Twin Blasts in Quetta, 15 dead

[Xeric]

Yes, and my 'proposals' focusing on reforms in local law enforcement and the FIA and IB are meant as a means to 'establish basic law and order' - the ability to become 'first responders' to terrorism/extremism related activity stems from that focus on 'basic law and order'.

Elite Police Force and some of the specially trained military and para-military units would act as support elements in case of a need for more 'Kinetic Operations'.

Pakistan has to decentralize security - which means we have to focus on capacity building of local law enforcement, provincial/civilian intelligence and making civilian security forces politically independent, better trained and much better paid.

In a country of 180 million, with poor controls over material that can be potentially used for explosives, and poor control over porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran, it will be almost impossible to tackle terrorism and extremism (small local cells especially) with a centralized military and para-military force.

It is certainly not the ISI or PA that has a 'thana' in every city, town or neighborhood - it is the local cops, and they have to be focus of reform to become Pakistan's first line of defense against terrorism and extremism.

It is the local cops who have the best feel for their neighborhoods and residents, and the best ability to observe and respond to 'suspicious activity'.

The reforms and ideas behind the successful Motorway Police would be good model to follow.

I would also argue that the FIA and IB need to be merged with their provincial equivalents, with provincial HQ's, to minimize red tape and better share data and information. The two organizations need to be taken away from the Interior Ministry and put under the control of a bi-partisan parliamentary commission, perhaps similar to the judicial commission.

The FIA and IB are the main tools against these elements. But then when the likes of Zardari would reinstate thousands of employees whose services were once terminated of disciplinary and political grounds, i doubt that these agencies would be able to give much. The FIA can just do its primary job of look after immigrations etc, the IB can take care of providing info to the LAEs, both would somehow add to it. But when a DPO is more worried about his posting and his affiliation with the MPA, i dont think he can do much to our benefit. The whole system of civilian governance needs an overhaul. The unnecessary expenditures, the futile meetings at district/provincial HQs where these officers just go to waste their time because 'saab' abhi farig nahi hain...and for issues which can be explained on telephone etc needs to stop.

Imagine, the SHO of a thana being the first respondent to a situation, the Elite Police immediately coming into action to respond to action etc etc. The news that ' security agencion nay ilaqay ko ghairay main lay liya hai' should end! The handlers executing a terrorist attack are always somewhere around the ground zero, filming, analyzing the attack etc, with intel being readily available these guys can be nabbed there and then. There strong holds/safe houses kept under watch, just like the guy who was caught day before yesterday, the moment it was clear that they are planning to flee the country, they were got from their balls.

But all this would need alot of effort, not much is lost still, these can be improved if someone want to make it happen. The political elites are the ones who have to do it. Martial laws are no answers, Army cant be everywhere. Karachi ho tu Army kyn nahi arahe, Zardari kaam na karay tu Army kyn nahi kuch karahe..enough yaar!

Re- today's statement of DG Rangers Sindh that the sitution of Karachi is worst than that in FATA!!

He is correct! With the kind of laxity we have been giving to these MQM guys and the kind of weapons and the strength that these guys have mustered, i seriously doubt if a military action is taken against them, situation would be no more different then that of Bangladesh. BTW, Sir Mustafa Kamal has already threatened yesterday that; 'this is not the 1992s'!!

 

[Xeric]

Yes, and my 'proposals' focusing on reforms in local law enforcement and the FIA and IB are meant as a means to 'establish basic law and order' - the ability to become 'first responders' to terrorism/extremism related activity stems from that focus on 'basic law and order'.

Elite Police Force and some of the specially trained military and para-military units would act as support elements in case of a need for more 'Kinetic Operations'.

IMO the issue is not funds, it is a lack of political will to implement changes such as these which would essentially eliminate the influence of our elites over law enforcement.

Funds? What funds?

The Police dont require tanks and artillery guns. They need training, which the military can impart in absolute terms. That's it. Some guud officers, some motivation, guud pays, some respect, a few more powers and important of all, a strong will, and you have what you need for this force to start delivering.

