in their initial report that there were local violent marks on the lower body parts of Asiya and Neelofar. Their body parts were swollen, and there were visible bloodstains.”
The initial report had also stated that there were bruises over the bodies of the victims.
“Doctors could easily make out that Asiya had been raped as she was unmarried. As Neelofar was pregnant the doctors faced difficultly in establishing gang rape in her case.
However, the violent marks over her lower parts made doctors believe that she too was gang raped. But they took her vaginal samples for FSL investigations,” sources said, adding,
“ Now the FSL report too has confirmed that she was also gang raped.”
A top police official said, “ FIR in this case is likely to be registered on Sunday as doctors have submitted the FSL report.”
Friday, June 05, 2009
Sufi Muhammad along with other Leaders including three Afghan fighters arrested
Sufi Muhammad, the cleric who brokered a now defunct peace deal in Pakistan's Swat valley, has been arrested along with his aides, Pakistan and India media have said.
He was reportedly arrested during a raid in the town of Amandara in Malakand district along with five leaders of his banned organisation, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi.
Pakistan's government gave no confirmation of Sufi Muhammad's arrest but the military said his deputy, Mohammad Alam, and his spokesman, Ameer Izzat, had been arrested.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) information minister, told the AFP news agency that the aides were "holed up in the compound of a seminary when they were arrested along with a few militants".
Cleric Mohammad Wahab and three Afghan fighters were also arrested, Major-General Athar Abbas, the military's chief spokesman, said.
"The army raided the seminary on an intelligence tip-off that a meeting of terrorists was in progress there," Athar Abbas told AFP.
Sufi Muhammad struck a deal with the NWFP government in February to restore peace to Swat and surrounding areas by proposing to put three million people under Islamic law.
But the deal collapsed in May when Taliban fighters advanced to districts within 100km of Islamabad more than six weeks ago.
Under US pressure, Pakistan launched an offensive against Taliban fighters in the districts of Lower Dir, Buner and Swat after what Islamabad called violations of a ceasefire.
The military has since said it has retaken large swaths of the region from the Taliban and is close to routing the group.
But some residents have expressed anger at what they say is the high civilian toll and massive destruction from the army offensive.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
US envoy urges more aid for Swat
US envoy Richard Holbrooke has urged European and Muslim nations to send more aid to those displaced by fighting in north-west Pakistan.
Mr Holbrooke visited refugees and said the task "requires security and assistance from the rest of the world".
The US has already pledged $110m and hopes to provide an extra $200m for people who fled their homes as the Pakistani army battles the Taliban.
The army says several former militant strongholds are now under its control.
A statement on Wednesday said Charbagh - about 20km (12 miles) north of Mingora, the main town in Swat valley - had been retaken.
Troops had also "successfully secured Pir Baba and Bhai Kalay" in neighbouring Buner district, where heavy fighting has gone on for weeks.
Pakistan: Last batch of school abductees found
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani officials say that the last batch of students and staff kidnapped in the northwest after leaving their school this week have been rescued.
Deputy Interior Minister Tasnim Qureshi told state-run Pakistan Television Thursday that 46 students and two teachers had been recovered from their militant abductors.
Lawmaker Saleh Shah told The Associated Press that tribal elders had negotiated their release. The army said the rescued students were being taken to the Bannu district.
The students were abducted earlier this week from the North Waziristan tribal region and were believed to have been held there or in nearby South Waziristan.
There have been wildly ranging reports on the number of captives involved.
Indian terrorist suspect involved in Rescue 15 attack arrested
LAHORE: Police on Wednesday arrested a suspected terrorist, said to be an Indian-national, allegedly involved in attack on Lahore Rescue-15 Building.
He was identified as Beram Khan s/o Jhurai Khan and said to be the citizen of Badmir, an Indian city. The police and law enforcement agencies are interrogating the suspected to track down the terror network, reported a private TV channel.
According to the intelligence agencies the suspected entered Pakistan from India on 24 March and lived in Hyderabad. His other accomplices have managed flee from Pakistan.
A training camp, run by India, has been unearthed in Afghan city of Mazar Sharif where terrorists are being trained to target the security forces and sensitive government buildings of Pakistan, intelligence sources were quoted as saying by the TV channel.
Later, addressing a news briefing Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore said that a suicide bomber of Lahore attack has been identified as Iftikhar who was dweller of Mandi Bahauddin, adding that he was associated with a banned outfit.
The officer told that the killed bomber had been missing from his house for six years.
He said that 18 suspects have been arrested as yet in connection with rescue center attack.
