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India-Pakistan
Four Al Qaeda men killed in 'encounter'
2015-01-11
[DAWN] Four suspected holy warriors belonging to the Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) were rubbed out in an encounter by a special unit of police in Qayyumabad
...a suburb of Korangi Town, if you know where that is...
, adjacent to the Defence Housing Authority, on Friday morning, according to officials.

They were allegedly planning an attack on a security intelligence officials vehicle that usually passed through the area, said CID counterterrorism unit official-in- charge Raja Umer Khattab.

He said the police received a tip-off that the suspects planning to carry out a gun attack on the vehicle of the intelligence official, followed by a suicide kaboom, were sitting near a truck stand in Qayyumabad. The police conducted a raid there and four suspects were bumped off in an ensuing exchange of fire. One of the dear departed was identified as Sajjad alias Kargil
... three months of unprovoked Pak aggression, over 4000 dead Paks, another victory for India ...
, a commander of the AQIS 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...
, Mr Khattab said.

The other dead men were identified as Mohammed Hashim, Yasir Arafat and Shamim alias Commando.

The officer said Sajjad had gained expertise in preparing suicide jackets and kaboom. Till 2009, he was a citizen of Bangladesh and a member of the Jamaat-ul-Moslemeen, a religious party in Bangladesh. He shifted to Pakistain following a crackdown against the group there. He got a computerised national identity card issued in his name through an agent in Karachi. He then shifted to Wazoo, where he joined holy warriors namely Asif alias Chotu, Qari Zafar and Umer Farooq, who was recently killed in a drone attack there, said the CID counterterrorism unit head.

Sajjad did his Bayat at the hand of Asim Umer, head of the AQIS in 2014. He was made the commander of the AQIS in Karachi and was tasked by Asim Umer to recruit Bengalis to establish a network for Jehadi activities there, said Mr Khattab.

Sajjad had allegedly killed seven coppers, the officer said, adding that he had also been involved in four blasts through improvised bombs in Karachi.

He had allegedly done full recce of the route of the intelligence officer and was planning to target him when the encounter took place at 7.30am, said the CID officer.

The police claimed to have seized a suicide jacket. Mr Khattab said he had never seen such a suicide jacket since he had started dealing with terror cases in Karachi. A Kalashnikov assault rifle was also seized from the custody of the suspects, he added.
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India-Pakistan
Mourning a villain
2013-11-06
[Dawn] THE death of a man who waged war against the Pak state and was responsible for the slaughtering of thousands of innocent men, women and kiddies should have come as a great relief to this strife-torn nation.

Instead, our politicians are mourning the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone strike describing the incident as an "attack on peace".

From being public enemy No.1, the chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has virtually been turned into a hero after his inglorious death. A mass murderer who ordered the beheading of our soldiers and grabbed credit for killing a Pak general just a few months ago, is now being elevated to the status of a martyr.

Instead of seizing this moment of opportunity to dismantle a fragmented terrorist network, a frightened politicianship has shamelessly prostrated itself before the myrmidons. As a result, the gunnies and their allies are now dominating the public narrative despite their crimes against the people of Pakistain. It is an extremely dangerous situation for a country facing the existential threat of spiralling violent extremism. A narrow self-serving leadership is taking the entire country towards a suicidal path.

With few exceptions, all political parties have joined the chorus that the fatal drone strike on Hakeemullah was a conspiracy to scuttle an illusory grinding of the peace processor. While the interior minister has called for reviewing relations with the US, an agitated Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
 has threatened to block the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
 supply line in protest. The bravado may just be public posturing, but the irresponsible rhetoric could lead to some unintentional consequences, plunging the country into more dire straits.

It is a pity that even the killing of young women and kiddies in a suicide kaboom in a crowded 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.
 bazaar or the massacre of Christian worshippers in the church bombing has not shaken the great Khan as much as the death of the leader of the myrmidon outfit that perpetrated those heinous attacks. He even refuses to accept that the Taliban were behind those bombings despite their endorsement of the attack.

