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Showing posts from March 22, 2009

Suicide blast kills 50 at mosque in Khyber

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Friday, 27 Mar, 2009 | 05:28 PM PST | Source: DAWN Tribesmen gather as they take part in rescue work at the site of a suicide blast near Jamrud in the Khyber agency tribal region, about 30 km from the Afghan border, March 27, 2009. — Reuters Media Gallery: Tragedy in Jamrud as suicide bomber strikes LANDI KOTAL: A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people when he blew himself up in a crowded mosque near Pakistan's Jamrud town, about 30 km from the Afghan border, on Friday, government officials said. The bomber set off his explosives as an imam, or prayer leader, began the service. Eyewitnesses believe the casualty figures are being under-reported and that at least 70 people have been killed, first by the explosion, and secondly by the collapsing of the mo

Chronology of blasts in Pakistan

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Pak police officers carry an injured person after a bomb explosion at an hotel in Islamabad. Photo Courtesy: AP. Chronology of blasts in Pakistan in 2008 Sat-Sep 20, 2008 Islamabad / Press Trust of India Major attacks that rocked Pakistan since January 2008: January 10: Twenty people killed in suicide bomb attack outside Lahore High Court. January 14: Bomb kills 10 people at a market in Karachi. February 9: Suicide bomber kills 25 people at an opposition election rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda. February 11: Nine killed in suicide bombing at an election meeting of an independent candidate in North Waziristan. February 16: Suicide car bomber strikes a rally of Pakistan People's Party in the northwestern town of Parachinar, killing 37. February 22: Roadside bomb hits wedding party in Swat, killing at least 14. February 25: Suicide bomber kills army surgeon Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig and seven others in Rawalpindi. February 29: Forty-four killed in a suicid

Bomb Explodes at Sufi Shrine in Pakistan

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Bomb Explodes at Sufi Shrine in Pakistan By VOA News 05 March 2009 A corner of the mausoleum of Sufi poet Rehman Baba damaged after an explosion in Peshawar, 05 Mar 2009 Suspected Islamist militants in Pakistan have bombed the mausoleum of a 17th century poet revered in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. People regularly visit the marble shrine on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar to pay respects to Rehman Baba, a renowned ethnic Pashtun poet. The blast damaged the structure of the shrine but there were no reports of injuries. Days ahead of the attack, hardline Islamic militants had warned women against visiting the shrine. Muslim extremists such as the Taliban oppose men and women mingling together unless they are married or close relatives. In another attack Thursday, one person died and at least 15 others were injured when a grenade was hurled during evening prayers at a mosque

LS polls provide opportunity to terrorists: US thinktank

26 Mar 2009, 0146 hrs IST, PTI WASHINGTON: The Lok Sabha elections in India provide Pakistani-based and indigenous Indian militants a "good occasion" to carry out another 26/11-style attack, a prominent US thinktank said on Wednesday. The Islamic militants, who had targeted to strike during the popular IPL cricket matches next month, would now find out another target to carry out another Mumbai-type terrorist attack. "The ongoing election campaign could very well be one, said Stratfor," an Austin, Texas-based private intelligence company, well known worldwide for its intelligence analysis. "Shifting the IPL tournament to South Africa gives the Indians more forces to secure the country for the national elections, but this does not necessarily mean that the threat level during this time period has subsided," said Stratfor. "The elections still provide Pakistani-based and indigenous Indian militants a good occasion to target politicians, government build

US claims Gulf donors fund Taliban fighters

By James Blitz in London and Daniel Dombey in Washington source Financial Times The US has told its Nato partners that funds from individuals in Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia now rival drug money as a source of financing for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The US launched a high-profile push to reduce Gulf funding for the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other militant groups operating out of Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001. As a result, in recent years insurgent links to Afghanistan’s burgeoning heroin trade have become the principal focus. But Richard Holbrooke, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed fresh concerns to Nato ambassadors during a briefing this week on the US’s strategic review of Afghan-Pakistan policy, which is expected to be announced on Friday. “He said that the prime source of funding for the Taliban is not from narcotics but from private individuals in the Gulf region,” said a western diplomat, withou

