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Saturday, 14 February 2015
Australia win
Finch, Marsh star in big Australia win
India-Pakistan World Cup games
Walk down memory lane: India-Pakistan World Cup games
Monday, 19 January 2015
Happy Monday
Beautiful Pet
It’s Monday so let’s skip all of our afternoon obligations to watch animal videos in the privacy of our homes. This week, we have guilty dogs, smart dogs, a seriously happy triggerfish, an elephant playing the harmonica, a snowcatching cat and ten reasons you shouldn’t keep a cheetah in your guest room. Have a truly excellent day.
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Friday, 20 June 2014
Shandur festival starts tomorrow
Shandur polo festival starts tomorrow
Talking to Dawn, on Wednesday, Chitral deputy commissioner, Aminul Haq, said that the provincial government had decided to hold the event on its scheduled date keeping in view the enthusiasm of the game lovers and arrival of tourists to the venue in large numbers.
Mr Haq said that the festival might be a low profile affair this year due to boycott of the Gilgit-Baltistan team, but it would still provide the level of entertainment and joy the people had been waiting for, for so long.
Know more: GB boycotts the festival
Meanwhile, president of district polo association, Shahzada Sikandarul Mulk, dispelled the impression that the absence of GB team would render the event less interesting for the fans.
“Eight teams from across the district are participating in the event, which means that the fans will have four thrilling matches to watch and be entertained,” he said.
Meanwhile, the tourists have started reaching here to travel onward to the Shandur polo ground to witness the event.
The administrations of a number of leading hotels in the city, including PTDC hotel, told Dawn that they almost had all their rooms booked. However, they said a fraction of tourists had cancelled their bookings over the decision of the GB government not to send its team to the event.
Meanwhile, the district police claimed to have made foolproof security arrangement to ensure safety of the participants of the event. DPO Ghulam Hussain said under a special security plan, 1,200 personnel had been deployed at the venue and on the roads leading to Shandur.
Bad news for 'Good' Taliban?
Zarb-i-Azb — Bad news for 'Good' Taliban?
As we all hope, it will change the militant landscape of the country besides having a far-reaching impact on the political and strategic dynamics of conflict in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
So far, militants in North Waziristan were the ones least challenged by the state’s counter-terrorism efforts. The tribal agency is (or was) considered the last resort of militants, which is why a comprehensive military campaign was required to establish the writ of the government.
But when news of the offensive first broke, one thing many Pakistanis found themselves submerged in was questions:
- How long, how large will this operation be?
- What happens to the 'good Taliban', to those who reportedly wanted peace?
- Will a successful operation mean an end to terrorism?
Comprehensive and all-out
It is an inbuilt compulsion in the North Waziristan operation that Pakistan should go after the militants comprehensively and objectively. It will make Pakistan’s position difficult both on international and domestic fronts if militants continue using the tribal territories for hiding and launching operations both in Afghanistan and Pakistan or elsewhere.
The airstrikes going on in North Waziristan are mainly targeting foreign militants but boots will be on the ground soon in the second phase of the operation.
Good and Bad now hard to distinguish
The operation will eventually lead to termination of all the peace treaties made by the government with some of the militant groups in the past and distinction between the good and bad Taliban will become blurred.
Most importantly, it will become harder for Haqqani militants to stay in the tribal agency as their argument of having sought shelter in uncontrolled territories will no longer be valid.
Even during the operation, distinguishing between the good and bad militants would be difficult.
Just a day before the launch of the military operation, the government was trying to resolve some issues with a so-called good Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who heads local Taliban’s council, Shura Mujahideen.He had signed a peace agreement with the government in 2006.
Bahadur was not happy about military’s surgical strikes, before the launch of operation, and warned the government of revoking the peace agreement. A tribal jirga mediated and tried to convince Gul Bahadur to clear the region of foreign militants.
Also read: 'Analysis: Why Bahadur is so vexed'
Perhaps Gul Bahadur was among the few who were certain that the military was going to launch an operation in North Waziristan. He had asked the residents to leave North Waziristan before June 20. His announcement, which asked people to move towards the Afghan border instead of going to relief camps in Bannu, expressed his anger over pre-operation military strikes, which he declared a violation of the peace treaty.
Though considered a “good Taliban” commander, Bahadur is known to have provided sanctuaries to foreign militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and Al Qaeda. His friendly attitude towards anti-Pakistan militant groups and special affiliation with the ETIM was frustrating for the security establishment.
Sajna's future hangs in the balance
Apart from Gul Bahadaur, the future of Said Khan Sajna has also become uncertain.