Seemingly, all the tumult is about the timing of the US action and the violation of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty once again. According to the interior minister, the attack was carried out hours before a three-member delegation was to meet the TTP leadership and extend to them a formal invitation from the government for talks.

Notwithstanding the questionable legality of America's drone strikes on Pak soil, it is hard to believe that the targeting of the TTP chief was part of a plan to sabotage the talks as alleged by our politicians.

One should not forget that the TTP leader was on the US's most wanted list with a bounty of up to $5m on his head. He came on the US radar after a video showed him talking to Hummam Khalil Abu-Mulal al Balawi, a Jordanian doctor with Al Qaeda connections who went kaboom! inside a CIA operating base in Afghanistan's Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
, killing seven intelligence operatives in 2009. The incident also confirmed his close ties with Al Qaeda.

Soon after, Hakeemullah claimed to have trained Faisal Shehzad, an American of Pak origin who was involved in a failed attempt
Curses! Foiled again!
 to detonate a boom-mobile in New York's Times Square.

Hakeemullah had narrowly escaped several drone strikes in the past three years. He was also reportedly injured in one of them that kept him out of action for several months. Significantly, the fatal attack on Friday came a couple of weeks after the US forces had snatched from the Afghan intelligence agencies Latif Mehsud, a close confidant of the TTP leader.

It is quite plausible that the information gleaned from Latif might have led the CIA to Hakeemullah's hideout. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has confirmed that American officials had informed him that the TTP leader would not be spared if tracked down.

For sure, the drone campaign has remained a major irritant in the troubled relations between Islamabad and Washington. 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...
 also raised the issue during his meeting with President Barack Obama
We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us...
in Washington last month. Indeed, Pakistain's objection to the violation of the country's illusory sovereignty is fully justified on legal and ethical grounds. There are no two views about the negative political impact of the collateral damage caused by the drone attacks.

But it is also a fact, that the drones have eliminated many high-value Pak faceless myrmidons running their terrorist operations from North Wazoo. Prominent among those killed in the last two years are Waliur Rehman, who was deputy chief of the TTP, Ilyas Kashmiri, Qari Hussain, Qari Zafar and Badar Mansoor. They were all criminal masterminds of attacks on Pak security installations.

Pakistain has also decided to contact the five permanent members of the UN Security Council on the killing of Hakeemullah in the latest drone strike. The move will certainly make Pakistain a laughing stock and only weaken the country's case on the drone issue.

Leave aside other countries, Islamabad cannot even convince its closest ally China on the matter. The myrmidon sanctuaries in North Waziristan are a cause for concern to the entire international community. It is certain that the way Pakistain is dealing with the issue of terrorism will find no takers.

It was questionable from the outset whether the government's peace efforts could succeed given the uncompromising attitude of the TTP. In his last interview to the BBC, Hakeemullah had rejected any dialogue under the Pak Constitution, saying that it envisioned a secular democratic system.

Now with his death that may lead to further fragmentation of the TTP, the possibility of any purposeful negotiations has become even more remote. But the danger is that the current state of policy disarray may provide a conducive environment in which the faceless myrmidons can revitalise their activities. It is perhaps, the most critical point in the country's struggle against the rising myrmidon threat.
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India-Pakistan
Dera blasts mastermind awarded 339 years
2012-12-07
[Dawn] An anti-terrorism court convicted the criminal mastermind of two suicide kabooms in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
 on different counts and sentenced him to 339 years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs150,000.

The court presided over by Mr Khwaja Wajihuddin pronounced that the prosecution proved the cases against 28-year-old Ahmad Nawaz alias Dhallu, a resident of D.I. Khan. The court also declared five of the absconding accused -- Qari Abdul Zahir alias Qari Zafar, Fazalur Rehman, Mohammad Iqbal, Qari Asif and Imran alias Khitab -- proclaimed offenders and issued their perpetual arrest warrants.