A thana is there everywhere, we need not to expend on their expansion, it's already there at the very basic tier of governance. Manpower, again is not an issue. Weaponry, well they are not required to take actions, they just have to preempt, a few more baktar band vehicles, bullet proof jackets and some IQ, that's all they need. You dont even know which kind of 'mukhbaris' (the intel guys of Police) these Police walas have. They can even tell you which poond is pondifying around which girls college these days! But then the issue is the same, there's no central agency to coordinate all this info, there's no central authority to mobilize these guys etc. BTW, the raising of Commands at the Army level may help in this case. i dont know how much you guys know of the structure of these Commands, so i wont dwell more, but then it would amalgamate all the LEAs at one platform, but then again this effort is directed against the bigger evil on our East and that it would be a phauji who would be in command, which is against the essence of the idea Agno is presenting.

 

[VCheng]

Funds? What funds?

The Police dont require tanks and artillery guns. They need training, which the military can impart in absolute terms. That's it. ...................................

Typical blinkered thinking.

THREE thousand dollars per LEO per YEAR, and no funds needed? Yeah, right!

EDIT: Figure corrected.

 

[Xeric]

Police is the most corrupt institution in Pakistan which has a direct involvment with the public. If it is solved, problems will be much less.

Motorway Police and the new system whereby Punjab Traffic Police gets a fair share if the 'challan' someone is one way of improvement. The Motorway wala sucker just dont listen. Every time i have traveled on motorway and GT road, hamesha challan karwaya hai insay - Aslam-o- Alakum Sir! Aap populated area main 82 kmph ki speed say jarhay thay..80 tak hoti tu chor dyta..apna naam batain please!!... o janda aye ji.. thak Rs 200 ka challan.... and i was like..o bhai baat tu sun lay...

Now tell me, which kind of 'funds' did these guys required to be like this?

You really think so, given the tussles between the PPP and the SC on corruption cases and the transfers/promotions of officials in the FIA etc. viewed as not being 'sympathetic' to the PPP?

Several thousand 'Jiyala's have been inducted into the FIA and IB alone since the PPP took power - the political 'cost', in terms of not being able to influence investigations into corruption and criminal activity by 'politicians' as well as the inability to use these institutions to 'reward' political supporters through 'jobs', is tremendous.

I'll throw out a number I often use '$3 Billion per year' - the savings from privatizing/shutting down the largest loss making PSE's such as PIA, PS etc. That should more than cover it.

But talk of 'financing' reforms is premature when the political will to implement reforms does not exist - the focus must first be on pressuring the elected leadership to propose and implement reform.

They woul have required funds if we were planning to give them new weaponry etc. Their SMG Chinies are guud enough. A few more sidearms and that's it. BPJs is a must. The shortage is at national level, so it has to be met accordingly. Otherwise, the defensibility of thanas had to be increased and with the kind of money these guys hav, i dont think it should be a problem. Aik mahinay DPO ki wife ko shopping na karwain na bhai.

The basic step should be improved induction of men in this force. More educated and motivated lot, just like the Army. People should like to join Police not because by joining it you become a certified and legal badmash, but because of the motivation as youngsters join the Armed Forces. Also, their administrative outlook has to be improved. i know when a DPO visits Lahore from Okara, he has the sarkari guestroom to stay, his driver, men etc are at their own from the point they drop DPO at his aram gah. Ab batao, what would they do? Kisi thanay walay ki minatain, kisi Mill walay k sath taanka fit or the least, kisi jagirdar k sath milaap. Now tell me, what do you expect them to deliver the next day?

They have the infrastructure, only that it is ill-0maintain because the funds are directed elsewhere by their bosses. Why should a Police wala do a duty for more than 12 hours at a stretch? Go check it yourself, everyday during Ramazan, the traffic wala would have his Iftari on the road that too from the 'mufta' the nearby hotels have given him. Mera fauji tu aisa nahi karta. We make sure he get's his Iftari at the place of duty, and this dont require funds, not at all, this only require the movement of a few a$$es, some planning and bit of gairat and sharam haya, that's it!

 

[VCheng]

Motorway Police and the new system whereby Punjab Traffic Police gets a fair share if the 'challan' someone is one way of improvement. The Motorway wala sucker just dont listen. Every time i have traveled on motorway and GT road, hamesha challan karwaya hai insay - Aslam-o- Alakum Sir! Aap populated area main 82 kmph ki speed say jarhay thay..80 tak hoti tu chor dyta..apna naam batain please!!... o janda aye ji.. thak Rs 200 ka challan.... and i was like..o bhai baat tu sun lay...

Now tell me, which kind of 'funds' did these guys required to be like this?
......................

