Pakistan

Islamabad, July 23: Pakistan’s government raised concerns on Wednesday about a U.S.-led offensive in neighboring southern Afghanistan with visiting U.S. regional envoy Richard Holbrooke.

Islamabad is concerned the major U.S. offensive in Afghanistan’s Helmand province ahead of elections there next month could push Taliban fighters across the border.

“We have some concern which we have been discussing with the U.S.,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said.

Pakistan, July 22: Pakistani parents buried paralysed children up to their necks in a muddy river bed on Wednesday, believing that a total eclipse of the sun would allow them to walk.

Two paralysed girls and a boy were buried up to their heads into the Indus River bank in the southern city of Hyderabad for 90 minutes while a spiritual leader recited from the Qu’ran.

“Whenever there’s a solar eclipse, I go to Hyderabad to help heal suffering humanity,” said Arif Shah, who read from the Qu’ran.

Islamabad, July 22:At least 27 militants were killed in the on-going military operation in Pakistan’s restive Swat valley and two adjoining districts, security officials said on Wednesday.

The latest killings came as the United States special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke announced an additional 165 million dollars for nearly two million people uprooted by the offensive in Swat and surrounding areas.

Karachi, July 22: Two of the former Indian Cricket League (ICL) players-opener Imran Nazir and medium-pacer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan-were Wednesday recalled to the Pakistan squad after two years, for the One-day International series against Sri Lanka beginning July 30.

Nazir and Naved return after severing ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League under the Pakistan Cricket Board’s amnesty scheme.

Nazir and Naved have been included after an experienced Mohammad Yousuf and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq made comebacks to the national team after leaving the ICL.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistan’s top court has summoned former President Pervez Musharraf to explain his 2007 firing of several dozen independent-minded judges. Wednesday’s court notice allows Musharraf to send a lawyer in his place.

The case, brought up in petitions challenging Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule and firing of the judges that year, could lay the groundwork for future action — even a trial — against the one-time military ruler.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistan is objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.

Pakistani officials have told the Obama administration that the Marines fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan will force militants across the border into Pakistan, with the potential to further inflame the troubled province of Baluchistan, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Dera Ismail Khan, July 22: Pakistani fighter jets destroyed two suspected militant hide-outs near the Afghan border, killing six men believed to be associates of top local Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, intelligence officials said on Wednesday.

The strikes in South Waziristan flattened the hide-outs of Mehsud’s associates in two villages late Tuesday, two intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistan’s top court has summoned former President Pervez Musharraf to explain his 2007 firing of several dozen independent-minded judges. Wednesday’s court notice allows Musharraf to send a lawyer in his place.

The case, brought up in petitions challenging Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule and firing of the judges that year, could lay the groundwork for future action — even a trial — against the one-time military ruler.

Islamabad, July 22: The noose seems to be tightening around former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf with the Supreme Court Wednesday summoning him to defend his Nov 3, 2007 moves to impose emergency and sack the apex court judges.

A 14-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry issued summons to Musharraf to appear in person or through his counsel on July 29 after the federal government refused to defend him in court.

“Determining responsibility for the steps taken on Nov 3, 2007 is necessary,” the chief justice observed before issuing summons.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistan says it has handed over to India evidence of the involvement of its external spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in terrorist activities in this country, including the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and on a police academy on the outskirts of the city earlier this year.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistan’s top court has summoned former President Pervez Musharraf to appear in court over his 2007 firing of several dozen independent-minded judges.

Wednesday’s notice allows Musharraf to send a lawyer in his place.

The case could rattle Pakistan’s political scene at a time when the U.S. wants the nuclear-armed nation to focus on fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban along the Afghan border.

Faced with growing challenges to his rule, Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, 2007, suspending the constitution and dismissing the judges.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistani fighter jets destroyed two suspected militant hide-outs near the Afghan border, killing six men believed to be associates of top local Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, intelligence officials said on Wednesday.

The strikes in South Waziristan flattened the hide-outs of Mehsud’s associates in two villages late Tuesday, two intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Islamabad, July 22: Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has urged the US to halt its drone attacks in the country, a media report said Wednesday.

In an interview with a private TV Channel, Malik said all the parliamentarians and the entire nation have condemned the attacks. The US must accept Pakistan’s demand to halt the drone attacks.

