Posts Tagged ‘Suicide Attack’

Suicide blasts ‘kill 15′ in Afghanistan

At least 15 people have been killed in two separate suicide bombings in Afghanistan, officials say. In Herat province, eight civilians and three policemen died when suicide bombers detonated their vehicle at a local government office, officials say. The attackers struck as people queued to see local officials on business. Later, four policemen were killed in a suicide attack targeting a police …

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Sacked troops: Court puts FC commandant, interior aide on notice

Fazle Khaliq had submitted an application before the court for an early hearing of his petition.

His counsel, Abdul Latif Afridi, informed the court that the respondents had failed to submit their reply to the court on time.

“Are these the same troops who refused to take part in an operation against militants and were consequently sacked?” asked PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan.

“There may be a few of those troops,” answered Afridi.

The troops, belonging to Platoon 182 of the FC, were sacked after they had allegedly refused to take part in an operation against militants in Frontier Region Peshawar in 2010.

Consequently, the late Sifwat Ghayur, FC’s Commandant at the time, dismissed over 900 troops. Some were later reinstated after Sifwat died in a suicide attack in 2010.

The troops continue to deny the charges against them, asserting in the petition that “they had been dismissed from service without any fault.”

Proceedings were later suspended after Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHBA) president Khwaja Muhammad Khan Garha requested the court to suspend hearing of the cases as members of the PHBA boycotted court proceedings upon K-P bar council’s strike call.

The hearing was adjourned till May 22.

‘Flouting direct orders’

According to the petition, the troops had been sent on holiday after returning from another security operation on March 3, 2010.

However, they came to know that they had been dismissed from service on their “refusal to obey orders” through newspapers on March 7th.

The sacked troops had been reinstated twice by the service tribunal but the FC authorities were reluctant to accept them, the petition maintained.

Operation ‘spring cleaning’ had been launched against militants in Peshawar and Kohat on February 24, 2010 and lasted till March 3, 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2012.

SSP accuses colleague over suicide blast

KARACHI- The Model Town Police on Friday registered a case against former SHO Sohrab Goth Azam Mehsud, his brother Sher Zaman Mehsud and militants of TTP on the complaint of SSP Malir Rao Anwar under sections 302/34, 324/34, 120, 427, Explosive Act and 7-ATA.SSP Malir Rao Anwar had nominated former SHO Sohrab Goth Azam Mehsud and his brother after Malir suicide attack on his convey. When …

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Two strikes on police in Karachi; 3 cops die, SP survives

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“I got several letters sent by unknown militants, the latest of them was received last month, in which they had threatened me with grave consequences if I continue to hunt their terror accomplices,” SP Anwar Khan told AFP.

KARACHI: A suicide bomber targeted on Thursday a senior police officer said to be a leading name in the crackdown on militants, killing four passers-by and injuring 17 others in the city’s Malir area.

Earlier in a pre-dawn attack, three policemen were gunned down in PIB Colony. A car carrying the policemen was peppered with bullets by assailants who came on six motorcycles and two cars. A police officer, a head constable and a constable lost their lives in the strike.

According to police, SP Anwar Ahmed Khan was going to the District Courts, Malir, in a convoy of five vehicles for a meeting when the suicide bomber blew himself up at the T-junction of Jinnah Avenue and Sharea Faisal in Malir Halt.

At the time of the attack SP Khan was in a black police car. His motorcade included two APCs and two police mobiles.

An investigator said apparently the suicide bomber had been told by his handlers to target the APC because the SP usually travelled in an APC. Commonly known as Rao Anwar, SP Khan is among the few surviving officers who had played an active role in the Karachi operation during the 1990s.

The bomber, believed to be in his mid-20s, was apparently waiting at the spot and blew himself up when he saw the APC coming towards him, said a police officer.

Three of the dead were identified as Lal Badshah, 50, who was going to a hospital in Malir; Ata Muhammad, 60, a contractor in a garments factory; and Adeel Ismail, 30. The identity of the 60-year-old man could not be ascertained. As some coins were found in his pockets, police surmised that he was a bagger.

