Islamabad, September 01: Pakistan army today killed 40 militants, including two top commanders, in the restive Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan and destroyed four of their bases in a major operation against the banned Lashkar-e-Islam group.
The operation was launched this morning against elements who had challenged the writ of the government, Tariq Hayat Khan, Political Agent of the semi-autonomous tribal region, said.
Peshawar, September 01: At least 42 militants were killed in fighting with security forces in the Khyber Agency region of Pakistan, Online news agency reported Tuesday.
The report said 50 other militants were captured during search operations in the same area.
Six bodies of militants were recovered and two rebel leaders of the banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Islam were detained during the operation, the report said.
—IANS
Mingora, September 01: Pakistani troops killed 15 militants in fresh clashes in Swat, the army said on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 45 in five days after a lull in the campaign to clear the Taliban out of the northwestern valley.
Security forces also launched an operation to flush out militants in the northwestern tribal region of Khyber, bordering Afghanistan, a government official said.
The army went on the offensive in Swat in late April and says it has killed over 2,000 militants, and lost 312 soldiers in the fighting. Independent casualty estimates are unavailable.
New Delhi, September 01:Debut-director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s “Lahore”, that has Nafisa Ali and Farouque Shaikh in important roles, will be premiered at Italy’s Salento International Film Festival starting Sep 3-14.
“Lahore”, about competitive sports, is the opening night film and is also in the World Competition Section of the fest. The organisers will also honour Chauhan for his directorial debut.
New Delhi, September 01: In yet another confirmation of the expansion of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, a new report has revealed that the Islamabad is readying new nuclear facilities and weapons to go with it.
As per a media report, a top US nuclear scientists group has unearthed new evidence of Pakistan government’s continuing efforts to enhance its nuclear weapon stockpile.
Islamabad, September 01: At least five militants, including two top commanders, were killed and 12 others injured Tuesday by security forces in Pakistan’s restive Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan in an operation against a banned group during which three hideouts of insurgents were also destroyed.
The operation against Lashkar-e-Islam group was launched this morning after curfew was clamped in the region. The homes of several militant commanders and three hideouts were demolished by troops at Bara in Khyber Agency and 28 insurgents were also arrested.
Islamabad, September 01: Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya, said Tuesday restrictions on his movements had been lifted.
Asked if local newspaper reports that the government restrictions had been removed were correct, Khan said, “By the grace of Allah, yes.”
In February, a Pakistani court declared Khan a free man, five years after the reputed father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb was effectively put under house arrest for operating a proliferation network.
New Delhi, September 01: In yet another confirmation of the expansion of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, a new report has revealed that the Islamabad is readying new nuclear facilities and weapons to go with it.
As per a media report, a top US nuclear scientists group has unearthed new evidence of Pakistan government’s continuing efforts to enhance its nuclear weapon stockpile.
Islamabad, September 01: Pakistan’s former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, who has been living outside the country for over four months, has travelled
from Britain to Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi King Abdullah.
Gen (retd) Musharraf’s legal adviser Chaudhary Fawad Hussian said the former president had travelled to Saudi Arabia in a special aircraft sent by King Abdullah.
Musharraf will stay in the kingdom as a special guest of the Saudi royal family, he said, adding King Abdullah will host an ‘Iftar’ dinner for him.
Islamabad, September 01: Investigations into the hijacking of a Russian warship in April by Somali pirates show that Pakistani nationals played an important role in the hijack.
Twelve Pakistanis had been apprehended along with the Somali pirates. Pakistan has so far not launched a probe into the Russian allegations and claimed that 12 men were fishermen, the Times Now television channel reports.
Islamabad, September 01: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday that parliament would decide whether or not former president Pervez Musharraf should be tried for tampering with the constitution and sacking the Supreme Court judges after imposing an emergency in November 2007.
Gilani made the remarks while speaking to reporters during a visit here, Online news agency reported.
Earlier this month, Gilani said “we should do what is doable” on the Musharraf trial. He urged the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to stop playing to the gallery on the issue.
Islamabad, September 01: At least five Islamist militants were killed and 12 arrested Tuesday in a security operation in Pakistan’s north-western tribal area along the Afghan border, officials said.
Hundreds of soldiers from the Frontier Corps paramilitary force launched a raid at daybreak after imposing a curfew in the Khyber district’s Bara area.
“Our troops faced stiff resistance from the terrorists, and during an exchange of fire, five militants, including two commanders, were killed,” corps spokesman Major Fazalur Rehman said.
Lahore, September 01: A Pakistani court on Monday asked former President Pervez Musharraf and Interior Minister Rehman Malik to appear before it on September 28 for the hearing of a petition alleging their involvement in the assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto as part of an “international” plot.
Besides Musharraf and Malik, the Lahore High Court also issued notices to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan, former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and 12 others.
