India-Pakistan |
Mehsuds say can't spend life as IDPs anymore |
2012-12-14 |
[Dawn] Enough is enough. Mehsuds can no more spend life as IDPs out of their own territory. The security forces should clear the tribal areas forthwith as they can't live in camps any longer. This was announced by a jirga of Mehsud elders here at the political compound of South ![]() The political agent and other government functionaries were also in attendance. Elders Malik Mehsud Ahmad, Malik Sayedur Rehman, Malik Syed Anwar, Malik Rapa Khan, Malik Haji Mohammad, Malik Mohammad Rafiq, Malik Azizullah, Malik Attaullah, Malik Ayaz and others addressed the jirga. They said Mehsuds had vacated their houses on the directives of the security forces and political administration for great national interest. An elder said: "Enough is enough. After passage of three long years, Mehsuds are forced to live as IDPs. The government and security forces have failed to clear our region." He further said: "We have exhausted, now. We want to return to our homes. The life in camps and tented houses is very difficult. We want free movement and independent life in our own territory." The other elders said the government had stated in the past that their areas would be cleared soon but after passage of three years, the situation was still unclear. They said Mehsuds won't live as IDPs anymore. Mehsuds had migrated from Sara Rogha, Makeen, Ladha, Tiarza and Sarokai tehsils. Until now, 20 to 25 per cent of Sara Rogha and Sarokai displaced residents have returned to their homes. The rest of the areas have yet to be cleared from gun-hung tough guys despite a lapse of three years. The Mehsud elders said kabooms, drone attacks and other activities of terrorism had been carried out in all parts of tribal agencies but only Mehsud rustics had been stopped from entering their own area. They also demanded distribution of Annual Development Programme funds and development schemes on the basis of centuries-old nikat system. The elders said according to nikat system, Mehsuds had authority on three-fourth of the national resources and funds, while Ahmedzai Waziris enjoyed only one-fourth of the resources and funds. They also regretted that Mehsud IDPs were expelled from Wana but neither the political administration nor other institutions came forward for their help. The elders demanded that Mehsud students in Government Degree College, Ladha be provided with education facilities in Tank. They also appealed to unidentified kidnappers to free stenographer to political agent Allah Bagh. PA Shahidullah Khan also addressed the jirga and said all possible efforts would be made to provide facilities to Mehsuds. He said he was in contact with the higher authorities to resolve their problems. |
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India-Pakistan |
Lashkars helpful in restoring peace: army |
2011-10-20 |
[Dawn] ![]() Talking to a peace lashkar and tribal elders of Arakhel area in Jawaki, frontier region of Kohat during a meeting here, Lt-Gen Asif said under the government's new policy, peace lashkars were being made stronger for a decisive role in the fight against terrorism in the restive region. He said peace lashkars should block the re-entry of faceless myrmidons to their respective areas and that was possible only if all rustics got together against militancy. The peace lashkar and tribal elders from Manderi, Ghariba and Paya areas apprised the corps commander of education, communications, health and irrigation problems in their respective areas. Lt-Gen Asif assured them of early solution of the problems and asked them to help the security forces maintain peace in their areas. General officer commanding of Pakistain Army's 9th division Major-General Rizwan Akhtar, commissioner Kohat division Sahibzada Anis, political agent of FR, Kohat and district coordination officer, Kohat Shahidullah Khan, assistant political agent of FR Kohat Fakharuddin and senior military and civil officials were also in attendance. He later visited the Army Public School in Kohat cantonment area and met teachers, students and staff. |
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India-Pakistan |
Failed suicide attack kills child, wounds five in Darra Adam Khel |
2011-04-02 |
[Dawn] A jacket wallah killed a child and maimed five other people after he was identified and shot at in a northwestern Pakistain market on Friday, officials said. A would-be suicide bomber was identified as he tried to enter the crowded market in Darra Adam Khel, a tribal town near Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, they said. Tribesmen tried to seize him but he went kaboom!" when he was shot at, killing a 12-year-old boy and wounding five people, a senior administrative official said. "It was a failed ![]() Shahidullah Khan, a senior administrative official, told AFP that the bomber was on foot and was trying to enter the market. "The local rustics fired on him after identification but he went kaboom!"," he added. On Thursday, a suicide bomber targeting a convoy of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Dieselduring the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... killed at least 12 people in the northwestern town of Charsadda. A similar attack on Wednesday killed 10 people in the town of Swabi, also in the northwest. More than 4,000 people have died in suicide and kabooms throughout Pakistain since 2007. Taliban and al Qaeda-linked Death Eaters launch almost daily attacks across northwest Pakistain and the tribal belt that Washington has branded the most dangerous place on earth. |