In one of the incidents, four jacket wallahs had attacked the office of district police officer that resulted in the death of four policeman and injuries to seven others. A civilian was also injured in the attack. The FIR of the case was registered at Cantt cop shoppe on Jan 14, 2012.

In the other incident, a suicide bomber had blown up himself near a vehicle carrying two deputy superintendents of police -- Abdul Ghafoor and Salahuddin -- and other coppers near Commissionary Bazaar on March 4, 2012. Four coppers including Abdul Ghafoor were maimed in the attack.

The accused was jugged
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
 on Sept 11, 2012. He had confessed to his crime after remaining in the custody of police. Police had also recovered certain video footages from his possession wherein he was shown guiding the suicide bombers, who had carried out the acts of terrorism.

The public prosecutor, Sheikh Mohammad Jehanzeb, appeared for the state while Advocate Rab Nawaz represented the accused. In the first case, the accused was sentenced to life imprisonment on four counts under Section 302/149 of Pakistain Penal Code. He was again sentenced to life imprisonment on four counts under different sections of Anti-Terrorism Act including 7(a), 21-I and 21-J.

He was further convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 120B of PPC. For injuring eight persons, the accused was convicted on eight counts and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Similarly, he was sentenced to life imprisonment under the Explosive Substance Act. He would undergo a total of 243 years imprisonment in that case.

In the second case he would undergo a total of 96 years imprisonment. The court extended the convict the benefit of Section 382-B of Criminal Procedure Code under which the period he had already spent in prison would be counted in his prison term.
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India-Pakistan
Trucking through Pakistan: A dirty business
2011-09-05
Attacks on trucks carrying NATO supplies are not likely to stop soon, but the US is not depending on the Pakistani government

The US and NATO depend on Pakistan for logistic support for their war in Afghanistan because most of their supplies goes through Karachi through what many in the port city call the 'Pashtun transport mafia'. The Pakistani security establishment understands that 'alternative routes' might be impossible for speedy supplies, and that is why Islamabad often blackmails the US using sabotage tactics.

It was on information revealed by Rahimullah, a terrorist in police custody for orchestrating the Nishtar Park Bombing, that the Intelligence Bureau, the CID and police conducted a raid on a house in Baldia. Terrorists inside the house fired at the police, and the police retaliated. According to the police, all the three men arrested - Sultan Omer, Siddique Mehsud and Zubair Bengali - were suicide bombers from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Sultan was the brother of Sultan Saifullah (suicide bomber of the Nishtar Park bombing), Siddique was a relative of Baitullah Mehsud, while Zubair was the relative of Abdul Karim Bengali, the suicide bomber who had killed Allama Hassan Turabi. In that house, Rahimullah was hiding Shukat Awan - one of the largest NATO oil contractors for whom the group had demanded $25 million as ransom. Shukat Awan was killed during the operation.

Rahimullah also disclosed that the group had all been trained in suicide bombing in Waziristan, and had been in Karachi for several months. They were being handled by Qari Zafar. The group had been funded by Abid Mehsud, a commander of the Baitullah Mehsud group, to buy arms, explosives and vehicles. One of the suicide bombers was linked with the assassinated Mufti Amin of Jamia Binoria, who according to a police source "had dodgy connections".

Shaukat Awan was not the NATO supplier to have died. Muhammad Farooq (38), Mushtaq Mesud (42) and three other NATO suppliers have also been targeted and killed in Karachi alone.

"Over the years Karachi has become one of the most important cities of the world not because of its ethnic tensions but because of its strategic location and the port which receives more than 80 percent of NATO supplies," a senior foreign diplomat said. NATO supplies arrive at Karachi's Port Qasim (Although Tehrik-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan staged a demonstration to block NATO supplies near the Native Jetty bridge instead).

