Acts of Terrorism in Pakistan

[RabzonKhan]

Army to give part of its rations to IDPs

By Iftikhar A. Khan
Thursday, 14 May, 2009

ISLAMABAD, May 13: Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has asked troops in Swat and its adjoining areas to go for precision strikes to avoid collateral damage even at the expense of taking risks.

The instruction came amid fears about the safety of people still trapped in troubled areas, with members of many families reportedly held hostage by militants.

In a statement released by the ISPR on Wednesday, Gen Kayani said the army was aware of the nature of ongoing operations and their likely fallout. He noted that issues of collateral damage and internally displaced people were always a natural outcome of any military operation in populated areas.

“In fact the overall success of operations in such areas is a sum total of the three efforts — conduct of military operations, minimising collateral damage and correctly managing IDPs.”

The army chief said the management of IDPs was as important as military operation in Swat. “It has been decided to provide all-out support to local and international agencies in management and rehabilitation of IDPs.”

He said that a corps headquarters, headed by Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed, the deputy chairman of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, had been tasked to form a special support group for coordinating and directing all efforts of the administration, army and other agencies for optimal utilisation of resources to provide relief to IDPs.

He said it was the first time in army’s history that it had decided to give part of its daily rations to the IDPs.

“This exemplifies the army’s spirit of sacrifice. The food items so provided will be able to feed about 80,000 adults daily,” he said, adding that the army was also deploying its medical resources in all relief camps. These medical camps will have adequate medicines for 90 days. Local military hospitals will also treat patients.

“Inshallah, together the nation and the army will provide relief to the IDPs in a manner which will rekindle the memories of 2005 earthquake relief efforts,” the army chief said

 

[muse]

Local al-Qaeda leader arrested in Karachi

Updated at: 2015 PST, Sunday, May 17, 2009
KARACHI: The CID police arrested a local al-Qaeda leader and his three accomplices, while seized a cache of arms from their possession in Karachi on Sunday.

Howerver, four of their associates succeeded to flee from the scene.

According to CID officials, the police, on receiving a tip-off, raided a house in Model Colony where a meeting of the banned religious organizations was underway.

The police detained four accused, Muhammad Anwar, Rehan, Azeem and Ghulam Haider. While their four accomplices, Jehangir, Saifullah, Azam and Misbahuddin, ran away.

The police also recovered 50-kg explosive material, 22kg sulphur powder, 35 gallon nitric acid, 100 meter detonating role, two kalashinkovs, 2 TT pistols, 25 timer devices and more than 1000 capacitors.

The CID officials told that the accused Muhammad Anwar is a local commander of al-Qaeda and also an incharge of a banned religious outfit. The accused is believed be the mastermind of Marriot blast.


Gentle Readers will note that the paper seems to have begun referring to the local affiliates of Al-Qaida by the label, Al-Qaida, a welcome development.

Some admin and mods will take note and recall some suggestions about being ahead of the curve, or some such.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Well said, general

By Kamran Shafi
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009


FOR the very first time, a clear and unambiguous statement from Gen Ashfaq Kayani: that the army was capable of fighting an insurgency. And that all it needed was specialised equipment and weaponry.

I have always said this: e.g. on April 21 I wrote: ‘… there is no greater canard … that the Pakistan Army is only trained for conventional warfare and that the Americans have to come train our troops in the art of fighting an insurrection.

‘Nothing could be further from the truth. All that needs to be done is for our intelligence apparatus to start reporting the truth, and for the army to finally understand that its enemy is not on the eastern front but on the western. And that once what little is left of the so-called writ of the almost non-existent state of Pakistan is gone, the army too will be swept away.’

Kudos to you, general, if you really mean what you say. May the Almighty give you the strength, the tenacity and the wisdom to lead our army to complete and final victory over the criminal and heartlessly cruel thugs who have spread so much death and destruction and despair in our country. And may He protect you and your officers and men.

To the Americans I say: instead of toys for the boys such as the F-16s which are not allowed by you to be used in an offensive role anyway, please immediately supply our army with night-vision equipment, attack helicopters, and close-support aircraft such as the A-10 Warthog.