At least 26 people, including an ISI colonel and 15 police officials, were killed and around 400 people injured when an explosive-laden vehicle rammed into the Rescue-15 building.
100 injured as protests paralyse Kashmir valley
At least 100 people were injured as violent protests over the death of two women under mysterious circumstances paralysed Kashmir Valley for the third day on Wednesday with authorities detaining chairman of hardline Hurriyat faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani and two other separatist leaders.
Fierce clashes were witnessed between protesters and security personnel in Shopian town, 52 kms from here, where the bodies of Nelofar (22) and Asiya (17) were recovered on Saturday after they went missing from their orchard, as thousands of people poured into the streets.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Pakistan rejects idea of outside nuclear help
Pakistan has rejected a media report according to which Islamabad receives outside help for its nuclear security mechanisms. Commenting on a report that Pakistan ensures the security of its nuclear arsenal only with the help of its allies, the spokesman of Pakistan's Foreign Office, Abdul Basit, described his country's nuclear security, in general, and Islamabad's nuclear weapons, in particular, as completely indigenous. Basit said Tuesday that Islamabad has a well-established nuclear command authority which is, among other things, responsible for the security of Pakistan's nuclear program. "Our command, control, safety and security systems are equal, if not better than other nuclear weapons states. In the civilian realm, Pakistan has benefited from international best practices and we maintain close interaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he insisted. According to Basit, Pakistan is also a member of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism where Islamabad interacts with all member states to enhance mutual understanding.
Source: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=96860§ionid=351020401
Hafiz Saeed says he is against suicide attacks
LAHORE: Chief of the banned Jamaatud Dawa, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, and his close aide Colonel (retd) Nazir Ahmed were released from house arrest on Tuesday on Lahore High Court orders.
He and other key members of Jamaat were put under house arrest on December 11 last year after the United Nations declared the JD a terrorist organisation in the wake of Mumbai attacks.
Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Chaudhry Shafeeq Ahmed said that police personnel had not been called back for security reasons, but both men could move freely.
Talking to newsmen after his release, Hafiz Saeed opposed suicide attacks and said he considered it his responsibility to persuade all elements fighting within Pakistan that maintaining peace was necessary.
Dozens of Kashmiri protestors detained
SRINAGAR: Police in occupied Kashmir detained a senior politician and dozens of others on Tuesday for protesting the deaths of two young women who were allegedly raped and killed by Indian soldiers.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where about 200 people have been injured in clashes between security forces and angry protesters since Saturday, when the bodies of a 17-year-old and her 22-year-old sister-in-law were found in a stream.
Human rights groups and Kashmiri leaders have long accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to intimidate the local population. The military and paramilitary groups have not responded to the allegations, but police have said the women appear to have drowned.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Killings provoke Kashmir protests
Violent protests are continuing across Indian-administered Kashmir, following the deaths of two women who many believe were raped by Indian troops.
The bodies of the two women were recovered on Saturday morning after they went missing on Friday.
A general strike called by separatist groups in response to the deaths of the women brought life in the Kashmir Valley to a standstill.
Razmak Students recovered: ISPR
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 MIRANSHAH: Pakistan Army and FC recovered all the students and staff of Razmak Cadet College, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Tuesday.Commissioner Bannu Sardar Abbas said Pakistan and FC launched a joint operation 20 kilometer to East of Razmak in Garium and recovered at least 73 students, two professors and a clerk of the cadet college.Bannu Commissioner said the police also recovered 10 vehicles in the operations.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Indian troops martyr 30 Kashmiris in May
ISLAMABAD: Indian troops, in their continued acts of state terrorism, martyred 30 Kashmiris, in occupied Kashmir including three woman and four children, in the last month of May.According to Kashmir Media Service, the total of Kashmiris martyred included four killed in custody. The killings rendered three women widowed and 13 children orphaned while two women including an eleventh class student were molested by the troops during the period. Seventy-two civilians were arrested and 499 injured as a result of troops' use of brute force against peaceful protestors while one youth went missing in custody. One residential house was also damaged by the troops with heavy mortar shelling during siege and search operation.
Police: Taliban suspects among Pakistani refugees
Soldiers of Pakistan army display arms and ammunition confiscated from militants in Mingora, capital of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, where military is fighting with Taliban militants Thursday, May 28, 2009. Police have arrested 39 suspected Taliban fighters hiding among refugees from a military offensive to rout militants from Pakistan's Swat Valley, a senior officer said Friday.Full Story: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1071329.html
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