Revision as of 17:36, 23 September 2015

Pakistani Taliban clash

12 killed in clash within Pak Taliban

The Times of India, June 26, 2011

Islamabad: Clashes between two commanders of the Pakistani Taliban on left at least 12 militants dead in Orakzai tribal region. One of the groups was led by commander Noor Jamal alias Tufan Khan and the rival faction was headed commander Nadeem Mullah, also known as Hanafi. Tufan is loyal to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mehsud. All those killed belonged to Hanafi’s group, but the commander himself was safe. Hanafi projects himself as part of the TTP, but the outfit spokesperson Ahsanullah Ahsan said Hanafi's group has no relation with his organisation. Ahsan said Hanafi is leading a pro-govt militia in Orakzai Agency and that the government is backing Hanafi’s group. PTI

Terror by Pakistani Taliban

The Times of India, June 27, 2011

In a first, Taliban unleash female suicide bomber in Pak

Dera Ismail Khan: The Pakistani Taliban had sent a husband and wife suicide squad to carry out an attack on a police station in northwestern Pakistan that killed 10 people, a rare instance of militants using a woman as a bomber. The pair entered the police station in Kolachi and said they were there to lodge a complaint, said Imtiaz Shah, a senior police official. Once inside, the two attacked with grenades and machine guns, triggering a fivehour standoff with police. Both attackers, including the woman wearing a burqa, eventually blew themselves up. They killed eight police officers and two civilians, said Mohammad Hussain, another police official. “This shows how much we hate Pakistani security institutions,” Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said. Ahsan claimed it was the first time the militant group had used a female suicide bomber. However, Pakistani officials said a female suicide bomber wearing a burqa attacked a World Food Program food distribution centre in northwestern Pakistan late last year, killing 45 people.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack in Khar, the main city in the Bajur tribal area, but never claimed it was carried out by a female bomber. Still, that was believed to be the group’s first attack by a female suicide bomber. Male suicide bombers often don the burqa as a disguise. In 2007, officials initially claimed Pakistan’s first female suicide bomber had killed 14 people in the northwest town of Bannu. But the attacker was later identified as a man. Islamic militants in Iraq have used female suicide bombers several times because women in their burqas are seen as able to pass more easily through security. AP

US on terrorism in Pakistan

Mike Mullen: Abu Mullen Al-Amriki

Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

The Times of India, July 9, 2011

Pakistan govt sanctioned scribe killing: US top gen

Washington: From some accounts, he’s averaged one trip to Pakistan every month over the last couple of years. His constant and consistent support for Islamabad, even in the face of its egregious transgressions, has earned him the nickname Abu Mullen al-Amriki. Jokes abound about him being Pakistan’s real ambassador in Washington DC. So when Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said that he believed the Pakistani government had “sanctioned’’ the killing of Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad, it was a shot that was heard around the world. It also signaled how badly ties between the two countries have deteriorated, since Mullen is considered Pakistan’s biggest ally in Washington.

   With no sign that Pakistan’s military establishment, at whose feet the weak civilian government functions, will line 

up behind US objectives in the fight against terrorism, the gloves are starting to come off in Washington. Although US officials had previously indicated they had evidence implicating the Pakistani establishment in the Shahzad murder, Mullen chose to go on record about it in a meeting with the Pentagon Press Association on Thursday, going so far as to say ‘’there were government officials who had sanctioned that.’’ Some analysts are suggesting a middle way — that instead of sanctioning the entire Pakistani government or its military and intelligence establishment, US go after individuals who cross red lines. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, is among those who say the US should be drawing up a hit-list of official terrorists. Here is what Riedel proposed: We should tell the Pakistani army leadership that if we learn one of their officers is involved in harbouring terrorists, planning terror operations, or tipping terrorist bomb factories off to drone raids, we will make it personal. Don’t sanction the country or the ISI; sanction individuals.

Hafiz Saeed’s lawyer booked

Pakistani police have registered an FIR against Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed’s lawyer A K Dogar under Section 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code for allegedly “defrauding public and courts”. PTI Complicity

The Times of India, June 18, 2011

‘ISI can nab Zawahiri if it wants to’

Washington: Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has been appointed the al-Qaida chief following the killing of Osama bin Laden, is likely hiding in Pakistan and can be nabbed by ISI if it “really wants” to do so, a top United States senator has said. “Well, we believe that he is likely in Pakistan somewhere. Do I believe that the government is harbouring him? No. “Do I believe the government might know, or the ISI might know likely places where he would be? Yes. Do I believe that ISI could find him if they really wanted to? Yes,” said United States top senator Diannne Feinstein. PTI

Pakistan bars US staff from entering Peshawar

The Times of India, July 26, 2011

Washington: In an action that would further strain USPakistan relations after the killing of Osama bin Laden, Islamabad has denied permission to the US embassy staff to enter Peshawar.

Quoting US and international aid officials, the Washington Post Sunday said Pakistani authorities have repeatedly denied permission to US embassy employees to enter Peshawar to attend meetings or replace workers at the US consulate in the city over the past 10 days. Most Pakistanis view the US consulate in Peshawar as a front for CIA operations. “The widely publicized episodes in Peshawar threaten to become another flash point in a frayed bilateral ties that US officials had hoped was improving, after fatal shootings by a CIA contractor and the US commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden,” the report said.

After the killing of the al-Qaida leader by US forces and the killing of two Pakistanis by CIA contractor Raymond davis in Lahore, Pakistan expelled more than 100 US army trainers. In retaliation, the Obama administration stopped $800 million in aid to the Pakistani military.

The Washington Post report quoted US officials as saying that their embassy notified Pakistani police that their employees were driving from Islamabad to Peshawar and should be escorted from the highway into the city.

“On those occasions, the employees were turned away at the highway tollbooth for lacking permits, which are issued by interior ministry but can also involve approvals from the military or intelligence,” the report said. IANS

US moves in senate

The Times of India, June 18, 2011 Pak’s Osama session video leaked to US?

Islamabad: Pakistani authorities are reportedly suspicious that the US mission in Islamabad has clandestinely obtained the video recording of the joint sitting of Parliament held on May 13 to discuss the May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad. ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha had briefed parliamentarians during that in-camera session, which lasted for about 11 hours, about the US’ unilateral military raid that killed bin Laden. Sources said that US officials, while interacting with Pakistani authorities, gave the impression they had minute-to-minute knowledge of proceedings of the sitting. ANI

Amendments to Anti-Terrorism Act, Pakistan

The Times of India, Sep 1, 2011

Pakistan ‘incapable’ of prosecuting terrorists: US

Washington: Asserting that anti-terrorism courts of Pakistan had an acquittal rate of 75%, the US has said that Islamabad’s legal system is almost incapable of prosecuting suspected terrorists, including those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. “The review, in conjunction with information provided by Pakistani law enforcement partners, painted a picture of a legal system almost incapable of prosecuting suspected terrorists,” said the report. As such, the US does not appear to be have high hopes in the court case related to the Mumbai terrorist attack, which it is closely monitoring as six Americans were killed in this terrorist attack by Pakistan-based LeT terrorists.

It determined that “the accused in numerous high-profile terrorism incidents involving US victims had all been acquitted by the Pakistani legal system”. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation has assisted with the respective prosecutions,” the report said. Noting that Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Bill 2010 remained before parliament, the report said it proposes 25 amendments to Pakistan’s original Anti-Terrorism Act

The amendments included provisions that broaden the definition of terrorism, expand the authority of law enforcement agencies investigating terrorist incidents, authorize detention of subjects for 90 days before presenting them before a court, and allow increased electronic surveillance and wiretapping. PTI