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			<title>Hate speech: Malik Ishaq’s counsel to argue for bail on Friday</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/581109/hate-speech-malik-ishaqs-counsel-to-argue-for-bail-on-friday</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/581109/hate-speech-malik-ishaqs-counsel-to-argue-for-bail-on-friday#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 24 Jul 13 05:13:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=581109</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[An investigation officer said that Ishaq had tried to spread hatred and create unrest in the area.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Justice Najamul Hasan of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the counsel for Malik Ishaq, a leader of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, formerly known as Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, to make his final arguments on his client’s bail petition on July 26.  The counsel for the petitioner has argued that the police have registered two baseless FIRs against his client.


An investigation officer from Bhakkar police told the court that FIRs had been registered against Ishaq on August 8, 2012, and February 2, 2013, for delivering provocative speeches at public gatherings.

He said that Ishaq had tried to spread hatred and create unrest in the area. He was arrested three months ago and is currently in jail, the officer said.

The judge asked the counsel for the petitioner to complete his arguments at the next hearing on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Justice Baqar attack: Suspercted LeJ commander planned more attacks, says IB</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/579422/justice-baqar-attack-suspercted-lej-commander-planned-more-attacks-says-ib</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/579422/justice-baqar-attack-suspercted-lej-commander-planned-more-attacks-says-ib#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jul 13 19:25:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sumera.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=579422</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[MQM leaders on LeJ's hit list.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[According to the final report submitted by Intelligence Bureau (IB) to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, IB claims that the suspected chief of banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s (LeJ) Death Squad Masoom Billa has been arrested and being questioned further by security agencies.

According to the report the accused was arrested after a prolonged observation.

The premier was told that the Billa had provided significant information regarding attack on Justice Baqar in Karachi.

The accused had revealed that the LeJ were planning more terrorist attacks in the country.

According to sources at the premier’s office, “after the briefing by the IB officials, the PM directed the agency officials to take strong action against the perpetrators and apprehend all the anti-state elements and determine who is providing arms, financial and logistical support to these terrorist factions.”

According to the report Billa was arrested in a joint operation of IB Karachi and Sindh Police from Afra Garden, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Karachi.

Report claims that Billa is not only the head of the LeJ’s Death Squad, but he is also the executor of the attack on Justice Baqar in Karachi. During interrogation, suspect told the investigation officers that Qari Bashir Ahmed Leghari andAsif Chotoo were the masterminds of the attack on Justice Baqar, while Atta-ur-Rehman was overall incharge of the operation.

Investigators further claims that suspect had revealed the future plans of the banned outfit. Billah told the investigators that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) members including Haider Abbas Rizvi were on their target due to their sectarian affiliation.

Earlier this week a suspected mastermind, Leghari, in the attack on Justice Maqbool Baqar was arrested from Surjani Town, Karachi. Leghari succumbed to his injuries late on Wednesday night at Jinnah Hospital.]]>
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			<title>This is not a Test</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/573359/this-is-not-a-test</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/573359/this-is-not-a-test#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Jul 13 19:21:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=573359</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hazara killing is not only the Balochistan government’s problem. It is everyone’s problem.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The prime minister said that the most recent carnage in Hazara Town is a “test case”. This is better than nothing. However, it makes one wonder what are we testing for? Testing for limits of human indifference to slaughter? What is the threshold that will make us snap? What do these high powered committees look for? The condemnation of the “perpetrators” comes uniformly from all quarters. Prompt First Investigation Report is registered against “unknown” terrorists. What cruel charade is this? Does everyone in power miss the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) taking responsibility gloatingly and warning of another attack soon, do they miss it every time? The killing of the Hazara is an abstract distant phenomenon to Pakistan proper; the murdered nothing but a statistic, the murderer some disembodied, amorphous entity. The Hazara graveyard has a picture on every grave; these beautiful people have been killed by sectarian fanatics who we know of. This is not a test, this is as real as it gets.

What is the position of the “chatty” crowd on the systematic murdering spree of the Hazara? Is the entire Hazara population an expert group of drone operators? Are the Hazara the frontline regiment of “imperialism” in “America’s War on Terror”? Is it possible, that the LeJ is just irritated at the empire and this violence is an expression of political dissent? Can they be pacified by an attentive ear, handshake and a hug? Should action be taken against them only when each and every child slow on uptake in the entire country agrees that something, perhaps, needs to be done? Utterly revolting and disgusting line of reasoning and questioning, is it not? In the alternate, there is a simpler and truer explanation. The LeJ is group of sectarian murderous brutes. And a simpler though not easy solution; that decisive force be used against them.