Karachi, August: A Pakistani court today issued fresh notices to former President Pervez Musharraf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain after they failed to appear before it in connection with a case related to violence during a protest by lawyers two years ago.
The Sindh High Court had on August 20 issued notices to Musharraf, Hussain, former provincial interior minister Waseem Akhtar and others to appear before it today. Neither Musharraf nor his counsel appeared in the court and Hussain also was not represented in today’s hearing.
Islamabad, August 31: Amid reports that Pakistan army has resorted to extra-judicial killings in areas seized from Taliban control, bodies of 29 suspected militants have been found in different parts of the restive Swat valley, reports said today.
The bodies were found at Banjot, Gharai Sar and Parkho near Charbagh, a former stronghold of Taliban militants in the valley located 160 km from Islamabad.
The cause of their death could not immediately be ascertained.
Geo News channel reported that the militants were killed during an operation by security forces last night.
Islamabad, August 31: Pakistani soldiers killed at least 30 Taliban militants in gunbattles across the volatile north-western Swat Valley after a suicide bombing on a police station killed 17 cadets, the military said on Monday.
Soldiers looking for militants after the bombing encountered resistance in several areas and battles raged overnight into early morning on Monday, Army spokesman Col Akhtar Abbas said.
“Security forces have encircled a group of militants there and battles went on late into the night,” he said, adding that 30 militants were killed.
Islamabad, August 31: Pakistan has categorically rejected the US accusations that it illegally modified design of the anti-ship Harpoon missile to make them capable of hitting land-based targets.
”The accusations made in a New York Times are incorrect and based on wrong intelligence,” Pakistan Ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani said.
Islamabad, August 31: Pakistan’s army says it has killed at least 30 Taliban in battles across the troubled northwestern Swat Valley.
Army spokesman Akhtar Abbas says soldiers looking for militants after a suicide bombing encountered resistance in several areas and that battles raged into the early morning Monday.
The military has said it is restoring security in the valley after a three-month operation to retake control of areas overrun by Taliban militants. Still, suicide attacks and skirmishes continue.
Guwahati, August 31: A fire broke out at the Guwahati Refinery on Sunday, creating panic in the area. It was extinguished in about half-an-hour and authorities said there were no casualties or damage to the plant.
A refinery spokesperson said the fire broke outside the Sulphur Recovery Unit of the plant on Sunday afternoon during a routine shutdown.
Islamabad, August 31: Pakistan today rejected an allegation that it had illegally modified US-made Harpoon missiles to enhance its ability to attack land targets, including in India, saying “no modification has been made to the missiles under reference”.
The Foreign Office spokesman “rejected the accusation” in the report in The New York Times that Pakistan had illegally modified Harpoon anti-ship missiles, originally meant for defensive purposes, to strike targets on land.
In a brief statement, the spokesman said “no modification has been made to the missiles under reference”.
Chaman, August 30: An explosion ripped through a line of trucks ferrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, setting several oil tankers ablaze Sunday at a backed-up Pakistani border crossing, police said.
The blast appeared to be the second terrorist attack Sunday in Pakistan and the second in a week to target a border crossing. Also Sunday, a suicide bomber targeted a police station in the northwestern Swat Valley, killing 15 cadets.
Islamabad, August 30: Violence buffeted Pakistan’s restive northwest as a suicide bomber targetted a police station killing 15 policemen in the Swat valley today, while 20 militants and two policemen were killed in clashes elsewhere in the region.
The suicide attacker blew himself up at a ground at the police station in Mingora, the main city in Swat district. The blast killed 15 members of a new community police force raised to help security forces take on the Taliban.
Over 25 others were injured in the attack.
Islamabad, August 30: An official says a large explosion and gunfire have been heard near a police station in northwestern Pakistan’s Swat Valley.
In the latest news report, at least 15 police recruits are dead in the area, which the Army recently retook from Taliban control.
Television footage from the scene on Sunday showed officers gathering up mutilated bodies.
Police dispatcher Mohammad Akhtar says the blast came as new recruits were being trained near the station. He says at least three are dead and several more wounded.
–Agencies
Washington, August 30: After months of efforts, the Obama administration has finally developed a set of about 50 measurements, which would gauge its progress in the Afghan-Pak war zone.
Currently under ‘test run’ by the White House, the metrics to assess war success would be presented before the Congress on September 24, ‘The Washington Post’ reported today.
Islamabad, August 30: Fuel and other supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan were stopped as traffic on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border remained suspended yesterday because of a row over search of goods trucks coming from Afghanistan. Hundreds of trailers carrying fuel and other supplies, including food, military equipment and vehicles, were stuck up in Pakistan’s southwestern border town of Chaman, the second major supply route for NATO after the northwestern Khyber tribal region.