Sajna was recently trying to emerge as a new good Taliban commander. He was planning to organize a new Taliban alliance to replace Mullah Nazir group, which is currently headed by Bahawal Khan. In 2007, Mullah Nazir successfully threw out Uzbeks from South Waziristan; Uzbeks militants again started pouring in after Nazir’s death in a drone strike in January 2013.
Though Sajna is trying his best to be bracketed with the good ones, his group’s network in Karachi has become a matter of trouble for him. His faction is involved in criminal and terrorist activities in Karachi.The Gul Bahadur episode reflected that the government considers it important to make the anti-state militant groups including the TTP weak enough before 2015 so that the Afghan Taliban would not be able to use them as a bargaining lever and should continue to look towards Pakistan for political support.
Lots to decide for the Army
Eventually it is the military leadership that will have to decide the fate of the militant groups based in North Waziristan during the recently launched offensive.
On the face of it, it appears as if the security establishment has decided to eliminate or push the militant infrastructure towards the other side of the Pak-Afghan border.
Also see: 'Operation Zarb-i-Azb: Interactive map'
Now, when the operation has been launched, past peace deals with the militants have no legal and moral grounds. At the same time, allowing Haqqanis to live in and operate from Pakistan’s tribal belt will not be strategically suitable as it will raise questions about the ability of Pakistani troops to hold its own areas after clearing them of the militants.
TTP elimination not guaranteed
The military operation in itself is not a difficult task. Pakistan army has capabilities to reclaim and hold the area in a minimum time-frame.
The post-operation situation seems hazy and subject to different scenarios. For example, a full-scale operation in North Waziristan cannot guarantee the TTP’s elimination.There are two reasons for that:
First, the TTP and its local and international affiliates have expanded their networks in other parts of the country, and the number of terrorist sleeper cells is increasing.
Secondly, the North Waziristan militants can relocate to Afghanistan like Fazlullah did after Swat operation. Some media reports suggest that the foreign and local militants from North Waziristan had already started fleeing to neighbouring Khost province of Afghanistan, even before the launch of the operation.
It is not yet certain if the North Waziristan operation entails a strategic shift in the government's approach. Questions abound plenty, and we'll need more time for more answers.
fighters head to Syria, Iraq
Indonesia fears terror return as fighters head to Syria, Iraq
Support for groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sunni radicals currently rampaging through northern Iraq, is growing among Indonesian with dozens believed to have joined the insurgency.
Analysts say the fighters will pose a new and serious threat to Indonesia when they return home with honed insurgency tactics and international militant connections, echoing the concerns of Western governments.
Britain and Australia have expressed fears that Syria and Iraq are breeding grounds for violent militants who travel there from the West to fight and pose a threat to national security on their return.
Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with terrorism but a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks–ironically fuelling interest in Syria and Iraq.
“There's not much going on with jihad in Indonesia for militants anymore, “said Taufik Andrie, a terrorism expert at the Institute for International Peacebuilding.
“There are just fragmented groups with no resources or support, so many are inspired by what's going on in Iraq and Syria,” he told AFP.
“When they return, they will be seen as high-profile Jihadi. Young people will come to them for training, to form new groups, to plan attacks, to teach how to fight and make bombs.
- Support for ISIL 'growing' -
Indonesia's anti-terror unit has acknowledged that support for ISIL is growing, judging by rallies, social media and the sermons of radical preachers.
The militants have crossed the border from Syria into northern Iraq and taken over key cities in lightning gains, bringing the Iraqi army to its knees.
Indonesia estimates that 60 Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight but experts say the figure is closer to 100 and growing fast.
There are no laws prohibiting Indonesians from joining foreign militant groups and Islamic organisations have openly held fundraisers for ISIL.
“The government must pass legislation to criminalise citizens supporting and travelling overseas to join terrorist groups,” Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told AFP.
Analysts point to neighbouring Malaysia which has been more active, arresting a dozen men in April who were trying to leave the country to fight in Syria.
It failed, however, to prevent a 26-year-old Malaysian from leaving the country for Iraq, where he carried out a suicide attack that killed 25 soldiers.
Indonesians know well the threat of returnees -- many of the country's most notorious terrorists trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s and came back with vast networks, bomb-making skills and access to funding.
Some were in the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, which was behind the 2002 twin bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali as well as other blasts on hotels and churches. The Bali bombings were a wake-up call that galvanised the government. An elite anti-terror police unit was established which has eliminated the masterminds of the attacks in bloody armed raids.