We are supposed to be careful in language; calling them “brutes” has not enough nuance of the conflict and might even hurt fragile, intellectual and apologetic sensibilities. You know, nobody should be “demonised”, etc. Not even people who kill three-year-old kids and attack vans full of girl medical students. Nope, they need to be “understood”. However, we do demonise people. We demonise the Hazara. Nelson Mandela is not dead yet. His spirit is certainly dead in Quetta. Some time ago, there was a news item about public transport operators refusing to allow Hazara passengers to board since that would make the vehicles targets, schools refusing admission, nobody willing to rent houses, etc. How does this not bother us, make us freeze? The most frequently targeted place in Quetta is called “Hazara” Town, and it is largely what the name suggests, a housing settlement full of Hazaras. “Apartheid” is not a term to be used lightly ever, yet the lesson taught by it runs the risk of becoming meaningless if it is not used for examples like these.

For everyone who has not been to Hazara Town and wants to engage in the “complex” debate over whether or not our state is complicit or, at least, looks the other way, let someone who has been there draw a sketch with markings of the FC check posts and the places of attacks. It is not much of a debate. However, it does not matter. Why tamper with a purely intellectual pursuit by bringing in trivial specifics like the distance of a few feet between FC check posts and targeted killing sites, again and again. How a thousand kilogrammes of explosives are stealthy enough to pass through these check posts, again and again. Let us keep it academic, shall we, US war on terror, drones, imperialism, corruption, national consensus, etc. Let us hope that there are still a few Hazaras alive to be grateful if and when we reach the carefully thought out consensus that something needs to be done to protect them.

Coming back to names, the “Jhangvi” in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, perhaps, does not get enough attention. The parent organisation of the LeJ, the Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) (now ASWJ) was formed at Jhang, Punjab, in the 1980s. The LeJ faction split because the SSP was not “militant enough”. Which is saying something by the way, since the SSP did not exactly comprise tree-hugging pacifists either. The difference was on strategy, not on ideology. The ideology was, and is, that Shias should be eliminated. The long overdue operation has to simultaneously begin in Balochistan and Punjab, also dismantling the ideological hub. There is no consensus needed. Anyone who does not agree with the idea of an operation against the sectarian organisations murdering the Hazara is someone you don’t want to agree with in any event.

Much has been said about the proper use of the term “genocide” and if it is applicable to the Hazara killing. The question is an important but theoretical one with quibbles on international law definitions. Practically, it is instructive to read Samantha Power’s chillingly brilliant essay, “Bystanders to Genocide” on the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. To quote Power, “A determination of genocide turns not on the numbers killed, which is always difficult to ascertain at a time of crisis, but on the perpetrators’ intent.” The perpetrators’ intent in the case of the Hazara can only be missed by someone who is trying really, really hard to miss it.

The mention of genocide reminds of the phrase, now hollowed by breach “Nie Wieder” (Never Again). It is important to recall it as we pass through another July 5th, the date when that psychopath Ziaul Haq illegally took over. One lesson from the Zia era has been that islands of intolerance and hate don’t work; they spill over, across national and provincial lines. During his reign, amongst innumerable heinous acts, one was the patronising of the sectarian terrorists by the state. Mian Nawaz Sharif was Zia’s prodigy. Once upon a time, long before the “War on Terror” and invention of drones, Mian Sahib was the chief minister of Punjab where these outfits were gaining initial strength. Mian Sahib knows their history all too well. Well enough to know that the Hazara killing is not only the Balochistan government’s problem. It is everyone’s problem. We are repeatedly told that Mian Sahib is his own man now. We want to believe that. Yet, he will still have to prove it. The time for consensus building and all parties’ conferences on dealing with sectarian terrorism is long gone. Either the security establishment is compelled to change its world view and the hobnobbing with these medievalists or there is a showdown. Thousands of Hazara lives are certainly worth having that confrontation. Our notion of State and Country, it seems, is now confined to the security establishment. So to our Guardians, Tujh ko kitnon ka lahu chahiye ae arz-e-watan, jo teray aariz-e-bayrung ko gulnaar karen, kitnee aahon say kalejaa tera thunda ho gaa, kitnay aansoo teray sehraaon ko gulzaar karen.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Professor Sibte Jafar’s murder: Two LeJ suspects arrested</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/530570/professor-sibte-jafars-murder-two-lej-suspects-arrested</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/530570/professor-sibte-jafars-murder-two-lej-suspects-arrested#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 13 12:43:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=530570</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Police recovers arms, explosives from the suspects.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Police arrested two suspects involved the murder of Professor Syed Sibte Jafar Zaidi from the Surjani Town area of Karachi on Wednesday, reported Express News.