Americans have built one of the largest consulates in the world in Karachi and have repeatedly used British diplomats to pressure MQM - one of the largest stakeholders in Karachi - to maintain peace in the city. According to one source, the ANP has huge stakes in NATO supplies and has strong influence among Karachi's transporters.

"Gawadar is an alternate port, but it is not operational yet for the NATO to use it," said Brigadier (r) Shaukat Qadir. He said Pakistan received payments for NATO supplies and it was therefore important for Pakistan to ensure the supplies are not disrupted. Asked who is behind attacks on trucks carrying NATO supplies, he said, "My guess would be TTP and its affiliates. The Punjabi Taliban."

In Karachi, there are many third-tier sub-contractors working for NATO, most of them of Pashtun and Mehsud origin. They get contracts from second-tier sub-contractors from Dubai, who the contracts have been outsourced to from contractors in Washington, DC.

One such sub-contractor, Abdul Hakim Mehsud said, "Its one of the toughest jobs in the world - recently over 13 of my trucks and three of my drivers had been vanished in interior Sindh. But the profit margins are high and that keeps me motivated."

In Karachi, there are many third-tier sub-contractors working for NATO, most of them of Pashtun and Mehsud origin. They get contracts from second-tier sub-contractors from Dubai, who the contracts have been outsourced to from contractors in Washington, DC.

One such sub-contractor, Abdul Hakim Mehsud said, "Its one of the toughest jobs in the world - recently over 13 of my trucks and three of my drivers had been vanished in interior Sindh. But the profit margins are high and that keeps me motivated."

While there are no statistics available on how many trucks had been torched by militants so far, according to one NATO contractor the number in Pakistan alone is in hundreds. Most of the attacks occur in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and interior Sindh.

"In December 2008, militants destroyed 400 containers carrying food, fuel, and military vehicles," a NATO source said. After that, NATO and ISAF began paying tribes to ensure supplies get across safe.

Karachi's ethnic riots, political instability, and sectarianism have earned it the reputation of being the world's most dangerous city. In the last four years, over 5,000 people have been killed in politically-motivated violence. Not very long ago, it hosted Al Qaeda's operational headquarters. It is still considered by many as a Taliban stronghold.

In Karachi's chemical markets, ammonium nitrate is produced by fertiliser companies. While the chemical is on the Pakistani customs control list, it is widely available in open market. This ammonium nitrate is used in improvised explosive devices that account for 66 percent of foreign casualties in Afghanistan since the war started in 2001. The makeshift bombs have claimed 368 troops in 2010. This year, the number has already reached 143.

"We can deliver you big quantities of the chemical at the right price," said Ahmed Jan, a local smuggler, one of the few willing to speak on the record. "For a higher price we can deliver you the items in Afghanistan."

The US Consulate and Pakistani customs intelligence have been working closely to stop the smuggling.

Earlier this year, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce was informed that more than 6,000 trucks of NATO/ISAF supplies had not reached in Chaman and Iman Garh borders. The disclosure sparked an internal auditing within NLC and FBR and corruption of Rs7 billion was found. The FBR and NLC had reportedly issued notices to 21 and 22 grade officers and had put 100 of its officers and clearing/forwarding agents in the Exit Control List.

It was also disclosed that trucks carrying containers of NATO goods for NATO did not pay any levy to the government. The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) charges Rs400 from each container, and the Qasim International Containers Terminal (QICT) charges another Rs400.

Experts believe the attacks on NATO containers are carried out by Hakimullah Mehsud, who had been given the task by Baitullah Mehsud. But recently, especially after 2009, "There have been instances especially in Interior Sindh in which the security establishment has used or orchestrated attacks on NATO trucks to pressure the US," according to Mathew Irvin, a security consultant for NATO/ISAF in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some sub-contractors also report fake attacks to carry out insurance fraud. At least on one occasion, a sub-contractor was caught and fined.

