Canada 'optimistic' of extra NATO troops for south Afghanistan

BUCHAREST: Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed optimism Wednesday that NATO allies would come up with reinforcements to bolster Canadian troops fighting the Taliban in south Afghanistan.
"I am not worried. I am very optimistic that we'll achieve our objectives," he said at a conference in Bucharest, ahead of a summit of NATO leaders, where in-fighting over Afghanistan deployments will figure on the agenda.
Canada has been lobbying European allies to send at least 1,000 troops, drones and helicopters to help fight insurgents in volatile Kandahar province as a condition for extending its deployment to 2011.
France is expected to pledge several hundred troops to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and an alliance spokesman said other nations were likely to do so at the summit, which runs until Friday.
"We'll see what the French decide, they made no commitment to us or to NATO," Harper said, adding that: "Anything France does, it is a victory, a step forward."
ISAF comprises some 47,000 troops from 40 nations, according to new official figures, and is trying to spread the rule of Afghanistan's weak central government and foster reconstruction.
But Canadian, British and US troops have suffered significant casualties in the south, and fighting is likely to grow more intense as the weather warms, allowing insurgents to cross the mountainous border with Pakistan more easily.
Canada's parliament voted earlier this month to extend its military mission in volatile southern Afghanistan to 2011, but only if its allies send reinforcements.
Otherwise Canada would exit at the end of its current mandate next February.

ATC issues arrest warrant of Baitullah Mehsud

RAWALPINDI  ( 2008-04-01 20:07:26 ) : 

The Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) No.1 here Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrant of Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud with the direction to produce the accused in R A Bazar suicide attack before the court on April 21.
The court observed that if in case the accused were not arrested and produced before the court, he (the accused Baitullah Mehsud) will be declared as proclaimed offender.
The judge of the court Ch. Habibur Rehman also extended judicial remand of two accused including Rafaqat and Hasnain Gull in R A Bazar and Civil Lines suicide attacks till April 21.
Former Premier and PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto was martyred in a suicide attack soon after addressing a public rally in connection with the elections campaign at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.
It is mentioned here that the learned court had already directed the authorities concerned to make arrangements for the publication of advertisement in the print and electronic media for the arrest of Baitullah Mehsud and other accused with the directions to display theses advertisements at all the police stations and other important public places for their identity in the general public.

Two killed in militant attack: police

MINGORA  ( 2008-04-01 20:53:58 ) : 

Taliban activists ambushed a van carrying pro-government tribal elders in a northwestern region, killing two tribal leaders and wounding seven others on Tuesday, police said.
The elders were returning to Mingora, the main town in the insurgency-hit Swat region, in an official van that authorities had earlier retrieved from rebels who hijacked it several months ago.
"The militants were unhappy with the efforts of the tribal elders to recover stolen official vehicles through a jirga (council)," police officer
Humayun Khan said, Police had launched a hunt for an unknown number of suspects, he added.
Swat, a picturesque valley nestled in the towering Hindu Kush mountain range, was a leading tourist spot until last year when a pro-Taliban cleric launched a campaign for Islamic sharia law in the area.
The army pushed thousands of troops into Swat in October to counter followers of Mullah Fazlullah, also known as "Mullah Radio" for broadcasting speeches over his private FM radio station.
Army said in February it had cleared most of the valley, which has experienced several suicide attacks in recent months.
Separately four local government officials were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in Matta, another town in Swat, on Tuesday.
The officials were returning to their office from a visit to the area when their vehicle struck the bomb, police officer Akhtar Sharif said.
Militants have increased attacks on security forces and government buildings in recent weeks as the law enforcement agencies try to wrest control of some areas still in the control of militants.
A bomb went off in front of a government high school in Matta overnight, destroying the building but causing no casualties. Two policemen were wounded

Bush to meet Nato Allies Divided Over Adding Troops in Afghanistan

 

KABUL  ( 2008-04-01 03:11:17 ) : 