Film piracy funding terror: US thinktank

7 Mar 2009, 0425 hrs IST, S Balakrishnan, Source: TNN MUMBAI: The leading US thinktank, Rand Corporation, has confirmed what Indian intelligence agencies have been maintaining all along— Dawood Ibrahim has graduated to terrorism and is siphoning off millions of dollars earned from film piracy, drug-running and other crimes to finance his operations. According to sources in the film industry and police, the moment a film is released in Mumbai, the 'D-Company' makes camera prints and sends them to Karachi or Kuala Lumpur where millions of DVDs are made and marketed across the world. But after the Mumbai-based Valuable Group introduced satellite transmission of films directly to cinema halls, it has become difficult for the gang to make camera prints as each cinema hall has a secret identity number encrypted into the movie. To avoid this, gang members have established links with small-time theatres in Gujarat where the camera prints are taken at the first show of any new film. Th

LeT owns up to Kupwara, Army fears worst not over

Source: IBNLIVE New Delhi: Terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba has claimed responsibility for the six-day long gunbattle between the Indian Army and terrorists in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir. Seventeen terrorists and eight Armymen are reported to have been killed in the gunbattle - one of the bloodiest in recent months. The LeT on Tuesday sent a letter to a local newspaper in Kashmir last night owning up to the encounter. In the letter to Kashmiri daily Rising Kashmir, LeT spokesman Dr Abdullah Gaznavi writes, “We received prior information about the army movement and laid an ambush in the forest. Indian forces have lost 25 army men including a Major while 50 of them have been injured. Ten LeT Mujahideen also achieved martyrdom in the gunfight. India should understand that the freedom struggle in Kashmir is not over. It is active with full force”. While firing in the area has stopped, combing operation is on in the area. Four AK-47 rifles and some ammunition have also been recovered from t

'Militants waiting to infiltrate across the border'

Mir Ehsan Posted: Mar 25, 2009 at 1427 hrs IST Source: Indian Express The senior army commander said that the militants killed in the encounter were highly trained, well equipped.The senior army commander said that the militants killed in the encounter were highly trained, well equipped. The senior army commander said that the militants killed in the encounter were highly trained, well equipped. Srinagar: As the combing operation in the forests of Kupwara is still going on, Army claims that all the slain militants were foreigners owing allegiance to Lashkar-e-Toiba. So far, seventeen militants and eight soldiers have been killed in the operation. Brigade General Staff 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh said the operation is going on in the thick forests of Kupwara in the difficult mountainous terrain. “The militants were primarily an infiltration group attempting to infiltrate and a reception party,” he said. “The slain militants were foreigners owing their allegiance to Lashkar e Toiba

No More safe at home for the Pakistani Hindus

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Your temple is a threat to our religion' March 16, 2009 J agdish Lal Sharma fled with his wife and five kids: I am a Pandit and also did some hakeemi on the side with natural medicines. There was no problem in our village till very recently. I had a very small temple near my home. One day, some other villagers came and said the presence of your temple is a threat to our religion. It should not be there. I pleaded with them to spare the temple but had no other option but to take the idols inside the house. On October 2, we got a visa to India and I had a cousin in Amritsar. But the procedure is such that, I had to first go to Delhi -- where I knew no one -- and get my papers to come to Amritsar. You know very well how it is getting work done with the government. By the time I got the required papers to come to Amritsar, most of the money I had with me was spent. It is a good feeling having at last come to Amritsar. The Punjab region is more or less the same on both sides. But

No More safe at home for the Pakistani Hindus

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Your temple is a threat to our religion' March 16, 2009 J agdish Lal Sharma fled with his wife and five kids: I am a Pandit and also did some hakeemi on the side with natural medicines. There was no problem in our village till very recently. I had a very small temple near my home. One day, some other villagers came and said the presence of your temple is a threat to our religion. It should not be there. I pleaded with them to spare the temple but had no other option but to take the idols inside the house. On October 2, we got a visa to India and I had a cousin in Amritsar. But the procedure is such that, I had to first go to Delhi -- where I knew no one -- and get my papers to come to Amritsar. You know very well how it is getting work done with the government. By the time I got the required papers to come to Amritsar, most of the money I had with me was spent. It is a good feeling having at last come to Amritsar. The Punjab region is more or less the same on both sides. But