And to you, prime minister this: please, please heed the advice I have oft proffered you, your president and your ministers: if you have nothing worthwhile to say don’t say anything at all. I refer to the statement allegedly made on your behalf just two days ago by the garrulous Babar Awan that if the terrorists wanted to talk peace even now, the government was ready to talk.

You are unbelievable, you lot! How possibly can you talk peace with fanatical terrorists who have killed so many innocents in the most brutal ways possible? How possibly can you even think of making peace with those who blow up girls’ schools and slaughter women school teachers, after first marching them through the bazaars with dancing-girl bells on their ankles? What is wrong with you people? Do you not feel the agony of your own brothers and sisters? Talk peace, indeed! Instead of making fools of yourselves, will you kindly just stand behind the army, give it all the support you can, and see that it completes the job.

Neither were you alone in shooting off your mouth. Exactly one day after Gen Kayani said the army is capable of fighting an insurgency, our president (God bless us!) says the army needs training by American and British instructors! I ask you! Could Mr Zardari also please stop speaking in the first person singular: ‘I need money’; ‘I need arms’; ‘I can’t fight the Taliban alone,’ ‘I need help’; ‘my democracy will succeed’ and so on?

And while you all are at it (and this goes for the senior officers of the services too), could you please order an immediate 70 per cent cut in the running expenses of your plush official homes and fancy offices? And ground all your executive jets? And ask that no more will huge bouquets of flowers be placed before you at meetings and other gatherings? And put a moratorium on all foreign junkets until Pakistan returns to peace?
More

 

[RabzonKhan]

Ulema against Taliban

Editorial
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009

FOR the ulema to say that suicide bombings are un-Islamic is nothing new. Last October, a Muttahida Ulema Council meeting in Lahore denounced suicide bombing in unequivocal terms and called it haram. However, the tone and tenor of the conference of ulema and mashaikh in Islamabad on Sunday went beyond the merely technical denunciation of suicide bombings and beheadings and appeared to represent the anti-Taliban wave now sweeping across the nation. Attended by ulema belonging mostly to the Sunni fiqh, the conference condemned the “assassination of ulema”, denounced the destruction of “sacred places” and demanded that shrines should be cleared of extremists. The resolution passed by the conference denounced US drone attacks but at the same time upheld the army action against the militants, whom it termed the country’s enemy. According to the resolution, the army action was for “Pakistan’s integrity and sovereignty”.

The conference’s most outspoken critic of the militants was, perhaps, Mufti Muneebur Rahman who pointed out that the Taliban were slaughtering even children and said those who wanted the Sharia must uphold Islamic values themselves. The outcome of the conference is positive, for the Taliban should note that they cannot fool the people any more in the name of the Sharia and that their barbarism and bloodletting in the name of religion have forced large sections of society to unite against them. Mufti Muneeb blamed “the agencies” for patronising the militants for three decades, and demanded that this time the war on the militants should be taken to its logical conclusion. We hope the government will build on the consensus that now seems to be developing in the country and act with resolve to crush the insurgency. The Taliban are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Pakistani civilians and soldiers; they have used civilians as a shield, and they have brought misery to more than a million people by making them flee their homes. The Taliban’s violation of the Nizam-e-Adl accord makes it clear that they cannot be trusted and that the government should step up the military offensive to give peace and security to the people of Malakand.

 

[muse]

Five burqa-clad Arabs arrested in Mohmand

By Fauzee Khan Mohmand
Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 | 04:16 AM PST |

GHALANAI: At least 13 militants were killed in a clash with security forces following arrest of five burqa-clad Arabs, one Afghan national and a local man in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday.

Four of the five Arabs are Saudi nationals — Ahmed, Ali, Mohammad and Obaidullah — and one Libyan national, Abdullah. The Afghan national has been identified as Habibullah and the local man as Shad Ali. They were detained at the Khapakh checkpost. The Afghan was living in Chakdara area of Lower Dir.

When troops were taking the detained men to Ghalanai, about 60 militants attacked them in an area between Ziyari Kando and Nasapai. The clash continued for more than two hours, an official spokesman said.

Security forces shelled militants’ positions from Ghalanai with mortars and cannons. Thirteen terrorists were killed and the others escaped. Two vehicles of militants were destroyed, the spokesman said.

