Mianwali, December 21: Two suspected suicide bombers were arrested Sunday by the security forces in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, the police said.
The duo were arrested in Mianwali area of the province, the Online news agency reported.
The accused, Wali Muhammad and Muhammad Usman, were ready to hit their targets, police said. Investigations are on to collect more information on the accused.
—Agencies
Peshawar, December 21: Militants on Monday blew up a police check post on the outskirts of this troubled city in northwest Pakistan though there were no reports of casualties, police said.
The check post in Shamshatoo consisted of a barrier and separated Peshawar district from the nearby tribal Frontier Region, police said.
It was targeted this morning with a remote-controlled bomb that was planted close to the barrier, they said.
Militants have targeted police check posts and security forces on the outskirts of Peshawar on several occasions in the recent past.
Islamabad, Dec 21: The organisers of the “South Asia 2060” conference, the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Initiatives, said Ms. Mehbooba had applied for the visa only four days ago and her papers could not be processed in time for her departure.
Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the People’s Democratic Party, has had to cancel her participation in a conference here after she was unable to obtain a visa to travel to Pakistan.
Islamabad, December 20: There is strong buzz in political and diplomatic circles about a possible Pakistan coup as demands are growing for the resignation of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.
Although the presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar denied any chance of coup in the country but some developments in the country clearly point that things are not normal.
Lahore, December 20: A massive rally has been held in Lahore in support of the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to scrap the amnesty given to hundreds of people facing graft charges.
Saturday’s rally was organized by Youm-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).
In an address to the crowd, Youm-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan called on the Supreme Court to hold fair trials for all the suspects.
The ralliers expressed support for the Supreme Court’s decision to prosecute hundreds of people, including ruling party members, who are suspected of corruption.
Gurdaspur, December 20: In a tone full of desperation Radio Pakistan in the latest edition of its Punjabi Durbar programme has said that Pakistan may use nuclear bomb againstIndia as a last resort.
Islamabad, Dec 19: Pakistan president Asif Zardari on Friday called an emergency meeting of a core group of the Pakistan People’s Party’s ministers to discuss the country’s political situation.
The meeting, attended by prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Rehman Malik, and others, plans to evolve a strategy to cope with the situation arising out of a supreme court (SC) verdict on the controversial national reconciliation ordinance, the sources said.
Islamabad, December 19: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has suspended four government officials for barring Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar from going on an official visit abroad.
The prime minister took the decision after a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on Friday, a early on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, Naveed Ahsan, apologized to Mukhtar for stopping him from going to China for an official visit on Thursday.
Islamabad, December 19: In the first fallout of the Supreme Court ruling striking down the controversial graft amnesty law, arrest warrants were on Friday issued against Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar was barred from going abroad on an official visit.
The National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan’s main anti-corruption agency, also banned 250 other officials from going abroad following the order striking down the graft amnesty which benefited over 8,000 politicians and officials.
Islamabad, December 18: A Pakistan anti-corruption court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who is one of several ministers and key aides who had protected under a 2007 Amnesty granted to President Asif Ali Zardari.
This development has triggered more panic and political uncertainty in the country ever since the Supreme Court struck down an amnesty that protected President Zardari and several of his key aides.
Malik, is one of the 248 people who face corruption charges and have been banned by the state anti-graft agency from travelling abroad.
Peshawar, December 18: At least four people were killed and 18 others injured on Friday in a “huge” bomb blast inside a mosque in a police compound in northwest Pakistan, officials said.
The blast struck in a town in Lower Dir district, the focus of a fierce military offensive earlier this year to oust Taliban militants.
“The bomb blast took place inside a mosque in police headquarters. At least four people have been killed and more than 18 injured,” local police chief Mumtaz Zarin said.
Islamabad, December 18: The Pakistani army rejects US pressure to open a new front against Afghan militants operating on its territory, a move that has added to tensions between the two countries.
In an interview Thursday in Rawalpindi, army spokesman Brig. Syed Azmat Ali denied allegations that the country was sheltering the Afghan militants.
“We can’t start fighting in North Waziristan while we are in every agency in the tribal area fighting the Taliban there.”
Islamabad, December 18: Another vigour blast took place in the Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, which claimed seven lives and left 20 injured in Lower Dir district of region on Friday.
The explosion occurred near a mosque in Khurshid police lines in Timar Gira area in Lower Dir, Geo TV reported.