President Bush left for Europe today to try to rescue the faltering mission in Afghanistan, and key Nato allies plan to meet his demands for more forces with modest troop increases, though not by as much as US military officers say is needed to put down a stubborn Taliban insurgency.
France has signalled it will announce at this week's Nato summit that it will send another 1,000 troops to Afghanistan, while Britain plans to send about 800 more and Poland has already promised another 400. But Germany and others refuse to contribute additional ground forces, and the United States may have to increase its own commitment to make up the shortfall, US and European officials and analysts said.
The friction over force levels underscores a philosophical divide between the United States and its allies over the best approach in Afghanistan more than six years after US led forces toppled the Taliban government -- and, more broadly, over the future of the Nato alliance. The summit in Bucharest, Romania, which begins Wednesday, will also test the allies over issues such as Nato enlargement, missile defence and the relationship with an increasingly muscular Russia.
Nothing on the agenda is more important to Bush's legacy than turning Afghanistan around. "It's very clear that we all need to do more," national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said last week. "The president's message is going to be one of the importance of success in Afghanistan, the need for all countries to make it a priority, the need for us to develop a more integrated strategy for success and the need for all of us to do more."
Gen. Dan K. McNeill, top commander of the Nato-led international force, has already sent the alliance a similar message in starker terms: Provide more troops or accept a longer war. "I'd like the Nato allies and their non-Nato partners in this alliance to properly resource this force," he said in a recent interview at his Kabul headquarters, "and absent that, that they adopt the patience and will for a slower pace of progress."
McNeill estimated that it will be necessary to maintain at least the current foreign force level in Afghanistan -- now about 55,000, including 27,000 U.S. troops among Nato and non-Nato forces -- for at least three to five years until Afghan security forces are ready to take over. It will take that long for Afghan forces to obtain the airplanes, helicopters and other logistical support they need to be fully independent, he said.
Also important would be lifting the restrictions each nation sets on what its forces can do. On the wall beside McNeill's desk is a chart detailing the various restraints, with columns labeled "Prohibited" and "Yes, but . . . ." McNeill said he repeatedly asks foreign governments to lift limits temporarily. "I'm batting about .500," he said. In a war, he added, "it's not a good average."
The resistance by many Nato allies to stepping up their involvement despite pressure from Bush and Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates means that a greater burden will probably fall on the United States, administration officials said. Bush has authorized another 3,200 Marines for Afghanistan for seven months, but without more European help, he may be pressed to send even more U.S. forces or to extend the Marine buildup.
The debate in Bucharest comes after attacks in Afghanistan spiked by nearly 30 percent in 2007. A recent report by the Atlantic Council of the United States, headed by retired Gen. James L. Jones, a former Nato commander, warned that "Nato is not winning in Afghanistan." As the summit approaches, Nato leaders are trying to formulate a new strategy, drafting a "vision statement" intended to reassure European publics weary of the conflict, but Europeans reportedly resisted including a five-year commitment to Afghanistan sought by Washington.
The Nato leaders plan to debate strategies for southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been strongest. One idea under discussion is for the U.S. military eventually to take over the regional command for the south, which is currently headed by the Canadians and includes primarily British, Canadian and Dutch forces. Another proposal is to lengthen military tours, said William Wood, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, "so we're not swapping people out all the time." He suggested "extending the period for whoever is in charge of the south so it doesn't rotate every six or nine months."
U.S. troops in Afghanistan now serve 15-month tours, but other Nato countries balk at extending their shorter tours. "If they had us do more than six months, everyone would quit," British Bombardier Tim Dean, who is fighting in the southern province of Helmand, said in a recent interview.
Canada and other key Nato allies are pressing for a shift in their core military mission from combat to training Afghan security forces, in part to ease homefront concerns over casualties, officials said. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper even threatened to pull out unless Nato sends another 1,000 troops and helicopters to bolster it in the south.
"Britain at least has long historical memories of what happens to British troops in this land," said British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles. "So we need to have a sense of perspective for moving our troops out of direct military combat operations into mentoring and training roles that will probably last decades. What neither the Afghan public nor our publics at home will support is the sense of this being a war without end."
At the heart of the discussion is whether Nato should even be projecting force so far from its own borders or return to its historical role of self-defense. "This is a debate we've seen inside the alliance for the last couple of years," said Julianne Smith, head of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "but it's really coming to a head over Afghanistan, because part of the alliance feels that Afghanistan should be a precedent for future missions and part of the alliance feels like it should be an exception, perhaps never to be repeated again."
Bush champions the precedent side of the debate, framing success in Afghanistan as vital for Nato's future. He flies this morning to Kiev, Ukraine, where he will visit before heading to Bucharest tomorrow. After the summit, he will stop in Zagreb, Croatia, to welcome nations expected to be invited into Nato, and then head to the Russian resort of Sochi to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Bush has pushed for months for a greater Nato commitment to Afghanistan. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose nation has 1,500 troops on the ground, said last week that he will send more forces. French officials said details are still being finalized, but it appears likely to be a battalion of elite paratroopers. If the French are sent to the U.S.-led eastern region of Afghanistan, that could free up the United States to move 1,000 of its troops to the south, meeting Canada's demand for help.
The British, who already have 7,800 troops on the ground, plan to send the equivalent of another battalion plus a headquarters unit as well, though it was unclear if this will be announced at the Nato summit, British officials said. Poland has already promised to send 400 more troops by the end of April.
Bush took the French promise as a sign of progress. "It will pretty much ensure that this conference is a successful conference," he said last week. "When you combine our commitment, the Canadian commitment, the British commitment and the French commitment of troops that will be in harm's way, it is a strong statement that Nato understands the threats, understands the challenges, and is willing to rise to them."