The attacks are not likely to stop any time soon, according to a foreign diplomat, "But we have made pacts with warlords, tribes and various stakeholders in Pakistan who ensure safe transit of the goods. They include political parties both in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
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India-Pakistan
Teen boy says 400 Pakistan suicide bombers in training
2011-04-09
[Al Arabiya] A teenage boy incarcerated as an accomplice to Pakistain's deadliest suicide kaboom of the year has said that up to 400 jacket wallahs are being groomed to wage carnage in the nuclear-armed nation.

Umar Fidayee, 14, said the would-be bombers were being trained in North Wazoo, the premier al-Qaeda and Taliban fortress in Pakistain's tribal belt where U.S. officials want Pakistain to flush out Death Eater strongholds.

He made the remarks in an interview aired Friday from his hospital bedside, where he is being treated as his arm was amputated as a result of injuries he sustained after he was shot by a guard in the April 4 attack that killed 50 people at a 13th-century Sufi shrine.
Three hundred and fifty to 400 would-be suicide bombers are getting training in Mir Ali in North Waziristan
Umar Fidayee

It was Pakistain's deadliest kaboom since November.

Police incarcerated Fidayee as an alleged accomplice and said they removed his own boom jacket, which he failed to detonate in a crowd of hundreds in Dera Ghazi Khan just minutes after two other bombers blew themselves up.

Shown covered in tubes and bandages, the teen appeared to express remorse and lifted the lid on harrowing details of his training at the camp in the Mir Ali district of North Waziristan, which lies on the border with Afghanistan.

"Three hundred and fifty to 400 would-be suicide bombers are getting training in Mir Ali in North Waziristan," he said in the interview broadcast by Pak television channels Samaa, Express, ARY and Geo.

"I was trained for two months and saw many boys being trained there," he said, going on to appeal on Paks to "please forgive me".

He was initially unrepentant however, in the interview he said he is "seeking forgiveness' from the families of those killed and maimed.

"God has given me a new life but I am sad that we killed innocent people, innocent children," he said.

Fidayee said he was initially recruited on the understanding that he would be smuggled into Afghanistan to kill non-Mohammedans.

"But they brought me here to Dera Ghazi Khan. I told them 'there is no kafir (non-believer) here'," he said.

"They told me these people are worse than kafirs," Fidayee said.

"Become a fighter and you will go to heaven"
They told me these people are worse than kafirs
Exposing an apparently disturbing recruitment at the gates of an ordinary school in North Waziristan, the teenager claimed a man he identified as Qari Zafar convinced him to begin a life of militancy.

"He told me that all this education is useless and said 'become a fighter and you will go to heaven'," Umar told the news hounds.

He said he was told to attack the shrine 30 minutes after the other two detonated their bombs, in order to cause maximum carnage among those rushing to aid casualties of the first two blasts.

In a message to other potential suicide bombers he said: "Please refuse to carry suicide kabooms. Such attacks are forbidden in Islam."

Islamist gunnies have increasingly targeted Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam, in Mohammedan-majority Pakistain.

Dera Ghazi Khan is close to Pakistain's tribal belt which is described by Washington as the most dangerous place on Earth and an Al-Qaeda headquarters.

More than 4,200 people have been killed across Pakistain in attacks blamed on homegrown Taliban and other Islamist bully boy networks since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
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India-Pakistan
ANP leaders' assassination: a roundup
2010-08-23
Awami National Party (ANP) provincial leader Ubaidullah Yousafzai along with Saleem Akhtar, a cashier at PIA, was shot dead last week, which resulted in yet another chain reaction because of which more than a dozen people have lost their life and numerous vehicles have been burned. Daily Times on August 14, 2010 "Conspiracy to destabilise Karachi" was the first publication in Pakistan to have predicted and warned of such an assassination of the second-tier leadership of the ANP, MQM, PPP and the Sunni Tehreek citing multiple intelligence sources and investigations by Qari Zafar-led Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has recently been hired by al Qaeda in North Waziristan to do their "dirty work". Astonishingly, the ANP leader was targeted at a "high-security zone" by two armed motorcyclists. An intelligence officer who had followed the lead revelled, "Al Qaeda wants to create a Beirut out of Karachi and create such a situation where, somehow the armed forces are bogged down in Karachi, further stretching the army".

