Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Amir Hamza	Amir Hamza	Jamaat-ul-Dawa	India-Pakistan				20021227
Amir Hamzat	Amir Hamzat	Chechnya	Caucasus				20021224
Maulana Amir Hamza	Maulana Amir Hamza	Jamaat-ul-Dawa	India-Pakistan				20030404

Bangladesh

RAB: Militants were planning to ship bombs on cargo vessels

2017-04-29

[Dhaka Tribune] Three turbans including a close associate of Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury were tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! by RAB on Thursday night from Savar. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) found firearms and bomb-making materials in their possession and said they are members of a new faction of the banned myrmidon outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, New JMB’s Sarwar-Tamim group. The three men have been identified as Tamim Dwari alias Abdullah Al Hasan alias Azizur Rahman alias Abdullah Al Jafri alias Amir Hamza alias Al Huzaifa alias Sri Gowrango Kumar Mandol, 32, ...but his poor old mother just called him Son.... Kamrul Hasan alias Kajol alias Nur Uddin, 26, and Md Mostofa Mozumder alias Shihab alias Hamza, 32. RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan confirmed their arrest yesterday during a presser, saying: "Acting on a tip-off we searched a bus at Rajfulbaria bus stand coming from Paturia launch terminal where we apprehended the three members of Sarwar-Tamim group around 10pm on Thursday. "We found one foreign-made pistol, five rounds of bullets, 1.15kg of plastic explosives made with the help of a bomb expert, a lot of bomb-making materials, three folding knives, one machete, laptops and foreign currencies in their possession." RAB said the three came to Dhaka to carry out subversive activities. The close associate of Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the criminal mastermind behind the Gulshan terror attack, is Tamim Dwari, a Hindu convert and a marine engineer, who was devising a plan to transport bomb-making materials and other weapons on shipping boats with Tamin Ahmed Chowdhury, said RAB. RAB also said they were recruiting trustworthy members of the group to help transport these bombs with fake passports and visas. Tamim and Tamim: Brothers in arms Tamim Dwari was radicalised sometime in 2003, according to RAB, after making friends with a man called Tanvir Kabir and attending the Tabligh Jamaat with him. After studying at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in 2005, he transferred to the Chittagong Marine Academy and finished his degree in 2007. In 2013, while working as a marine engineer on the fat merchantman Banglar Kakoli, Tamim Dwari found a former university friend Abu Baker on a voyage to Pakistain. Their conversations circled around global prosecution of Moslems and what they could do about that to which Abu Baker suggested jihad was the only way. In December 2013, Abu Bakar introduced Tamim Dwari to Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury as the man who had come from abroad to fight jihad in Bangladesh. RAB’s Mufti Mahmud said this initial meeting had a deep impact on Tamim Dwari who invited Tamim to visit him in Chittagong. In January 2014, they met at Patenga, Chittagong where Dwari showed Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury around the fat merchantman Banglar Doot where they discussed at length the ways in which they would transport bombs and bomb-making materials along with recruitments of trustworthy turbans and how they could acquire fake passports and visas for them. In mid-2014, they met again in Dhaka in a flat in Mirpur DOHS along with Mir Farhad, Ashraf, Himel, Abdullah, Abu Bakar and three other unknown turbans to plan myrmidon attacks across the country. RAB’s Mufti Mahmud said in July 2015 Tamim Dwari was admitted to the International Maritime Training Academy but dropped out and joined the general fat merchantman Bashundhara-4 in August 2016 to hide his deep involvement with militancy. In November 2016, he was most likely fired and he said to have left home for hizrat (leaving home for jihad) in January 2017.