Taliban commander recaptured, three rebels killed

KANDAHAR  ( 2008-04-01 15:00:52 ) : 

A mid-level Taliban commander who twice escaped from Afghan jails was recaptured following a clash that left three of his fighters dead, police said on Tuesday.
Mullah Naqibullah was captured in fighting in the southern province of Helmand on Monday, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said.
Three of his fighters were killed after the rebel commander and his colleagues, who wore police uniforms, attacked a police patrol near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, Andiwal said.
The police chief said Naqibullah, who is said to have close ties with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, had bought his way out of prison in Lashkar Gah in January after a similar escape from a Kabul jail two years ago.
"His capture is a big success. He had already escaped twice from prisons in Kabul and Lashkar Gah," Andiwal said.
Three policemen were also slightly injured in the clash, he added.
The Taliban, the key militant group behind an insurgency that has left thousands of Afghans dead, are trying to topple the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

US military not planning bases in Uzbekistan: ambassador

TASHKENT  ( 2008-03-28 00:29:28 ) : 

The US military is not planning to use Uzbekistan as a base for operations in Afghanistan, Washington's ambassador to Tashkent said on Thursday, dispelling media reports about such plans.
"The United States does not currently have a military base in Uzbekistan and has not asked for a military base in Uzbekistan. This issue is not on the agenda," ambassador Richard Norland, who spoke in Russian, told reporters.
Norland said, however, that US personnel operating under Nato command have been allowed on a "case-by-case" basis to transit to Afghanistan through a German air base at Termez in southern Uzbekistan since January 31.

Russia links help in Afghanistan to Nato expansion: report

 

MOSCOW  ( 2008-03-28 15:18:22 ) : 

Russia is ready to help Nato on Afghanistan, provided that Moscow's security interests, including a halt to eastward expansion of Nato, are respected, Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Friday, Interfax news agency reported.
Russia is "considering the possibility of deepening" co-operation with Nato over Afghanistan, but this will not happen "if each other's lawful security interests are not taken into account," the official, Alexander Grushko, told Interfax.
He highlighted Nato expansion plans -- with ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine high on the waiting list -- as a key security concern of Moscow.
"Further steps toward realising Nato's 'open doors' policy does not strengthen the security of Nato itself, nor the security of countries declaring their intention to join the alliance, nor, moreover, the security of Russia," Grushko said.
"This project is from the political past, and does not concern the real security demands of our day," he said.
Grushko spoke just days before the April 2-4 Nato summit in Bucharest, where President Vladimir Putin will be attending.
Topping the Nato agenda will be the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and discussions on possible expansion of the 26-nation alliance to include former Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine -- a possibility that has infuriated Moscow.
Nato has been negotiating with Russia over the possible use of Russian and Central Asian territory to send supplies for the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
But Grushko denied press reports that Moscow was bargaining with Nato to offer help in Afghanistan in return for Nato denying Georgia and Ukraine Membership Action Plan status, which clears the way to membership.
"There is no trade-off and there cannot be one," he told Interfax.