"We don't have a clue about what's happening" a senior policeman said. "There's no intelligence sharing with us," he said. Daily Times investigations could reveal that the same hitmen who assassinated MQM's legislator, Raza Haider, killed ANP's Ubaidullah Yousafzai. Both the MQM and the ANP had become the boldest opponents of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan. The statement of Shahi Syed, the controversial leader of the ANP Sindh chapter about, "calling of army to Karachi" transformed into "we will not blame anyone" and "that extremists" are responsible for the killing pointing towards the Taliban came only when a certain agency briefed the central leadership of ANP to "calm things down in Karachi" and "not blame anyone". Obviously, the army is reluctant to come into the urban areas and open new fronts as it's already been stretched out.

The intelligence agencies are now chalking out a strategy to deal with the current situation in Karachi in absence of the provincial government's writ in Sindh's capital. Interestingly, one of the two persons arrested by the Karachi Police is of Burmese origin, which confirms LeJ's involvement, as LeJ had previously used another Burmese national to assassinate Imam Turabi in Karachi. As a former Western intelligence officer who had previously worked in Pakistan told Daily Times, "Karachi's situation is now controlled by people in North Waziristan as they now have the remote control, and unfortunately we will see them clicking the buttons in the near future -- there's no stopping it".
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India-Pakistan
LeJ commander Qari Zafar killed in 'accidental IED blast'
2010-06-16
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] A dreaded militant commander, Qari Zafar, allegedly involved in the attack on the US Consulate in Karachi on March 2, 2006, has reportedly been killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near Miramshah in North Waziristan a few days ago.

The US had announced five million dollars in head money on him for his alleged involvement in attack on their consulate in Karachi. Zafar belonged to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and was wanted to the government for his involvement in several terrorist attacks. His close aides confirmed his death and claimed he was killed after mistakenly touching some explosives dumped inside his Hujra (male guesthouse) near Miramshah in North Waziristan. They said that he was killed on June 7 but members of his militant organisation did not want to make it public.

"He was actually searching for some materials and suddenly touched wires which triggered the blast in the IEDs stored there. He and a child, belonging to his relatives, died on the spot while two bodyguards sustained serious injuries," a Lashkar-e-Jhangvi commander told The News on condition of anonymity.

Talking to this scribe by telephone from somewhere in North Waziristan, the Taliban commander said Qari Zafar, aged 38 to 40 years, was living there for sometime with his family and relatives. He ruled out the widely believed rumours among the militants that some people might have planted an IED to kill him.

"He used to be very cautious and had restricted his movement to a great extent, but life is mortal and everyone has to die sooner or later," remarked the Urdu-speaking militant commander.
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India-Pakistan
Pakistani Taliban Confirm Qari Zafar's Death
2010-03-03
[Quqnoos] Pakistani Taliban confirmed the death of a senior commander, who was killed in a US drone attack in northwestern Pakistan

Mohammad Qari Zafar's death, which was reported earlier by Pakistani intelligence officials, marks the latest success from US secret CIA-run drone program in Pakistan.

US unmanned aircrafts have carried out more than 100 missile strikes near the Afghan border since 2004, killing several senior militant leaders, including the leader of Pakistani Taliban, Baituallah Mahsud.

The Taliban described Zafar as a martyr in a statement faxed to local journalists and pledged to avenge his death, the Associated Press reports.

"The Mujahedeen will soon take revenge against the Pakistani government for his killing anywhere in the country," said the statement.

