Acts of Terrorism in Pakistan

[Ratus Ratus]

1. link for muse post of "Taliban dupe 12-year-old into carrying bomb"
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

2. same story but from The nation and also in many other online media:


Taliban dupe boy, 12, into planting bomb in Kohat: Sunday Times | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online


Submitted 2 days 9 hrs ago
On his face is an angelic smile, in his pocket a blood-stained 50-rupee note. Ishaq Khan, a 12-year-old schoolboy, was given the money – equivalent to just 40p – to carry a bag to a spot in a busy bazaar in Kohat, a town in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. As he walked away, the bag exploded, throwing him to the ground with a shattered foot and leaving shoppers dead and wounded all around him. In a macabre new tactic, Taliban militants have begun paying children to plant lethal bombs in Pakistani cities. Ishaq, who comes from a poor family that barely survives on the money his father earns from house-painting jobs, had been working at the Orakzai bus stop of the city’s main Terah Bazaar, earning a few rupees a day by helping people to load lorries and buses. Two weeks ago a man with a moustache but no beard approached him and offered him the note to leave a blue plastic bag in a crowded area between several shops. “I was excited to get 50 rupees,” said Ishaq. “That’s more than I earn the whole week.” He picked up the bag and pocketed the money, enjoying the feel of it as he thought about whether he might spend it on a rare treat such as an ice-cold Coca-Cola, or take it home to his mother. The bag was of plastic sacking of the type used to carry sugar, and was not heavy. “I put it down, turned back and had not walked 20 steps when there was a big blast and I was thrown,” he said. “I don’t remember what happened then.” When he woke up he was in Kohat hospital with the other victims of the blast. The 50-rupee note was still in his pocket, covered in blood. When he learnt that three people had been killed and 23 injured he was horrified. “I never imagined it was a bomb,” he said, his eyes filling with tears. “I move bags for people all day.” Doctors at the hospital say his left foot has multiple fractures and the heel is completely crushed. Yesterday he had the first in a number of operations needed it if he is to walk again. His back is peppered with shrapnel from the bomb but his family has no money for painkillers. The hospital has run short of blood supplies because of the bomb, so local medical students rallied round to donate some. The Kohat bombing was one of a succession of deadly attacks since the Pakistan military launched an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley region. The Taliban has vowed to carry out bombings in Pakistani cities in retaliation. There have been at least 16 attacks since the operation started in late April and more than 100 people have been killed. Most of the attacks have been in Lahore and Peshawar. The latter city’s only big hotel, the Pearl Continental, was blown up on Tuesday. Militants fired on the hotel guards, drove a lorry laden with half a ton of explosives up to the buildings and detonated it, killing 18 people, including two United Nations officials.


Now is there any significance in reporting that it was man with a moustache but no beard as pointed out in the above vs not mentioning anything to do with beard or moustache?

No conspiracy theory just a question of relevance..

 

[RabzonKhan]

South Punjab may be next Swat: Malik

June 27, 2009
Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The government is putting the provinces of Punjab and Sindh on alert amid growing concerns that the Taliban could spread south.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the Financial Times – in an interview published on Friday – that his department had analysed 1,148 terrorist threats in the country over the last four months alone.

“Now, for example, we suspect something similar [to Swat] may arise in south Punjab. We are sharing the information with Punjab,” he said. “You know Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad … all those people basically hail from that area. What we suspect [is] perhaps all those terrorists who fled from Waziristan or Swat might take refuge in south Punjab.”

Eight would-be suicide bombers were recently arrested, including two this week who were targeting parliament in Islamabad and the offices of a law-enforcement agency.

Malik said the military offensive in the Swat valley was in its “final phase” and had killed more than 3,500 Taliban. Gearing up for the next phase, the military, in the last two weeks, has stepped up its operations in Waziristan along the Afghan border. The minister conceded that major cities were under threat from terrorists, but said, “The level of threats has been reduced, that is my assessment.”

Asked if there was danger of a backlash from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, the minister said, “The backlash is already there, he is already … [carrying out] suicide bombings. I think his activities are continuing … [but] the suicide bombings have decreased, though the threats are there. The good thing is that real-time intelligence is being shared by all the intelligence agencies. The Ministry of Interior is analysing the information.”

Malik said Baitullah was now hiding, and the TTP chief had become “ineffective”. He said the security forces were already looking for Baitullah. “It’s … just a matter of time. We are looking for him. The moment he comes out he will be targeted.” The minister, however, said that total elimination of groups such as the TTP and Al Qaeda would “take some time”.

