 MULTAN: An anti-terrorist judge was wounded and three policemen were killed when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a bicycle exploded in Multan on Friday, said police. Judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti, who often hears cases against Islamic militants suspected terrorists, was among nine people injured by the blast around 100 metres away from the court building at around 8:50am, said district police chief Munir Ahmed Chishti. APP reported that 11 people were injured in the attack.
AP quoted the city police chief as saying that Bhatti was travelling to his court when the bomb went off. The blast wrecked the front end of the car believed to be the judges and left blood stains on the seats and the ground, said an AFP reporter from the scene of the attack. A police van was almost destroyed. | A bomb of high intensity was planted on a bicycle in front of a basketball stadium near the court, and it exploded as the car of the special anti-terrorism court judge passed." |
A bomb of high intensity was planted on a bicycle in front of a basketball stadium near the court, and it exploded as the car of the special anti-terrorism court judge passed. It was a targeted attack, said Chishti, ruling out the possibility of a suicide attack. Two police gunmen died on the spot, and another nine people were injured: the judge, six policemen and two bystanders, said Chishti. He declined to say who might have been behind the attack.
An injured policeman later died at a local hospital, said doctor Fahim Javed at Nishtar Hospital, bringing the death toll to three. He said that the three wounded policemen were in critical condition. He identified two of the three people who died as Mohammed Iqbal and Ijaz Ahmed. AP quoted Javed as saying that Bhatti was in critical condition, but APP quoted the Nishtar Hospital medical superintendent as saying that the judges condition was stable.
Police cordoned off the area following the attack, and bomb disposal squad officers collected evidence and fragments of the bomb. It was a locally made high-intensity device, said a bomb disposal officer. The bomb was thought to have been detonated by remote control, said regional police chief Mohammad Ali. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Mirza Mohammed Ali, another police officer, said Bhatti was hearing the case of Malik Ishaq, a leader of the outlawed Sunni Muslim militant group, Sipah-e-Sihaba, which is implicated in sectarian attacks against Shias. Ishaq was arrested two years ago, and was accused of killing several Shias, said Mohammed Ali, although he had no details of the charges against the suspect. Chishti said that Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had announced that Rs 500,000 would be given as financial assistance to the families of the dead policemen. |
Former premier Benazir Bhuttos lawyer Farooq Naek said on Friday the investigation into the October 18 blasts in Karachi was directionless and the investigators hadnt questioned any of the suspects that her client had mentioned in a letter sent to the president, a private channel reported. According to Geo television, Naek said it was a duty of the investigators to question the suspects irrespective of their status. Naek said foreign investigators should be asked for assistance, much like Bhutto had done for the probe into her brother Murtaza Bhuttos murder during her tenure as prime minister. Naek said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi should be investigated, since Bhutto mentioned his name in her list of suspects. Meanwhile, Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told Geo television that the Pakistan Peoples Party workers that died in the Karachi blasts were martyrs and Bhutto should pay the affected families Rs 10 million each, instead of just Rs 5,000. He said many people had returned the Rs 5,000. 
The ongoing dialogue between President General Pervez Musharraf and PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto hit a snag on Thursday, after the PML leadership refused to support a constitutional amendment to pave the way for Benazir to become prime minister for a third term. 
MULTAN: A man has sought protection from Baloch tribesmen and Sardars who have ordered him to give his one and a half years old daughter as Vani to a tribal chiefs son. Addressing a press conference at the Multan Press Club on Saturday, Shah Muhammad, a resident of Miranpur, Rojhan tehsil said that Tribal chief Tota Khan had himself decided to take his minor daughter Mariam Bibi for his son Muhammad Bukhsh as Vani. We are unable to face his power, he said. He said Tota Khans men had threatened him and his family to kill if they did not comply with the tribal tradition. He has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Governor Khalid Maqbool, 
The Punjab government buckled under pressure from religious parties on Thursday and imposed an immediate ban on kite flying in the province, effectively cancelling the Basant festival. The prohibition order means that festive Basant activities planned for the weekend will no longer be held. Officials of the Punjab government told Daily Times that all the district governments and relevant law enforcement agencies have been directed to ensure the implementation of the ban. Violators of the ban can be punished for up to three years imprisonment or a fine of Rs 40,000, or both.
LAHORE: Investigations have revealed that a group of about 12 young Afghan men incited protestors to ransack buildings and set vehicles ablaze. Some investigators told Daily Times that they believed Taliban were involved in the violence. Several police and intelligence agency teams have seen videos of the violence and questioned the arrested protestors to conclude that the instigators looked like Afghans. 
LAHORE: People who resorted to violence during protests against the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (
LAHORE: Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Saldhana in a faxed message to 
A delegation of catholic bishops of Pakistan will visit the school, convent and three churches that were attacked on November 12 at Sangla Hill, Nankana Sahib district. The bishops will lodge a first information report (FIR) against the people suspected of being behind the attacks. They demanded an independent judicial inquiry into the matter. The delegation of two to three bishops will visit the school, convent and churches today and a black day will be observed on November 17. Missionary and Christian schools will remain closed on that day.