Pakistani officials publicly oppose such drone strikes as violations of the country's sovereignty.

Pakistani intelligence officials said last week that Zafar was killed Wednesday along with 13 other insurgents in the Dargah Mandi area of the North Waziristan.

Zafar, who was a senior member of the banned Al Qaeda-linked militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, coordinated the March 2006 suicide car bombing of the US consulate in Karachi.

He was also believed to be behind the September 2008 truck bomb blast at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed 54 people.

The US had posted a $5 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture.
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India-Pakistan
Punjabi Taliban leader Qari Zafar killed
2010-02-26
[Dawn] Qari Zafar, an important leader of so-called Punjabi Taliban, was reported to be among the people killed in Wednesday's drone attack in the Dandi Darpakhel area of North Waziristan.

Officials said that six militants critically wounded in the missile strike died on Thursday, taking the death toll to 14. He added that all of them were believed to be members of the Punjabi Taliban.

It is said that Qari Zafar headed the Badar Mansoor organisation whose members are mostly militants from Punjab. Hailing from Karachi, he formerly belonged to Lashkar-i-Jhangvi.

Qari Zafar had joined the TTP in North Waziristan some time before the army launched an operation in South Waziristan. He was seen in a video, sitting next to TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud and his deputy Waliur Rehman.

The US has announced a reward of $5 million for information leading to the capture or death of Qari Zafar.
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India-Pakistan
MoI warns against terrorism
2009-06-18
The Interior Ministry has advised the home departments of all four provinces to beef up security, while revealing that suspected terrorists are planning to stage suicide attacks on places of worship in Lahore. Based on intelligence reports, the Interior Ministry has claimed that suspected terrorists are planning to stage suicide attacks on mosques, imambargahs, churches and other places of worship in Lahore. Sources said the ministry has also claimed that Qari Zafar from Miranshah is planning to abduct senior army officers residing in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The intelligence report has revealed that a three-to-four member group is planning to conduct the abductions. Since the government launched a security operation in Malakand division and Swat on May 2, the Taliban have staged suicide attacks on a hotel in Peshawar, a mosque in Nowshera and a madrassa in Lahore.
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India-Pakistan
Taliban planting landmines in Waziristan
2009-05-29
A latest advisory issued by the Interior Ministry to the country's security agencies reveals that the Taliban and other terrorists operating in Waziristan have started planting landmines in the area, a private TV channel quoted a BBC report as saying on Thursday.

According to the advisory, Taliban, after consulting TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud, made the move in view of the ongoing military operation in Swat. Mehsud has ordered Asmatullah Muawiya and Qari Zafar to plant landmines across the South Waziristan whereas the task for North Waziristan has been taken on by different groups active in the tribal agency.

The government advisory further said that terrorists were planning suicide attacks in different areas of the Punjab province in reaction to the ongoing anti-Taliban operation in Swat and other districts. The basic targets in these attacks are likely to be the armed forces and law enforcement institutions.

Entry:Mingora Force In-charge Brigadier Tahir Hameed feared the Taliban might enter Mingora city again, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.

According to the channel, Hameed told reporters at the Circuit House in Mingora that local residents should cooperate with the administration and the armed forces to stop the Taliban from entering Mingora again. "The security forces have secured more than 70 percent of Mingora city," he said, adding that the remaining areas would be cleared within the next three to four days. He added that the internally displaced persons could return to their hometowns once the area was completely secured by the forces.
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India-Pakistan
Qaeda commander among four militants arrested
2009-05-18
KARACHI: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested four dangerous and wanted persons belonging to the Al Qaeda and other banned religious outfits after a brief encounter in the city and seized a huge cache of explosives, chemicals and materials from their possession.

The brother of Al Qaeda commander Qari Zafar is among the arrested persons; the culprits were planning on targeting high profile personalities and were also involved in the killing of intelligence officials, said CID (Investigations) SSP Choudhry Mohammad Aslam Khan while speaking at a press conference on Sunday.