3 injured in Buneer blast

BUNEER: A bomb exploded in Buneer today injuring 3 people and damaging a portion of a mosque.
This is the second bombing in 24 hours in the area -- after a bomb exploded earlier during the night.
Police were at the scene and deemed it a terrorist act after finding a remote controlled roadside bomb.
This is the first attack in the area after a long time - and so far no one has claimed responsibility.

Danish soldier killed, three Germans hurt in Afghanistan

KABUL  ( 2008-03-27 19:07:56 ) : 

A Danish soldier was killed and another wounded and three German troops were also hurt in attacks in Afghanistan blamed on insurgents linked to the Taliban movement, military officials said.
Danish forces were on patrol on Wednesday in the southern province of Helmand province, a hotbed of Taliban activity, when they came under fire, said a spokesman with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"Regrettably as a result of the firefight one Danish soldier was killed and another was wounded," British Lieutenant Colonel Simon Miller told AFP.
In the far north two German soldiers were seriously injured and a third slightly wounded when a blast struck their vehicle near the city of Kunduz overnight, Afghan officials and the German military said.
The two seriously wounded would be evacuated to Germany soon, a spokesman for the military command centre in the eastern German city of Potsdam said.
Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar told AFP the blast was caused by a remotely detonated roadside bomb but this was not immediately confirmed by the German military.
"It was the enemies of peace in Afghanistan," Omar said. The term is most often used to refer to Taliban-linked militants. ISAF in Afghanistan did not immediately have information.

Car bomb in Afghan market kills 8: police

KABUL  ( 2008-03-26 18:48:16 ) : 

A car bomb exploded in a market in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday killing at least eight people and wounding 17, police said.
Taliban insurgents have vowed to intensify attacks on Afghan and foreign troops countrywide, launch a wave of suicide bombings and attack supply lines from Pakistan this year in their campaign to overthrow the pro-Western Afghan government.
But provincial police chief Hussain Andiwal said no members of the security forces were in the farmers' market in Girishk district when the bomb went off.
"The explosives were inside a car parked in a weekly market where a sizable number of people were buying and selling goods," Andiwal said.
"The target was civilians. There no foreign or Afghan forces in the area," he said.

Kabul looks for anti-terror unity with Gilani

KABUL  ( 2008-03-25 15:45:13 ) : 

Afghanistan said on Tuesday it hoped the election of a new government and prime minister in Pakistan would lead to closer co-operation in efforts to fight extremism plaguing both countries.
President Hamid Karzai issued a statement congratulating Yousuf Raza Gilani who was sworn in by President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday.
Karzai "deemed terrorism and extremism a serious problem against stability and development in the region and hoped the new Pakistan parliament and prime minister achieve huge success against this destructive phenomenon," it said.
The president also wanted relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- both key allies in the United States' so-called "war on terror" -- to expand under Gilani, the statement said.
Ties between the neighbours are fragile with both accusing each other of not doing enough to tackle militants behind a wave of violence on both sides of the border.
The Afghan defence ministry said separately that the election showed people in Pakistan "are weary of extremism."
It also "in part promises a new development in regional co-operation on the war on terrorism," it said.

Bush telephones PM Gilani: official

ISLAMABAD  ( 2008-03-25 18:48:32 ) : 

US President George W. Bush telephoned new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to congratulate him on being sworn in on Tuesday, a government official said.
Gilani, a senior official from Pakistan People's Party, took the oath as prime minister from President Pervez Musharraf at the presidential palace in Islamabad.
"President Bush telephoned Yousuf Raza Gilani and congratulated him on assuming the office of prime minister," an official in the prime minister's secretariat told AFP.
He said further details would be announced later.
The telephone call came as two senior US envoys were in Islamabad for talks with Musharraf, Gilani and former premier Nawaz Sharif focusing on the political situation and Pakistan's role in the US-led "war on terror".

