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India-Pakistan

Material witness in Benazir murder case 'amends' his statement

2015-01-18

[DAWN] Retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, former director general of the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC), told a Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday that he had addressed a presser following the liquidation of 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... after discussing it with the spymasters and then secretary interior. This statement differs from the one the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced before the ATC on February 7, 2011, where the prosecution included Brig Cheema as a prime witness against former president retired General Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , in connection with the Benazir murder case. As per Brig Cheemas previous statement, submitted by the FIA along with case challan, the former DG NCMC was quoted as saying that a day after Ms Bhuttos liquidation, on December 28, 2007, he held a presser on the advice of Gen Musharraf. In the FIAs version of Brig Cheema statement, he maintains that he held the presser, in compliance with Gen Musharrafs orders, to dispel the negativity against the regime, that prevailed in the aftermath of the liquidation. A news hound who attended the presser in question told Dawn that during the presser, Brig Cheema had said that the cause of Ms Bhuttos death was an injury to the head, sustained when her head hit the sunroof lever of her own vehicle. The second thing he disclosed during the presser was that Baitullah Mehsud, who was the leader of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain at the time, had claimed the responsibility for the attack in a video message. Brig Cheema had also shared the video where Mehsud had indirectly grabbed credit for the liquidation of Benazir Bhutto with members of the press corps. But on Friday, when the prosecution produced Brig Cheema as a witness before the ATC, he told the court that the decision to hold the presser was taken by then-interior secretary Kamal Shah. He said that before the presser, he was summoned to the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI), where he met the interior secretary and the heads of the ISI, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau. He told the court that the spymasters briefed them about their meeting with Gen Musharraf and handed him the video and instructed him to hold a presser to this effect. He also told the court that he also consulted then-interior minister retired Lt-Gen Hamid Nawaz before holding the presser.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan: Former minister urges downing of US drones

2009-01-30

(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - If United States aircraft continue to carry out airstrikes inside Pakistan, the Pakistani Air Force should shoot them down, a former interior minister, Lt. Gen. Hamid Nawaz told journalists on Wednesday. The comments, which appear to signal a major policy shift in Pakistan-US military cooperation, came after US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that Washington would continue with strikes by unmanned Predator drones against militants and that Pakistan was aware of this. Nawaz was interior minister in Pakistan's last interim government before the February 2008 elections and was a close aide of former president Pervez Musharraf when he headed the army. In a statement on Wednesday, Pakistan's foreign ministry denied the existence of a deal between Pakistan and the US allowing unmanned US Predator drone attacks against suspected militants. Twenty-one people were killed last Friday in northwest Pakistan in the first suspected US missile strikes since US President Barack Obama took office. The two attacks took place on villages in North and South Waziristan tribal areas. Pakistan's lawless tribal regions are believed by intelligence services to be a haven for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The US last year stepped up drone attacks in the area in frustration at Pakistan's failure to stem the flow of militants to and from Afghanistan, despite the various military operations it has launched in the northwest. The US has rarely confirmed or denied the attacks, which are reported to have killed over 220 people. The attacks have angered Pakistanis and the government says they violate its sovereignty and undermine its military campaigns. Pakistan is now revising its foreign policy in the belief that America will wield less influence in the future than it has in recent years and that US financial support for the 'war on terror' is likely to decrease, according to unnamed AKI diplomatic and military sources. The credit crunch and global recession that began in the US has impacted Pakistan. Washington's late payment last year of 800 million dollars of anti-terrorism funding was a major cause of Pakistan's financial meltdown. Only 101 million dollars of these funds were transferred to Pakistan last Friday. Defence sources see further delays in payment of anti-terror funds from the US to Pakistan next year when its finances are further strained by additional troop expenditure in Afghanistan. So far Washington has spent over 700 billion dollars fighting insurgency in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where it is due to deploy an additional 33,000 troops in 2009.

