Taliban warns Pakistan against releasing Raymond Davis

Tribune

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban warned the government on Tuesday it would punish any move to release a US consulate employee accused of murdering two Pakistanis in a case that has inflamed already strained ties with Washington.

“If (Pakistani) rulers hand him over to America then we will target these rulers. If Pakistani courts cannot punish Davis then they should hand him over to us,” said Azam Tariq, spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban movement of Pakistan).

“We will give exemplary punishment to the killer Davis.”

The warning from the al-Qaeda linked Taliban, which has kept up suicide bombings to destabilise Pakistan’s government despite several army offensives, underscores the charged atmosphere surrounding Davis’ case.

US Senator John Kerry was due in Pakistan as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to resolve the crisis.

Raymond Davis, the US consular employee jailed in Lahore for shooting two Pakistanis last month, says he acted in self-defence during an armed robbery.

Washington insists Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released but the Pakistani government, fearful of a backlash from Pakistanis already wary of the United States and enraged by the shooting, says the matter should be decided in court.

On Thursday, the United States is expected to present a petition to a Lahore court to certify that Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released.

Religious parties don’t win many votes in elections. But the government can’t afford to ignore the groups who often seize on issues concerning the United States to promote their cause.

“Of course he (Davis) should not be released. He has committed a crime and he should be punished. He doesn’t have immunity,” said Yahya Mujhaid, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which was blacklisted by the UN over its links to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group blamed for the 2008 attack on Mumbai. It denies it has links to the LeT.

“If he is released, we will register our protest but in a peaceful way. We will hold rallies … Not only us, the whole of Pakistan will protest against any such move.”

Supporters of the slain men have held protests and burned US flags. In addition to the two men Davis shot, a third man was killed when a U.S. consulate vehicle, apparently trying to rescue Davis, struck and killed a passer-by.

Taliban commander arrested in Karachi

Police arrested injured Taliban commander from a private hospital in Karachi on Tuesday.
According to the details, the police, acting on a tip, raided a private hospital in North Nazimabad area and arrested Sarzameen Khan who was admitted there for the last 4 days.
Sources say the Taliban commander was shot by unknown armed men and subsequently admitted to the said hospital. He was being treated at Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.
Three people, including hospital administrator Naeem-ud-Din, were also arrested during the operation.
The arrested militant leader was later shifted to an unknown location, sources told.

Both Taliban, India a threat to Pakistan: Musharraf

Tribune


The former president says that although Taliban pose a current threat, Pakistan should always be wary of India.


The Taliban pose a current threat to Pakistan whereas India has always posed a threat to the country, said former president Pervez Musharraf in an interview aired on Monday.
Musharraf, who was talking to Al Jazeera’s Riz Khan, said that there is no comparison between the Taliban and India as both pose a serious threat to the country.


In a response to a viewer’s question asking him whether he saw India as a bigger threat to Pakistan than the Taliban, he said:
“I think there’s no comparison. You can’t compare. Both have posed a threat. Taliban are posing a threat now, India has posed a threat all along,” he said referring to the three wars the two countries have fought since gaining independence in 1947 .
He said that the threat from India should not be taken lightly. “In 2002, they matched the entire Indian military force against our borders… they always pose a threat… I don’t think there is any comparison, this or that. Taliban pose the threat (at this moment) but that doesn’t mean we can take India lightly.”
He said that Pakistan should always be prepared for an Indian offensive, saying “whenever there is an attack in India, hysteria (is) created by politicians in India to attack us, to punish Pakistan. If God forbid, another incident takes place by extremists and terrorists within India… (and it) thinks that they should attack Pakistan, where do the armed forces go? We have to have our guard up against the eastern border. At the moment it is this (Taliban) but if India plans to attack Pakistan, it’ll shift to India then.”
Musharraf also said that the Americans should not tell Pakistan what to do in dealing with militancy in its tribal areas.
“Don’t teach us, please. Don’t micromanage for us. Where I should put the army, where I should act, where I should not act – don’t teach me this. We know more in our area in the tribal agencies than you. And also don’t come across the border.”
He added: “When you get into micromanagement and try to dictate terms to Pakistan, there are differences of opinion but it’s unfortunate that people don’t understand this differentiating between the strategic plane and the tactical plane.”

Two lady bombers enter Karachi

The Nation

KARACHI - Intelligence agencies have warned women suicide bombers would hit the upcoming procession of Imam Hussan's Chehlum to be held tomorrow.

According to reports, secrete agencies have warned about the possible terrorist attack on the occasion of the Chehlum and informed that Lashker-e-Jahngvi and Tehreek Taliban Pakistan have planned to carry out terrorist activities while dispatching two female suicide bombers in the city to sabotage the Chehlum procession.

It is pertinent to mention here that police high-ups are being informed and discussed the matter with relevant Shia authorities and briefed about the available details and threats.