So what is the pay of a Motorway Police Officer compared to that of the the typical SHO in the provincial police?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

$3 billion per year? I would estimate the cost of a properly trained and equipped LEO in Pakistan at about $50k per year, everything included. That would give you 60,000 LEOs to play with.

It should be enough I think. (Total Pakistan police force at the moment is about 325,000 with a sanctioned budget of about PKR 81 million per year, which works out to about $3 dollars per LEO per year.)

To continue with Xeric's point, the expenses will initially be higher in terms of setting up more/better training facilities and increasing the compensation received by the LEA's.

Given that Pakistan can maintain a 500,00 plus active Army on around $5 Billion, I believe your estimate of how much it could cost per individual is rather high. LEA's already have plenty of small arms - the initial focus should be on better compensation and training, and higher standards of induction starting with the newest batches.

The most important aspect of reform is removing political influence from the LEA's, FIA and IB - that alone would go a long way in improving the performance of the force.

 

[VCheng]

To continue with Xeric's point, the expenses will initially be higher in terms of setting up more/better training facilities and increasing the compensation received by the LEA's.

Given that Pakistan can maintain a 500,00 plus active Army on around $5 Billion, I believe your estimate of how much it could cost per individual is rather high. LEA's already have plenty of small arms - the initial focus should be on better compensation and training, and higher standards of induction starting with the newest batches.

The most important aspect of reform is removing political influence from the LEA's, FIA and IB - that alone would go a long way in improving the performance of the force.

Oh yes, I know that, I high-balled the estimate, just to show that even with that over-estimation, 60,000 top class LEOs would make a huge difference. I agree with you that $3 billion per year should be more than enough for an effective policing effort.

Heck, even going from $3k/LEO/year to $5k/LEO/year for a total of about $1650 million per year would make a HUGE difference!

Edit: Figures corrected.

 

[American Pakistani]

Quetta, Pakistan— Police are investigating whether a twin suicide bomb attack on the home of a top paramilitary official that killed at least 23 people in the southwestern city of Quetta on Wednesday is linked to the recent arrest of three top Al Qaeda operatives in the city.

Brigadier Farrukh Shahzad, deputy head of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force for Baluchistan province, survived the morning attack but his wife was killed, Quetta police officials said. More than 50 people were injured in the blasts.

The attack began when a suicide bomber in a sports utility vehicle packed with explosives rammed his car into a convoy of Frontier Corps officers outside Shahzad's house, triggering a massive explosion, police said. Moments later, a second attacker rushed into Shahzad's house, hurling grenades inside before detonating his suicide bomb vest.

Shahzad was seriously injured in the attack, police said. Several senior Frontier Corps officers were killed or injured. Police identified the suicide bomber on foot as Ahmad Gul, a 21-year-old Afghan refugee living in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar. His identification card was found amid severed body parts found at the blast site.

On Monday, Pakistani military authorities announced the arrests of a senior Al Qaeda commander, Younis al Mauritani, and two other senior Al Qaeda operatives in Quetta. Officers with Baluchistan's Frontier Corps took part in the arrests, which were led by agents with Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), the country's primary intelligence agency. Leads provided by the CIA helped Pakistani agents and officers track down the men, Pakistani officials said.

Al Mauritani headed up Al Qaeda's international operations and had been planning attacks on a variety of U.S. economic interests, including gas and oil pipelines and hydroelectric dams, Pakistani officials said. He also had been planning to target American ships and oil tankers with speedboats filled with explosives.

Al Mauritani had been asked by Al Qaeda leader Osama to focus on targets of economic importance to the U.S., Europe and Australia, Pakistani military officials said. In May, U.S. commandos killed Bin Laden in a raid on his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, just north of the capital, Islamabad.

The Associated Press quoted Quetta police as saying they were checking whether Wednesday's blasts were meant to avenge the arrests of Al Mauritani and the other two Al Qaeda operatives. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliation for the arrests of the three Al Qaeda operatives, according to Agence France-Presse.

---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 AM ----------

So Sad Rest In Peace.

Pakistan bombing kills 23, may be tied to Al Qaeda arrests - latimes.com

Sleeping authorities will always sleep, it is time that Pakistan build a wall & crush these terrorists, till how long will it happen.

 

[DV RULES]

Re- today's statement of DG Rangers Sindh that the sitution of Karachi is worst than that in FATA!!

