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India-Pakistan

Four soldiers martyred, six terrorists killed in South Waziristan shootout

2024-08-14

[GEO.TV] Four soldiers were martyred while six bad boyz were potted during an exchange of fire between the miscreants and the security forces in South Wazoo, a statement issued by the military's media affairs wing said late Tuesday night. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR): "On night 12/ 13 August 2024, fire exchange took place between the security forces and Khwarij in South Waziristan District." "Resultantly, six Khwarij were sent to hell due to effective engagement by own troops." However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... during the intense fire exchange, four soldiers — Havildar Nisar Hussain, 34, resident of District Kurram; Naik Rashid Gul, 34, resident of District Kurram; Naik Irfan Ullah Khan, 30, resident of District Lakki Marwat and Sepoy Usman Rafaqat, 21, resident of District Haripur — having fought gallantly embraced Shahadat. The ISPR said that a sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other "Kharji" found in the area as the security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism. "Such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve," the military’s media wing added. Following the Taliban ...Arabic for students... 's rise to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistain has experienced a tidal wave of terrorist attacks on security forces, particularly in provinces bordering the neighbouring country, with turbans employing advanced weaponry and equipment. According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Annual Security report, during the second quarter of the current year, Pakistain witnessed 380 violence-linked fatalities and 220 injuries among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws.

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India-Pakistan

Suspect granted bail in Benazir case held in another case

2018-07-13

[DAWN] The Counter Terrorism Department, Rawalpindi, has placed in durance vile I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! a prime suspect in the murder case of former prime minister 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 he was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. The Kot Lakhpat jail authority has released suspect Rafaqat Hussain after he managed to secure bail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson and two-time former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and kaboom at an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on Dec 27, 2007. An official seeking anonymity told Dawn that Rafaqat was shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail from Rawalpindi prison following some administrative arrangements. He said the Kot Lakhpat jail officials got his release orders on June 23, 2018, and following written orders, they released Rafaqat Hussain. His elder brother received him outside the jail, he said adding that as soon as he reached his destination, a CTD team from Rawalpindi raided and arrested him in a terror attack case lodged with a local cop shoppe. "The CTD arrested him in another suicide kaboom carried out on Feb 6, 2007 at Rawalpindi International Airport," the official said. According to this case, he said, the terrorist had detonated a bomb in a parking area of the airport wounding some law-enforcement agencies personnel and killing himself after a brief exchange of fire. Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... the official said, the suspect’s father also filed a plea to the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) claiming that Rafaqat Hussain had gone missing from the prison. He claimed that his son was acquitted in the murder case of Benazir Bhutto in August 2017 but was detained in Punjab’s various jails. Lately, Rafaqat was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail from where he went missing under mysterious circumstances, he claimed. Earlier, an anti-terrorism court acquitted five suspects for lack of evidence and declared former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... a runaway. ATC Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan found two coppers guilty of ’mishandling the scene of the crime’, making them the only people to have been convicted of the liquidation of Benazir in a gun and suicide attack in Rawalpindi on Dec 27, 2007.

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India-Pakistan

Woman, three daughters found dead in house in Haripur

2018-05-08

[DAWN] HARIPUR: A woman and her three daughters were found dead in their house in a village of Khanpur, police said here on Sunday. Khanpur police quoted Rafaqat Zaman, a resident of Qutba village, as saying that a milkman informed him on Sunday morning that the family of Shafaqat Zaman, the brother of the complainant, was not opening the door to get milk despite repeated knocks. The complainant said he immediately rushed towards his brother’s house, and found the door locked from outside. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... when he entered the front room of the house he found the body of his niece, Eman Shehzadi, 9, and then bodies of Zainab Bibi, 5, Zarqa Shehzadi, 7, and of Sadaf Shafaqat, 35, the mother of three girls, in the other rooms of the house. He said the bodies of all the victims had ropes tied around their necks, hands and feet and there were two empty juice packs and glasses. The police took the bodies to Khanpur tehsil headquarters hospital where their autopsies were conducted. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... the police have yet to receive a report. Hospital sources said initial examination suggested that the victims were given poison in juice and later strangled. The police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against unknown accused and started investigation.