Link

India-Pakistan

New Pak Army chief has close links with the JuD, reveals report

2016-12-18

[Iraq Sun] Pakistain's 16th Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is said to be not only a very proud Moslem and a follower of the Sharia, but unknown to most, seems to have close links with the fundamentalist Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... (JuD), which is led by 26/11 criminal mastermind Hafeez Saeed. According to a report published by Roznama Dunya, a venture of Dunya News, Pakistain's leading news and current affairs channel, the JuD appears to have endorsed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... 's selection of General Bajwa as army chief, describing him as a "religious man" who while simple and humble in approach, possesses the grit of a soldier who can firmly convey Pakistain's message to its immediate neighbours (read India) as well as to the rest of the world. Recently, Amir Hamza, one of the central leaders of the JuD, which India has held responsible for the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that claimed over 160 lives and left more than 300 others injured through its murderous Moslem wing, the Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT), extolled the special qualities and virtues of General Qamar Bajwa, and said that it was to the Pakistain government and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's 's credit that they had selected a simple yet religious man to head the country's all-powerful army.

Link

India-Pakistan

Three shepherds found dead

2015-12-04

QUETTA: Bodies of three teenage shepherds, shot dead by unknown killers, were found in the mountainous area of Chathar in Chagai district on Thursday. According to official sources, Levies personnel spotted the bodies near the foothill of Raskoh mountain range. Deputy Commissioner of Chagai Khuda-i-Nazar said that Levies personnel had shifted the bodies to District Hospital Dalbandin. “Multiple bullet wounds were found on their bodies,” Levies officials said, quoting doctors.The deceased were identified as Ainuddin, 18, Amir Hamza, 13, and Rehmatullah, 13. “The young shepherds had gone to the area for grazing their goats and sheep,” official sources said. “We have no idea about the cause of the killings,” Levies officials said, adding that investigation into the matter was in progress. Their bodies were handed over to the families after completion of legal formalities. Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2015

Link

India-Pakistan

Six die in blast at Kohat taxi stand

2014-10-06

[DAWN] Six people were killed and 17 others injured in a remote-controlled blast at a taxi stand here on Saturday, officials said. An improvised bomb containing ball bearings and weighing about three kilograms was kept in a ghee tin, they said, adding that murderous Moslems left the tin near a wall of the taxi stand at Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Mor. The Suzuki pick-up stand is mainly used by residents of Shia-dominated villages along the Hangu Road. The blast occurred at around 11am, killing six people and injuring 17 others. The bodies and the injured were taken to the nearby Liaquat Memorial Hospital. Three vehicles parked at the stand were damaged by the impact of the kaboom and traffic on Hangu Road and Peshawar Road remained suspended for quite some time. Police cordoned off the scene of the kaboom and called in the bomb disposal squad personnel who inspected the devastation and confirmed the IED had been planted in the ghee tin. The local administration declared emergency at all hospitals in Kohat after the blast. Bodies were handed over to relatives and later buried in Ustarzai, Alizai, Kachai and Chakarkot villages. No group grabbed credit for the bomb kaboom. The dear departed were identified as Shabbir Ali, Qambar Abbas, Mehtab Hussain, Taimoor, Syed Shahzain Hussain and Emman. The injured were Mohammad Hussain, Sajid Fareed, Shahzia, Mudassir, Shahan Hussain, Nusrat Hussain, Hassan Jan, Amir Hamza, Tahir Ali, Said Mohammad, Roohullah, Mohammad Hussain, Qasim, Sajid Ali, Ali Ghulam Mustafa, Salma and Baz Mohammad. The city police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against unidentified murderous Moslems under sections 302, 324 and 427 and Explosives Act and Anti-Terrorism Act. Fourteen people were killed and 16 injured when a bomb went off at the same place on Feb 23, 2014. AFP adds: Fazal Khaliq, head of the emergency department at Kohat's main government hospital, confirmed the corpse count. It is the second attack on a passenger vehicle to hit northwest Pakistain in a week. On Thursday, a kaboom on a coach in Peshawar killed at least seven people and maimed another six.

