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…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
If you are worried about shrinking public space for smoking, move over to China. The Communist government in Gongan county in Central China has turned smoker friendly. Just to mop up more revenue. ‘Smoke or face fine’ is the decree to government employees. More than 350 million people smoke in Gongan. One million of them die of smoking-related diseases every year. The ‘puff more’ dictum has something to do with inter- county tax structures. Gongan…
Bangladesh is dropped from the US watch list on religious freedoms. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), government aided panel had placed Bangladesh on the list of countries deemed to violate minorities’ right to religious freedom for the past three years from 2005 to 2008. The Commission in its latest report released in Washington this past week noted that the election held last year end has brought about some qualitative difference. It…
Enemy (Vested) Property Act of Bangladesh is a successor to the Enemy Property Act, 1965 of Pakistan. Before commencement of the Indo-Pak war in 1965, Pakistan declared emergency and promulgated Defence of Pakistan Ordinance on Sep 5, 1965. Under this ordinance, the Pak govt assumed powers to make rules for ensuring security, public safety and defence of Pakistan, and also for securing maintenance of public order. On the same day, the Pak govt framed Defence…
The question of Bangladesh giving transit facilities to India and entering into a trade and investment agreement with that country is purely an economic issue and not a political one as is being made out by some Bangladesh parties. The transit facility will benefit both countries economically. Bangladesh stands to gain as much as Tk 50,000 million in the first year; in 5 years the amount might go up to Tk 150,000 million. Other gain…
While Bangladesh continues to grapple with the fall-out of BRD mutiny that rocked the BDR HQ at Pilkhana on Feb 25, the name of Salauddin Qader Choudhury (SQC), a shipping tycoon has come up during preliminary investigation of some of the rebels. It also transpired that Tk 1 Crore was pumped in to assist, instigate and boost the morale of the rebels. SQC is very close to the Pak ISI and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.…
As the Taliban is fast expanding its control over NWFP and threatening to step into Islamabad, the worried world leaders are sending their special envoys to Pakistan to press the Zardari Government and the Army for urgent measures to contain the growing menace. Already Special envoys of France, Britain, and Italy arrived in Islamabad for talks with the Pak leadership. The British Special Envoy, Sir Sherad Cooper, has planned to stay in the country for…