Security personnel brought the body of one militant to the Ghalanai FC camp; the other bodies were taken away by the attackers. The administration sealed all entry points to the tribal region and beefed up security to apprehend the fleeing militants.

Troops also launched a search operation in Mian Mandi Bazaar.

A jirga of tribal elders will be held in Ghalanai on Wednesday to discuss the presence of militants, including foreigners, in the area.

The spokesman said the detained militants had been hiding in Kareer Qandaharo and Kung Khwayzai for several days and they had attacked the Khapakh post.

‘They came to Pakistan via Afghanistan which is financing them,’ he alleged.

He said SMGs, hand-grenades, Kalashnikovs, passports and other important documents had been seized from them and their vehicle had been impounded.

 

[muse]

Look carefully at these - God's warriors? Islam's glory? Look at them! No sir, these are demon spawn and hell is too good for them.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Pakistan honours Afzal Lala for facing Taliban

May 20, 2009

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari conferred a coveted civil award on a senior politician who stood up to the Taliban, the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said, on Tuesday. Afzal Khan Lala, a veteran politician of the ruling Awami National Party who lives in Druskhela in the Swat valley, had refused to leave the area despite threats from the Taliban. Zardari “in recognition of the great courage and steadfastness demonstrated by him in the war against the Taliban in Swat region” has conferred the Hilal-i-Shujaat (crescent of courage) on him, Babar said. “When the victims of militants’ brutalities were streaming out of Swat for safety, the 78-year-old Afzal Khan stood up against the militants and refused to abandon his ancestral home,” he added. Babar said that Afzal had survived several attempts on his life by the Taliban who wanted to eliminate him to remove “a symbol of defiance and courage”. “The conferment of the Hilal-i-Shujaat on Afzal Khan also signifies determination of the president to honour symbols of courage in the fight against the Taliban and to assure the victims that the state will not abdicate its duty to protect them,” Babar said. staff report

 

[RabzonKhan]

A good start, but there is still much to be done.


Govt announces Rs8 bn package for IDPs rehabilitation

By Syed Irfan Raza
Wednesday, 20 May, 2009



ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday announced Rs8 billion package for rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) under which each family will get Rs25,000 as one-time cash grant.

The package was announced by the President Asif Ali Zardari at a high level meeting presided over jointly by him and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, while highlighting the meeting, said in a press conference that the cash grant had been announced for 125,000 displaced families which have sought refuge in relief camps and those staying independently or with their relatives in different parts of the country.

'We want rehabilitation of IDPs on war footings and therefore the cash grant will be disbursed among them in weeks not in months,' the information minister said.

Giving details about the meeting, spokesperson of the President Farhatullah Babar said the meeting decided that displaced students of professional colleges of Swat and Malakand will be given admission in professional institutions in other districts of the province.

'Students of Malakand/Swat studying in other parts of the country will be exempted from payment of tuition fee while relief goods and equipment donated for the IDPs will be allowed duty free import,' the spokesman said.

President Zardari directed Pakistan International Airline (PIA) to airlift relief goods free of cost and the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was asked to waive, one time only, the prescribed conditions for issuance of smart cards to enable displaced people to benefit from it without hassle.

The BISP will neither require the internally displaced people to produce computerized identity cards nor insist on making payment to the female member of the family, as is required at present. 'This relaxation will however be allowed one time only,' the spokesman said.

The meeting decided that the federal government would ensure that essential medicines are invariably available for the IDPs in the camps and off camps.

In order to provide better rehabilitation facility to the IDPs, the government decided to provide soft loans and defer repayment of loans from Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTB) and House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC).

National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) was directed to increase its staff and registration units manifold and expeditiously issue smart cards to the displaced persons. 'Special training programmes will be launched by NAVTEC to train people in trades and enable them to take up gainful employment on return,' the presidential spokesman said.

Addressing the meeting the President said the internally displaced people had made huge sacrifices for the survival of the country and the government will do everything possible to rehabilitate them.

The president said he will shortly meet members and organizations of national and international business communities to adopt villages for rehabilitation and reconstruction on voluntary basis, the spokesman said.

The President also directed that the registration of displaced persons and distribution of cash, food and relief goods must be done in an absolutely transparent manner.