Link

India-Pakistan

Six militants killed in S. Waziristan blast

2014-05-02

[DAWN] Six hard boys, among them a Taliban leader, were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside kaboom in Ladha sub-division of South Wazoo Agency, official sources said on Wednesday. Initial reports said that Amir Hamza, a leader of the Khan Said Sajna group, an offshoot of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), was among the dead. Taliban sources neither confirmed nor denied reports about the killing of Amir Hamza and his five associates in the incident that took place in Zangara area on Tuesday. No group grabbed credit for the attack. An official source said the bomb might have been planted by a rival group of the Sajna group as differences among various factions of the TTP further widened. The attack occurred five days after a ceasefire had supposedly ended the feud between supporters of Sajna and followers of the late Hakeemullah Mehsud, according to AFP. On the other hand, TTP leaders claimed that security forces had suffered heavy casualties in festivities with forces of Evil which continued in Bobar area for the third day on Wednesday. Talking to this correspondent from an undisclosed place, they said five helicopter gunships pounded Taliban locations on Wednesday. But there were no casualties because the locations had been abandoned by forces of Evil before the attacks, they said. They claimed that about 30 soldiers had been killed and 12 nomads injured in the three-day skirmishes.

Link

India-Pakistan

Militant who 'attacked polio team' shot dead

2013-12-20

[DAWN] KARACHI: A suspected krazed killer was rubbed out in an alleged encounter with police while another was nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! following their alleged attack on a polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination team in Sohrab Goth on Tuesday, prompting the health authorities to immediately and indefinitely halt the anti-polio campaign, officials said. They said gunnies riding a cycle of violence opened fire on the polio workers in the Ahsanabad area. The police posted for the team's security returned fire. One of the suspects, identified as Noor Mohammed, alias Misbah, was maimed in the shootout and arrested. His accomplice Amir Hamza was also held, said SSP of Malir Imran Shaukat. The maimed man was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he died during treatment. The Malir SSP said the police had arrested four suspected gunnies in Sohrab Goth during a targeted operation on Monday and they had credible information about the krazed killer plot to attack polio workers on Tuesday. So a heavy deployment of police was made in the area for the protection of the polio team. He said Amir Hamza was the chief of a banned krazed killer outfit in Sohrab Goth's Janjal Goth locality. Hamza was allegedly also involved in the murder of Awami National Party worker Deen Mohammed Waziri in Janjal Goth recently, said Mr Shaukat. He said in that attack Amir Hamza was also maimed in the retaliatory firing by friends of the ANP worker but his accomplice Misbah took the maimed man away. Both suspected krazed killers, reportedly belonging to the banned Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistain, were wanted in several assassinations and extortion cases in Sohrab Goth, the SSP said. Immunisation drive stopped Though Tuesday's botched attack on police guarding polio teams failed to physically harm any of the polio volunteers out to inoculate children in the infamous part of Gadap Town, the authorities sent a prompt signal to halt the immunisation drive. The city's health officials said no polio worker was around when two armed gunnies attacked the coppers standing guard in the Ahsanabad locality of Gadap's notorious union council-4. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... residents and polio workers scurried around after hearing the gunfire. Soon they were asked to abandon their work and return home in escort of the coppers who had killed an attacker and arrested another. "None of our polio workers were harmed because of the incident. All of them are safe," said Dr Zafar Ijaz, the city's chief for health services, while speaking to Dawn. "However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... because of the grim situation, we have stopped our immunisation campaign in the area until our workers recover from mental stress and fear," he said. One worker said she was accompanying another volunteer at a house to vaccinate a child when she heard the gunshots. "It was highly terrifying for us but we didn't know what to do," she said. The team took shelter in the house until the gunfire stopped. "Soon my cellphone rang and our group leader asked us to congregate outside to return home," she said. It was the third incident of its kind on polio vaccinators or their guards this year in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... -- second in Gadap. A previous attack on Aug 21 was also reported in Gadap, where more than 30 female vaccinators inoculating children with booster drops against polio were attacked with gunshots by six men, which forced them to take shelter in a nearby school until the police guards returned fire and caught one of the attackers. The police identified the arrested man as an Afghan refugee and claimed that he belonged to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain. Police seized a hand grenade, a TT pistol and five bullets from him. The first violent attack on polio vaccinators was reported on April 16 when two female siblings were attacked in a similar fashion in Baldia Town's sector 8. The police had arrested the lone attacker. Last year, in the last of the three such attacks on Dec 17 a young volunteer associated with the anti-polio campaign was rubbed out in Gadap Town, stopping the three-day anti-polio campaign in union council 4. In July 2012, a local paramedic associated with polio vaccination was rubbed out and a World Health Organisation doctor, Fosten Dido, from Ghana and his driver were maimed in two separate attacks in the Sohrab Goth area. Despite such attacks, polio workers, belonging to poor families, have little afterthought to abandon the risky job as the 250-rupees-a-day is prized money for them. "I can't desert this job. It is occasional, but the money it offers is help for my family," said a polio worker who survived a similar attack previously. The security situation in Karachi is so dismal that it has not allowed completing the nationwide polio campaign here, which started a month ago and completed in the scheduled duration of four days elsewhere. Officials said many parts of SITE Town were yet to be covered. "Our polio workers depend on the availability of police force during their work and for police polio is not a top priority," said a bigwig.