The arrested militants include, Mohammad Anwar alias Mohammad Asim alias Jabar alias Qasim alias Yasir alias Abu Darda, Rehan alias Mehmood, Azim alias Yousuf and Ghulam Haider alias Baba. Four of the militants' associates, Jahangir, Saifullah, Azam and Misbahuddin managed to flee the scene.
Golly, they've got almost as many names as an English prince!
SSP Khan said that he, upon receiving a tip off, constituted two teams led by DSP Arif Aziz and DSP Asif Usman. The teams conducted a raid at the militants hideout located on the upper floor of the Khokhar Clinic, Model Colony.
What is it about jihadis and medial facilities? Hamas hid Sgt. Gilani from the Israelis in the basement of the Gaza City hospital.
"We received a tip off that militants belonging to banned religious organisations are engaged in a secret meeting, upon which, the raid was conducted," added SSP Khan.

When the team conducted the raid, the terrorist opened fire on them, however, the team managed to make the arrests and also recover huge caches of explosives, weapons, chemicals and other materials used in making bombs.
In Bangladesh opening fire on the RAB leads to a crossfire. You Paks have a lot of work if you're going to measure up ...
The recovered explosive materials include 50 kilograms of C-4 Wabox high explosive, 22 kilograms of Sulphur powder, 100 meters of detonating cord, four iron cylinders and 35 gallons of nitric acid, while the recovered electronic items include 1,000 different types of capacitors, 25 timer devices, an integrated circuit, more than one thousand resisters, 200 boards, regulators, switches, integrated circuits and relays (communication devices), LED, crystals, transistors, scolding wire, iron beat, a drill, cutters, a screwdriver set and fuse elements. Two Kalashnikovs and two TT pistols were also recovered from the possession of the militants.
I'm not sure I'd want a crossfire in the midst of that kind of inventory...
SSP Khan further said that during the initial course of interrogation, the terrorist, Anwar, was identified as a resident of Model Colony and the brother of Qari Zafar. It should be noted here that Qari Zafar is consider to be a Al Qaeda commander and also the Sindh chief of the banned religious outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ). Zafar is wanted by the CID and his name is mentioned in the CID Red Book, as he was the mastermind behind the bomb blast in the Marriott Hotel, Karachi.

Anwar and his companions, Habibullah Burmi and Maulvi Abdul Muttalib, were arrested in May 2003 and 583 kilograms of explosives, five hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs were recovered from their possession. However, Anwar disappeared after he was released on bail. SSP Khan revealed that Anwar was recruiting people for terrorism on the directives of his brother, Zafar; he has sent various persons to Miran Shah for training.

Through public transport, Anwar sent different types of chemicals, electronic devices used in making bombs and suicide jackets to his brother who used them in different terror activities. The accused, Rehan, is affiliated with Al-Qaeda and resides in Ranchore Lines. He, along with Arab militants, was trained at Masakar-ul-Farooq. Rehan was a logistical supporter for the Arab militants; he looked after them, provided them with shelter and medical treatment, while Azim alias Yousuf, is a native of Afghanistan and was temporarily residing in Toori Bangash Colony. He is affiliated with Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud. Azim was trained in Afghanistan and participated in the fight with the security forces there. He recently was trained in bomb making in the camp of Qari Zafar.

The militant, Ghulam Haider, is a resident of Lyari and is affiliated with banned outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyab (L-e-T). He was trained at Masakar Tayyaba and helped in all the activities of L-e-T and is currently working for LJ.

According to the initial investigation, the militant Anwar, on the directives of Qari Zafar, via Jahangir and Saifullah alias Keamari Wala, has killed Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials Ibrahim and Fazal in March 2008.

The arrested militants planned to target high profile personalities and also kidnap traders for ransom. They were also collecting donations from Karachi to send to Qari Zafar.
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