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India-Pakistan

Seven injured in two Quetta attacks

2023-02-06

[Dawn] Seven people were maimed in two terrorist attacks, one of them said to be a suicide kaboom, on Sunday. The first incident took place near the Police Lines on Gulistan Road and the other on Mano Jan Road. Five people, including an office-bearer of the Civil Secretariat Staff Association, suffered injuries in the first attack. According to police officials, the blast occurred near a bridge. There was no official word about the nature of the blast, but eyewitness accounts claimed it was a suicide kaboom. Police collected the ’bomber’s remains’ from the scene of the earth-shattering kaboom, they claimed. The injured were identified as Qaim Khan Kakar, general secretary of the Civil Secretariat Staff Association, Mohammad Usman, Fazal Mohammad, Mohammad Anwar and Thomas. The outlawed TTP later grabbed credit for the blast, saying that it was a suicide kaboom. In the other incident, a woman and her child were maimed when unknown persons riding cycle of violences hurled a grenade into the house of Nazeer Ahmed on Mano Jan Road. The grenade went kaboom! in the courtyard. The wife and son of Nazeer Ahmed were maimed in the grenade blast. They were admitted to the Civil Hospital’s trauma centre. The attack took place at the time when Quetta Gladiators and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 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 Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... Zalmi were playing an exhibition match at the Akbar Bugti Stadium a few miles away from the site. The attacks in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ’s capital were the latest in a series of terrorist attacks which spiked since the outlined TTP rescinded the ceasefire with the government in 2021. On Jan 30, a jacket wallah targeted a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines, resulting in the death of over 84 people, according to figures released by the city police. The outlawed TTP had initially grabbed credit for the attack. It later distanced itself from it but sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the banned group. January was the deadliest month since 2018, in which 134 people bit the dust — a 139 per cent spike — and 254 received injuries in at least 44 krazed killer attacks across the country.

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India-Pakistan

Five injured in blast targeting passenger train in Bolan, Balochistan

2017-10-28

[DAWN] At least five passengers were maimed in a blast targeting a passenger train in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Bolan district on Friday. Levies sources said "miscreants" had targeted the Akbar Bugti Express passenger train in the Hirak area of district Bolan. Bogie Number 9 was partially damaged from the impact of the blast, which rocked the entire area, sources added. The injured were rushed to nearby Mach hospital for medical treatment, where an emergency had been declared. Frontier Corps ...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and a..the Antwerp-based Salafist organization that had campaigned to introduce Sharia law to Belgium before single-handedly making Belgium the highest per capita supplier of jihadis to Syria in Europe. There was a big trial in Antwerp in 2015, but most of those convicted were in absentia...nti-smuggling operations.... personnel, levies and police reached the spot as investigations into the incident went underway. The affected train was later brought to the Mach Railway Station.

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India-Pakistan

High court dismisses plea challenging Musharraf's acquittal in Bugti murder case

2017-08-31

[DAWN] The Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... High Court (BHC) on Wednesday dismissed an application challenging the acquittal of former president General (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and others in the Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti murder case. The application had been filed by the Baloch nationalist leader's son, Jamil Akbar Bugti, in 2016, challenging the verdict of an Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) in Quetta that acquitted the former military dictator and others in the case. A divisional bench of BHC, comprising justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Nazeer Ahmed Langove, dismissed the application challenging the acquittal and maintained the judgement of the ATC. "We are not satisfied with the judgment," Jamil Bugti's counsel, Advocate Sohail Rajput, told news hounds outside the high court. "We will challenge the BHC dismissal of our application in the Supreme Court."

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India-Pakistan

Bugti tribesmen prepared to fight against India in Kashmir, says Shahzain Bugti

2016-09-28

[DAWN] Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... president Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti on Sunday said Bugti rustics were fully prepared to fight against India in the hills of the Kashmire valley. "Bugti rustics would fight against Indian troops ahead of Pakistain Army," said the grandson of Nawab Akbar Bugti. The statement from the chief of JWP comes at a time when Indian rhetoric against Pakistain has reached a fever pitch following the attack on an Indian army camp in India-held Kashmire, with the valley going through a period of great turmoil. Shahzain said Indian forces are involved in atrocities against the defenceless and voiceless Kashmiris, and added that the "sacrifices of the Kashmiris will not go unnoticed".