Malik also emphasised the need for the Afghan and Pakistani governments to develop a joint strategy to combat the common threat of the Taliban.

He also cited concerns that too much weaponry was crossing the border from Afghanistan, and said the neighbouring country needed to take stronger action to monitor the movement of arms more closely. “Every bullet, every Kalashnikov is coming across the border from Afghanistan” he said, and called on the Afghan government to increase the number of checkposts on its side of the border.

Malik also said China had agreed a multi-million dollar loan to Pakistan to help the country set up electronic scanners to check all road traffic entering its main cities.

 

[inayatali]

Anti-terrorism force

In stating that the ‘police are not trained to counter terror attacks’ and referring to the need for a new security force dedicated to fighting terrorism, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has made a valid point. The methods pursued by the extremists at work in Pakistan resemble a form of urban warfare where it is not easy to tell a terrorist from a civilian. All a militant has to do to pass for a non-combatant is to temporarily abandon his weapon. This allows terrorists to melt at will into the civilian population, making the countering of possible attacks doubly difficult.
While the military operation has certainly achieved some success, it is also certain that the army cannot maintain an indefinite presence in the affected areas — particularly with the military action being expanded to Fata. Once active military presence is withdrawn and displaced populations start returning, the task of ensuring law and order will, under the current circumstances, fall primarily to the police. But the police force in the conflict areas is already demoralised and suffers from issues endemic to the country’s civilian security apparatus such as the lack of training, funding and operational resources.

There is, therefore, a need to constitute a new security force trained specifically to counter terrorism. In this regard, it is encouraging that the government has announced the intention of setting up such a force in Swat. Such a force would be of use wherever there is evidence of militant or terrorist cells. To achieve long-term success, however, the intelligence-gathering network feeding the anti-terrorism force will prove of pivotal importance.

The ability to tell a terrorist from a non-combatant will depend on local knowledge and require an ear-to-the-ground approach. The conduits of information available to the police must therefore be utilised to the fullest, for the police already have a wide network of informants and local knowledge. And while the anti-terrorism force must work in conjunction with the police, the two bodies must also remain distinct from each other to avoid issues of jurisdictional and operational overlap. Moreover, the police force must urgently be bolstered with resources and trained staff.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Madressahs as a cover

Dawn Editorial
Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009

IT was not a suicide bomber who left 12 people, including seven children, dead in a village near Mian Channu on Monday; it was a huge quantity of ammunition stored in a seminary that blew up, spewing death and destruction. This is just a small indication of what some of those who run madressahs do behind what would appear to be an innocuous, even laudable, activity. The man who ran the seminary, Riaz Kamboh, was known to have militant links, had gone to Afghanistan for training and was arrested twice but then released. Seemingly, the madressah he ran was teaching the Holy Quran to village boys and girls. However, the recovery of propaganda literature and suicide jackets from the debris makes it abundantly clear that he was using the madressah as a cover for organising a terrorist cell which brainwashed and trained young people to become terrorists and suicide bombers.

What happened at village 129/15-L in south Punjab is symptomatic of a larger phenomenon throughout the country, for many — though not all — madressahs have links with banned militant organisations and serve as recruiting grounds and as centres of indoctrination for both boys and girls. Let us not forget that Jamia Hafsa was an intrinsic part of the Lal Masjid empire run by the Aziz-Rashid duo, and it used girls for unlawful activities like raiding and occupying a government library and kidnapping a woman. There are thousands of such madressahs and seminaries in Pakistan, and though all of them cannot be tarred with the same brush the security agencies must be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. That Kamboh’s activities remained undetected constitutes a sad commentary on the efficiency of our security agencies whose performance leaves a lot to be desired. We do not know how many other Kambohs are using madressahs as cells for terrorist activity.

 

[Interceptor]

Airbase, FC official’s house attacked with rockets

August 08, 2009

PESHAWAR: Three rockets hit a military airbase and a Frontier Corps (FC) official’s house on Friday but no casualties were reported, police said. Two rockets hit the Badaber airbase but no damage was reported. The area was cordoned off and sealed following the explosions. Separately, a rocket was fired at an FC official’s house in Gulberg II, Saddar area. The structure was partially destroyed in the attack and a neighbouring house was also damaged. The official’s brother, Malik Ashraf, told reporters that they had rented the property to a family from Hangu two days ago and had been living elsewhere themselves. Peshawar SSP (Operations) Abdul Ghafoor Afridi told reporters that the police were still trying to ascertain the places from where the attacks had been carried out. staff report

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Xeric]

ONLINE - International News Network

One killed, four injured in rocket explosions in Peshawar
PESHAWAR: At least one person died and four others including police personnel were wounded as a result of six rockets fired from unknown place by unidentified armed men here in Peshawar on Monday night.

