DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Intelligence officials say at least 11 people are dead after a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in volatile northwest Pakistan. The two officials say the roadside restaurant’s visitors at the time included some two dozen militants opposed to Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. They say several others were wounded in […]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Taliban’s military campaign in southern Afghanistan is aided partly by support from operatives in Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing U.S. government officials, said the support for the Taliban and other militant groups was coordinated by operatives in the S Wing of Pakistan’s […]
The United Kingdom has unveiled a 174-page report on how to tackle the Al Qaeda threat facing it. The threat is no longer confined to Underground blasts but may be “a chemical or even nuclear terrorist attack”. And those who do it will possibly be linked to two unstable and extremism-haunted “Islamic” states, Pakistan and […]
MOSCOW: Russia is ‘very much concerned’ about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and the country must be stabilised before peace can be achieved in Afghanistan, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said in an interview with US television. ‘It’s obvious to anybody that the Pak-Afghan border is a safe haven for terrorists, for the […]
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday offered $ 5 million each for information leading to Baitullah Mehsud and for Sirajuddin Haqqani and $1 million for Abu Yahya al-Libi. The offer, announced two days before the unveiling of the new US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, indicates hardening of Washington’s stance against the militants hiding along […]
WASHINGTON: Trade will be a valuable part of the new US strategy for fighting terrorism in Pakistan, says America’s top business lobby which also called for a cut in US tariffs on Pakistani textiles. President Barak Obama is expected to announce the new strategy on Friday. In a report issued on Tuesday evening, the US […]
Apart from being a bright, young journalist, Tariq Malik was also a son and a sibling who made his family proud – the same family that now sits deprived of their prized asset. Malik was brutally murdered by armed robbers on Sunday as he and his friend Imran were walking towards his house in Defence, […]
Central Bank advisor: China’s economy has bottomed Fan Gang, who sits on the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy advisory committee, believes the Chinese economy has bottomed. While further interest rate cuts might remain an option, Mr. Fan sees ubiquitous signs for an end in China’s economic slow down. In his opinion, strong growth in car […]
LAHORE, Pakistan — The opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, sealed his place as the most popular politician in Pakistan this month when he defied his house detention and led a triumphant protest that forced the government to restore the country’s chief justice. Now, as the Obama administration completes its review of strategy toward the region this […]
LONDON: Home secretary, Jacqui Smith has expressed serious concerns about the impact in Britain of the deteriorating situation in Pakistan where al Qaida and groups affiliated to the Taliban are rapidly gaining influence in the federally administered tribal areas. The home secretary while briefing the media here on Tuesday following the publication of the UK […]
Maybe not fully committed to the dollar? New doubts about China’s confidence in the U.S. dollar emerged yesterday as Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, released a statement calling for a new international currency reserve to replace the greenback. Mr. Zhou pointed out the shortcomings of the current dollar-dominated financial system and […]
A peace agreement with pro-Taliban clerics has backfired in Pakistan. When a February peace deal between Pakistan’s government and pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammed promised to reimpose sharia law in the country’s war-torn Swat Valley, world attention focused on the pact. Swat, once known as the “Switzerland of Pakistan,” had been consumed by a violent Taliban […]
WASHINGTON: The Pakistani state could collapse within six months if immediate steps are not taken to remedy the situation, warned a top adviser to the US Central Command. David Kilcullen, who advises CENTCOM commander Gen. David H. Petraeus on the war on terror, urged US policy makers to focus their attention on Pakistan as […]
A new lawyers’ movement may be needed to address the crisis created for the legal profession in Swat after the Tehreek-e Nifaz-e Shariat-e Muhammadi (TNSM) banned the lawyers from the qazi courts set up under the tutelage of its leader, Sufi Muhammad. He warned the lawyers and judges on March 17 to stay away from […]
WHO are the people prowling the streets of Lahore from dusk to dawn, depriving people of their cellphones, cash, vehicles — and shooting to kill if anyone resists? In the last two weeks, they have struck 450 times in the city; yet Lahore’s police remain completely clueless as to their identity and whereabouts. Tariq Malik […]
