Pakistan

Islamabad, October 25: Overcoming stiff resistance from militants, Pakistan Army on Saturday captured the key hometown of Taliban chief in the country’s lawless South Waziristan as missiles fired by a US drone in adjacent Bajaur region killed 25 terrorists, but missed by minutes a top commander.

Soldiers entered the Kotkai town late last night under a barrage of bombardment by fighters, attack helicopters and heavy artillery guns to break dogged Taliban defence, which had held them back for four days.

Islamabad, October 25: A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-filled car on a Pakistani motorway early Sunday, killing a patrol officer, the chief of motorway police said.

The attack took place near Lillah, about 140 kilometres (87 miles) south of the capital Islamabad, on a motorway which links several main cities and towns in Pakistan.

“A suicide bomber blew up his car, when he was intercepted near an interchange,” inspector general of the national highway and motorway police Waseem Kausar said.

Islamabad, October 24: After playing hide and seek with Kashmir police, hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday emerged from a local mosque in Shopian and used the podium to criticise Pakistan Taliban and asked them to lay arms before the Pakistan government.

Despite restrictions by the state government to address a public gathering, 80-year-old Geelani gave a slip to the police at his Srinagar residence on Friday night. Reports suggest Geelani reached Shopian district.

Pakistan Army on Saturday claimed to have captured the hometown of Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud in the lawless South Waziristan tribal region, where a major ground offensive was launched against militants a week ago.

Several militants were killed in the operation to capture Kotkai, the Inter-Services Public Relations said.

There were no details of any casualties among security forces.

Reports from Waziristan said the town was captured overnight and troops subsequently launched an operation to clear the area.

Islamabad, October 24: Iran has hand over proofs of Sistan suicide attack to Pakistan today.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik met his Iranian counterpart Mostafa Mohammad Najjar in Islamabad where the Iranian minister handed over proofs of Sistan suicide attack to Rehman Malik and urged to hand over the culprits to Iran.

In the meeting, both the ministers also discussed about joint mechanism to beat terrorism along with other important issues.
–Agencies

Wana, October 24: Security forces killed 13 terrorists in fighting in South Waziristan tribal region with which the militants losses in a week-long fighting has reached to 142, ISPR said.

According to an ISPR statement two security men were martyred and seven injured in the drive during last 24 hours.

The military has cleared Noor Ghantai area of Sararogha and advancing towards Kotkai after control of a key hill in the vicinity of the Kotkai village.
–Agencies

Islamabad, October 24: A new judge was today appointed to conduct the crucial trial of seven key suspects in the Mumbai terror attack case, replacing Judge Baqir Ali Rana who asked to be taken off citing “security issues”.

Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan of anti-terrorism court replaced Rana on the orders of Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Khwaja Mohammad Sharif.

Rana was conducting in-camera the trial of the seven suspects, who included senior Lashker-e-Taiba operatives Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Islamabad, October 24: A suspected US missile strike killed at least 14 people in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern region bordering Afghanistan Saturday, media reports said.

The attack targeted a Taliban hideout in the Bajaur tribal district, where the Pakistani military claimed victory over the militants early this year after months of fighting.

Private Duniya News television channel said 14 people were killed in the assault. Three foreign militants were among the dead.

Islamabad, October 24: Pakistan’s interior minister has promised his Iranian counterpart assistance in a crackdown on the terrorist group known as Jundullah who are responsible for a recent Sistan-Baluchestan attack.

Islamabad, October 24: With the Taliban allowed to grow unfettered for more than a decade, there is “no longer anything unexpected” about the terrorist acts ripping through Pakistan, an editorial in a leading English daily maintained Saturday, a day after 25 people were killed in a series of blasts across the country.

At the same time, it said the latest round of bombings had a “positive dimension”.

“There is no longer anything unexpected about the terrorist attacks ripping through our country,” The News said in an editorial headlined “Another day, another blast”.

Islamabad, October 24: Three bombings hit northwest Pakistan, killing 24 people, as the army pushed a weeklong offensive deeper into al-Qaida and Taliban territory close to the Afghan border.

In one of the blasts Friday, a suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked a major Pakistani air base, killing seven people — the latest attempt by militants to strike at the heart of this nuclear-armed nation’s security forces.

Islamabad, October 24: Civilians trying to flee the conflict zone in South Waziristan may be suffering collective punishment at the hands of the Pakistan army, and some have been banned from major roads, a human rights group has claimed.