Private TV Channel repot said that three rockets fired by unknown men landed in Canal road. As result, one person died and four other including police personnel injured in the incident. The injured were rushed to the Hospital.

It is said that two rockets landed in Abdra area while one landed in Hayatabad area. However, no loss of life or property has been reported in these areas.

Soon after the incident, police and law enforcing agencies have started their investigations.

 

[muse]

Musharraf murder bid: Seven arrested from Karachi


KARACHI (updated on: August 23, 2009, 21:48 PST): The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police Sunday claimed to have arrested seven accused involved in murder attempt on former President Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Aaj News reported.

Addressing a news conference here, DIG CID Sindh Saud Mirza said, on a tip-off, police conducted raids at different places and arrested seven accused, who belonged to banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. He further said huge cache of arms and ammunition besides suicide jackets were seized.

During initial interrogation, the accused have confessed of suicide attacks on Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz besides terrorist activities in Quetta and Chaman.

They revealed that they were also involved in heroin smuggling and 50 percent of the amount received through this smuggling were used to be sent to Taliban commander Abdul Samad in Quetta.

The accused also confessed to getting training in South Waziristan.

 

[Bill Longley]

LOST IDENTITY: ????? ???? ??? ???? ?????؟

بھارتی آرمی چیف جنرل دیپک کپور نے بھی حکومتی پالیسی کے مطابق پاکستان پرالزامات لگانے کا سلسلہ جاری رکھا ہوا ہے۔۔۔۔

نئی دہلی میں میڈیا سے بات کرتے ہوئے کل انہوں نے پاکستان پر کشمیر میں دراندازی کا الزام لگایا۔۔۔ اور کہا کہ۔۔۔۔مقبوضہ کشمیرمیں ۔۔۔پاکستان کی طرف سےدراندازی کی کوششیں کی جارہی ہیں۔۔۔۔جس سےدراندازی میں اضافہ ہواہے۔۔۔ اور پھر دھمکی دی کہ اگر پاکستان باز نہ آیا تو بھارتی فوج اس کا جواب دے گی( لالا جی شکل دیکھو پھر بکواس کرو، ذات دی کوڑھ کرلی تے شہتیران نو جھپھ&#1575

دیپک کپور کا یہ بیان ایک ایسے وقت سامنے آیا ہے جس وقت۔۔۔۔ایک طرف لداخ سیکٹر اور لائن آف ایکچول کنٹرول پر بھارت اور چین کے درمیان کشیدگی جاری ہے۔۔۔ اور وزارت دفاع۔۔۔ چین کی سرحد کے ساتھ ملی ہوئی تین ریاستوں میں فوج کو ریڈ الرٹ کر چکی ہے۔

دوسری طرف مقبوضہ کشمیر میں۔۔۔مئی میں ہونے والے شوپیاں ریپ کیس کے بعد سے۔۔۔بدامنی اور بے چینی پھیلی ہوئی ہے۔۔۔جس میں وزیراعلٰی عمرعبداللہ پر سیکس سکینڈل میں ملوث ہونے کے الزامات کے بعد اور تیزی آ گئی ہے۔۔۔حریت رہنما یا تو قید ہیں یا پھرنظربند۔۔۔

بھارتی فوج اور سکیورٹی اداروں کی بدمعاشیوں نے پوری وادی کا امن برباد کیا ہوا ہے۔۔۔ ایسے میں بھارت پاکستان پرالزامات کی بھوچار کر کے۔۔۔ ڈومیسٹک پریشر پاکستان کے خلاف موڑنا چاہتا ہے۔۔۔۔

بھارتی الزامات کی ایک اور وجہ۔۔۔امریکی پریشر ہے۔۔۔ امریکہ چاہتا ہے کہ دونوں ممالک میں امن ہو۔۔۔اور بھارت پاکستانی سرحد سے فوج ہٹائے۔۔۔ تاکہ پاکستان مکمل اطمینان سے طالبان کے خلاف لڑ سکے۔۔۔۔ بھارت پاکستان کی صورتحال سے فائدہ اٹھانا چاہ رہا ہے۔۔۔۔ اسی لئے کبھی ممبئی حملوں کے نام پر۔۔۔تو کبھی دراندازی اور ایٹمی ہتھیاروں کے ایشو پر ٹینشن برقرار رکھتا ہے۔۔۔۔ جس کا مقصد ایک طرف اپنی فوج کو پاکستان پر پریشر برقرار رکھنے کا موقع دینا ہے ۔۔۔تو دوسری طرف پاکستان کو طالبان کے خلاف مکمل توجہ دینے سے روکنا ہے۔۔۔۔