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India-Pakistan |
Death toll rises to 15, over 20 wounded in Tirah Bazaar |
2010-12-09 |
(KUNA) -- The corpse count of a suicide kaboom earlier Wednesday in Pak northern Kohat town is now up to 15, with over 20 others maimed, many seriously. District Coordinating Officer (DCO) Shahidullah Khan talking to newsmen at the scene said that this was a suicide kaboom and that the authorities have recovered the head and other parts of the suspected bombers body. However, The infamous However... he said, the kaboom destroyed a bus and not a barbers shop as being reported earlier. He said a jacket wallah went kaboom!" near a bus at the Tirah Bazaar bus station in the town. The DCO said the kaboom killed twelve people and maimed over twenty others. At least three more gave up the ghost in hospital. The DCO feared further rise in the corpse count as several of the maimed were at death's door. |
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India-Pakistan |
67 killed, over 70 wounded in suicide explosion in Pakistan |
2010-11-06 |
(KUNA) -- More than sixty-seven people were killed and over seventy others were maimed in a suicide kaboom on Friday in a northern Pak district, said officials. A boomer, apparently 17 years old, went kaboom!himself up in a mosque where more than two hundred people were offering the Friday prayer, District Coordinating Officer (DCO) Shahidullah Khan told newsmen. He said the kaboom completely destroyed the mosque and buried the worshipers under the debris. Commissioner Kohat, Khalid Umerzai, said that the number of killed people has reached sixty-seven. Whereas, he added, more than seventy were maimed in the blast. The commissioner feared further rise in the corpse count saying several of the maimed were at death's door. This was one of the worst terrorist acts in the region. President Asif Ali President Ten PercentZardari strongly condemning the incident said that the fight against snuffies will continue till their complete elimination. He in his message expressed the resolve not to be deterred by such acts of terrorism and vowed to continue the fight against terrorism till its logical conclusion. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has also condemned the blast. He said that the snuffies were pursuing their own agenda and were enemy of the state and the people and said the fight against terrorism will continue till its complete elimination. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... according to local media, the Taliban have grabbed credit for the attack. |
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India-Pakistan |
Seven Qaeda commanders enter Pakistan |
2009-06-04 |
![]() An official told the newspaper that intelligence agencies had warned in a communiqué about a meeting of senior representatives of Al Qaeda and TTP -- which was held in Paktiya province of Afghanistan on May 3, 2009. He said the operatives of the two organisations had decided to carry out terrorist attacks across Pakistan. The participants of the meeting included Amanullah Afghani, Shahidullah Khan, Rehmatullah Khan, Maulvi Khalid Shah, Abdul Latif Afghani, Muhammad Saeed Bin Talha, Muhammad Shaheen Kawrai, Ahmed Ali Tanwancy and others. It has been learnt that the seven Al Qaeda trained commanders in Pakistan masterminded attacks in Iraq. Meanwhile, a private TV channel reported that the Interior Ministry had issued a letter saying the TTP had sent suicide bombers to Islamabad, various parts of Punjab and Sindh. The letter says that suicide bombers had reportedly entered Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. |
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Bangladesh |
Tarique, uncle Shamim submit wealth reports |
2007-06-11 |
Six more top corruption suspects including former prime minister Khaleda Zia's detained son Tarique Rahman and her brother Shamim Eskandar submitted their wealth statements to the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) on the last day of the seven-day deadline yesterday. Tarique showed in his statement that he owns movable and immovable properties worth Tk 1.37 crore, and his uncle Shamim who was a Biman official declared that his wealth is worth around Tk 4 crore and 75 bhoris of gold. With yesterday's submissions, 13 including the six out of the 21 high profile corruption suspects on the ACC's second list of corruptionists now have their wealth statements submitted, while eight others applied to the commission seeking seven more days to submit their statements. The eleven others who also submitted their wealth statement are BNP's MAH Selim alias Silver Selim, former Awami League (AL) lawmaker Habibur Rahman Mollah, former BNP minister Shahjahan Siraj, former member of the Public Service Commission Prof Mahfuzur Rahman, ex-AL minister Syed Abul Hossain, ex-chief engineer of the Public Works Department AFM Monjurul Islam, film actor Monwar Hossain Dipjol, Editor and Publisher of the Bangla daily Janakantha Atiqullah Khan Masud, ex-additional inspector general of police Shahidullah Khan, AL's Sheikh Helal who is also AL chief Sheikh Hasina's cousin, and a pro-BNP doctors' association leader AZM Zahid Hossain. The eight who submitted prayers seeking an extension of the deadline are ex-BNP minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, ex-minister from Jatiya Party Anwar Hossain Manju, ex-BNP minister Ziaul Haq Zia, ex-AL lawmaker Kamal Ahmed Majumder, ex-AL minister Obaidul Quader, former chief forest conservator Munshi Anwarul Islam, Obaedul Karim of Orion Group, and AK Azad of Hamim Group. |
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