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MUZAFFARABAD- At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing that ripped through an Imambargah in ‘Azad’ Kashmir’s main city on Sunday. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a Muharram procession in Muzaffarabad. “When the volunteers spotted the suicide bomber and challenged him, he blew himself up,” local religious leader Maulvi Kifayat told a private TV channel. Raja Kafil Ahmad, spokesman for the Azad Kashmir government, said 11 people had…

By Tariq Naqash in the Dawn, Dec 27 MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 26: Activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a demonstration here on Saturday to condemn the killing of a teenaged student and alleged rigging in a by-election in Gilgit-Baltistan. They warned the Pakistan People’s Party to desist from installing “puppet regime” in the region. The demonstration, organised by the Kashmir National Party (KNP), National Lawyers Forum (NLF), National Students Federation (NSF) and Balawaristan National Front (BNF),…

The Daily Times, Nov 26 ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has established a de facto government in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will not accept it as a de jure government, a PML-N fact sheet said on Wednesday. “It was the PPP’s first opportunity, since coming to power, to hold independent and transparent elections according to the constitution and the Charter of Democracy (CoD), but it broke all records of rigging and…

The Dawn, Dec 24 GILGIT, Dec 23: The transporters have called their strike off in Gilgit-Baltistan. After the decision of the union of transporters, public transport has been resumed in the region. The decision was taken when union leaders and government officials reached consensus about fixation of new fares after rise in prices of petroleum products. The strike had paralysed life in some parts of the area for the last some days and with the…

by Usman Manzoor in The News, Dec 23 ISLAMABAD: The senior most judge of the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), in an unprecedented decision, has declared the ‘monitoring cell’ created by the AJK chief justice as unconstitutional. He held this while passing an order after hearing a case of collecting examination and registration fee from the students of the quake-hit areas. Explaining the difference between the monitoring cell ordered by the Supreme…

The Dawn, Dec 23 GILGIT, Dec 22: A strike called by public transporters in Gilgit entered second day on Tuesday affecting normal life and creating problems for commuters. The Gilgit transport union, which has called the strike, has vowed to go ahead with the step till acceptance of their demand for an increase in fares following hike in prices of the petroleum products. There was no public transport service between Gilgit and its vicinities like…

GILGIT, Dec 21: The administration of Gilgit-Baltistan has been instructed to get itself prepared to hold local government elections in June, an official source disclosed. The source said that though schedule of elections was yet to be chalked out but it was more likely to be announced for June. It is pertinent to note here that local governments had been dissolved in October 2009 and there was silence as to when new elections would be…

By Khaleeq Kiani in The Dawn, Dec 22 ISLAMABAD: The federal government was shocked on Monday over the unfolding of a diplomatic fiasco arising out of a controversy between the Azad Kashmir government and state-owned companies of the South Korea over the $800 million hydropower project on River Jhelum. Two federal ministries took pains on Monday to get themselves absolved of the responsibility and passed the blame on to the bureaucracy in Azad Kashmir for…

ISLAMABAD (APP) – Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan Syed Mehdi Shah Monday said the appointment of new Governor and Cabinet of the area to run the govt affairs would be announced within next ten days. “We commend President Asif Ali Zardari’s announcement that the new Governor of the area would be a local person who could deliver for prosperity and betterment of the people,” he said while talking to mediamen during his visit to the Peoples Secretariat,…

MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 21: AJK President Raja Zulqarnain Khan here on Monday announced that two more full-fledged universities would be established in the region in near future to create maximum opportunities of acquiring higher education. “I would like to see the upgradation of Rawalakot and Kotli campuses as independent universities in near future. We should start working in this direction so that we are able to establish at least two more universities during the next five…