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India-Pakistan

Sophisticated weapons seized in raid on train

2016-04-27

[DAWN] SUKKUR: The railway police of Jacobabad on Monday claimed to have seized illegal sophisticated arms and ammunition in a raid on the Akbar Bugti Express and locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! one suspect. Speaking at a presser at the Railway cop shoppe in Jacobabad, Sukkur Division Railways SSP Muhammad Atiq Malik said that with the help of intelligence agencies, the railway police recovered a large number of sealed boxes conaining arms and ammunition being transported through the train coming from 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. at the Jacobabad railway station. When the boxes were opened, illegal sophisticated arms and ammunition were also found along with legal ones. The boxes were booked by Meero Khan Abro and Bashir Ahmed, who are arms dealers based in Dera Murad Jamali, under transport licence of another dealer, Sanaullah, based in Peshawar. He said the arms were brought from Peshawar and transported to Lahore by Khyber Mail from where they were dispatched to Dera Allahyar through Akbar Bugti Express. He said the secret agencies and railway police in their join action seized 298 repeaters of 12 bore, 284 pistols of 30 bore, 3,500 rounds, 20 non-prohibited bore rifles and its 500 rounds, six magazines of 9mm pistols, 84 magazines of different kinds of arms, 22 round magazines, 819 bullets of different bores. An accused namely Meero Khan Abro resident of Dera Murad Jamali (Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ) was also arrested. The SSP further told that the weapons recovered bore names of different countries, including China, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and the US, adding that the weapons were illegal and the matter was being investigated. He said a case had been registered in which the name of Meero Khan Abro was also included. He said the weapons valued Rs5 million. Talking to Dawn, the SSP said he had sent complete information to the Sindh IGP who had also talked in this regard to his KPK counterpart for hold an inquiry against those police officials of Peshawar who had issued a sealed certificate about the consignment. But when the consignment was opened in Jacobabad, 40 per cent of the arms and ammunition were found in excess of the listed weapons.

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India-Pakistan

'BLA commander, aide' held in Jacobabad on Bugti's anniversary

2015-08-28

[DAWN] SUKKUR: Jacobabad police on Wednesday claimed that Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Liberation Army commander Daren Shambhani Bugti and his close associate Ali Hassan Banglani were picked up and taken away by security agencies personnel on an intelligence report that they had planned to bomb the 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. -bound Khushal Khan Khatak Express originating from 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... . Jacobabad SSP Malik Zafar Iqbal Awan told a presser in his office that three hand grenades, a rocket launcher, two Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition and explosives were seized from them during a raid carried out jointly by the police and intelligence agencies in the Channa Laro area in Thull town. Quoting the intelligence report, the SSP said that the terrorist attack was planned to mark the ninth death anniversary of Jamhoori Watan Part founder leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. "The suspects were taken away by secret agencies personnel to an undisclosed place for interrogation and, as such, no case was registered at the A-Section cop shoppe, within whose jurisdiction the raid was conducted," the SSP said.

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India-Pakistan

Brahamdagh ready to give up demand for independence

2015-08-28

[DAWN] Showing flexibility over his long-standing stance, Brahamdagh Bugti, the self-exiled leader of the separatist Baloch Republi­can Party (BRP), said in an interview on Wednesday that he was ready to give up his demand for an independent Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... if the Baloch so desired. Mr Bugti, who had left for Afghanistan after his grandfather Nawab Akbar Bugti's death in a military raid to lead guerilla resistance, spoke to the BBC on the ninth death anniversary of the nationalist leader. He made it clear that a peaceful resolution of the enduring conflict would not be without conditions. While fleeing Afghanis­tan, he had alleged that Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... 's regime wanted to kill him after eliminating his grandfather. He won refuge in Afghanis­tan despite Pakistain's demand for his return and moved to Europe in 2010 along with his family. With reports of hundreds of members of the banned holy warrior organizations having surrendered in Balo­chistan recently and speculations rife that the authorities are negotiating with some exiled separatist leaders who want assurances of safety in return for giving up militancy, Mr Bugti's peace offer indicates a radical change in Baloch politics. "It is really hard to negotiate on the conflict when the bloodletting still continues. That's why our standpoint is clear: the operation (in Balochistan) be stopped and all the forces be withdrawn. Once this materialises, it could provide conducive environment for dialogue," Mr Bugti, who lives in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , said.

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India-Pakistan

Khan of Kalat agrees to talk

2015-06-30

[DAWN] ANY move that appears to break the stultifying impasse in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... is cause for at least some cautious optimism. A report in this paper yesterday revealed that the Baloch leader, the Khan of Kalat Mir SLearned Elders of Islamn Dawood Jan, who lives in self-exile in London, has agreed to meet a delegation of Balochistan government officials. Prior to this, he will hold consultations with members of the Grand Jirga who, after the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti at the hands of the army in 2006, had sent him abroad to work towards the restoration of Kalat State. In September last year, the Balochistan Assembly passed a resolution to approach the tribal leader and enlist his help in establishing peace in the province. For the National Party-led government that has been vowing to bring the 'angry Baloch' to the negotiating table, this is a victory of sorts. Aside from the Khan of Kalat's lofty standing in Balochistan's tribal hierarchy, there is the weight of history: in pre-Partition days, the erstwhile princely state -- then ruled by the present Khan's grandfather -- held a pre-eminent position in the tribal confederacy that stretched across central and southern Balochistan. The government is obviously hoping that Mir SLearned Elders of Islamn can bring the other angry Baloch -- the recalcitrant separatist leaders -- to the negotiating table. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... history also records that when the then Khan of Kalat signed the Instrument of Accession to join Pakistain in 1948, it caused much anguish among nationalist-minded Baloch. His progeny too, not least because of their perceived closeness to the establishment, came to be considered as 'traitors' to the Baloch cause as the bitterness went kaboom! into open rebellion several times over subsequent decades. Although Nawab Bugti's murder was a watershed that led Mir SLearned Elders of Islamn to break his ties with the state and himself adopt the separatist narrative, his influence on players in the insurgency is debatable. Not least because for the first time, the separatist movement finds widespread support among educated youth, particularly in the non-sardari southern belt where tribal hierarchy does not inspire the same deference. Nevertheless, this is a much-needed political initiative after a succession of sterile militarised strategies. In this situation, the removal of precious artifacts from the Khan of Kalat's palace in Kalat town by his son Prince Mohammed, from whom he is estranged, has the potential of scuttling the talks before they even begin. It also gives oxygen to suspicions of state machinations -- never far from the surface in Balochistan -- in this case to install the son, seen as a pro-establishment figure, as the Khan of Kalat in place of his father. To restore confidence, the government must ensure the artifacts are returned without delay. In Balochistan, with its Gordian knot of complexities resulting from decades of self-defeating policies, even the slightest wrong move could take us back to square one.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan court indicts Musharraf over Bugti's killing