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India-Pakistan

200 militants have surrendered in Swat: Hamid

2008-03-10

Caretaker Interior Minister Lt Gen (r) Hamid Nawaz Khan has claimed that around 200 militants have so far surrendered to the authorities in Swat. He told the state-run PTV channel that 422 people had been arrested in Swat for their involvement in terror activities. “Six tonnes of explosive material has also been recovered from the area,” he added. He praised the law-enforcement agencies for making “foolproof” security arrangements during the February 18 elections and Muharram. “Security agencies have averted 20 to 30 possible incidents of terrorism in the Punjab and Sindh during Muharram and the elections,” the minister said. However, he added that “by just preventing these incidents we are not going to be successful as it is very important to go back and hit the base area of terrorist organisations”. Replying to his recent statement regarding the involvement of foreign elements in terrorist activities in Pakistan, Hamid said he was talking about the growing general perception of this “because such activities cannot not be sustained longer without foreigners’ involvement”. He stressed a joint and coordinated effort in the NWFP to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the country. He said that the new NWFP government would have an important role to play in tackling terrorism. Pakistan released Kashmir Singh, an Indian who served 35 years in prison, last week. Hamid said the release of Singh would help promote a benign image of the country.

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India-Pakistan

Pashtun institutions under attack

2008-03-04

The ‘kula’ (a traditional Pashtun cap made of straw) means everything to Malik Waris Khan Afridi, and the front-page photo of a ‘kula’ lying in the dirt in the Monday editions of several national dailies has shaken him. The photo shows the ‘kula’ - a symbol of respect for Pashtuns – lying on the ground while tribesmen look on after a suicide attack on a jirga in Darra Adam Khel on Sunday. Many of the dead tribal elders were wearing the ‘kula’ when the attack happened. The cap, which is worn by tribes in Mohmand, Bajaur, Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber agencies, is seen as a symbol of the Pashtun institution of jirga. On Sunday, the leading elders of fives tribes in Darra Adam Khel were to draft a ‘peace treaty’ when a young suicide bomber stepped in and killed 40 people. The attack came two days after a suicide bombing at the funeral of a slain police officer, which left more than 50 dead. Threatened: “The jirga and the mosque are two institutions of Pashtun society and both are under attack,” Afridi told Daily Times. He said the attack “is a conspiracy to destroy peace”. “Peace will never return to Pashtun areas if jirgas are abolished,” Afridi said, adding, “The jirga and mosque represent peace in Pashtun society and their absence will endanger the very concept of peace.” He said he did not think the Taliban were behind the attacks. Syed Wazir of the Qaumi Tehreek in Darra Adam Khel said that the attack had left “the Pashtun nation wounded, its leadership martyred and its people senseless”. He said the delay in acting against militants in the region had shown negligence on the part of the tribal people. Total humiliation: Tribal elder Muhammad Ali Halimzai of Mohmand Agency expressed concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pashtun areas. However, he said he had high hopes that the Awami National Party would save the Pashtun institutions from “total humiliation”. “I think it is ANP’s responsibility to come to the rescue of the Pashtun nation at a time when the ‘Great Game’ is being played on our soil,” he said by phone from Mohmand Agency’s Ghalanai. However, a senior researcher at the Area Study Centre of the University of Peshawar said Sunday’s attack would not undermine the institution of the jirga. “The Pashtuns cannot be bogged down by attacks such as the one on Sunday,” said Azmat Hayat, director of the centre. He said the mastermind behind the attacks needed to be found, as this was an “organised (wave of) attacks”. Caretaker Federal Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said in a TV interview that the perception that the US, India and Afghanistan were “involved in suicide attacks in Pakistan was fast gaining momentum in the country”.

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India-Pakistan

Sherpao attack accused killed

2008-02-28

Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan on Wednesday said a tribal militant commander and mastermind of two suicide attacks on former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and killer of a serving Intelligence Bureau (IB) official was killed in an encounter with security agencies on Tuesday. “Abdul Siar, head of Siar group in the Tribal Areas, was killed on Tuesday in an encounter between security agencies and his men between Charsada and Mohmand Agency,” Hamid told reporters after attending a National Public Safety Commission meeting. Nawaz said almost 116 innocent people had died in various terrorist attacks by Siar and his men in various parts of the country. He said security agencies had also arrested two of Siar’s men during the encounter, who divulged important information after which the government had increased security of prominent politicians and important public buildings across Pakistan.

