Pakistan

Islamabad, July 13: A huge blast ripped through Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province Monday, killing at least nine people, police said.

The explosion took place in a small village on the outskirt of the Mian Channu town, located around 250 kilometers from the provincial capital, Lahore.

“According to information we have received from the hospital, nine people have been killed and many more injured,” senior police officer Kamran Khan said. “However, the exact casualty count is yet to be confirmed.”

Islamabad, July 13: Pakistan authorities on Sunday launched a campaign against “anti-government” text messages, emails and the use of the

internet by banned groups, with the interior ministry saying those found guilty of such acts will be punished with up to 14 years in jail.

“Under the directions of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, a special campaign has been launched against those who were spreading ill-motivated and

concocted stories through emails and text messages against the civilian leadership,” said an interior ministry statement.

Islamabad, July 13: Pakistani authorities launched a campaign against “anti-government” text messages, emails and the use of the internet by banned groups, with the interior ministry saying those found guilty of such acts will be punished with up to 14 years in jail.

“Under the directions of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, a special campaign has been launched against those who were spreading ill-motivated and concocted stories through emails and text messages against the civilian leadership,” said an Interior Ministry statement.

Peshawar, July 13: At least 11 militants were killed in fighting with the security forces in southern Pakistan, a media report said Monday.

The security forces bombed militants’ hideouts on the outskirts of Sarokai area in South Waziristan near the Afghan border, killing 11 militants Sunday, Geo TV reported.

The local administration has clamped curfews in several areas due to the military operation.

-IANS

Islamabad, July 12: Pakistan will put five Mumbai massacre suspects on trial next week, Interior Ministry Adviser Rehman Malik said Saturday.

Before the announcement at a news conference here, Malik held a meeting with Indian Deputy High Commissioner Manpreet Vora. Vora later held a meeting with the Pakistani foreign secretary and exchanged vital documents pertaining to the case.

London, July 12: Pakistan has said that Osama bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda leaders were not in the country and hence the US missile attacks in the country were futile, a media report said Sunday.

“If Osama was in Pakistan we would know, with all the thousands of troops we have sent into the tribal areas in recent months,” Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik told a news paper. “If he and all these four or five top people were in our area they would have been caught, the way we are searching.”

Islamabad, July 12: Six months ago, Fahimuddin was a Pakistani businessman and local councillor.

Today he heads a private militia using rocket launchers, guns, grenades and daggers to repel Islamist attacks.

Fed up with kidnappings, bombings and rising fears of militancy around Pakistan’s northwest city of Peshawar, the 40-year-old packed up a prosperous property business and took matters into his own hands.

He formed a lashkar, a traditional militia raised by tribesmen in this part of the world for centuries, armed and mobilised temporarily to settle disputes.

Islamabad, July 12: Ahead of talks with India next week, Pakistan said on Saturday its investigation into the Mumbai terrorist attacks was “almost” complete and that the arrested suspects would be likely put on trial next week.

It also sought to beat back Indian accusations it was going slow on the probe by stating that it was New Delhi that had caused the delay by not replying quickly enough to its questions on the attacks.

Islamabad, July 12: Unknown militants have killed at least five policemen in an ambush in the Manshera district of troubled north western Pakistan.

Militants opened fire on a police vehicle in the Kandbangla area of the district killing all five policemen on the spot, a Press TV correspondent quoted city Police Chief Akhtar Hayat Khan as telling reporters on Saturday.

The militants managed to flee from the scene. Police and law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area.

Islamabad, July 12: Six months ago, Fahimuddin was a Pakistani businessman and local Councillor. Today he heads a private militia using rocket launchers, guns, grenades and daggers to repel Islamist attacks.

Fed up with kidnappings, bombings and rising fears of militancy around Pakistan’s northwest city of Peshawar, the 40-year-old packed up a prosperous property business and took matters into his own hands.

He formed a lashkar, a traditional militia raised by tribesmen in this part of the world for centuries, armed and mobilised temporarily to settle disputes.

Islamabad, July 12: Seven months after the terrorist strikes on Mumbai, Pakistan has admitted that Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a former close aide of Lashkar-e-Toiba Hafiz Saeed has links with the attack.

Pakistan on Saturday said trial of the five accused in the Mumbai attacks will get underway in the next few days and that it has identified 12 more suspects, preparing the ground for next week’s meeting in Egypt between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Islamabad, July 12: Declaring Zaki-ur-Rehman to be the mastermind of the 26/11 terror attacks, Pakistan Saturday said its probe into the Mumbai mayhem was ‘almost complete’ and the trial of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander and four other accused could begin next week.

“Our investigations into the incident are almost complete,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters here after a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal.

“Five of the nine suspects have been arrested and their trial is going to commence probably next week,” he said.

Islamabad, July 11: On Board PM’s Aircraft (PTI) Stating that he had not “given up” despite difficulties in dealing with Pakistan, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday disclosed that representatives of the two countries including the ISI chief had been involved in discussions recently.