Three City Wards and police constable Ayub posted on the SP’s security were among the injured.

“I was heading to the district courts for a meeting in connection with the investigation of a case when the blast took place,” SP Anwar said, adding that about a month ago intelligence reports had alerted police to such a possibility.

“Besides me, CID SSP Chaudhry Aslam and some Rangers officials could be the probable target of the attacks,” SP Anwar told a private television channel, quoting from the intelligence reports.

He said he was sure that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan was behind the attack.

When asked about the possible connection between the early morning terrorist attack in PIB Colony and the suicide attack on SP Khan, DIG East Tahir Naveed said there was no evidence to prove that the two incidents were interlinked. But he said the SP was an apparent target of the suicide bomber.

Investigators told Dawn that about 4-5kg of explosives laced with ball bearings was used in the blast. There were at least 105 pellet marks on the APC. The investigators also found a dual-SIM phone at the scene. Its IMEI number was deciphered, but the whereabouts of its user was not clear yet, they added.

According to Dr Kaleem Shaikh, senior medico-legal officer in Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, a pair of lower limbs from toes to knees had been brought to the hospital with an assumption that these belonged to the suicide bomber. Two ears and some parts of hairy skin were also brought to the hospital, presumably belonging to the bomber.

The dead and most of the injured suffered pellets and ball bearing wounds, Dr Shaikh said. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah sought a report from the IG on the blast.

AFP adds: SP Anwar Khan has been at the forefront of a campaign against Islamist militants in Karachi.

“I got several letters sent by unknown militants, the latest of them was received last month, in which they had threatened me with grave consequences if I continue to hunt their terror accomplices,” he told AFP.

“Such attacks will not deter us from our mission to keep our people safe,” he said. Anwar Khan also took part in the raid on a seminary in December last year, which led to the rescue of 53 students, including children as young as seven, chained up in the basement. The children said they had been regularly beaten.

The last suicide attack in Karachi killed two policemen in November.

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Via DAWN.com

Seven killed in Karachi suicide blast, firing; SSP Malir survives

Four persons including two policemen were killed while 14 others wounded when a suicide bomber targeted SSP Police at Malir Halt area of Karachi on Thursday. Another three policemen were killed by unidentified gunmen in PIB Colony of the city.
The banned outfit Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility of the suicide attack.
According to police sources, a bomber rammed an …

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Pakistan-US relations: JuD chief wants referendum

KARACHI: Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed has sent letters to members of parliament calling on them to “break from party policy” and make a decision keeping “Pakistan’s future in mind”. He has also asked for a ‘referendum’ to understand what Pakistan’s people want.

The letter, which is in the context of the current debate in the parliament on recommendations on foreign policy and US-Pakistan relations, offers five main points:

Firstly, Saeed states, that it would be a dangerous step for the parliament to amend and accept the alleged secret agreements between the US and Pakistan made during General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s regime. It compares the agreements to those between the East India Company and Mughal leaders, and says this would lead the way to ‘American and European slavery’.

He argues that reopening Nato supply routes would “damage relations with China” and that the government should not reverse the steps taken after the attack on the Salala check post. He also claims that offering India trade routes would affect the China-Pakistan relationship.

Saeed says that if the attacks on Nato containers continue after the government reopens routes, the US/Nato forces will use this as a pretext to send its forces into Pakistan. He also alleges that the US has never respected any agreements with Pakistan or parliamentary resolutions, and says that the US wants to continue drone strikes which will lead to suicide attacks in Pakistan.

A copy of the letter can be seen here.

Sharif urges religious parties to devise agenda for Pakistan’s betterment

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday urged religious parties to jointly prepare a comprehensive plan for the betterment of Pakistan and said that his party would support it.

He said that PML-N would cooperate with all religious parties willing to get the country on the track of prosperity and development.