“For now we have received reports from the scene that seven people have been killed and more than 20 are injured,” DPA quoted an official at the district’s main police control room as saying.
Islamabad, December 18: The Pakistani civilian government has ruled out the possibility of a military coup after a court ruling plunged the nuclear-armed country into political turmoil.
On Friday, a spokesman for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari dismissed rumors of a coup in politically destabilized country.
“There is no coup,” said the president’s spokesman, Farhatullah Babar.
The coup rumors started after a government minister suspected of corruption was prevented from leaving the country.
Washington, December 18: As Pakistan appeared towards another round of political chaos following the quashing of NRO by the Supreme Court, the US has cautiously refrained from any public comment on it but said it expected the leaders in the country to follow the Constitution.
“Regardless of the fallout from the decision, we expect Pakistan’s leaders will act in accordance with their constitution,” the State Department Deputy Spokesman, Robert Wood, told reporters at a news conference.
He, however, said it is an internal matter of the country.
Washington, December 18: The United States has expressed serious concerns with Pakistani authorities over the “unjustifiable” and “inordinate” delay, running into months, in issuing visas to hundreds of its staff and contractors, which it said greatly hamper its humanitarian work and counter-terrorism measures in Pakistan.
Islamabad, December 18: Rumours of a coup, sparked after a minister was barred from leaving the country, were dismissed by the Pakistan government on Friday.
Political tension has risen in Pakistan since the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down an amnesty that protected President Asif Ali Zardari, several of his ministers and thousands of others from corruption charges.
Zardari can still not be prosecuted because he is protected by presidential immunity, but some opposition politicians have nevertheless called on him to step down. His spokesman said he wouldn’t.
Islamabad, December 18: Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency today revived cases against thousands of people, including politicians, that were scrapped under a law struck down by the Supreme Court, as authorities barred 248 people, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik from travelling abroad.
Offices of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) across Pakistan reopened cases closed under National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a controversial law issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf that was declared void by theSupreme Court yesterday.
Islamabad, December 18: Pakistan’s Supreme Court bans the country’s defense minister from leaving Pakistan as arrest warrants have been issued against 252 beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar was on his way to China with Pakistan’s naval chief for an official visit when he was stopped at Islamabad International Airport, a Press TV correspondent reported late on Thursday.
Ialamabad, Dec 18:Mr Mukhtar said his delegation left for China without him Pakistani Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has said that immigration officials stopped him from boarding a plane for an official visit to China.
He is one of around 250 officials being investigated by Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency.
The supreme court recently ruled that an amnesty protecting senior members of government was unconstitutional.
Those under investigation are barred from leaving Pakistan but have so far not been named.
Islamabad, December 18: A spokesman for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari dismissed on Friday rumours of a coup that started after a government minister suspected of corruption was stopped from leaving the country.
Political tension has risen in Pakistan since the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down an amnesty that protected Zardari, several of his ministers and thousands of others from corruption charges.
A spokesman for the state anti-graft agency said on Thursday the names of about 248 people had been placed on a list of people barred from leaving the country.
Islamabad, December 18: Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency barred the defense minister and nearly 250 other top officials from leaving the country Thursday as political turmoil deepened following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a graft amnesty.
The court verdict means that up to 8,000 graft and other cases dating back to the 1990s have, or will soon be, reopened. The decision has roiled the country’s political elite just as the United States is looking for a solid partner to help it fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban along the Afghan border.
Islamabad, December 18: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said he has been barred from leaving the country for an official visit to China after a Supreme Court decision revived a corruption case against him.
Mukhtar told local television late Thursday that his name was on a so-called exit list restricting travel and that the federal investigation authorities had said he cannot leave the country.
Islamabad, December 17: Pakistan’s president faced fresh calls to step down Thursday after the Supreme Court struck down an amnesty that had protected the increasingly unpopular leader and several of his political allies from corruption charges.
The decision late Wednesday weakened the already shaky rule of President Asif Ali Zardari and sharpened political tensions in the nuclear-armed nation just as the United States and its other Western allies want it to unite and fight militants along the Afghan border.
Islamabad, December 17: Pakistan’s main opposition party on Thursday called on President Asif Ali Zardari to resign after a court threw out an amnesty protecting him and senior government figures from corruption charges.
The Supreme Court declared Wednesday that a 2007 National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) which contained the amnesty was unconstitutional and struck it down, paving the way for thousands of criminal cases to be revived.