Sources privy to the matter said that the police high-ups have informed about the possible security threat and directed to take all precautionary measures ahead of the security of procession. The sources pointed out that agencies have described extremist elements have chosen the venue from where the said female bombers would sneak into the procession to accomplish their subversive task. According to the reports, surrounding areas of Radio Pakistan in the limits of Preedy police jurisdiction are much more sensitive and selected by the militants as entry point. However, the security agencies have chalked out a strategy for the security of the Chehlum procession.

Meanwhile, two more people were gunned down in the separate incidents of violence in the different part of the metropolis. In the first incident, a factory worker was gunned down near National Oil Refinery within the limits of Korangi Industrial Area Police Station. Mohammad Ramzan, 29, was on his way to home when two armed men intercepted him and shot him dead near National Oil Refinery. 

However, the culprits managed to flee while police shifted the victim to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where the doctors pronounced his death and handed over the body to the family after autopsy. The victim was a resident of Future Colony Landhi. No case was registered till the filing of this report. Separately, a young man was shot dead in Christian Colony Korangi in the limits of Zaman Town Police Station.

Police said the victim was standing near VIP Marriage Hall situated in Korangi Sector when unidentified armed men targeted him, killing him on the spot. They managed to escape from the scene. Police shifted his body to JPMC for legal formalities and later moved to Edhi Morgue for identification.

ISPR denies Mullah Omar's treatment in Karachi

International newspaper claimed the Taliban head

was treated by intelligence service.

TRIBUNE

An Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman dismissed reports on Thursday that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar was treated in Karachi for a heart attack.

The spokesman strongly contradicted the news item that appeared in local and international media about the medical treatment of the spiritual leader of the insurgency. He said that news is unfounded and concocted to serve vested interests.

Earlier, an international newspaper claimed that Mullah Omar had a heart attack on the January 7 and was treated in Karachi with the help of intelligence service.

The US daily said Mullah Omar had stayed at the hospital for around four days and was later discharged.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Taliban have also dismissed the reports as baseless claims.

Police arrests TTP terrorist in Karachi

SAMAA


KARACHI: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Sindh Police arrested a terrorist of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) here on Wednesday and recovered huge quantity of weapons from his custody.


According to the police, the terrorist Chaman was arrested from Kharadar, after receiving secret information.


The terrorist hails from Bajaur Agency.

Taliban chief Mullah Omar treated in Pakistan: Report

Report says Mullah Mohammed Omar was treated for a heart

attackin Pakistan with the help of its intelligence service.

Tribune

WASHINGTON: The reclusive one-eyed chief of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Mohammed Omar was treated for a heart attack in Pakistan with the help of its intelligence service, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The spiritual leader of the insurgency, who went deep underground after the 2001 US-led invasion, suffered a heart attack on January 7 and was taken to a hospital near Karachi for several days, the Post said, citing a report by a private intelligence network run by former US security officials.

The network, operating as a private company known as “The Eclipse Group,” said its source was an unnamed physician in the hospital. “While I was not personally in the operating theater… my evaluation based on what I have heard and seeing the patient in the hospital is that Mullah Omar had a cardiac catheter complication resulting in either bleeding or a small cerebral vascular incident, or both,” the physician was quoted as saying.

The doctor added that Omar appeared to have suffered some brain damage and had slurred speech following the operation.

The report said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency had “rushed him to a hospital in Karachi, where he was given heparin (an anticoagulant) and operated on.” “After 3-4 days of post-operative care in the hospital, he was released to the ISI and ordered to take absolute bed rest when at home for at least several days,” it added.

Official denial

Although Pakistan is officially an ally of the international coalition battling the Taliban in Afghanistan, US officials have long accused the ISI of playing a double game. Pakistan has always strongly denied such charges, and its Washington ambassador Husain Haqqani said the Eclipse report “had no basis whatsoever.”

“Sometimes intelligence tips received by professionals turn out to be wrong. The story about Mullah Omar falls under that category,” he told the Post.

The Post said Eclipse appeared to be “the latest iteration of a shadowy, Pentagon-backed operation that began contracting with former CIA and military operatives to supply intelligence in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009.”

The newspaper said it was run by a former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s counterterrorism center, a retired diplomat and a former US army Special Forces information operations specialist in Iraq.

Musharraf calls Nawaz Sharif 'closet Taliban'

Indian Express

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has called former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a “closet Taliban”.

“I call Nawaz Sharif a closet Taliban. He's a man who is -- who has been -- in contact with Taliban. He is a man who, today, appeases the clerics and mawlawis [Sunni Islamic scholars] -- the extremists,” 'Foreign Policy' quoted Musharraf, as saying in an exclusive interview.

When asked why he wanted to re-enter Pakistan politics when he had himself once said that being in charge of Pakistan may well be "the hardest job in the world," Musharraf replied: “[It's about offering] another alternative to the people of Pakistan. At this moment, they are stuck between two alternatives: the [ruling] People's Party and PML-N, the party of former prime minister and Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. If you look at both of them, [they are] dysfunctional.”