Sharif was addressing a conference titled “Istehkam-e-Pakistan, Hamari Zimedariayan” (stability of Pakistan and our responsibilities) at Jamia Naeemia at Garhi Shaho where he lashed out at the current Pakistan Peoples Party-led government and the previous government of Pervez Musharraf and held them responsible for load shedding and failure in tackling problems.

He said that load shedding had started in “dictator” Musharraf’s regime, but the current government, instead of decreasing it has increased it.

Sharif said that during his government in 1999 Pakistan was an electricity-rich country and was considering selling its surplus electricity to India.

He said that Musharraf, a then army official, had “bowed” before one telephone call of America while a waist-coat wearing civilian man like himself has never given in before the US.

The PML-N chief also said that terrorism had started in Musharraf’s era, contrary to which, his government had started many projects like the construction of dams and developing JF-17 Thunder fighter jets with China.

He said that the government could not be accredited for launching any projects for the betterment of the country which it could proudly  present before the nation nor has it planned to initiate any project in this regard.

He said that Pakistan has a lot of resources, but because of the lack of will no one has ever paid attention to utilising them.

The PML-N chief said that late Dr Sarfraz Naeemi had sacrificed his life fighting against terrorism and extremism and fulfilled his responsibility for the stability of the country.

Naeemi was killed by the suicide attacker in 2009 over his stance against Talibanisation in the country. Sharif said that his family has strong bounds with the Naeemi family for the last 65 years.

Inside Khyber Agency – V: Lashkar-e-Islam promised justice, delivered violence

Members of the banned outfit are unapologetic and uncompromising in their outlook. “We believe in terrorism and instilling fear in the hearts of the unbelievers and those Muslims who do not follow the true Islamic way of life,” says Omar, an LeI spokesperson, from an undisclosed location in Khyber Agency.

The rise of this armed militia did not happen overnight. A mixture of sectarian violence, control over key smuggling routes and an unfair system of justice gave the initial impetus to LeI.

Omar boasts that they have support beyond the tribal belt: from Peshawar through to Punjab. He says he just came back from the troubled area of Tirah. Mangal Bagh, the group’s leader, was reportedly killed in a suicide attack there earlier this month. According to Omar, the news is false. “Our opponents are spreading rumours about our leadership but I can assure you that he is alive,” he says.

Locals say the first sign of trouble started in 2004, when Mufti Munir Shakir, a cleric from Kurram Agency, came to settle in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency after being thrown out of his hometown for inciting sectarian hatred. His arrival in Khyber Agency went unnoticed at first.

He then launched a local radio station and again started gathering supporters under his hard-line interpretation of Islam. This time his target was a Barelvi religious scholar, Pir Saifur Rehman, who had migrated from Afghanistan in the 1980s and now lived in Khyber Agency, running a seminary. After a series of violent clashes between the two groups, in 2006 a Jirga was convened which decided to expel both clerics. While Pir Saifur Rehman abided by the decision, Mufti Munir Shakir at first resisted the expulsion but was forced to leave by locals. He made Mangal Bagh, then a local transporter, his successor in the armed militia which came to be known as Lashkar-e-Islam.

With Mangal Bagh in power, many residents of Khyber Agency thought life would change for the better. “At first we supported Mangal Bagh because he was a local and was helping ensure justice for common people,” says Shah Jahan, a resident of Bara, a former LeI stronghold. “But then he started killing those who opposed their version of Islam, including some of my family members,” he alleges.

Many like Shah Jahan fled the area in fear. When asked, the LeI spokesperson said that, except for those who follow their strict interpretation of Islam, all others are not proper Muslims and should not be spared. This, he said, is the true spirit of shariah, which his movement wants to implement all over Pakistan.

The LeI has now lost most of this local support, but analysts feel that the movement was supported by locals at first because it talked about delivering justice.

“The LeI introduced itself as a reformist movement initially and wanted a uniform Islamic system based on Deobandi ideology,” says Rustum Shah Mohmand, a former political agent from the tribal belt. He also alleges that local authorities, instead of dealing with them head on to re-establish the writ of the state, started to support another armed force in the area, known as Ansarul Islam. “After that strategy failed, an operation was launched, but forces have been unable to control the area for four years because it did not contain it in the beginning which it should have,” he complains.