The suspects, who belong to the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), were allegedly involved in several other incidents of targeted killings.

Police also recovered arms and explosives from the suspects.

Professor Sibte Jafar was the principal of Liaquatabad College and a renowned sozkhwan. He was shot dead by unidentified men on March 18 near Liaquatabad College.

The deceased was a lawyer, renowned poet, educationist and a scholar.

Earlier during the day, the police also claimed of arresting two suspects involved in the murder of Lyari gang war leader Arshad Pappu during a raid.]]>
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			<title>Security concern: ‘Cop on duty at Data Darbar is LeJ activist’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/529794/security-concern-cop-on-duty-at-data-darbar-is-lej-activist</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/529794/security-concern-cop-on-duty-at-data-darbar-is-lej-activist#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 13 21:17:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=529794</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Intelligence report calls for action and investigation against constabulary official.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A Punjab Police constable who is a member of a banned militant outfit and recruiting for the group is currently serving on security duty at Data Darbar, according to an intelligence report doing the rounds among security institutions.


Tahir Farooq of the Punjab Constabulary is an activist of Sipah-i-Sahaba and the Malik Muhammad Ishaq group of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and arranges accommodation for some militant leaders when they visit Lahore, states the report, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.

Farooq is the son of Muhammad Afzal of Boruch village in Gujrat district, which is in Kotwali police jurisdiction. He retired from the Pakistan Navy in 2010 and was inducted into the Punjab Constabulary, where he is currently attached with Omar Company. The intelligence report states that Farooq is organising a ‘Farooqia Force’ in his home village in support of LeJ.

“In the backdrop of previous blasts at Data Darbar, which led to loss of scores of lives and created panic amongst the Barelvi sect, the presence of such a hardcore activist at such a sensitive shrine is a matter of grave concern from a security point of view,” states the report.

It calls for an immediate transfer of the constable away from the shrine and an investigation into his alleged illegal activities in order to take legal action against him. It also says the local administration in Boruch village should be alerted to his activities so he can be stopped.

The report has been shared with the Home Department, the capital city police officer and other officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2nd, 2013. ]]>
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			<title>Police arrest three alleged terrorists from Karachi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/524293/police-arrest-three-alleged-terrorists-from-karachi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/524293/police-arrest-three-alleged-terrorists-from-karachi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 13 14:05:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=524293</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Alleged terrorists of TTP and LeJ, confess to sectarian killings, claim police.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The police arrested three alleged terrorists of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jaghnvi (LeJ) after a brief shootout at Manghopir Road in Karachi on Thursday.

The police claimed the encounter was not planned.

The alleged terrorists were riding two motorcycles when a police mobile intercepted them for routine check but the suspects opened fire at the police, narrated DSP Asghar Usman while talking to The Express Tribune.

After a brief shootout, the police succeeded in arresting the alleged terrorists while one of their member managed to escape, said DSP Usman, adding that the police also recovered 30kg explosive material, two 9mm and one 30 bore pistol from their possession.

The police claimed that Shaukat Sardar alias Usman alias Usama confirmed affiliation with the LeJ while Inamullah alias Farooq and Tawakkal alias Waziri said that they worked for the TTP.

DSP Usman claimed that Sardar confessed his involvement in at least three targeted killings of a sectarian nature.

“They have formed a new group comprising 14 or 15 persons in the area to expand the racket of extortion and those who denied money were targeted with hand grenades,” said the police officer.

In 2010, Sardar along with his aide killed a salesman Shahzad Raza in Bahadurabad area and few months later murdered Pasban-e-Aza president Nayyar Zaidi in Chenesar Goth area.

Sardar also confessed the recent killing of Jaffaria Alliance leader Agha Aftab Haider Jafari and Mirza Shahid Ali near the parking plaza located in Saddar, said the officer.]]>
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			<title>Thwarting terror: LeJ’s ex-provincial chief arrested in Karachi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/522513/thwarting-terror-lejs-ex-provincial-chief-arrested-in-karachi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/522513/thwarting-terror-lejs-ex-provincial-chief-arrested-in-karachi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 18 Mar 13 04:56:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=522513</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asadullah was allegedly involved in Daniel Pearl’s murder.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A former Sindh chapter chief of banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) was nabbed from Karachi on Sunday. His arrest was disclosed by Pakistan Rangers in Sindh.