He is correct! With the kind of laxity we have been giving to these MQM guys and the kind of weapons and the strength that these guys have mustered, i seriously doubt if a military action is taken against them, situation would be no more different then that of Bangladesh. BTW, Sir Mustafa Kamal has already threatened yesterday that; 'this is not the 1992s'!!

If it is not 1992 then what it is? Don't you think that not a single step was taken against MQM not to let this party so aggressive? Why we ever made a usual end of every our incompetence "situation would be no more different than that of Bangladesh"? MQM could not be beyond constitution and national security so i can't agree that these kind of goons are out of control but not a single government initiated end game for MQM. SC hearing over Karachi violence continue and we will see the end results will same like "Khoda pahar nikla chuha" because a shake hand with MQM by PPP. SO what justice & why cry.

 

[Areesh]

Why the baseless allegations against Afghanistan, the country worst affected by terrorism?

By the way genius this is for you.

Meanwhile police have recovered heads of two suicide bombers. One of them was identified as Ahmed Gul son of Gul Muhammad belongs to Qandooz city of Afghanistan.

Ahmed Gul had secured the card of refugee from Khayber Pakhtoonkhawa and his address is of Peshawar city.

Twin suicide blasts on DIG FC house in Quetta claim 26 lives

 

[American Pakistani]

Re- today's statement of DG Rangers Sindh that the sitution of Karachi is worst than that in FATA!!

He is correct! With the kind of laxity we have been giving to these MQM guys and the kind of weapons and the strength that these guys have mustered, i seriously doubt if a military action is taken against them, situation would be no more different then that of Bangladesh. BTW, Sir Mustafa Kamal has already threatened yesterday that; 'this is not the 1992s'!!

Don't blame MQM for all reason, the reason Karachi had become like this because zia ul haq threw all afghan refugees in Karachi who brought their drug & gun culture. WTH they were not thrown in Islamabad, Peshawar or Lahore? Why only Karachi? And what's happening today, no one should close eyes, it is PPP using ANP & ANP using afghan refugees. If you guys want to close eyes & still blame MQM than Karachi will soon become a lost & lawless city.

Today worst areas of Karachi like Kati Pahari, Orangi, Lyari etc are battleground, God forbid if the wrong accusations & blame games continues, who knows tomorrow the big & posh areas like Clifton, Defense, BathIsland, Saddar, FB area, Jauhar, Gulberg, Gulshan, Nazimabad etc etc will become............

 

[Ahmad]

Don't blame MQM for all reason, the reason Karachi had become like this because zia ul haq threw all afghan refugees in Karachi who brought their drug & gun culture. WTH they were not thrown in Islamabad, Peshawar or Lahore? Why only Karachi? And what's happening today, no one should close eyes, it is PPP using ANP & ANP using afghan refugees. If you guys want to close eyes & still blame MQM than Karachi will soon become a lost & lawless city.

Today worst areas of Karachi like Kati Pahari, Orangi, Lyari etc are battleground, God forbid if the wrong accusations & blame games continues, who knows tomorrow the big & posh areas like Clifton, Defense, BathIsland, Saddar, FB area, Jauhar, Gulberg, Gulshan, Nazimabad etc etc will become............

for god's sake, why do you have to blame all prblems on us. Gun culture have never been part of our culture, this culture was imported from outside to afghanistan, thanks to zia and americans for this, on the other hand, tribal areas of pakistan is a known place for gun culture and acutally its people are proud of this. what we see in karachi is purely gang related which is mixed with the other issues such as ethnicity and poltics. And it is all ANP supporters who are in Karachi, they had a boost after the military operation started in FATA becaue many people from there migrated to karachi.

 

[Respect4Respect01]

inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon.


I read that the suicide bomber was from afghanistan.

 

[53fd]

By the way genius this is for you.



Twin suicide blasts on DIG FC house in Quetta claim 26 lives

Excellent find, but I was expecting this. So it's not surprising that it was an Afghan suicide bomber.

 

[53fd]

Suicide bombers kill 23 in Pakistan's Quetta

Shakil said at least 23 people were killed and more than 60 were injured in Wednesday's bombing.

He said one of the suicide bombers has been identified as Ahmed Gul, a 21-year-old Afghan refugee. Shakil said the identification was made on the basis of a refugee card found with the body parts at the blast site.