“Moreover, he (Sharif) has tried [his hand at leadership as prime minister] twice in the past -- and he has failed. Why are we giving him a third chance to destroy Pakistan? My new party is an alternative to the people of Pakistan with the hope of changing the conditions of the people of Pakistan and the state,” he added.

The former military ruler said that presently, “there is such hopelessness, and there is such a sense of despondency in the people of Pakistan. It's worrisome. People are quitting Pakistan. They want to leave the country.”

“There's a leadership vacuum, and no political party has the wherewithal to meet this challenge. What I've done really is to present to the people of Pakistan with "here's another, an alternative." [And] I have been tested also for nine years,” he added.

Responding to a question as to why Pakistanis should give him another chance if they were not happy with him at the end of his presidency, Musharraf said: “I came into office on a very high pedestal; people wanted a change. Until 2007, I was very popular. And now with the situation that Pakistan is facing, my [favourability] graph has again gone up. Because Pakistanis now see what is happening.”

“The poor man is seeing what is happening. Essential items'' prices have gone up about four to five times [since I left office]… People have realized what has hit them. And a lot of people are calling me back, [saying] they want me back to save Pakistan. If you see my Facebook page, which I launched eight months back, I have a fan [base] of 350,000 now today,” he added.

Sindh police arrest 66 militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban during 2010

Daily-Times
* 10,300 constables recruited during 2010 to address growing need of additional police force in Karachi

KARACHI: Sindh police arrested 66 alleged militants associated with Tehreek-e-Taliban in the year 2010 and killed 11 terrorists in various encounters. 

A report of Sindh Home Department issued here Monday on the performance of police department during the year 2010, further stated that the police recovered 352.5-kg of high explosives, 85 detonators, 100 hand grenades and rocket launchers, 11 lives bombs and improvised explosive devices, two suicide jackets and 229 sophisticated weapons. 

It said that assault on police by criminals in various encounters across the province was 2,275 during the period 2010 as compared to 2,250 during the year 2009. 

The statistics further showed that 2,821 murders took place due to personal enmity during the year 2011 as compared to 2,800 during the year 2009. 

The cases of karo-kari registered a decline to 141 during the year as compared to 164 during the corresponding period in 2009 while cases of kidnapping for ransom also decreased to 152 in 2010 as against 198 during previous corresponding period. 

Number of highway dacoities was 52 as compared to 54 the previous year on the national and super-highways in the province while the number of overall various cases of dacoities was recorded 1,469 as against 1,759 in the year 2009. 

The number of car theft also dropped positively to 1,085 during 2010 as against 1,350 in 2009, number of case of car snatching was 498 as compared to 518 during the previous year of 2009. 

Similarly, 4,827 motorcycles were stolen from various parts of the province as against 4,895 in 2009 and the number of cattle stolen was 616 and 749 during 2010 and 2009 respectively. 

The report further stated that 10,300 constables were recruited during 2010 to address the growing need of an additional police force in Karachi while another 5,000 recruitment will be carried out soon. 

During the year issuance of computerised arms licenses was also started in the province and government set up computerised arms license management system at a cost of Rs 20 million in the Home Department. The system was aimed to combat the menace of illicit weapons, it added. 

The only forensic laboratory of the Karachi was also upgraded with all modern gadgets with ability to check all type of electronic devices, date like hard discs, cell phones, SIM cards, memory cards, CDs and floppy discs found from the crime scene. 

The laboratory caters to the needs of all 110 police stations of Karachi and over 350 in other districts of the province, the report added.

Taliban commander killed in Pakistan

Channel-News-Asia

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani security officials said Thursday that a Taliban militant commander had been killed in a gunfight with government troops in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

"Asmatullah Bhetani was killed in a gunfight with security forces in South Waziristan on the night between December 7 and 8," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another official confirmed Bhetani's death, saying there had been a reward of 10 million rupees (120,000 dollars) for his arrest.

He was killed in Sararogha, a militant stronghold in South Waziristan, where Pakistan carried out a major offensive to crush the Taliban's headquarters last year, the official said.

Bhetani was educated at a madrassa (an Islamic school) in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, before opening a seminary himself and teaching, the official said.

"He was an important militant commander," the official said.

Bhetani was arrested twice in 2006, but released after negotiations with tribal elders.

Agencies arrest Taliban into the blast at the CID center from Karachi.

The investigations into the blast at the CID centre have arrest the terrorists who is affiliated with the banned outfit group (Tehreek-e-taliban Pakistan) from the Sohrab Goth Karachi.


Investigation agencies already have investigated on this report.


The attack on the Sindh police’s main investigation agency, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) building, near PIDC, had killed at least 16 people and injured more than 140.  A coordinated gun and car bomb suicide attack had been carried out in the back alleys of what is referred to as the highest security zone in the city – mere metres away from the Sindh Chief Minister House and in the backyard of the most heavily guarded installations in the city.


The presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is not a good sign for Pakistan and especially for the people of Karachi.