He added that “Pakistan can catch Osama Bin Laden if US provides us information” about his whereabouts.

Islamabad, July 22: Security forces claimed to have arrested two Taliban commanders and seizure of arms and explosives from their possession during raid in Landikotal tehsil here on Wednesday, Geo news said.

During the media briefing here, FC commander Colonel Furqan said two Taliban commanders were arrested from separate raids on suspected houses located in Landikotal tehsil here and heavy arms and explosives were also recovered from them.

The arms included rocket launcher, mortar shells, remote-controlled bombs, thousands of bullets, explosive materials and drugs, he said.

Islamabad, July 22: Nine people were killed when a building in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi collapsed during construction, police said Wednesday.

The incident took place in the city’s Liaquatabad district Tuesday night when all floors of the five-storey building crashed down, trapping a dozen workers.

“Six bodies were dug out of the rubble late in the night while three more were recovered Wednesday morning,” police officer Mohammad Naeem Khan said. Three people were injured.

Islamabad, July 21: After the fiasco of appointing a junior bureaucrat as Pakistan’s ambassador to France – a move that was later cancelled – it appears that the job may be offered to senior diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani.

Quoting sources, a private TV channel said Tuesday that Jilani had been offered the ambassadorship to Brussels but he rejected the offer and now is likely be appointed the country’s new envoy to France.

Jilani has previously been acting high commissioner to India and the foreign office spokesperson.

Srinagar, July 21: Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani was Tuesday booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), an official here said. The head of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference has been under detention since June, when he spearheaded the agitation against the rape and murder of two women in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

‘Syed Ali Geelani has been booked under the PSA. The time period for which he shall remain under detention shall be determined by the state home department,’ said Srinagar district magistrate Meraj-ud-Din Kakroo.

Islamabad, July 21: Former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf has rejected allegations of his involvement in the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Addressing a ceremony in London, the former army chief said the allegations of not providing proper security to Bhutto were ‘unsubstantiated’, Geo TV reported.

‘Getting UN body to probe Benazir Bhutto’s murder is tantamount to no trust on national agencies,’ he said, adding that the world body would come out with the same finding, as was unfolded by the Scotland Yard in their probe.

Islamabad, July 21: An increasingly confident Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appears set to enhance his control over the Pakistan government, having cancelled the appointment of an ambassador nominated by President Asif Ali Zaradari and planning to remove three ministers considered close to him.

Islamabad, July 21: The simmering differences between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani have once again come to the fore with tit-for-tat cancellations by the two leaders and three ministers considered close to the President being threatened with marching orders.

Islamabad, July 21: Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be leading Pakistans delegation to the two-day 16th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) beginning in Phuket, Thailand tomorrow.

Islamabad, July 21: Leading English dailies in Pakistan today front-paged the news but otherwise downplayed the confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone gunman captured alive during the Mumbai terror attacks, owning up to his role with the only comment being a statement from defence minister dismissing the admission. There were no editorials but this was not surprising as Pakistani newspapers normally take 48 hours to comment on important developments.

Islamabad, July 21: In a major flare up, Pakistani forces have killed around 100 Taliban militants and lost three soldiers in two days of fighting in the restive Malakand division, which the army had claimed to have cleared of insurgents some time ago. A “massive military operation” was launched yesterday in five villages in Maidan area of Lower Dir district as security forces apprehended that most of the Taliban militants who had fled from the Swat valley were sheltering in the area.

Islamabad, July 21: Two days of clashes between security forces and militants in Pakistan’s northwestern region near the Afghan border left more than 50 militants and three soldiers dead.

The clashes came during a two-day operation Sunday and Monday in the Maidan area of Lower Dir, a region bordering the Swat Valley where the army has been wrapping up an offensive against Taliban militants, said Maj. Fazlur Rahman, spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Islamabad, July 21: Pakistani security forces killed more than 50 Islamic militants in two days of pre-emptive strikes in the north-western district of Lower Dir, officials said Tuesday. The ground operation involving troops backed by artillery, tanks and mortar fire took place Sunday and Monday in several villages in the Maidan area, where the insurgents had been occasionally attacking security checkpoints manned by paramilitary troops.