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India-Pakistan

Qari Saifullah Arrested in Bhutto Parade Bombing

2008-02-27

A suspected Al Qaeda militant has been arrested in connection with the October homicide bombing in Karachi that narrowly missed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but killed about 150 others, a top government official said Wednesday. Qari Saifullah Akhtar, who has been in Pakistani custody before, was arrested on Monday in Lahore in connection with the bombing that hit Bhutto's homecoming parade when she returned from exile, before her killing in a second homicide attack Dec. 27, Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said. "He is involved in the blasts in Karsaz. Therefore he has been arrested," Nawaz told The Associated Press, referring to the Karachi neighborhood where the October bombing happened. A bit more, from Pak Daily Times... Saifullah was arrested from an under-construction mosque in Ferozwala, intelligence sources told Daily Times. They said his three sons had also been arrested. Law-enforcement officials arrested on Monday a militant connected to the October 18, 2007, assassination attempt on slain former premier Benazir Bhutto. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told AFP that Benazir had accused Qari Saifullah Akhtar of plotting against her in her posthumously published memoirs. A close ally of Al Qaeda’s Mullah Omar, Saifullah was arrested from an under-construction mosque in Ferozwala, intelligence sources told Daily Times. They said his three sons had also been arrested.

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India-Pakistan

'Government has broken terrorist's backbone'

2008-02-21

Interior Minister Lt Gen (r) Hamid Nawaz Khan claimed on Wednesday that India’s top spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan. "Yeah. We can tell it's them from all the turbans and Korans that are involved." The government has broken the back of terrorists and their activities have been confined to the Tribal Areas, Nawaz told a press conference here. If you define the "Tribal Areas" as including Karachi and Rawalpindi and Lahore. And Barcelona... Government forces and militants in the Tribal Areas have been fighting each other after the September 2006 government-Taliban peace pact collapsed in July last year. “A large number of terrorists have been arrested with the help of the army and other law-enforcement agencies. Many other have been either killed or driven out of the country,” Nawaz said, adding that militants were surrendering or fleeing the Tribal Areas. "Many others we've surrendered to." The minister was satisfied with security arrangements made for the month of Muharram and Monday’s parliamentary elections. Unfortunately, he added, 18 people were killed and 186 injured in clashes between rival political parties. “Other than this, no major violence incident took place,” he said. "18 deaders? In Pakistain? Barely to be noticed."

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India-Pakistan

Mansoor Dadullah arrested in Balochistan

2008-02-12

Adds maybe 1.5 sentences worth of detail... Security forces on Monday critically wounded and captured a top Taliban leader, along with six of his security guards, during an operation in Balochistan. Five, six, somewhere around there anyway... The FC and the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) captured Mansoor Dadullah, brother of slain Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, and six of his accomplices when they were discovered to be hiding in the Pak-Afghan border town of Kili Gwal Ilamilzai. Hiding in a madrassah, in fact... Sources said that when the security forces had surrounded the Taliban hideout from all four sides, the militants sent a message requesting they be allowed to escape from the area peacefully. "We don't want no truck widda law! Turn yer backs an' we're outta here!" Upon receiving a negative reply, the Taliban exchanged fire with the security forces, [BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!] "Take dat, coppers!" ending the clash only after Dadullah was critically injured. "Aaaargh! My brisket!" "Da boss! Dey got da boss!" The AP, however, quoted army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas as saying that the militants had been captured while they were trying to cross Afghanistan’s border into Pakistan. “We have captured Mansoor Dadullah along with five other people in Balochistan,” Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan told Reuters. "Really. It's not like they lived in Pakistain or something! They just showed up!" A senior military official told AP that Dadullah died of his wounds on the way to hospital, but Abbas denied the claim. "He ain't dead! He's just pinin' for the Khyber Pass!" Sources said Dadullah was out of danger, but one of security guards had died en route to Quetta for further treatment and investigation. So he might live to fight and run away another day. That's rather surprising.