شرم الشیخ ، مصر میں ہونے والی پاک بھارت وزراء اعظم کی ملاقات کے بعد۔۔۔دونوں


وزراء اعظم نے ایک اعلامیہ جاری کیا ۔۔۔جس میں بلوچستان کا ذکر بھی کیا گیا۔۔۔جو گویا بھارت کی جانب سے اعتراف تھا ۔۔کہ اس کا ہاتھ بلوچتان میں جاری دہشتگردی میں ہے۔۔۔

واپسی پر بھارتی وزیر اعظم کو خاصی تنقید کا سامنا کر نا پڑا۔۔۔جس کے بعد بھارتی حکومت نے ۔۔۔عوام کے سامنے بھارت ماتا سے وفاداری ثابت کرنے کے لئے۔۔۔۔ پاکستان کے خلاف جارہانہ بیان بازی کی پالیسی اپنا لی۔۔۔

ممبئی حملون کے بعد سے۔۔۔بھارت پاکستان سے بلیک میلنگ کا ایک گیم کھیل رہا ہے۔۔۔ ایک طرف تو پاکستانی حکومت کو مکمل ثبوت نہیں دیئے جا رہے۔۔۔تو دوسری طرف پاکستان کو اندھا دھند تنقید کا نشانہ بنا کر پریشرائز کرنے کی کوشش کی جا رہی ہے۔۔۔۔

جس کی بڑی وجہ وہ احساس کمتری ہے۔۔۔جو پاکستان کو اقوام عالم میں ملتی ہو ئی پزیرائی سے پیدا ہو رہا ہے۔۔۔ تو دوسری طرف بھارتی سرکار کی افغانستان اور جنوبی ایشیا ء میں ناکام ہوتی ہوئی پالیسیان ہیں۔۔۔ پچھلے کچھ عرصے دھلی سے آنے والے بیانات سے ۔۔۔ایک بات تو ظاہر ہو رہی ہے کہ۔۔۔۔بھارت پاکستان سے برابری کی سطح پر امن نہیں چاہتا۔۔۔ کہنے کو تو وہ ایک بڑا ملک ہے۔۔۔مگر حد یہ ہے کہ وہ اپنے سے کئی گنا چھوٹے ملک ۔۔۔پاکستان کو ایک ڈرونے خواب کی طرح دیکھتا ہے۔۔۔خود بھی ڈرتا ہے اور دنیا کو بھی اس سے ڈراتا ہے۔۔۔
LOST IDENTITY: ????? ???? ??? ???? ?????؟

 

[muse]

Two bombers arrested near Tarbela airbase

ISLAMABAD: Intelligence agencies claim to have arrested two men for allegedly planning to attack the PAF airbase at Tarbela. According to a private TV channel, the two men were carrying suicide jackets, a handgun and three hand grenades. The men, identified as Hafiz Abdul Razzaq and Abdul Majid, were residents of Karak in the NWFP. The suspects told investigators that 21-year-old Abdul Majid was to carry out a suicide attack, while 28-year-old Abdul Razzaq would provide cover fire. They said they had travelled from Bannu to Tarbela Ghazi on a motorcycle, where they were stopped at the Jharyan checkpost. app

 

[Patriot]

Two bombers arrested near Tarbela airbase

ISLAMABAD: Intelligence agencies claim to have arrested two men for allegedly planning to attack the PAF airbase at Tarbela. According to a private TV channel, the two men were carrying suicide jackets, a handgun and three hand grenades. The men, identified as Hafiz Abdul Razzaq and Abdul Majid, were residents of Karak in the NWFP. The suspects told investigators that 21-year-old Abdul Majid was to carry out a suicide attack, while 28-year-old Abdul Razzaq would provide cover fire. They said they had travelled from Bannu to Tarbela Ghazi on a motorcycle, where they were stopped at the Jharyan checkpost. app

Good Work

 

[Metallic]

Girls school attacked in troubled NW Pakistan
PAKISTAN - 22 SEPTEMBER 2009

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Suspected Islamist militants blew up a girls school close to the main city in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police said. The school was empty at the time of the blast and no one was injured.