A military official who looks after intelligence affairs in Fata says that Khyber Agency has been virtually occupied by smugglers. “The LeI has taken control of those routes to generate funds for themselves,” he says.

Interestingly everyone, including the military and tribal elders, say the solution to the conflict is through talks. Even the LeI feels the same, but Omar, their representative, says certain elements are not letting talks happen. “The government is lying since it tells us one thing and tells the public another.”

For the intelligence officer, the situation is still hugely challenging, but an end is in sight. “It will take a few years more before we gain full control but we believe Khyber Agency is the last battlefield,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2012.

Suicide attack kills five at mosque in Khyber agency

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque on Friday, killing five people in Pakistan’s tribal belt on the Afghan border, officials said.

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Via DAWN.com

Pakistan in pictures

This week in Pakistan, a Swiss couple is released by the Taliban, guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar wants to make peace with militants, a policeman is killed in a suicide attack in Peshawar and anti-polio campaigns wrap up. A glimpse of what Pakistan looked like this week. – Photos by Agencies

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Via DAWN.com

‘Man of Action’ SP killed in Peshawar suicide attack

PESHAWAR – Superintendent of Police Rural Circle Abdul Kalam Khan was killed and four others injured when a suicide bomber detonated himself near the vehicle of SP Rural in Peshtakhara Square on Thursday morning.
Police said the incident occurred at 9.24 am when Kalam Khan was on his way from to office. When the vehicle reached Peshtakhara Square, the bomber hit the vehicle of Kalam Khan. …

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Suicide blast in Peshawar kills police superintendent

A suicide attack on Thursday killed a senior Pakistani police officer and wounded his bodyguard in the northwestern city of Peshawar, troubled by a new wave of violence, police said.

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Via DAWN.com

SP killed in Peshawar suicide attack

A suicide bomber targeted a vehicle killing SP Rural and injuring his security guard and driver here in Peshawar on Thursday morning.
According to details, a suicide bomber blew himself up near vehicle of SP Rural Kalam Khan while he was on his way to office at Pushta Khara Chowk of Peshawar.
Kalam Khan was killed in the attack while his driver and a guard were injured in the blast. The injured …

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Terror attack foiled: BDS defuses 40kg explosives in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Bomb Disposal Squad on Friday defused 40kg of explosives in an abandoned car parked at Ring Road, Peshawar.

Station House Officer Chamkani Bashirdad told The Express Tribune that police reached the site on a tip-off and called the Bomb Disposal Squad.

However, he could not determine what the target of the potential attack was.

The car, bearing registration number IDJ-2398, was laden with remote-controlled explosives. A mobile phone was also connected to the explosive device.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber struck a funeral on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing 15 mourners and injuring scores more.

The blast went off near the gate of the main Janazgah (funeral site) in the Badhber area where people had just offered funeral prayers, Superintendent Police (Rural) Kalam Khan said.

Sunday’s funeral bombing was the first since September 15, 2011, when a suicide attacker targeting a Lashkar killed 46 people at a funeral in Lower Dir district.

Suicide attack condemned

PESHAWAR, March 11: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Sunday the terrorists, while taking the lives of innocent people in bomb blasts and suicide attacks, were in fact fulfilling the

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Via DAWN.com

Pakistan suicide attack wounds five police

PESHAWAR: A suicide attack targeting police in northwest Pakistan late Sunday wounded five officers and badly damaged a vehicle, officials said. The bomber struck a police patrol in Dera Ismail Khan town in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan. “The suicide bomber was on foot. He blew himself up when the police vehicle [...]

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Via DAWN.com

Sherpao survives suicide attack; policeman, girl die

CHARSADDA, March 3: A policeman and a little girl were killed when a suicide bomber attacked the motorcade of former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao near Kangra village on Saturday soon after he left the venue of a public meeting in nearby Battgram village of Shabqadar tehsil.

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Via DAWN.com