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India-Pakistan

Bomb Kills 25 at Pakistan Election Rally

2008-02-10

A suicide bomber blasted a political gathering Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 25 people, wounding dozens and stoking fears about security surrounding this month's parliamentary election. If they don't claim credit then it doesn't violate the hudna. The blast occurred inside a hall where about 200 people had assembled for a political rally in the town of Charsadda in turbulent North West Frontier province, where Islamic extremists have been battling government forces. The rally was organized by the Awami National Party — a secular organization which competes against Islamist parties for support among the ethnic Pashtun community. Abdul Waheed, 22, who suffered burns from the blast, said the bomber struck as a member of the party was reciting verses from Islam's holy book, the Quran. "I only heard the blast and cries and then something hit me and I fell down," Waheed told The Associated Press from his hospital bed in nearby Peshawar. Television footage from the blast site, located in the sprawling residence of a party activist, showed the meeting hall littered with bloodstained clothes, police caps and overturned chairs. Policeman Mohammed Khan said two policemen were among the dead, and several children had been killed or injured. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on Islamic militants with ties to the Taliban and al-Qaida. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the militants are threatening all political parties in the northwest. "They are against everyone," Nawaz told Dawn News TV. "But we do have a ceasefire with them, so there's nothing to worry about." Tensions have been running high across Pakistan since the charismatic Bhutto was killed in a suicide bombing in Rawalpindi. Nowhere is the tension higher than in the North West Frontier Province, a lawless region bordering Afghanistan where Islamic militants threaten government control. Candidates have shied away from large outdoor rallies in favor of small gatherings of party stalwarts inside homes or high-walled compounds. Saturday's bombing showed even those tightly controlled gatherings are unsafe. Nevertheless, about 100,000 people gathered Saturday in a sports stadium in the southern city of Thatta as Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party resumed its election campaigning — suspended for the traditional 40 days of mourning after her death. In an emotional speech, Bhutto's husband, Gomez Asif Ali Zardari asked the crowd to "give me strength so that we can serve the country." He vowed to carry on his slain wife's mission. "I have the responsibility to save Pakistan," Zardari said. "This is our country and we have to save it." Zardari claimed his wife had been murdered by an establishment that she wanted to change. "That is why they were against us," Zardari said. "If they try to stop me, I will destroy them and I hope you people will support me." The government has rejected allegations that intelligence agents or members of the ruling party allied to Musharraf plotted to kill Bhutto. The People's Party is widely expected to benefit from a sympathy vote. But it remains unclear whether Zardari can unite the party and dispel public doubts over allegations that he pilfered government funds and demanded kickbacks during Bhutto's two administrations in the late 1980s and 1990s. Pir Bakhsh, a 24-year old laborer, said that Zardari's reputation was not good but that love for Bhutto "compels us to attend this rally." "We will avenge the blood of Benazir. We don't have bombs. We are not terrorists, but we have political power and we will capitalize on this political power to avenge the death of Benazir," said Haji Jaffar, 75, a retired teacher. "The passion and love for (her party) has increased after Benazir's assassination."

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India-Pakistan

'Secret contacts in Tribal Areas led to ceasefire'

