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Posts published in June 2009

Status of Indian Army and Pakistani Army in Jammu and Kashmir

By Dr. Shabir Choudhry Dr Nazir Gilani is among a few Kashmiris who regularly write on Kashmir and human rights abuse. He at times comes out with new phrases, which provide a new dimension to debates. In response to my article, ‘Another Own Goal’, he made an interesting remark:  ‘India is not an occupier in Kashmir. She is there as the consequence of a provisional agreement with the Government of Kashmir. The jurisprudence of this…

`Rah-e-Rast’ – Is Pak Army Fooling Around?

by JAMALUDDIN The Malakand and Waziristan areas, where the Army is conducting its operations to clean up the Taliban, are prohibited areas for journalists and civilians.  The only source of information on `Rah-e-Rast’ operations, therefore, is daily press briefings from the DG ISPR Major General Athar Abbas.  In a briefing on June 22, he said, “the military operation is in its final phase to eliminate terrorists from Swat. Total figure of militants who have been…

AJK bomber identified as Taliban from Waziristan

MUZAFFARABAD: The bomber responsible for the first suicide attack in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) was a member of the Taliban from Waziristan, an official said on Saturday. The blast on Friday hit an army vehicle in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the AJK, killing two soldiers and wounding three others. “The suicide bomber has been identified as Abid. He belonged to the Taliban in Waziristan,” said Raja Kafeel, a spokesman for the prime minister of…

Our scared minority communities: op-ed by Khaled Ahmed in The Daily Times, June 28

BOOK REVIEW: Thread not Scissors: Common Spiritual Heritage for Peace and Harmony; Compiled by Ahmad Salim; South Asia Resource Centre Islamabad 2009 Pp245 Price Rs400 Thank God we have got over our love of the Taliban or we would have had to apostatise a lot of other ‘potentially excludable’ communities to make the national flag almost half white. Shia, Ismaili, Bohra and Barelvi all would have found themselves in the white patch The white patch…

200 held over AJK attack

MIRPUR (AJK) – In the wake of first-ever suicide attack on security personnel in Muzaffarabad, the security has been put on red alert across AJK to foil any terrorist attempt, official sources said. The sources said Saturday that police have intensified thorough checking at all the entering and exit points. Checkposts have been erected at Bararkot, Kohala, Azad Pattan, Dhalkot, Mangla, Dhangalli, Jatlan and Gujrat-Bhimbher entry points, said Mirpur Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Tayyeb. Besides, the…

Expanding war: edit in The News, June 27

The first targeted suicide bombing has killed two soldiers in Muzaffarabad. Till now, Azad Kashmir had not been caught up in the bitter war between militants and the military being fought in Pakistan. The attack on an army vehicle has dangerous implications. The Kashmir area has a sizeable military presence, given its disputed status with India. The potential for attack is immense. Such a development could also bring extremist forces still based in Kashmir into…

AJK govt urged to reign in cleric: By Yassir Rasheed in the Dawn, June 27

KOTLI, June 26: An Afghan national, who has performed as a prayer leader in different mosques of Azad Kashmir, has been a cause of sectarian tension in the state. Recently, he provoked, through his fiery and enticing speeches, some local youths to attack members of a minority sect in the Sensa tehsil of the Kotli district, locals told Dawn. They added that after the attack the members of the minority religious sect had to close…

Two soldiers killed: Baitullah’s suicide foray into AJK

By Tariq Naqash in the Dawn, June 27 MUZAFFARABAD, June 26: Two soldiers were killed and at least three others injured in a suicide bombing here on Friday. The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the first suicide attack in Azad Kashmir. The early morning blast in army barracks in Shaukat Lines caught security personnel unawares, although “they had been on alert for four months”, a police official said. According to witnesses, a bearded…

Endangered python spotted in AJK: by Tariq Naqash in The Dawn, June 26

MUZAFFARABAD, June 25: Wildlife officials in Azad Jammu and Kashmir are trying to find out the whereabouts of a ‘near threatened’ species of a python morulus sighted recently near here during the excavation of a tunnel of a power project. “We have come to know from reliable external sources that a python morulus was recently spotted during the excavation of the tunnel of Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project but there is no news as to what happened…

Suicide bomber kills 2 troops in Pakistani Kashmir: The Washington Post, June 26

By RYAN LUCAS, AP ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber blew himself up early Friday near an army vehicle, killing at least two soldiers in the first such assault in Pakistan’s part of divided Kashmir, the military said, marking a possible escalation in the militant campaign against security forces. The attack took place in Muzaffarabad, the region’s capital. The military said in a statement three other soldiers were wounded and rushed to a nearby hospital. Although…