Islamabad, July 11: Pakistan today said the trial of five men accused in the Mumbai terror attacks will begin soon and accused India of delaying the investigation into the 26/11 strikes by not providing information sought by Islamabad.

In remarks coming ahead of the meeting between prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Yousaf Raza Gilani, interior minister Rehman Malik said, “Delay in investigations into [the] Mumbai attacks [is] not because of us but because of India.

Islamabad, July 11: The Pakistani military today said it had captured 26 militants in the restive Malakand division and Swat valley, where the army is winding down an operation against the Taliban after securing major towns and villages in the region. Troops captured 24 suspects during a search operation at Waliabad while two militants were apprehended in an operation near the tourist resort of Malam Jabba in Swat.

The soldiers also seized weapons, including a small machine gun, a carbine and three pistols, and ammunition. Three soldiers were injured during operations near Thana in Swat.

Islamabad, July 11: At least 18 people, including six Indian nationals, were killed and 20 others injured in an attack by the Taliban on an Indian construction company in Afghanistan, a Pakistani TV news channel reported today.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack carried out last night in Paktia province, Dawn News said.

An unnamed Afghan Taliban spokesman was quoted by the channel as saying that Indian, Afghan and African nationals were among the 18 killed in the assault.

Islamabad, July 11: The Pakistan army has admitted that it is in contact with Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Mohammad Omar, and can bring them to the negotiating table with the US if its concerns with India are addressed.

Pakistan’s chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas has been quoted by CNN in an interview as saying that the military is still in contact with Taliban commanders like Mullah Omar, Jalalladin Haqqani, Mullah Nazir and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar of the Hizb-e-Islami.

Islamabad, July 11 : It is highly unlikely that Pakistan and France would ink a bilateral civil nuclear deal by the end of the year as was being claimed by diplomatic circles here.

According to sources, the `unnecessary excitement’ showed by Pakistani ruling circles regarding the deal may delay country’s objective of entering a nuclear deal with France much like the Indo-US nuclear pact.

Furthermore, the delay in appointing an envoy to France could also hinder Pakistan’s cherished goal, The Nation reports.

Islamabad, July 11 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has blamed the former President General Pervez Musharraf of violating the norms of the Constitution by grabbing the autonomy enjoyed by the provinces.

“The previous government `illegally and unconstitutionally’ put the local governments in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,” The News quoted Gilani, as saying.

Gilani said the misdeeds of Musharraf have been corrected, and the government has given the provinces their subject back.

Islamabad, July 11: The displaced Pakistanis should not be forced to return to their homes until the security situation improves in the northwest, the UN has said.

UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes said the conditions have to be right before people are encouraged to return.

“We would like people to go to their homes as soon as possible, but that process has to be voluntary. They need to be involved in those choices. The conditions need to be right. That means the security needs to be right, the basic services need to be there,” he said.

Islamabad, July 11: The displaced Pakistanis should not be forced to return to their homes until the security situation improves in the northwest, the UN has said.

UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes said the conditions have to be right before people are encouraged to return.

‘We would like people to go to their homes as soon as possible, but that process has to be voluntary. They need to be involved in those choices. The conditions need to be right. That means the security needs to be right, the basic services need to be there,’ he said.

Islamabad, July 11: Pakistan’s environment ministry will attempt to set a new Guinness World Record by planting maximum number of trees in a single day, a media report said.

India holds the current world record in the category by planting 447,874 trees in 24 hours in June this year.

The record attempt on July 15 is part of the events the ministry plans to undertake this year as part of its National Year of Environment initiative.

The trees will be planted in the Keti Bander area in Thatta district of Sindh province, some 150 km from the southeastern Pakistani city of Karachi.

Lahore, July 10: Punjab Police on Friday identified a terrorist who carried out the suicide car bomb attack on the Inter-Services Intelligence headquarters in this eastern Pakistani city as son of Tehreek-e-Taliban Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud’s personal bodyguard.

The attacker was identified as Abi Armaghan alias Abu Talha, an Uzbek national. Armaghan’s father, a bodyguard of Baitullah Mehsud, left Afghanistan after the Afghan war and settled in the South Waziristan tribal region, officials said.

Islamabad, July 10: More than 1,700 militants have been killed by security forces in the fighting launched two months ago after militant aggression and advances prompted concern over the stability of Pakistan and its nuclear arsenal, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.

“Their command and communication system has been fractured,” said the premier. “The army has pushed the militants out of Swat’s towns and it controls the main lines of communication, but clashes are flaring daily in some areas.”

Islamabad, July 10: At least 39 militants were killed when Pakistani jets and helicopter gunships pounded positions of Taliban insurgents who had taken over homes of the minority Sikh community in the restive Orakzai tribal region.

Reports said 14 militant camps were destroyed during the air strikes in Chapri Ferozekhel and Ghiljo areas of Orakzai Agency yesterday. At least 39 militants were killed in the air strikes, the Dawn newspaper reported today.

Muhammad, a spokesman for Taliban commander Tariq Afridi, said 18 militants were killed in the air attack in Ferozekhel.