2008-02-08

Government officials held secret talks with militants and tribal elders as part of a dialogue that produced a ceasefire announced by Taliban militants who have been fighting Pakistani forces near the Afghan border, AP quoted two unnamed officials as saying on Thursday. Few details have emerged about terms of the ceasefire, announced on Wednesday by a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group, after weeks of heavy fighting. The government did not confirm a truce, but Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the national leadership was ready for a dialogue with the Taliban. “There is no announced ceasefire, there is a de facto ceasefire between militants and government troops. Both sides are currently holding the fire,” Nawaz told AFP. He said a tribal council, or jirga “comprising representatives of the government and tribal elders will be formed to negotiate peace but I cannot give you any timeframe in this regard”. “Talks between tribal elders and militants had been in progress for the past several days,” a government official in the region told AFP on condition of anonymity. Militant spokesman Maulvi Mohammed Umar told AP that the truce would include the tribal belt along the Afghan border and the restive Swat region to the east where the army has also battled pro-Taliban fighters. The two officials AP talked with were familiar with the talks. They said the talks took place at an undisclosed location in South Waziristan. But they would not say who represented the government side. Haqqani: Militant representatives included Siraj Haqqani, one official said. A ceasefire in North Waziristan in September 2006, which collapsed in July, was widely seen as a setback in the war against terror because it gave the Taliban and Al Qaeda a freer hand to stage cross-border attacks into Afghanistan and extend their control of areas within Pakistan.

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India-Pakistan

Deal possible with Mehsud: Hamid

2008-02-07

Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Wednesday indicated possibility of a truce between the government and militant leader Baitullah Mehsud. He told reporters a jirga had been formed to negotiate a truce. “Mehsud has no choice but to agree on the peace deal,” he said. “It’s a matter of his survival.” Right. We knew this was coming, and not because it's a matter of Baitullah's survival. It doesn't matter how many prime ministerial candidates he kills, how many heroic Pak troops he kidnaps and beheads. He can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants, as long as he's not actively overthrowing the generals and their nuzzers.

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India-Pakistan

10 killed, 27 hurt as bomber strikes army bus

2008-02-05

Ten people were killed and 27 injured on Monday when a suicide bomber crashed his bike into an armed forces bus carrying students and officials of Army Medical College, near the General Headquarters (GHQ) at around 7.25am, sources in military hospitals said. An eyewitness said the suicide bomber hit the 30-seater bus in front of National Logistic Cell (NLC) offices close to the GHQ, blowing away the roof, windows and doors of the bus. Several other vehicles were also damaged. A van carrying schoolchildren was also partially damaged, but the children remained unhurt. RA Bazaar police Station House Officer (SHO) Raja Basharat Abbasi told Daily Times at the crime scene that it was a suicide attack. According to him, it was yet to be established if the suicide bomber had been riding a bike. He said three civilians and two armed forces personnel were killed and 10 military officials seriously injured, adding that an FIR had been registered and investigations started. According to ISPR, four security forces personnel were killed in the blast. The dead included four members of the security forces, according to a military statement, reported AP. They included a colonel from the army’s medical corps, according to a military official and a police officer, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. A female major was among the injured, the military official said. Troops seal: Reportedly, troops sealed off the entire area around the GHQ following the blast, and police were not allowed access to the spot. Tents were erected at the crime scene to cover the remains of the blast and newsmen were asked to vacate the place immediately. Similarly, private and Rescue 1122 ambulances were not allowed to shift the injured and the dead to the military hospitals and only army ambulances shifted them to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and the Military Hospital (MH). District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) officials told Daily Times that the body of an unknown person had been shifted to the hospital but later military personnel shifted it to the CMH. They said none of the injured persons were admitted to the hospital. City Police Officer (CPO) Saud Aziz told Daily Times that at least five people were killed and 25 hurt in the incident. He said law-enforcement agencies had collected evidence from the scene of the attack, including the suicide’s bomber’s head. The bomber’s face was being reconstructed at the CMH, he added. Aziz said a special investigation team led by SSP (Operations) Yasin Farooq was investigating the incident. When asked about the exact death toll of military officials and civilians, the CPO said, “It’s a sensitive issue.” Baitullah Mehsud: Caretaker Federal Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told reporters in Islamabad on Monday that Baitullah Mehsud may be involved in the Rawalpindi suicide attack as only he had the ability to carry out such attack, Online reported. The interior minister said that security agencies of the country were being targeted as police and army were taking effective action against the militants, NNI reported.

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