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India-Pakistan

'India-backed' terrorist group busted in Hyderabad, police claim

2018-03-03

[DAWN] Hyderabad police on Friday claimed to have busted a gang which was reportedly getting funding from India to sabotage China-Pakistain Economic Corridor (CPEC) and target security personnel in Sindh. Hyderabad DIG Javed Alam Odho and SSP Pir Mohammad Shah held a joint presser to share the details of the suspected terrorist group with the media. The official said that the five-member group was led by the self-proclaimed chief of Sindhudesh Revolution Army (SRA), and it was targeting security personnel and Chinese nationals. "The suspects were running a sub-nationalist group to launch a separatist movement in the province and, according to their own confession, they were trained and sponsored by India," DIG Javed Odho said, adding that the "suspects used to frequently visit India by crossing the border near Badin district". SSP Shah said the suspects identified as Muzaffar Hussain Nanjgraj, Murtaza Abro, Shakeel Ghangro, Rafaqat Jarwar and Arbab Soomro, were incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... after an encounter in Aliabad area of the city in the wee hours of Friday. Police also claimed to have recovered arms and explosives from their possession. "Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), kaboom weighing 12kg and weapons were recovered from their possession after last night’s encounter," Odho said. He further said that Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khowaja has announced Rs0.5 million reward for entire police team of SSP Hyderabad, CIA in-charge Aslam Langah, and others for busting the gang. Odho mentioned that suspect Muzaffar Hussain Nanjrajt, who travelled to India under codename Pankhaj, had confessed to his involvement in Rohri bypass kaboom on Dec 2016, Mehrabpur kaboom in March 2017, January 2018 blast in Qasimabad in which one ragpicker had died, as well as planting of a bomb outside Mehran University in Jamshoro in November 2017.

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India-Pakistan

FIA seeks capital punishment in Benazir case, says ATC passed verdict 'in a hurry'

2017-09-30

[DAWN] The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday challenged the verdict of an anti-terrorism court in the 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... murder case, arguing that the two guilty coppers as well as the five men acquitted of all charges deserve capital punishment. Last month, ATC had announced the verdict in the murder case, acquitting five Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP) suspects ‐ Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Rashid Ahmed and Aitzaz Shah ‐ and announcing 17-year imprisonment for two former police officials. The court had also declared retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... an absconder in the case. The FIA moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the sentence through two separate petitions submitted on Friday. The first one argues that the two convicted culprits were not punished under the terrorism charges which were part of the case. The counsel for the agency also said that the ATC passed the verdict in a hurry without fulfilling legal requirements. According to the petition, filed in the Rawalpindi registry of the LHC, the two coppers ‐ former City Police Officer Saood Aziz and former Superintendent Police Khurrum Shahzad ‐ were sentenced under only two clauses each, whereas several other clauses, including terrorism, were also part of the case.

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India-Pakistan

Man opens fire on couple outside Multan court, kills sister

2017-08-09

[DAWN] A woman who had married a man of her own free will was rubbed out by her brother outside the Lahore High Court's (LHC) Multan bench on Tuesday, said police. According to police officials, Kulsoom, who belonged to Punjab's Rajanpur area, had contracted a love marriage with Rafaqat a few months earlier. The girl's family had filed a case against her marriage at the Multan registry of LHC. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... when the couple arrived at the court to attend the hearing on Tuesday, Kulsoom's 17-year-old brother allegedly opened fire on them near the court's main gate. Kulsoom, who was shot in the head, was struck down in his prime while her husband sustained serious injuries, according to officials, who are calling the attack "an act of honour killing". A lawyer was also injured in the shooting. He was shifted to Multan's Nishtar Hospital in a critical condition. Kulsoom's body was shifted to the hospital for post-mortem. Her brother, the alleged killer, was placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... from the scene and the weapon used in the attack was seized.

