Frustrated Pakistan Army shells Afghanistan border

ASADABAD: Afghan authorities on Sunday alleged that hundreds of rockets had been fired into Afghanistan from Pakistan in recent days, killing a child and forcing hundreds to flee their homes.

Interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqui did not specify who was behind the cross-border shelling but added: “We call on Pakistan, whoever is behind the attacks, to prevent it immediately.”

He said that more than 340 rockets had been fired into Afghanistan over the past four days, mostly landing in villages and farmland in the province of Kunar.

About 500 rockets and shells have allegedly been fired since Wednesday into eastern Kunar, destroying six homes, two mosques and displacing more than 100 people in the province’s Dangam district, provincial governor Fazlullah Wahidi.

Cross-border shelling incidents by Pakistan Army frequently cause tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The border area between the two countries is seen as highly dangerous and a sanctuary for militants who launch attacks in Afghanistan.

In June, Afghanistan warned that cross-border attacks could threaten “improving trust and cooperation” between the neighbours unless Pakistan addressed the issue.

Pakistan denies any official involvement in the incidents.

The latest shelling came shortly after the United States called on Pakistan to “break any link they have” with militants from the Haqqani network in border districts.

In response, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani rejected claims of Pakistani complicity with the Haqqanis and said that US policy on Afghanistan was in “disarray.”

8th Grader Christian Girl accused of blasphemy for a spelling error in Pakistan

ABBOTTABAD: It may have been a mere misplaced dot that led to accusations of blasphemy against a Christian eighth-grader, whose miniscule error led to her expulsion from school and uproar amongst local religious leaders.

Faryal Bhatti, a student at the Sir Syed Girls High School in Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) colony Havelian, erroneously misspelt a word in an Urdu exam while answering a question on a poem written in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The word in question was ‘laanat’ instead of ‘naat’ – an easy error for a child to make, as the written versions of the words are similar.

According to the school administration and religious leaders who took great exception to the hapless student’s mistake, the error is ‘serious’ enough to fall within the realm of blasphemy, Saturday.

Spelling out her punishment

On Thursday, Faryal’s Urdu teacher was collecting the answer sheets from her students when she noticed the apparently offensive word on her pupil’s sheet. The teacher, Fareeda Bibi, reportedly summoned the Christian girl, scolded her and beat her. Her punishment, however, did not end here. When Faryal’s class fellows learnt of the alleged blasphemy, the teacher brought the principal’s notice to the matter, who further informed the school management.

In the meanwhile, the news spread throughout the colony. The next day, male students of the POF colony school as well as certain religious elements took out a rally, demanding the registration of a criminal case against the eighth-grader and her expulsion from the area.

Prayer leaders within the community also condemned the incident in their Friday sermons, asking the colony’s administration to not only take action against Faryal but her entire family. In the wake of the increasing tensions, Managing Director POF Colony Havelian Asif Siddiki called a meeting of colony-based ulemas and school teachers to discuss the situation. The girl and her mother were asked to appear before the meeting, where they explained that it was a mere error, caused by a resemblance between the two words. The two immediately apologised, adding that Faryal had no malicious intentions.

In a move that was apparently meant to pacify the religious elements clamouring for action against the teenage ‘blasphemer’, the POF administration expelled her from the school on Saturday. Faryal was not the only one who got in trouble for her spelling error, however, as her mother, Sarafeen Bhatti, who was a staff nurse at the POF Hospital Havelian for several years, was immediately transferred to POF Wah Cantonment Hospital.

Decision applauded

While talking to The Express Tribune, Maulana Alla Dita Khateeb of Gol Masjid praised the decision of the POF colony administration, claiming that he had personally seen the answer sheet in question. He further went on to say that he had met the girl himself, who had apologised for the word used in error.  Asked whether the incident still fell within the realm of blasphemy and whether Faryal deserved expulsion when she had misspelt the word unintentionally, Khateeb said that although he was unclear about the intentions of the girl, the word she had used was sacrilegious.

The managing director of POF Colony was not available for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2011. http://tribune.com.pk/story/259907/girl-accused-of-blasphemy-for-a-spelling-error/ 

Afghanistan Cricket Team express concern over touring Lahore

LAHORE: The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has expressed concern over visiting Pakistan as the team takes part in the country’s domestic National Twenty20 Championship to be held in dengue-ridden Lahore.

The board has suggested putting off the event if the situation in the city, where over 3,000 people have been infected with the deadly virus, remains the same.

However, The Express Tribune understands that the event will go ahead as planned but with extra precautions taken to combat the dengue virus.

The event, featuring 13 regional teams along with Afghanistan, is expected to attract a full house at the Gaddafi Stadium, situated in an area situated declared to be a risk for the deadly disease. The Punjab Government has also declared an emergency situation to deal with the menace that has affected over 4,000 in the province.

“It’s a concern not just for us but also for the other teams,” ACB Director Marketing and Media Tariq Naeem told The Express Tribune. “We are getting updates through media reports and it appears that the situation is not good.