According to a Rangers spokesperson, Qari Abdul Hai aka Asadullah was arrested in a covert operation from the University Road area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

Asadullah was allegedly involved in US journalist Daniel Pearl’s murder case.  He was the ameer of LeJ Sindh chapter from 1996 to 1997.

The spokesperson said that Asadullah was involved in several cases of terrorism. Giving details of the suspect’s involvement in terror activities, he said that Asadullah, accompanied by his companions, got Riaz Basra forcibly released from Lahore Session Court in 1994.

Asadullah was reportedly involved in US journalist Daniel Pearl’s murder case, the spokesperson said, adding that his group had dispatched parcel bombs to the offices of the Crime Investigation Department (CID).

The Rangers official added that in December 2002, his group had planned a suicide attack on a hotel near Karachi Airport, where US soldiers were lodged. However, while preparing the improvised explosive device, one of his associates, Asif Ramzi, was killed, due to which the plan was shelved.

Asadullah is yet to be handed over to the police for further investigation. Senior Superintendent Police CID Fayyaz Khan said that the accused person was released from a Punjab jail about four years ago, adding that it has yet to be ascertained if he was playing a role in terror activities in Karachi and other parts of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Rangers arrest LeJ leader involved in Daniel Pearl murder</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/522223/rangers-arrest-lej-leader-involved-in-danial-pearl-murder</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/522223/rangers-arrest-lej-leader-involved-in-danial-pearl-murder#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 17 Mar 13 10:33:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=522223</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Qari Abdul Hayee shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Rangers arrested the former president of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s (LeJ) Sindh chapter during a raid in Karachi on Sunday, reported Express News. 

Qari Abdul Hayee, alias Asadullah, was allegedly involved in the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. He was arrested in 2003 from Multan over his suspected involvement in planning and carrying out the kidnapping and murder of Pearl.

Hayee is also wanted in several other criminal cases, including helping his accomplice, Riaz Basra, in escaping from the Lahore sessions court in 1994.

Rangers shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Targeted operations were initiated in sensitive areas of Karachi after two bomb blasts –in Quetta and Karachi – targeted the minority Shia community killing more than 190 people.

The LeJ had claimed responsibility for the Quetta blast and had threatened to exterminate all Shias.

Following the attack, LeJ leader Malik Ishaq and his son Malik Muhammad Usman were detained for a month. Several other members of the banned outfit were also arrested during separate raids.

Qari Abdul Hayee’s past

A black warrant had been issued in January, 1994 against Hayee for his involvement in the Shehr Sultan killings. Police investigations showed that Hayee had thrown grenades on a Shia mosque in Sher Sultan and resorted to indiscriminate fire along with his two accomplices in the attack. About half a dozen people died and Sher Sultan police registered a case against the accused.

At one point, his capture carried a bounty amounting to Rs2 million.

Hayee was arrested and had been awarded the death sentence by the Dera Ghazi Khan anti-terrorism court on six counts for killing six people in the Shehr Sultan attack.

Hayee was also a close aide of Riaz Basra, the founder of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and had reportedly met Taliban chief Mullah Omar once in Afghanistan during his years-long stay there.

The accused had helped LeJ in militant training in Afghanistan and allegedly trained hundreds of terrorists. He is considered a specialist in bomb manufacturing and had shifted from Afghanistan to Karachi after the fall of the Afghan Taliban in 2002.

After internal differences arose in the LeJ, Qari formed his own Qari Asad group. He was also Imam at Jamia Siddiq Akbar mosque, forming a strong base in Karachi.

He also formed a party Karawan Muhammad during the period of 1993-94.]]>
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			<title>Crackdown on ASWJ: Malik Ishaq’s son detained</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/516979/crackdown-on-aswj-malik-muhammad-ishaqs-son-detained</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/516979/crackdown-on-aswj-malik-muhammad-ishaqs-son-detained#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 07 Mar 13 05:56:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=516979</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Malik Muhammad Usman was taken to jail under heavy police security.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nabeel Javed detained the district deputy president of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) for one month on the directions of the Punjab Home Department. 

Malik Muhammad Usman was taken to jail under heavy police security.

According to details, Usman has been detained under Section 3 of the Punjab Public Order, 1960.