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India-Pakistan

Two girls ‘raped’

2017-05-18

[DAWN] RAW ... India's Research and Analysis Wing, Pakistain's equivalent of the Boogie Man... ALPINDI: Two girls were allegedly kidnapped by two individuals and later raped in a hotel in Saddar. The aunt of one of the victims said in her FIR that her niece, who resided with her, went to a nearby shop on Monday with a friend to buy groceries. They were standing along the side of the road when a black car with two passengers stopped near them and identified themselves as police. They told the victims they seemed suspicious and wanted to investigate them at the cop shoppe. One of the victims said in the FIR that they were driven to a hotel in Saddar where they were sexually assaulted by two individuals who then left, and then by another two individuals who left after locking them in the room. Saddar Bairooni SHO Malik Rafaqat said two girls were kidnapped and later raped. He claimed that the suspects might be police officials and the incident was being investigated.

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India-Pakistan

Dacoits’ gang busted, vehicles, illicit weapons seized

2016-02-07

ISLAMABAD: Capital city police have arrested 15 outlaws including six dacoits and recovered a car, two motorbikes and a weapon from their possession, a police spokesman said. According to reports, SSP Sajid Kiani assigned the task to SP of the Industrial-Area Muhammad Amir Niazi to ensure arrest of culprits involved in various reported incidents of dacoities. He constituted a special team including Sabzi Mandi SHO Inspector Mehboob Ahmed, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASIs) Ali Muhammad and Adeel Shokat and others that succeeded to arrest six dacoits. The nabbed persons have been identified as Said Ghani, Ishamil Khan, Usman Ghani, Hazrat Bilal, Younas and adrees and recovered three 30-bore pistols along with ammunition and two motorbikes were also recovered from their possession. Police team also arrested accused Muslim Khan and recovered one 30-bore illegal pistol along with ammunition from his possession. Meanwhile, Shehzad Town police recovered one 30-bore illicit pistol along with ammunition from the possession of arrested accused Hassnain. Koral police recovered one 30-bore illegal pistol along with ammunition from the possession of arrested accused Nazkat. Lohibher police arrested three persons Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Ahsan, Tahir Mehmood involved in illegal cylinder gas filling. ACLC police recovered a tampered car from the possession of accused Muhammad Ayub and Ghulam Rabbani. Cases have been registered against these nabbed persons and further investigation is underway from them. Islamabad’s SSP Sajid Kiani has appreciated this overall performance and directed all the SHOs to ensure high vigilance and strict patrolling in their respective areas to ensure strict safety and security measures in the capital city. On a separate note, five suspected robbers have been arrested within the Naseerabad police jurisdiction. On a tip-off, police raided a venue in Naseerabad and rounded up five suspected robbers identified as Mohammad Shafiq, Mohsin Ali, Mohammad Yousuf, Rafaqat Ali and Robert Masih. Police also claimed to have recovered five pistols and 18 rounds from the possession of suspects. Police further said that they were formulating a plan to strike at a place before their terror bid was foiled. Police have registered a case and started investigation.

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India-Pakistan

Who is Haroon Rashid?

2015-09-25

[DAWN] When Haroon's counsel Tariq Asad appeared before the court in 2013, he claimed that Haroon was very young when Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed in July 2007, which was why he did not approach the police for the registration of an FIR. The matter was heard by an additional district and sessions judge, Rafaqat Awan, who dismissed the petition on April 24, 2013 with the remarks that after a lapse of over 7 years, the petition was filed to gain cheap publicity. The judge, however, was killed in March the following year when holy warriors attacked the district courts in Islamabad. It was in July of 2013, when Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), disposing of a petition filed by Haroon, ordered the police to register an FIR against Gen Musharraf. Musharraf remained under arrest in the Abdul Rashid Ghazi murder case, but later was granted bail when the police, in their interim challan, declared him 'innocent' on the basis of weak evidence. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... Gen Musharraf is still on trial, which is pending before an additional district and sessions judge of Islamabad. A spokesperson of the Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... -led Shuhda Foundation Trust, in a statement, claimed that the police tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! Haroon in order to force him to withdraw the complaint against Gen Musharraf. The statement claimed that in 2004, police had implicated Abdul Rashid Ghazi in an identical case as they recovered 'fake' weapons from the vehicle. According to the statement, Ghazi was later acquitted by the courts.