Link

India-Pakistan

Sectarian violence : Religious leaders for implementation of code of conduct

2013-12-12

[Pak Daily Times] A grand conference of 32 religious groups and political parties under the umbrella of Pakistain Ulema Council (PUC) on Wednesday demanded the government implement the recently prepared code of conduct and make it a formal law to curb sectarian violence in the country. What're the penalties for breaking the code of conduct? Who imposes them?... [silence] The 'Istehkam-e-Pakistain Conference' was attended by PUC Chairman Maulana Tahir Asharfi, Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Secretary General and Milli Yakjehti Council Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... leader Amir Hamza, Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Syed Mahfooz Mashhadi, PPP's Naveed Chaudhry, Shia Ulema Council Vice President Hafiz Raza Naqvi, Mujeebur Rehman Inqlabi from Jamia Ashrafia and other scholars. Addressing the conference, Maulana Tahir Asharfi said that participants of the conference have announced their support for the prescribed code of conduct and pledged to abide by these regulations. He said they would also present a resolution on Friday for the arrest of killers of innocents and implementation of the code of conduct across the country. Presenting the joint statement, Ashrafi announced that they would organise conferences in all provinces of the country to establish peace and harmony in Pakistain. The conference decided that Sunni Ittehad Council leader Mahfooz Mashhadi would help table the bill of code of conduct in the Punjab Assembly. Liaquat Baloch said that "today our mosques and imambargahs are target of sectarian violence and we must unmask the faces behind this evil design". He said the code of conduct could ensure religious peace in the country. He also demanded implementation of the capital punishment to make such criminals an example for terrorists.

Link

India-Pakistan

US slaps sanctions on 8 LeT leaders including 26/11 mastermind

2012-08-31

[India Express] The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on Pakistain-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba's ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... top eight commanders, including Mumbai terrorist attack criminal mastermind Sajid Mir and its founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed's ...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain... son. Announcing the sanctions, the US said LeT, despite being designated as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2002, continues to "operate in Pakistain" and throughout the region and engage in terrorist activities worldwide. "LeT has conducted numerous terrorist acts against Pak, Indian, Afghan and US interests and is responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, and the July 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed more than 180 people," the Department of Treasury said. Besides Mir, other LeT leaders slapped with sanctions are Abdullah Mujahid, Ahmed Yaqub, Hafiz Khalid Walid, Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Amir Hamza, Abdullah Muntazir, and Talha Saeed, the son of the LeT leader Saeed. Individuals targeted today are based in Pakistain and involved in LeT's propaganda campaigns, financial networks, and logistic support networks. "Today's targets also include military commanders directly responsible for the murderous 2008 Mumbai attacks as well as attacks on coalition and Afghan forces. Today's designations are designed to undermine LeT's leadership and support networks of LeT that have planned terrorist attacks around the world," the Treasury Department said. "Today's action against LeT is Treasury's most comprehensive to date against this group and includes individuals participating in all aspects of LeT's operations - from commanders planning attacks to those managing LeT's relationships with other terrorist groups," Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S Cohen said.