SUICIDAL ATTACK IN LAHORE

PESHAWAR: The Pakistani Taliban have offered in a recent telephone conversation to lay down arms if President Pervez Musharraf quits, his policies are reviewed and Islamic laws are enforced in Pakistan.

In an exclusive telephone interview with Kyodo News, a spokesman for Taliban Commander Baitullah Mehsud said the Taliban launched their struggle because of the "wrong" policies of Musharraf, particularly in tribal areas.

"We have said it loud and clear that the wrong policies of government must be abandoned, Musharraf should be removed and Islamic laws enforced. These three things will guarantee that we will stop our struggle," spokesman Mullah Omar said.

Pakistani tribesmen have waged a war on the Pakistan Army, which has deployed 100,000 troops on the border with Afghanistan after complaints that al-Qaida and Afghan Taliban remnants and their Pakistani supporters are launching attacks into Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan.

Mehsud has been declared united leader of all the militant groups resisting Pakistan Army operations in South Waziristan and is urging all other militant groups in North Waziristan and Swat to join him.

"All the groups in South Waziristan have united under Baitullah Mehsud and have made it clear that it is necessary for Taliban to unite and combine under the flag of Baitullah Mehsud," Omar said.

Baitullah Mehsud is known to be a former inmate of the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison who was released after interrogation.

On his return, he started a resistance against U.S. and Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas.

The Pakistan government has declared him a proclaimed offender, but he is emerging as a legend in tribal areas for his resistance to the army and his support to the resistance against the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.

Omar denied Mehsud has an affiliation with al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and declared he was leading the struggle only within Pakistan.

"Our formation is by our tribal people only and no one else, like al-Qaeda or the Afghan Taliban is involved," he said. The spokesman did, however, express full support for al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

"The Taliban in Pakistan respect (Osama) bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar and we consider them heroes of Islam. We think they are alive and leading Muslim mujahideen from the front, but we do not know their whereabouts," he said. - Kyodo

EAV Antivirus Suite Free Edition - Reviews and free EAV Antivirus Suite Free Edition downloads at Download.com

EAV Antivirus Suite Free Edition - Block malware, recover Internet Explorer damage, and set up Windows against hackers. - Review and free download at Download.com

Saved By: James Cady | View Details | Give Thanks

Tags: security, windows

View Original Article

Blogged with the Flock Browser

US military holding Afghan journalist for 'Taliban contacts'

 

The US military has been holding an Afghan journalist working with Canadian Television (CTV) for three months because of his professional contacts with Taliban militants, media watchdogs alleged Tuesday.

A US military officer at the largest military base at Bagram, north of Kabul, confirmed that the reporter, identified as Jawad Ahmad, was in detention.

However, "He is not being detained because he is a journalist," Lieutenant Colonel David Accetta told AFP, refusing to give details of charges.

Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders said Ahmad, 22, had been held at Bagram since November 2007.

"The US soldiers accused him of having the numbers of Taliban leaders in his mobile phone and of interviewing them," it said in a statement that called on US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to intervene.

"The lack of legal procedures and material evidence confirms that his detention is unjustified," it said.

The US military was also holding at least two other journalists -- Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami Al-Haj at its Guantanamo Bay facility and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein in Iraq, the watchdog said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, said separately it was "deeply troubled" by the Ahmad case.

His brother, Siddique Ahmad, had said the reporter was arrested apparently because "the US military believed he had contacts with local Taliban leaders and was in possession of a video of Taliban materials," the CPJ said in a statement.

"The United States military must explain the reason for his detention and accord him due process. If he is not charged with any crime then he must be released immediately," it said.

Taliban defeat will take years: US general

Major General David Rodriguez, head of the US-led coalition force, said the US military would stay in the country "as long as they are needed."

"We definitely think it will take a few years for the Afghan people and the Afghan leaders supported by the coalition forces to defeat them," he said in a response to a question from a journalist.

An insurgency led by the Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001, has been growing in the past two years with a spike in suicide attacks and roadside bombings.

The deadliest blast struck outside the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, leaving more than 100 people dead. The Taliban denied involvement but officials said they were to blame.