“Obviously the PCB itself is monitoring the situation very closely but we will decide in a couple of days,” added Naeem. “As far as what the situation is right now, I can only suggest postponing it in the best interest of the public and the players but we will still wait for the hosts to make the final decision.”

Meanwhile, the Karachi City Cricket Association had requested the PCB to arrange for their practice sessions to be held in Lahore, a call that was denied by the board.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th,  2011.

Taliban kills 3 ISI agents in Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Suspected Taliban militants killed three Pakistani intelligence officials in a tribal region on Wednesday, intelligence officials and police said.

The Pakistani Taliban, seen as the biggest security threat to the government, have become more brazen since their ally Osama bin Laden was killed in a US raid in Pakistan in May.

The militants have carried out high-profile suicide bombings and attacked a major naval base and Western targets.

In Wednesday’s attack, militants ambushed a vehicle carrying officials from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), opening fire from several directions on a road in the tribal region of Bannu. One intelligence official was wounded.

“The vehicle belonged to the ISI and was attacked with Kalashnikovs. Three people were killed and one was critically wounded,” Sajjad Khan, a senior police official, told Reuters.

They were low-ranking ISI officials.

About 5,000 security forces and police have been killed since Pakistan joined the US-led war on militancy after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Pakistani officials say.

The Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, have recently focused on attacking pro-government tribes.

Pakistan flood relief camps refuse to help Hindu and Christian flood victims

BADIN: The floods have wreaked havoc across Sindh but the most vulnerable of its people, the scheduled castes, have to pay an extra price.

Organisations conducting relief efforts, and not just the religious ones, have been discriminating against the religious minority (i.e. Hindus, Sikhs and Christians) , Mohan Kolhi, a community chief living near Khoski town, told The Express Tribune.

A religious organisation set up a relief camp in Khoski town but not a single bag was distributed to members from the scheduled caste community, he said. “When we visited the relief camp, the prayer leader of the mosque told us that the ration is only for Muslims,” said Kolhi, adding that they were not even allowed to drink water from fountains set up outside the camps.

“Sindh is our motherland and we have been living here for centuries,” he said. “So what if we are scheduled castes? We are also humans.”

Indebted, ruined

Sindh’s scheduled castes, including the Kolhis, Menghwars, Bheels and Oads, are predominantly employed as farmers in Badin district.

These Hindu farmers usually take loans from landlords and tend to the land with their families all year round to pay back. As such, they are most vulnerable to the devastating rains and ensuing floods.

“My landlord loaned Rs50,000 and I used it to plant cotton on 20 acres,” said Kolhi. “All my crops have been damaged. I don’t know how I will pay back my landlord,” he added.

Kirtar Lal Menghwar, an agricultural expert who works at the Laar Humanitarian and Development Program (LHDP) corroborated Kolhi’s account.

Organisations that have set up relief camps in towns are following in the footsteps of banned religious organisations and discriminating against minorities, he said. “They ignore the hindus and christians every time disaster strikes, whether it is cyclones, floods or heavy rains,” said Menghwar.

The 50,000 Hindus living in different villages across Badin are facing similar problems, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2011.

3 Pak men plead guilty to terror-related charges in US

WASHINGTON: Three Pakistani nationals, accused of helping to smuggle into the US a member of a terrorist organisation, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to the Pakistani Taliban.

Irfan Ul Haq (37), Qasim Ali (32) and Zahid Yousaf (43), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation at a court hearing on Monday.

The sentencing is scheduled for December 9, wherein each of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to USD 250,000.

As part of their plea agreements, the defendants have agreed to a stipulated order of removal to Pakistan upon the completion of their criminal sentences.

“These defendants sought to smuggle someone they believed to be a member of a terrorist organisation from halfway around the world into the United States,” said assistant attorney general Lanny A Breuer.

“For financial profit, they were willing to jeopardise the safety and security of the American people. Human smuggling operations pose a serious risk to our national security, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners at home and abroad to combat this dangerous threat,” Breuer said.

Irfan, Ali and Yousaf were arrested in Miami on March 13, on an indictment filed in the District of Columbia, charging them with one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling.

Based on the defendants’ guilty pleas to terrorism conspiracy charges, the government will dismiss at the sentencing hearing the charges of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling against the defendants.

The Justice Department said Irfan, Ali and Yousaf admitted that between January 3 and March 10 they conspired to provide material support to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the form of false documentation and identification, knowing that the TTP engages in terrorist activity and terrorism.

According to court documents, the three men conducted a human smuggling operation in Quito,Ecuador, that attempted to smuggle an individual they believed to be a member of the TTP from Pakistan into the United States.

According to the court documents, the defendants agreed to move this person from Pakistan into the United States, despite his purported affiliation with the TTP.

 

Source: New York Times

ISI helped Osama bin Laden to escape US dragnet in Tora Bora

NEW YORK: Pakistan’s military-run ISI could have provided protection to slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden for a period of time, suggests the latest issue of ‘The New Yorker’ magazine.

Former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh told the magazine’ writer Dexter Filkins, a Pulitzer prize winner, that an ISI operative Syed Akbar Sabir had escorted bin Laden from the Pakistani region of Chitral to Peshawar, passing through Kunar Province, in Afghanistan, along the way.