Link

India-Pakistan

12 passport officials suspended in 'UK visa scam'

2012-07-25

[Dawn] The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) suspended on Monday 12 officials of a passport office after shocking media reports of a scam involving fake documents for travel to London, ostensibly in connection with the coming Olympics. The interior ministry has constituted a team comprising officials of Nadra and the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate the matter. The team is expected to arrive here on Tuesday. Neither Tariq Malik, newly-promoted head of Nadra, nor its spokesperson confirmed the number of officials suspended. However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... an official told Dawn that almost all staff, including head of the Harbanspura passport office, had been stopped from working till the investigation team recorded their statements and cleared them. The British tabloid, The Sun, in its Monday edition provided details as to how easy it was for a crime ring operating in Lahore to manipulate the system for getting British visa. An official of the passport office told Dawn that it issued passports on the basis of a genuine computerised national identity card (CNIC). "Since only one document -- CNIC -- is required to issue a passport there is no question of a fake passport. If the Nadra record does not show the complete credentials of a CNIC holder, it is next to impossible that a passport is issued against that CNIC," he said. A Nadra official said The Sun team probably got a CNIC renewed against the man whose family record had already been with the authority. "There would have been a substance in the claim had the holder of the passport (Muhammad Ali) got the UK visa for the Olympics," he said, adding that getting a CNIC issued in the name of someone who was already in the data bank of Nadra and subsequently issuance of the passport against it was not a big deal. The story revolves around an undercover investigator employed by The Sun who, in collaboration with some local people, contacted a network of Pak agents with alleged links not only to passport and identity card offices but also to officials in the Pakistain Sports Board (PSB). The Sun proudly announced smashing a scam that gave "potential bully boyz a chance to sneak into Britannia with Pakistain's Olympic team... as bogus support staff..." It quoted an "intelligence operative" as saying: "The idea of unknown agents being flown in to the UK to be put up in the Olympic Village beggars belief. Terrorists would have the biggest platform to perform their atrocities. A member of Al Qaeda could fly to the UK on a genuine passport in another name... For all of our sakes this staggering loophole needs closing fast." "First they provided our undercover investigator with a genuine Pak passport in a false name," The Sun said. The information was backed by footage reminiscent of the 2010 sting operation by another UK paper against some Pak cricketers. The apparent flaw in the otherwise carefully created footage was when it identified Abid Chaudhry, the "criminal mastermind" behind the scam, as "a leading Lahore politician". In fact, Chaudhry is a small-time worker of a political party based in Dharampura. Mr Chaudhry "spelled out how for around £7,000 he could get our man a two-month visa -- and smuggle him into London 2012 as part of Pakistain's Olympic squad...Mr Chaudhry ... explained how easy it was to get into the Olympic Village by masquerading as a member of the athletes' support team". The paper said an investigation was under way after it alerted MI6, the Home Office in London, the UK Border Agency and the British High Commission in Islamabad. Talking to Dawn, PSB Director General Amir Hamza Gilani said the federation of any sports body issued a recommendation letter while NOC was issued to a player or staff after a thorough scrutiny by the interior ministry and intelligence agencies. "It is rubbish to claim that a recommendation letter or NOC can be obtained for a few bucks," he said. Mr Chaudhry, who works for a travel agency, Dream Land, told a private news channel that a man with some reference had met him and asked him how to get a UK visa. He refused to get involved in getting a fake CNIC issued. Dream Land is owned by Malik Bashir, who has the reputation of sending people abroad on doctored documents. Bashir said he had not attended the office for the past eight years because he was unwell. Dream Land is owned by Malik Bashir, who has the reputation of sending people abroad on doctored documents. Bashir said he had not attended the office for the past eight years because he was unwell. The UK paper smartly selected a notorious travel agent to give credence to its claim. Our Sports Reporter adds: A front man for the Pakistain Olympic Association (POA) told Dawn it was not possible for any unwanted person to travel to London on fake documents as an official member of Pakistain contingent because all the 39 members of the Pakistain Olympic squad were bona fide persons, duly accredited by the London Olympics Organising Committee. "The POA has written a letter to POA President Arif Hasan, who is already in London," he said. An accreditation card is always issued by the host country after verifying all documents of the applicant, which are always sent by the national Olympic committee of the country concerned. Moreover, the British High Commission staff in Pakistain had personally done the bio-matrix of all members of the Pakistain squad, including journalists going to cover the games, some six months ago at the offices of the Pakistain Hockey Federation in Lahore. Last month, the London organising committee had dispatched accreditation cards of all these persons after passing through a process in the UK. The same accreditation is acceptable for issuance of visa at the Heathrow Airport. Furthermore, no-one can enter the Olympic Village or playing arenas as official, without accreditation. Of the 39 members of the Pakistain squad, 24 had already reached London on July 12 as national hockey team squad comprising 18 players and six officials. AFP adds: Pakistain's Olympic chef de mission Aqil Shah dismissed the Sun's claims. "These are baseless reports," Mr Shah told AFP. "This is an attempt to malign Pakistain. Even if someone gets a passport he cannot enter the Olympic Village without an Olympic accreditation card." Pakistain's 39-strong delegation -- minus Mr Shah -- is already in London and consists of 23 athletes and 16 officials. Mr Shah justified the number of officials. "Hockey has at least six officials which are under the rules and then we have physicians and other coaches who are genuine members of Pakistain's contingent," he said. POA chief Arif Hasan was discussing the matter with the Pakistain High Commission in London, said Mr Shah.