On Monday another suicide blast -- this time claimed by the Taliban -- killed nearly 40 people in Kandahar province's border town of Spin Boldak.

Deputy US ambassador Christopher Dell, who accompanied Rodriguez on a trip to meet officials in the town of Maidan Shahr, west of Kabul, said that Taliban used terror tactics because they had little support among people.

"They are simply trying to terrorise them to play with fear in order to achieve their objectives," he said.

The coalition works alongside a larger NATO-led force and the Afghan military.

Afghanistan (AFP) - It will take "a few years" to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, the top US general in the country said Tuesday, reiterating US support for the fight.

Bush Enacts Economic Aid Package

President Bush signs into law an economic aid package that will mean rebate checks of $600 to $1,200 for most taxpayers. Read more for details on how much to expect and vote on what you plan to do with your rebate.
Also see: Barack Obama Proposes $210 Billion to Create Jobs

With his signature, President Bush makes the $168 billion economic stimulus bill official. The package may not prevent a recession, but analysts generally believe it could help suppress an economic crisis.

Roadside bomb kills 7 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Roadside bombs struck Afghan security forces in two separate incidents, killing seven people and wounding five, officials said Wednesday.

Three Afghan soldiers were killed and four wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb Wednesday in the Musa Qala district of northern Helmand province, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman.

U.S., British and Afghan troops pushed the Taliban out of Musa Qala late last year after the militants overran the area in early 2007 and held it for 10 months. Musa Qala lies at the heart of the country's opium poppy-producing region.

In eastern Khost province, meanwhile, four Afghan guards working for the U.S. military were killed when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb Tuesday, said Wazir Pacha, a spokesman for the provincial police chief. Another guard was wounded in the blast in the Shinkay district, he said.

Militants regularly use roadside bombs against Afghan and foreign troops in the country.

1 soldier among 3 killed in suicide attack in Afghanistan

 

KABUL: Three persons including an Afghan soldier were killed in a suicide car bomb blast here on Friday.
Governor Gazni Province, Afghan, Faizullah Faizan said a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a convoy of Afghan troops, killing one soldier and two civilians. Five others were injured in the incident.
Initially no one accepted the responsibility of the attack.

Taliban declare truce in SWA

WANA: Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who has been blamed for assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, has declared an indefinite ceasefire with government forces. "Baitullah (Mehsud) has ordered an 'indefinite' truce following months of clashes in the North and South Waziristan and neighbouring tribal regions," said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omar on Wednesday. However, the military spokesman said they were not aware of any truce and vowed that operations against militants in the rugged region near the Afghan border would continue. "We have announced ceasefire for an indefinite period because the government stopped attacking us," Omar, the spokesman, told a foreign news agency by telephone from an undisclosed location. "Baitullah Mehsud has ordered his people to stop attacks against security forces from Waziristan

8 cops killed in Afghanistan clash

KABUL: At least eight policemen were killed Thursday during an operation by U.S.-led coalition troops in central Afghanistan, an Afghan official said.
The officers died in the village of Ghariban in Ghazni province during an operation that included U.S. ground forces and air strikes, said the deputy head of Ghazni's provincial council, Habeb-ulRahman.
It was unclear whether Afghan troops also took part in the raid.
Two other villagers, including a woman, were killed in the clash, Rahman said. It was not immediately clear how the officers and civilians were killed.

One soldier killed in South Waziristan clashes

 

WANA: The miscreant militants have been shelling the military's Razmak Camp in North Waziristan since last night, with at least 50 to 70 mortar shells having been fired, the sources said on Wednesday.
At least one soldier of the security forces has been killed while another 2 have been injured during the clashes.
Heavy firing and shelling continued on throughout the night and into the early morning hours in South Waziristan as security forces shell militant positions in Makeen, Chakmalay, and Spinkai Raghzai. So far no casualties have been reported, but 2 security personnel have been injured.
The security forces have also set up a refugee camp in South Waziristan for families who are leaving their homes to find safer areas. So far 50 families have arrived at the camp and have been provided food and medical supplies.