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India-Pakistan

Family disowns former blasphemy accused but not his wealth

2015-07-16

[DAWN] The family of a wealthy old man, accused and later acquitted of blasphemy charges, has approached a civil court of Rawalpindi, seeking ownership of Rs127 million worth of saving and income certificates. Seventy-year-old Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh was booked for blasphemy in December 2012 after a complaint was lodged against him by his nephew Usman Rashid Sheikh, at the Industrial Area Police Station. Dr Sheikh was accused of authoring books in 2001 with alleged blasphemous content. Before his nephew lodged the complaint, Dr Sheikh had reportedly served a Rs5 billion notice to his nephew in a civil matter. Additional district and sessions judge Rafaqat Awan acquitted Dr Sheikh on February 2, 2013 from the blasphemy charges. Following the acquittal, Dr Sheikh along with his family members sought asylum in the United States citing threat to his life as the reason, but his asylum case was not finalised as his children refused to go with him. His wife, two daughters and son have now petitioned before the civil court in Rawalpindi, seeking ownership of saving and income certificates worth Rs127 million. According to the petition, Dr Sheikh is a millionaire with "different properties, cash deposits in foreign banks in US and UAE, and he owns regular income certificates and special saving certificates under his name". The petition claimed that since his children and wife do not agree with Dr Sheikh's opinions, they refused to seek asylum with him anywhere as this would be akin to supporting his past blasphemous views.

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India-Pakistan

Ex-ISI official refuses to testify in Benazir case

2015-06-03

[DAWN] RAWALPINDI: Former official 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), a key witness in the case, on Monday refused to testify against the suspects of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) being tried in 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... murder case. Ex-telephone operator of the ISI excused himself from testifying before the court ,saying his life is in danger as he lives in Karak district which is close to tribal areas. Consequently, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) discarded his earlier statement which he recorded before the team investigating Benazir murder case. The former official had confirmed to the investigating team that he intercepted the communication between the suspects and TTP terrorists. Five suspects Aitzaz Shah, Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul, Sher Zaman and Abdul Rashid are facing trial in the case. Besides, former president retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , former CPO Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and former SP Khurram Shahzad were also accused in the case. Besides, refusal of former operator of ISI, another witness, Mark Seigel, could not testify before the court. The prosecution had informed the court that Seigel could record his statement through video link. The FIA prosecutor told the court that interior secretary was in contact with the Foreign Office and the officials of the Pakistain embassy in the US to contact Mr Seigal and arrange video link facility for him in the embassy.

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India-Pakistan

Three killed as rival groups clash

2015-02-26

[DAWN] RAWALPINDI: Three people were killed in a clash between two groups in the limits of the Chontra police on Tuesday. Police said Rafaqat Ali, 23, was injured and shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital where his condition was critical. SP Ghayas Gul said both the groups used automatic weapons against each other in the Talvali Mohra locality after sunset. Adnan Ali, 19, Noman Khan, 22, and Rafaqat Ali, 23, were hunting rabbits when they were ambushed by their rivals. Adnan and Noman were killed on the spot while Rafaqat was injured. One member of the other group was also killed in the clash, he added. "Apparently, it was a pre-planned attack and the man killed from the attackers' side was hired for this purpose," the SP said. No arrest had been made when this report was filed on Tuesday evening.

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