It is pertinent to mention that Usman is the son of ASWJ leader Malik Muhammad Ishaq, who was recently detained for one month on the home department’s directions.

Ishaq was detained a week after the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) sectarian militant group claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing in the Hazara Town neighbourhood of Quetta.

The Punjab government has also sought the details of 11 weapons licences, which were issued from both Sindh and Balochistan in the name of Ishaq and his two sons Malik Muhammad Usman and Malik Muhammad Haqnawaz.]]>
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			<title>Rehman Malik claims providing intelligence about Karachi blasts</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/515656/rehman-malik-claims-providing-intelligence-about-karachi-blasts</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/515656/rehman-malik-claims-providing-intelligence-about-karachi-blasts#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 13 11:12:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=515656</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister asks IG Sindh, home secretary why no steps were taken despite being provided intelligence.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed on Monday that he had provided intelligence about a possible terrorist attack in Karachi in Shia-dominated areas, similar to the one in Quetta.

Malik, speaking to the media, asked the IG Sindh and the home secretary why security wasn’t kept adequate despite being provided information. “Security was only kept strict for four days.”

He lashed out against the Punjab government and said that all headquarters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) were in Punjab and there was no Shia-Sunni conflict in Karachi.

“This is an open question for the Punjab government: How many of them [LeJ members] did you arrest? How many of their offices were closed in Jhang and Multan? What happened to their madrassa in Rahim Yar Khan?”

Malik said that there were 34 FIRs against LeJ leader Malik Ishaq and he will release them all later during the day. “Thirty men of LeJ were caught red-handed in Karachi.”

He also claimed of breaking the Taliban’s back. “They [Taliban] are at the point that they are seeking reconciliation and dialogue. It is the Punjab Taliban, also known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, who did it [bombings] in Quetta and now in Karachi.”

A powerful blast ripped though Abbas Town in Karachi on Sunday evening, leaving 48 people dead and over 150 injured. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.]]>
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			<title>Unfurling plots: Police stations on the hit list</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/514461/unfurling-plots-police-stations-on-the-hit-list</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/514461/unfurling-plots-police-stations-on-the-hit-list#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 02 Mar 13 01:14:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[faraz.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=514461</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Apart from banned outfits, local extortionists and drug mafias are also targeting law enforcers.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Following the attacks on Shah Faisal and Baloch colonies police stations, The Express Tribune has learnt that over a dozen stations in the city are on the hit list of terrorists.


According to police investigators, several outlawed organisations, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammad, have joined hands to target law enforcers, their offices and police stations in Karachi.

On Wednesday night, a man - later identified as Suleman alias Sabir Ali - was throwing explosives inside Shah Faisal Colony police station when the bomb went off and injured him instead. While Suleman escaped, witnesses told the police that the attacker was injured. He was later arrested from a private clinic. Within half an hour, Baloch Colony police station also came under attack with explosives.

Suleman told the police that he belongs to the Haqqani network, but the police have yet to verify his claim. “This [the Haqqani network involvement] was a shock for us too because the Haqqani network has never surfaced in Karachi before,” said a senior investigator. With the help of the information given by Suleman, law enforcers have detained more than half a dozen suspects from Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Orangi and Landhi. They have also seized bomb-making materials and jihadi literature.

However, it is not only the banned outfits that are targeting law enforcers. Crime Investigation Department’s (CID) SP Mazhar Mashwani told The Express Tribune that even extortionists and drug mafias have planned on carrying out attacks against their local police stations. “They [extortionists and mafias] just want to terrorise the policemen in their areas so they can carry out their activities without any fear of law,” he said.



The policemen at stations that have been declared sensitive have been asked to restrict their movements. CID personnel have also been asked to work in coordination with the police intelligence officials posted at police stations to trace and busted terrorists’ networks.

In Karachi, more than 100 policemen have so far been killed in targeted attacks since 2010. Besides targeting the Rangers’ complex in North Nazimabad, the CID’s own complex and several police stations, including Pirabad, Manghopir, Sohrab Goth, Baloch Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, Orangi Town and Shah Latif, have already been attacked. Apart from the stations, CID SSP Chaudhry Aslam’s residence and Malir district SSP Rao Anwar have also been targeted.

To overcome such a situation, there should be an independent counter-terrorism unit that deals only with cases of terrorism, said CID Counter Terrorism and Financial Crime Unit chief SSP Raja Omar Khattab. “This counter-terrorism unit should deal properly with terrorism cases, from the registration of the FIR till the conviction of the terrorists.”