“We believed that he was part of the ISI operation to care for bin Laden,” Saleh, who directed the Afghan intelligence service from 2004 to 2010, said.

He said the ISI operative had been arrested by Afghan intelligence in 2005 when he narrated the events unfolding in Afghanistan, post 9/11.

The article talks about another ISI agent Fida Muhammad, who too had been arrested by Afghan intelligence agents.

The article says Muhammad, who described himself as a civilian employee of ISI, said in May that for much of the past decade, he had escorted Haqqani fighters from their sanctuaries in Pakistan into Afghanistan, where they fought against the Americans.

Muhammad said his most memorable job came in December, 2001, when he was part of a large ISI operation intended to help jihadi fighters escape from Tora Bora–the mountainous region where bin Laden was trapped for several weeks, until he mysteriously slipped away.

Muhammad said that when the American bombing of Tora Bora began, in late November, he and other ISI operatives had gone there, and into other parts of eastern Afghanistan, to evacuate training camps whose occupants included al-Qaida fighters.

China sends $50000 to Pakistan in flood relief

ISLAMABAD: The Chinese Ambassador, HE Liu Jian called on Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar Sunday  to convey the decision of the Chinese Government to dispatch relief goods worth 30 million RMB (US $4.7million) for the flood affectees and handed over a cheque worth $50,000 to the disaster management authority..

He also conveyed sympathies of the Chinese Government regarding the devastation caused by the widespread monsoon rains.

The Foreign Minister thanked the Ambassador for the prompt response to the appeal for relief assistance.

She stated that as true friend of Pakistan, China was the first country to announce assistance for flood affected people in 2011.

The Foreign Minister underlined the magnitude of devastation caused by the floods. She apprised the Ambassador that the priority at this stage of relief and rescue was waterproof tents.

In the aftermath of the 2010 floods, China was one of the major international aid donors to Pakistan, providing over $200 million in emergency flood aid.

While the Pakistan government has called for foreign aid to help with the devastating floods, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has spoken against foreign aid, saying that government resources were adequate and there was no need for seeking help from foreign countries.

Current flooding has reportedly taken 199 lives and destroyed or damaged nearly one million houses, and flooded 4.2 million acres of land.

ISI uses medieval style torture cell for Baloch insurgents

Sialkot (Pakistan) police discovered a medieval style torture cell in a hotel in Sialkot Pakistan.

Express Tribune reported:

District Police Officer (DPO) Bilal Sadiq Kamiyana issued orders on Saturday for a police team to raid the hotel and uncover the torture den. A team led by Station House Officer (SHO) Malik Naveed raided a local hotel in the district and discovered a room in the basement with several handcuffs and weapons. “Police recovered pliers, scissors and other tools being used to torture prisoners. There was also a water tub and canes. Police officials also found a gun and handcuffs,” said Naveed. Naveed denied having any knowledge of the torture cell and said that two police constables had been using the cell. “They had been questioning prisoners in the cell and then returned them to the prison cells,” he said. “The men have confessed to the crimes,” he added.
Police constables Maulavi Arshad and Azeem Ahmed have been implicated in the case. “I conducted an inquiry in the local police stations and these men were found responsible for operating the torture cell,” he added.

The torture cell is said to be run by the local police but a deeper analysis unearths the stench of ISI. Such a heinous crime cannot be conducted by some petty local policemen without support from someone more powerful. There is a strong possibility that this cell (and several others undiscovered cells) is used for torturing the people abducted by ISI from Balochistan. Balochistan has been suffering from a long time in the hands of Pakistan Army and Intelligence agency. More than 100,000 Balochs have suffered since 1947. The higher authorities, under pressure from ISI, are trying to cover-up the things.

Pak Intelligence Agency ISI creating terror in China for new advanced weapon?

So its true again. Religious extreme has taken over the all weather friendship higher than Himalayas and deeper than ocean. ISI has done what it is best at, creating religious terror in neighboring countries. And no, it is not India this time on the target but China. The Chinese News Agency “Xinhua” reported:

According to suspects captured after the attacks, the group’s leaders learned how to makeexplosives and firearms in camps run by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a terrorist group in Pakistan, the government of Kashgar said in an online statement.

Time and again Pakistan has proved itself the epicenter of Islamic Terror. Pakistan government accepted that these attacks has been prepared by terrorists on their soil. The thing which is hidden is that these terrorists are controlled by ISI.

What is the benefit of Pakistan by spreading terror in China?

Pakistan is in serious need of new weapons to match the capability of its eastern neighbor India. Since it’s fallout with United States, it has been begging around the world for new weapons. Due to the bad image of Pakistan no other country is willing to extend their support it, not for free of course which Pakistan wants posing themselves as a bankrupt nation (and still testing Nukes). 

Their new idea is to spread terror in China and then get new weapons (like stealth fighter plane of J series and nuclear sub-marine) for free in an effort to support the Chinese in their war against terror. Will ISI be able to fool China? Only time will tell.