Link

India-Pakistan

DPC postpones long march against resumption of Nato supplies

2012-05-24

[Dawn] Difa-e-Pakistain Council (DPC), an alliance of religious and political parties, has announced to postpone its long march scheduled from May 27 against reopening of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... supply routes to Afghanistan. This was announced by Liaquat Baloch, Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) and chairman steering committee of the DPC in a presser here at JI headquarters on Wednesday night. DPC leaders Maulana Amir Hamza, Allama Tahir Ashrafi, Amirul Azim, Maulana Abdul Malik, Maulana Abdur Rauf Farooqi, Allama Shamsur Rahman, Qari Mansoor Ahmed and others were also present. Baloch said that the long march was postponed as Pakistain did not announce the restoration of NATO supplies during the Chicago summit. He added that the organising committee has decided to continue the protests across the country against the NATO and the US. Baloch said that the heads of DPC would meet in JI Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... office on May 26 and a convention of Ulema, students and labourers would be held near Quaid's mausoleum to press for stoppage of NATO supplies. He also condemned the killing of innocent people in Bloody Karachi.

Link

India-Pakistan

U.S. Drone Attack In Pakistan Reportedly Kills 15 Suspected Militants

2012-03-13

U.S. drone aircraft struck twice in Pakistan's unruly tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 15 suspected militants, including two senior militant commanders, security and intelligence officials said. In the first strike, a drone fired missiles at a vehicle in the Birmal area of the South Waziristan tribal region, killing eight. Among the dead were Shams Ullah and Amir Hamza, senior commanders of a pro-government militant faction led by Maulvi Nazir, one of the most influential militant leaders in the region. Seven suspected militants were killed in the second attack later in the day, when a drone fired missiles at a vehicle in the Sara Khawra area, which straddles the border between North Waziristan and South Waziristan. Several militant groups, including the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda, operate in Pakistan's semi-autonomous border regions, taking advantage of a porous border with Afghanistan to conduct cross-border attacks or plot violence elsewhere. The usually unacknowledged Central Intelligence Agency's drone programme, an important element of the U.S. counter-terrorism strategy in the region, appeared to have been halted after a NATO cross-border air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November, sparking fury in Pakistan.