A timed explosive device is believed to have caused the explosion that badly damaged the school on the outskirts of Peshawar, police officer Hamdullah Khan said.

Al-Qaida and Taliban militants hold sway across much of northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan and have often targeted girls schools in both countries because they believe that women should not be educated.

The military has launched large offensives across parts of the region in an attempt to rein the militants in, but they remain strong in much of the mountainous, lawless zone.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Tuesday that the global fight against terrorism requires not just a military solution but also gaining the trust of civilians in regions where insurgents operate.

"No war against terrorism can be won without the support of the people," Gilani told a crowd in the eastern city of Multan as part of Eid al-Fitr celebrations at the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Winning over the hearts and minds of the civilian population was crucial in assisting the military offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley that ousted Taliban militants from power in July, Gilani noted.

The army launched the Swat offensive in April after local Taliban leaders, who had imposed their harsh interpretation of Islam on residents there, violated a peace deal with the government and expanded into Buner, a district within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital, Islamabad.

Gilani also said Pakistan will not allow terrorists to plot attacks on its soil against other countries, including archrival India.

The comment came a day after the leader of a banned Pakistani Islamist group that India accuses of carrying out attacks on its financial capital late last year was placed under house arrest again.

Pakistani police prevented Hafiz Muhammad Saeed from leaving his home Monday. Saeed is a founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which New Delhi says masterminded the commando-style assault that killed 166 people in Mumbai last November.

Yahya Mujhaid, a spokesman for Saeed, condemned the arrest as illegal and unconstitutional.

Pakistan detained Saeed in December, but a Pakistani court freed him from house arrest in June saying there was not enough evidence to hold him.

The prime minister said Tuesday that more evidence tying Saeed to the Mumbai attacks was needed for a criminal case to proceed.

"The government has taken Hafiz Saeed in custody, but further action against him depends on proof available," Gilani later told reporters.

In the northwest, police acting on a tip recovered arms, ammunition and explosives Tuesday hidden near Kohat town — the scene of a suicide bombing Friday that killed more than 30 people, police chief Dilawar Bangash told The Associated Press.

Girls read loudly while attending a class at a makeshift school tent in Mingora, located in Pakistan's Swat Valley, about 260 km (161 miles) by road northwest of Islamabad September 15, 2009.



Source: Associated Press

 

[ejaz007]

Foreigner among 3 killed in UN offices blast
Updated at: 1320 PST, Monday, October 05, 2009


ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani women and a foreigner killed and five others injured in a blast at United Nations World Food Program(WFP) offices in Islamabad.

The foreigner killed in the blast was identified as Golden whose nationality is yet to be identified whereas Pakistani women identified as Gul Mukhtar and Farzana Barkat. According to reports, at least 80 people working in WFP offices. They were shifted to safer place and area has been cordoned off.

DIG Operation Islamabad while talking to Geo News confirmed the killing of two women and said the blast apparently carried out through a planted bomb. Seven to eight kilograms of explosive could be used, he added.

Foreigner among 3 killed in UN offices blast

 

[Hari]

India funding Taliban fighters, says Rehman Malik

Islamabad, Oct 26 (PTI) Interior Minister Rehman Malik has once again claimed that India is fomenting unrest within Pakistan through steps such as funding Taliban fighters based along the border with Afghanistan.

Malik said he was "convinced" India is among "certain hostile agencies" that are backing the Taliban to create instability in Pakistan.

Asked during an interview to a TV news channel as to who was backing the Taliban, he said: "There are certain hostile elements against Pakistan and there are certain hostile agencies which do not want Pakistan to be (stabilised)."

In response to a question on whether India is among the hostile agencies, Malik said, "Yes, of course, I am convinced. I have no doubt about it. I was very open. I have given the full details

Source


What details he is talking about?

 

[ejaz007]

Iranian diplomat gunned down in Peshawar
Updated at: 0930 PST, Thursday, November 12, 2009


PESHAWAR: The unknown gunmen shot dead Director Public Relations of Iranian consulate in Peshawar.

Police sources said unknown attackers opened fire on Abul Hasan Jaffery, Director Public Relations near his residence in Gulberg wounded him seriously. He later succumbed to injuries.


Iranian diplomat gunned down in Peshawar

 

[Ahmad]

Iranian consulate official was killed today in Peshawar of Pakistan by unknown gunmen.