- Syria reigniting jihadist interest
The country has had no significant bombings for around five years as the JI network crumbled, leaving only splinter groups and small cells with little capacity.
But the civil war in Syria has reignited interest in jihad as some Muslims believe it is the start of the Islamic equivalent of Armageddon.
“Some jihadists in Indonesia see ISIL as the embryo of an Islamic caliphate, which is their ultimate goal,” said Solahudin, author of “The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia” who goes by one name.
The fighters, almost entirely young men, are being wooed online. YouTube pulled a video from two channels Thursday of five Indonesian men in balaclavas claiming to be in Syria, calling for their compatriots to join the fight.
Radical Islamic websites, such al-Mustaqbal and VOA Islam, are publishing pro-ISIL news stories, describing its takeover of Iraqi cities as the “liberation” of Sunni Muslims in Shia-majority Iraq.
Most Indonesians are Sunni Muslims and tensions with minority Shias have intensified in recent years. Terrorism expert Andrie said returnees would likely exacerbate sectarian clashes.
Governments are increasingly concerned over the flow of foreigners to the Syria conflict, with the New York-based intelligence Soufan Group estimating some 12,000 have done so in the past three years.
Last month, an American man killed 37 people in a suicide bombing in Syria while a Belgian man who had fought with ISIL in Syria killed four people in a gun attack on a Jewish Museum in Brussels.
This week, Australia said around 150 Australians had learnt the “terrorist trade” fighting alongside Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria.
And in Britain the government has banned ISIL, with its security minister saying terrorism related to Syria's civil war “will pose a threat to the UK for the forseeable future”.
TTP commander Killed
Karachi Rangers kill alleged TTP commander during operation
Rangers personnel had cordoned off the area sealing all entry and exit points of the locality while conducting the search operation.
Although the official Rangers spokesperson declined to give confirmation of the identities of those killed during the operation, security sources said that the vice-emir of the TTP's Karachi chapter identified as Abid 'chotu' was killed during the Rangers' operation in Sultanabad area of Karachi's Manghopir area.
The other TTP commander killed during the operation was identified as Fakhruddin Mehsud, according to the sources.
Two security persons also sustained injuries during the operation. They were later shifted to a hospital for medical treatment.
Zarb-i-Azb
Zarb-i-Azb: 20 militants killed, 150,000 civilians evacuated
Nearly 100,000 people have left North Waziristan tribal area, on the Afghan border, this week after the military launched a long-awaited assault against Taliban hideouts.
The authorities eased a shoot-on-sight curfew on Wednesday to give civilians a chance to leave before troops began a full-blooded ground operation.
A senior security official told AFP that gunship helicopters targeted militant hideouts in an early morning raid in Kutabkhel area of Miramshah, the main town of North Waziristan, killing up to 20 militants.
Also read: Zarb-i-Azb: 232 militants killed, 20 hideouts destroyed
A local intelligence official also confirmed the attack and casualties.
The military offensive began last week after a bloody and dramatic attack on Karachi airport earlier during the month brought an end to months of largely fruitless government efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Washington has long demanded action against militant hideouts in North Waziristan, which has served as a rear base for insurgents battling US-led forces in Afghanistan.
The area, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions on the Afghan border, has been an important base for the TTP, which has killed thousands in bombings and gun attacks during its seven-year insurgency.
The fighting also triggered a huge exodus of civilians from North Waziristan into Bannu, Peshawar and Kohat and across the border into Afghanistan.
“Some 157,000 people have arrived in Bannu from different areas of North Waziristan,” Arshad Khan, director general of the Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) Disaster Management Authority, told AFP on Friday.
Registration points and camps have been set up to deal with the influx of people in Bannu, but many prefer to travel on to stay with relatives in other areas.
Thousands of people including women and children were seen travelling to Bannu by foot on Friday morning.
Civilians, fleeing from a
military operation in North Waziristan tribal agency, carry their
belongings as they arrive in Bannu district on June 20, 2014. — Photo by
AFP
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Monday, 2 June 2014
Threaten Afghan Elections By Talban
Taliban threaten Afghan election, warn voters to stay away
India int-ruble in Afghanistan
Local officials and India's foreign ministry said that the aid worker was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Heart. – File Photo
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America sit down infront of Talban
US lawmakers assail release as incentive for capturing Americans
PAK ARMY COAS
COAS leaves for China
PAKISTAN GDP growth recorded
4.14pc GDP growth recorded, highest since 2008-09
Friday, 11 April 2014
Agreement signed with China for coal power plants
Agreement signed with China for coal power plants
ایف آئی اے کے 2 افسر گرفتار