Talking about the war being fought by the security forces against militants, the President said: 'We must win the fight, we will.'

The government, he said, had urged the international community for greater assistance and that he would be going to the EU Summit next month to seek greater international support.

'With international support and marshalling our own resources, Pakistan will soon be able to overcome the difficult situation,' the president said.

Speaking on the occasion, that Prime Minister Gilani said the war against militants was fully backed by the people and the parliament, political parties, the cabinet and religious leaders were on board along with the security forces.

'Military solution however, is not the final solution and the government has also adopted a 3R approach. Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction to mitigate the sufferings of the IDPs,' he said.

 

[muse]

Yesterday Security forces arrested 5 Burkha clad Araby, it is important that the Araby were in Mohmand - and today note where the story is datelined from (Khar - Bajaur) BUT look where they are coming from and look at what the U.S "ally" has to say about this -- What does this mean with regard to Al-Qaida in FATA???? No more reservations, no more obfuscations, no more denial, no more quarter! Ultimately the war may have to be taken to where the enemy is being financed and led from:


Security forces arrest 3 Uzbeks

KHAR: Security forces on Wednesday arrested three Uzbek militant commanders travelling towards Swat to join the Taliban, officials have said. “The militant commanders from Uzbekistan crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan and were headed towards Swat to join the Taliban in fighting security forces,” the officials told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. They said the terrorists had been handed over to intelligence agents for interrogation. Separately, a security personnel was killed in a remote-controlled bombing in Sagai area. Security sources have arrested a suspect in connection with the explosion. hasbanullah khan

 

[muse]

[FONT="Arial[SIZE="3"]"]Terrorist from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are entering Pakistan through territory under the control of the U.S. military - how is this possible? is the U.S involved in double dealing with Pakistan as some suspect? Is it unfair to ask how and more importantly why the U.S military and it's Afghan mercenaries have allowed terrorists to use Afghan territory under the control of the U.S military as a corridor to move terrorists and supplies into Pakistan ?

Additionally is the U.S doing enough to stop the flow of terrorists from the territory it control in Iraq to Pakistan? Some suspect that rogue elements of the U.S intelligence services may facilitate the movement of terrorists from Iraq to Pakistan.[/SIZE]

Iraq Qaeda commanders in Pakistan’

LAHORE: The government has directed law-enforcement agencies to arrest seven “highly trained militants and Al Qaeda masterminds in Iraq” who – according to reports by intelligence agencies – have entered Pakistan, reported BBC Urdu. According to an official document the BBC claimed it had received, those who have entered Pakistan are planning to train ‘like-minded people’ and target key government officials, including President Asif Ali Zardari, the chief ministers of the four provinces and intelligence agencies’ officers and commanders. The group could also target embassies of non-Muslim and pro-US Muslim countries in Islamabad. The intelligence report also said that Al Qaeda commanders met in Afghanistan’s Paktia province on May 3 and decided they would continue supporting the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.[/FONT] daily times monitor

 

[TruthSeeker]

Additionally is the U.S doing enough to stop the flow of terrorists from the territory it control in Iraq to Pakistan? Some suspect that rogue elements of the U.S intelligence services may facilitate the movement of terrorists from Iraq to Pakistan.

Aside from the "touche' " nature of your comment, you raise an excellent point. It would seem to me that Pakistan needs to put your question forcefully to the US via a press conference, perhaps by your US Ambassador Haqqani, who is articulate and good at jousting with the US press corps. Alternatively, or in addition, why not raise this issue in the UN Security Council since the coalition forces are in Afghanistan under a UN Security Council mandate. If the coalition forces control over Afghanistan is really this pi$$ poor, then Pakistan should make a very big stink about it, pronto.

 

[Hellfire]

FOR the very first time, a clear and unambiguous statement from Gen Ashfaq Kayani: that the army was capable of fighting an insurgency. And that all it needed was specialised equipment and weaponry.


A point that is not new and had been oft repeated. Induction of such equipment as also training the personnel in necessary forms for the optimal usage of the same requires time and as such PA will definitely learn and improve.


Nothing could be further from the truth. All that needs to be done is for our intelligence apparatus to start reporting the truth, and for the army to finally understand that its enemy is not on the eastern front but on the western. And that once what little is left of the so-called writ of the almost non-existent state of Pakistan is gone, the army too will be swept away.’