Amnesty International said civilian members of the Mehsud tribe, trying to leave the region in rag-tag convoys often travelling on the backs of donkeys, were being unfairly harassed by troops suspicious that militants may be hiding among the refugees.

Islamabad, October 23: A suicide bomber killed seven people near a major air force complex in north-west Pakistan today while an explosion killed 17 on a bus heading to a wedding elsewhere in the region.

The bloodshed has coincided with the run-up and first week of a major army offensive in a Taliban and al Qaida stronghold along the Afghan border.

Around 200 people have died as the insurgents showed they can strike in a variety of ways and places.
–Agencies

Islamabad, October 23: Two top Punjabi Taliban commanders, who are believed to have masterminded the recent attack on the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and other high-profile terror strikes in Lahore, have been arrested by Pakistani security agencies.

The two commanders ? identified only as Iqbal and Gul Muhammad, both hailing from Faisalabad ? were arrested earlier this week by law enforcement agencies.

They were members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s ‘Shura’ or council of about top 40 commanders that coordinates and oversees militant activities across the country.

Islamabad, October 23: Eighteen people were killed when a bus carrying a marriage party was blown up in a landmine explosion in Pakistan’s Mohmand Agency.

According to Geo News, the marriage party bus was struck with anti tank mine planted by militants in Lakro area.

Eighteen people, including women and children, were killed while six people were injured.

-Agencies

Islamabad, October 23: In an indication that the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) could return to the ruling federal coalition, its leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has accepted an invitation to a banquet President Asif Ali Zardari will host on Monday.

Islamabad, October 23: Seven people were killed and 13 injured Friday when a suicide bomber struck at an air force base in Pakistan’s Attock district while eight people were injured in a bombing outside a restaurant in Peshawar.

The bombings took place as the army continued to tighten its grip in the country’s restive northwest region dominated by Taliban fighters.

A suicide bomber riding a bicycle blew himself up at a security checkpost near Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra.

Islamabad, October 23: In an indication that the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) could return to the ruling federal coalition, its leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has accepted an invitation to a banquet President Asif Ali Zardari will host on Monday.

Islamabad, October 23: A suicide bomber on Friday struck a check post near a strategic Air Force complex in Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing at least seven persons and injuring a dozen others in the latest in a series of deadly terror attacks targeting the security forces.

The bomber walked up to the first check post outside the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex within the cantonment in Kamra in Punjab and detonated his explosives when security guards stopped him, police officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels.

Islamabad, October 23: In the latest strike by militants in Pakistan’s anxious and battened-down capital, a senior army officer has been assassinated in rush hour traffic by a gunman who escaped on a motorbike.

In what is believed to have been the first such targeted killing of a high-ranking soldier, Brigadier Moinudin Ahmed’s unprotected jeep was sprayed with automatic gunfire at around 9.30am yesterday. The officer and another soldier were killed, while the driver was wounded.

Islamabad, October 23: A suicide bomber today struck a check post near a strategic air force complex in Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing at least seven persons and injuring a dozen others in the latest in a series of deadly terror attacks targetting the security forces.

The bomber walked up to the first check post outside the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex within the cantonment in Kamra in Punjab and detonated his explosives when security guards stopped him, police officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels.

Islamabad, October 23: At least five people were killed and seven injured on Friday in a suicide bombing at a security check post in Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, police said.

The explosion occurred near the army-run Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, located around an hour and a half by road from Islamabad.

The suicide bomber detonated the explosive-laden car when the security personnel started to search it at the post, a local police officer said.

–IANS–

Islamabad, October 23: At least five people were killed and seven injured on Friday in a suicide bombing at a security check post in Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, police said.

The explosion occurred near the army-run Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, located around an hour and a half by road from Islamabad.

The suicide bomber detonated the explosive-laden car when the security personnel started to search it at the post, a local police officer said.

—Agencies

Islamabad, October 23: The US Geological Survey (USGS) has said that a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area at 12.21 a.m. local time Friday, Xinhua reported.

A local TV channel claimed that tremors of 6.7-magnitude were felt in Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar, the report said.

The USGS located the epicenter in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, the report added.

–Agencies

Islamabad, October 23: The US Geological Survey (USGS) has said that a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area at 12.21 a.m. local time Friday, Xinhua reported.

The local TV channel claimed that tremors of 6.7-magnitude were felt in Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar, the report said.

The USGS located the epicenter in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, the report added.

–IANS–