Seven troops, 40 militants killed in South Waziristan

 

 

WANA: Seven Pakistani soldiers and up to 40 Islamic militants were killed in clashes after hundreds of rebels captured a paramilitary fort near the Afghan border, the army said Wednesday.
Heavy fighting erupted after militants armed with rocket launchers attacked the outpost at Sararogha town in the South Waziristan tribal district overnight”, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.
“Yesterday around midnight 400 miscreants attacked the Frontier Corps at Sararogha. There are reports of 40 to 50 dead miscreants, while seven personnel embraced martyrdom," Abbas said.

Taliban attack shows need to address terror threat: UN chief

 

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon suggested that the deadly attack by Taliban militants on a Kabul luxury hotel targeted the Norwegian foreign minister and said it highlighted the need for action against extremist violence.
"I am very much surprised by this terrorist attack against the foreign minister of Norway (Jonas Gahr Stoere)," the secretary general told reporters here.
He was referring to the attack which killed six people, including an American, and injured six in Kabul's posh Serena hotel while Stoere was inside.
"I feel fortunate that he (Stoere) was not injured, but that really confirms that we must take necessary measures to address" terrorism, Ban said.
He noted that his upcoming attendance at a Madrid meeting aimed at fostering greater cross-cultural understanding "is part of that kind of campaign by the international community."
Ban was to join other personalities from around the world at the January 15-16 Alliance of Civilizations forum gathering hosted by the Spanish government.
The Alliance is a 2005 initiative by former UN chief Kofi Annan and the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey aimed at bringing together institutions and civil society to bridge prejudices and misunderstandings between peoples of different cultures and religions.
Stoere was unharmed in the attack -- which included a suicide blast -- and took shelter with other guests in the basement afterwards, hotel and Norwegian officials said.

Joint fight against terrorists vital for peaceful polls: PM

 

 

 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro on Tuesday termed extremism a common challenge for entire nation including political parties, which he said needed to be confronted to ensure holding of general elections in a peaceful and transparent manner.
He was talking to Senators including Senator Maulana Sami Ul Haq, Razina Alam Khan, Waqar Ahmad Khan and Senator Israr Ullah Zehri, who met him separately at the PM Secretariat here.
Soomro said the determination of government and people to see a stable Pakistan was stronger than the intents of the forces wanting to destabilize the political process.
The Prime Minister said free, fair, transparent and peaceful election would bring about political and economic stability in the country.
He said the country was facing shortage of energy and the government was making best possible efforts to expand resources through conservation. About availability of flour in markets, the Prime Minister reiterated that elements involved in hoarding and black marketing would be dealt with strongly.
The government, he said, has established the National Food Security Commission to ensure equitable and transparent distribution of wheat to the Flour Mills and subsequent availability of flour in the market including Utility Stores.
The Prime Minister said the government had taken appropriate measures to ensure law and order during the month of Muharram and called upon all the religious leaders to support the efforts for ensuring peace and harmony in the society.
The Senators apprised the Prime Minister of prevailing socio-economic situation in different parts of the country and gave proposals to help overcome the problems.

Lawyers get missive from Taliban

PESHAWAR: Members and office-bearers of Peshawar High Court Bar Association and Supreme Court Bar Association have received threatening letters from unknown miscreants, The Statesman came to know here on Monday.

The female member of SCBA executive committee and other office-bearers have received similar letters from the people who identified themselves Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives, demanding of them to bid good-bye to their profession.

"If they didn't quit their vocation they would face suicide bombings," the letters carried the warning.

It merits a mention here that that a similar letter was posted in which threat of bombing had been given to the lawyers before a meeting of Pakistan Bar Council and National Lawyers Action Committee held here on Sunday.

Resultantly, a heavy contingent of police personnel was deployed in order to provide foolproof security to the lawyer fraternity and policemen were on qui vive amid fear all the day in anticipation of any untoward incident on the court premises.

Govt to move tripartite body

PESHAWAR: Pakistan has decided to make a complaint to Pak-Afghan-US tripartite commission comprising senior representatives of the three countries over the failure of Afghan government to stop infiltration of militants from Afghanistan, official sources informed on Monday.

According to sources, Pakistan would take up the matter of rise in the attacks on security forces in tribal areas and suicide attacks in various parts of the country.