2015-01-15

[ARABNEWS] A Pak court on Wednesday indicted Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... over the 2006 killing of a separatist leader, the latest legal hurdle facing the former military ruler since his return from self-imposed exile two years ago. The charges by the court in the southwestern city of Quetta are unlikely to cause any immediate problems for the 71-year-old, who has not attended a single hearing in the case since it began in 2013. He was previously indicted for treason in March last year over his imposition of emergency rule in 2007, but proceedings have stalled since then as the countrys civil authorities and judiciary appear to lack the will to take on the powerful military. The anti-terrorist court has indicted Musharraf along with former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and former home minister (of) Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province Shoaib Nosherwani in Nawab Akbar Bugtis murder case, public prosecutor Taimur Shah told AFP. Shah added the court would resume hearings in the case on Feb. 4. Baluch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a military operation in 2006, sparking deadly nationwide protests and inflaming a separatist insurgency in resource-rich but impoverished Balochistan province. Musharraf has been staying with his daughter 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... where he travelled for tests at a navy-run hospital in April last year and the indictment took place in his absence. He is on bail in four other major cases linked to his time in power including the 2007 liquidation of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... in a gun and suicide kaboom. Facing impeachment following the 2008 elections, Musharraf resigned as president and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai.

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India-Pakistan

Balochi train attacked

2014-04-19

QUETTA: Akbar Bugti Express of the Pakistan Railways came under attack in Bolan area of the Balochistan on Friday with no casualties reported. According to the details, gunmen in the mountains attacked the train at a time when it was en route from Rawalpindi to Quetta. The gunfire did damage the bogies of the train, but luckily no casualties were reported. The law enforcement agencies reached the site shortly after the incident and escorted the train to Quetta. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

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India-Pakistan

Two killed as train comes under fire near Mach

2014-04-01

[DAWN] QUETTA: An attack on a train near Mach in Bolan district left a policeman and a passenger dead on Monday. Six passengers were maimed. The train from Lahore was going to Quetta. The injured, two women among them, were taken to Quetta in a helicopter. Militants sitting on a mountain shot up the Nawab Akbar Bugti Express in Paneer area after it had crossed a tunnel, railway official Abbas Ali said. Two bogies of the train were hit by bullets, sources said. The forces of Evil used heavy weapons in the attack, Frontier Corps (FC) front man Khan Wasey said. The slain policeman was part of a security contingent deployed to protect the train. Sources said that security personnel returned fire, forcing the attackers to flee.FC troops took the bodies and injured to Mach hospital from where they were airlifted to Quetta. The dear departed were identified as Mohammad Ali (police constable) and Mohammad Nadeem and the injured included Zabaida Kurd, Khadija, Abdul Qudoos, Mohammad Hussain and Nasrullah. The front man said that FC troops had launched a search in the area for the assailants. "The train later reached Quetta," the railway official said, adding that security would be tightened to ensure safety of passenger trains.

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India-Pakistan

Shaukat Aziz declared absconder

2013-11-27

[Pak Daily Times] An anti-terrorism court has declared former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... governor Owais Ghani and Dera Bugti's ex-DCO as absconders in the Akbar Bugti murder case. The Anti-Terrorism Court Quetta made the designations while hearing the case on Tuesday. Former interior minister Aftab Sherpao also showed up on court orders. The court rejected former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... 's plea for exemption, and ordered that he be produced in the court on the next hearing. Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths... former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Balochistan governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, former district coordination officer (DCO) Abdul Samad Lasi were declared runaways and the court ordered the authorities to seize their properties. The hearing was adjourned to December 24. Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a cave on August 26, 2006 during a military crackdown ordered by Musharraf who was president and army chief at the time. Bugti had led an armed campaign to press for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from Balochistan's natural resources. The death of the Baloch chieftain sparked angry protests in the country.

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