Link

India-Pakistan

Taliban factions regroup to fight US forces

2012-01-04

[Dawn] All jihadi groups, in consultation with Islamic Emirate Afghanistan (shadow Taliban government in Afghanistan), have decided to set up a committee to set aside differences in their ranks and step up support for war against western forces in Afghanistan. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Taliban Shura held at an unspecified place on Monday. A statement issued in the form of a pamphlet to the media in Wazoo after the meeting said: "All Mujahideen --local and foreigners --are informed that all jihadi forces, in consultation with Islamic Emirate Afghanistan, have unanimously decided to form a five-member commission. It will be known as Shura-i-Murakbah." The committee comprises Maulvi Azmatullah, Maulvi Noor Saeed, Maulvi Saeedullah, Maulvi Sadar Hayat and Hafeez Amir Hamza. According to sources, Azmatullah (Taliban capo in Barwan) represents the Waliur Rehman group, Noor Saeed (Taliban capo in Barwan) the Hakeemullah Mehsud group, Saeedullah (from Afghanistan) the Haqqani group, Sadar Hayat (from North Waziristan) the Maulvi Gul Bahadar group and Amir Hamza (from Ahmedzai Wazir tribe) the Mulla Nazir group in Wana subdivision of South Waziristan. Spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain Ihsanullah Ihsan confirmed that the meeting had been held and the statement dated Dec 31 was issued after approval by Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... The sources said the committee had been formed to resolve differences among various cut-thoat factions, regroup them and investigate killings on spying charges and excesses, if any, committed by the Taliban against local people. "All Mujahideen, local and foreigners, are informed that they should desist from killing and kidnapping for ransom innocent people and cooperate with this committee in curbing crimes. If any Mujahid is found involved in unjustified killings, crimes and other illegal activities he will be answerable to Shura-i-Murakbah and will be punished in accordance with the Shariah law," the statement says. The sources said the high command of Pak and Afghan Taliban had been trying for two months to reach an agreement on uniting different factions. The first meeting in this regard was held on Nov 27 in Azam Warsak near Wana. It was attended by Waliur Rehman Mehsud, Hakeemullah Mehsud, Mulla Nazir, Abu Yehya Al Libi and Abdur Rehman Al Saudi of Al Qaeda and Sirajuddin Haqqani of the Haqqani network. The second meeting was held on Dec 11 in Dattakhel area ... which is owned and operated by Hafiz Gul Behadur... of North Waziristan. It was attended by Sabiullah Mujahid, Maulvi Sangeen and Maulvi Ashfaq from Afghanistan, Yehya Al Libi and Abdur Rehman Al Saudi of Al Qaeda, Hafiz Gul Bahadar and Maulvi Sadiq Noor from North Waziristan and Hakeemullah Mehsud, Waliur Rehman and Mulla Nazir from South Waziristan. Talking to Dawn on phone from an unspecified place, TTP front man Ihsanullah said the Mujahideen groups had reposed their confidence in the leadership of Mullah Muhammad Omar and recognised him as the leader of Afghanistan. He said the TTP would send its fighters to Afghanistan after March for waging jihad against "US-led infidel forces". The front man denied a media report that the Taliban would not attack Pak security forces. "It was a misleading and incorrect report." He said the meeting had decided that bully boyz would target the Americans and their allies in Pakistain as well as Afghanistan. Ihsanullah said the Taliban would also take Dire Revenge™ of what he called humiliation by security forces of tribal women, men and Mujahideen in the ongoing operation in Khyber agency. It may be recalled that a rift occurred among Taliban groups when Mulla Nazir expelled Uzbek and Masud bully boyz from Wana subdivision after striking a deal with the government during the operation Rahe Nijat. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... Gul Bahadar and Maulvi Sadiq did not oppose the shifting of Mujahideen from South to North Waziristan. AP adds: "For God's sake, forget all your differences and give us fighters to boost the battle against America in Afghanistan," senior Al Qaeda commander Abu Yehya Al Libi told Pak fighters at the meeting, according to a cut-thoat who attended it. Yes, that will make everyone involved feel confident in the outcome.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More