The sources maintained that intelligence agencies have submitted a report to the government about infiltration of Taliban militants to tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border. "Pakistan will ask the Afghan government to increase security on the border as the militants after carrying out attacks on the Pak forces fled to Afghanistan," they said.

They said that the meeting is expected to be held within a few days.

The sources said that Pakistan had already deployed approximately one lakh troops along the border with Afghanistan. "Pakistan will demand a similar number of troops to be deployed by Afghanistan as both the country are equal partners in war on terrorism," they said.

They said that senior leaders of Taliban movement sitting in Afghanistan had been guiding Taliban militants for carrying out attacks on the security forces and suicide bombings in various cities of the country.

According to reports reaching here from Waziristan tribal region, the government had been making tribal lashkar for launching full-scale operation against Taliban militants. "The security forces will provide full help to the tribal lashkar for flushing out Taliban militants and terrorists from the areas," said a source.

According to him, lashkars would be formed in other tribal agencies including Mohmand and Bajaur agencies. "All the political agents have been issued instructions to establish contacts with prominent tribal leaders and maliks for seeking their support," he added.

23 militants, 7 troops killed in Mohmand clash

GHALLANAI: Pro-Taliban militants on Monday attacked a convoy of security forces in Qandharu region of the Mohmand Agency, triggering a firefight that left seven soldiers and 23 militants dead. The clash near Qayyumabad, Qandharu region, erupted when militants attacked a paramilitary convoy, killing seven security men. The forces responded the attack, killing 23 of the attackers. Local Taliban commander Faqir Hussain was among the rebels

Musharraf: U.S. troops keep out of Pakistan U.S.: Military operations continue ‘in full cooperation’ along Afghan border

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Despite the growing threat from Islamic extremists, President Pervez Musharraf said U.S. troops are not welcome to join the fight against al-Qaida on Pakistani soil.

Musharraf warned in an interview published Friday that Pakistan would resist any unilateral military action by the United States against militants sheltering in its lawless, tribal regions close to the Afghan border.

"I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he told Singapore's The Straits Times in the interview, notable for its unusually strident language. "They would regret that day."

The Pakistan-Afghan border has long been considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, as well as a staging ground for Taliban militants planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.

'In full cooperation'
The New York Times reported last week that Washington was considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the U.S. military to launch aggressive covert operations within the tribal regions. Several U.S. presidential candidates have also hinted they would support unilateral action in the area.

On Friday, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that anything the U.S. has done, and anything it will do, has been "in full cooperation" with Pakistan's government.

Musharraf said U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions without his permission. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper's Web site.

Musharraf also said in the interview that he would resign if opposition parties tried to impeach him after parliamentary elections set for Feb. 18.

Threats of impeachment, resignation
Pakistan's opposition is expected to make gains in the elections amid widespread sympathy for opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated Dec. 27. Opposition groups say they would try and oust the president, although it is still doubtful they could muster the two-thirds parliamentary majority required.

Musharraf — who seized power in a military coup eight years ago — is seen as vulnerable to impeachment over his decision to fire Supreme Court judges and suspend the constitution last year.

"If that (impeachment) happens, let me assure that I'd be leaving office before they would do anything. If they won with this kind of majority and they formed a government that had the intention of doing this, I wouldn't like to stick around," he said. "I would like to quit the scene."

Investigating Thursday's attack
On Thursday, a suicide bombing by a suspected Islamic extremist in the eastern city of Lahore killed 24 people in the first major attack since Bhutto's assassination. All but three of the dead in the bombing outside the High Court were police officers.

Investigators reconstructed the face of the suicide bomber and took prints off his severed fingers on Friday as they probed the attack, which exposed Pakistan's growing vulnerability to Islamic extremists ahead of the elections.

The bombing was the latest in a series of at least 20 suicide attacks in the country over the past three months that have killed around 400 people, many of them security officers.

Lahore police released a photo of the bomber — who appears to be around 30 years old with medium-length black hair and a thin mustache and beard — after reconstructing his mutilated face. Investigators also recovered prints from two of his fingers and were trying to match them with those in a national database, said Lahore anti-terrorism police officer Masood Aziz.