A contention that most of the members on this forum had been trashing exactly two weeks back. Suddenly there is a realisation for the same!!! Thank god!!!

ISI is still dicey and the role certain members of the same play in WoT is suspect . It shall be interesting how PA and ISI are able to bring about a fundamental change in their strategic perception from state threats to non-state trans-national ones, something they still want to and are inclined to blame on particular country and if cant prove it, then whole loads of them. As such this thinking is a national psyche and is exhibited in full by quite a few fellow members who see a conspiracy to bring about Pakistani downfall by groups of countries.



To the Americans I say: instead of toys for the boys such as the F-16s which are not allowed by you to be used in an offensive role anyway, please immediately supply our army with night-vision equipment, attack helicopters, and close-support aircraft such as the A-10 Warthog

As such, close air support in form of helicopter gunships is sufficient. You are asking for A-10 more suited in anti-tank and concentrated troop role. So its a suspect.


remaining - a wishful thinking!

 

[Hellfire]

Yesterday Security forces arrested 5 Burkha clad Araby, it is important that the Araby were in Mohmand - and today note where the story is datelined from (Khar - Bajaur) BUT look where they are coming from and look at what the U.S "ally" has to say about this -- What does this mean with regard to Al-Qaida in FATA???? No more reservations, no more obfuscations, no more denial, no more quarter! Ultimately the war may have to be taken to where the enemy is being financed and led from:


Security forces arrest 3 Uzbeks



KHAR: Security forces on Wednesday arrested three Uzbek militant commanders travelling towards Swat to join the Taliban, officials have said. “The militant commanders from Uzbekistan crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan and were headed towards Swat to join the Taliban in fighting security forces,” the officials told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. They said the terrorists had been handed over to intelligence agents for interrogation. Separately, a security personnel was killed in a remote-controlled bombing in Sagai area. Security sources have arrested a suspect in connection with the explosion. hasbanullah khan

You need to put in troops to seal the border with afghanistan ... something you are unbelievably unwilling to do till date ...


and its no big secret. similarly to Uzbekhs, Turks, Somalis, Ethiopians, Syrians, Egyptians, Chechens,etc have also been pushed into valley by your side for bolstering your efforts in Kashmir ...... now you are getting the rough end of the bargain ..... that is all

 

[S-2]

Likely these guys crossed from uzbekistan into Pakistan and then followed the Konar river valley south and crossed over. Muse is trying to equivocate men transiting these lands against camps, training facilities and command/control apparatus that exists in Pakistan to facilitate the seven and one-half year insurgency.

There's no comparison whatsoever and Pakistani claims to such remain empty and facile without any concerted proof.

My guess is these men know they can more usefully contribute to the cause fighting the P.A. instead of trying to penetrate the border areas of Afghanistan around Konar.

They'll likely die there because we fight and kill the enemy in Konar, Khost, Paktika, Nuristan, Nangahar, Paktia, Laghman, Wardak, and Ghadez regularly and with the greatest vigor-something unseen by Pakistan until of late.

Always enjoy the dissemblance, obfuscation, and equivocation but nothing measures remotely to surrendering VAST reaches of your land to accomodate allied forces in your nefarious ambitions to "stabilize" Afghanistan on your terms- a Pashtu-dominated fiefdom for your personal aggrandizement.

Thanks.

 

[Bill Longley]

You need to put in troops to seal the border with afghanistan ... something you are unbelievably unwilling to do till date ...


and its no big secret. similarly to Uzbekhs, Turks, Somalis, Ethiopians, Syrians, Egyptians, Chechens,etc have also been pushed into valley by your side for bolstering your efforts in Kashmir ...... now you are getting the rough end of the bargain ..... that is all

come on man
pakistan suggested to fense the pak afghan border
NATO and afghanistan protested this fenceing..
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

Pakistan Mines, Fences Afghan Border - IslamOnline.net - News

FOXNews.com - Afghanistan Rejects Pakistan's Plan to Fence, Land Mine Border to Stem Militancy - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

I think criticizing Pakistan is fashion for people like you without solid grounds... may be because people like you are wolves hiding under disguise of friendliness