According to Khattab, remote-controlled, cellphone devices and other locally assembled bombs are more dangerous as compared to suicide bombings. “Since the past two years or so, certain groups have starting using bombs assembled with devices that are getting more dangerous by the day,” he said. “Suicide bombers just come once and the blast happens. The devices are more dangerous since they can be timed to go off one after the other and that is when the law enforcers come under attack.”

Khattab warned that the situation will worsen if there is no system in place to deal with such cases from the beginning till the end. Until the police ensure that the culprits are convicted, they will continue to become strong, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2013.]]>
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			<title>LeJ involved in activities throughout the country: Malik</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/514363/lej-involved-in-activities-throughout-the-country-malik</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/514363/lej-involved-in-activities-throughout-the-country-malik#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 13 15:07:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=514363</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister claims LeJ using Punjab as a hideout, urges Punjab government to take action.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) is was involved in different activities throughout the country and that operations conducted against banned terrorist outfits by security forces was yielding good results.

Talking to a private news channel, Malik claimed that the LeJ is using Punjab as a hideout. He added that details, including a list containing names of 734 activists of LeJ has been provided to the Punjab government.

Responding to a question he asked why the Punjab government was not taking action against the LeJ.

Speaking about the law and order situation in Karachi and Quetta, Malik said that security forces were conducting operations and the situation will improve soon. He added that Karachi police had apprehended 20 wanted terrorists.

The interior minister said that the government has foiled many plans of terrorism, adding these incidents would be eliminated soon as raids were being conducted to arrest more terrorists.]]>
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			<title>Malik Ishaq's name recommended for Exit Control List</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513825/malik-ishaqs-name-to-be-put-in-ecl</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513825/malik-ishaqs-name-to-be-put-in-ecl#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 13 12:53:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=513825</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rehman Malik orders provinces to formulate reports and strategies on combating terrorism in their respective regions.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Interior Ministry on Thursday discussed putting the name of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) chief Malik Muhammad Ishaq on the Exit Control List (ECL), Express News reported. Interior Minister Rehman Malik directed that a reminder should be issued for this recommendation.

The decision came amidst reports suggesting that Ishaq was planning to leave Pakistan.

Addressing a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, Malik said that he had taken notice of the law and order situation and ordered the provinces to submit individual reports on the terrorist groups in their respective regions.

He further asked the provinces to put forward proposals to stop the activities of groups who have been involved in terrorist activities throughout the country, many of which are now working under other  names after they were banned previously.

Earlier, as many as 119 members of the ASWJ, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) were placed under ‘preventive detention’ under the Maintenance of Public Order in a province-wide operation by the Punjab police and the Counter-Terrorism Department. Malik Ishaq, Ghulam Rasool Shah, and Maavia Azam Tariq are already in police custody.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan’s Hazaras take up arms over attacks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513788/pakistans-hazaras-take-up-arms-over-attacks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513788/pakistans-hazaras-take-up-arms-over-attacks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 13 08:17:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=513788</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Police planning to close entrances to Hazara Town, and recruit 200 young Hazaras to patrol their own areas.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Ismatullah holds an AK-47 and checks vehicles on the road. "Enough is enough. We have no trust in the security forces anymore and we'll protect our community ourselves," says the teenage Shia student.

Extremist bombers killed nearly 200 people in Quetta in the two worst bomb attacks to strike Shia Muslims from the minority Hazara community, just weeks apart on January 10 and February 16.

After each attack, thousands of Hazaras, including women and children, camped out in the bitter cold demanding that the army step in to protect them. The government brokered an end to the protests, but refused to mobilise the troops.

Outlawed extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility and has threatened to exterminate all Shias. Few believe that dozens of men rounded up after the bomb attacks will ever be brought to justice.

The Supreme Court and rights groups accuse the authorities of failing to protect Hazaras and now young men like 18-year-old Ismatullah are taking up arms to defend themselves and their families.

Ismatullah's best friend was shot dead last June near Hazara Town. He lost more friends when suicide bombers flattened a snooker hall on January 10 and a massive bomb hidden in a water tanker destroyed a market on February 16.

"I couldn't control myself when I saw scattered pieces of so many children and women of our community," said the first year college student.

"Our community is only interested in education and business, but terrorists have forced us to take up whatever arms we have and take to the streets for our own security."

At the moment they operate as volunteers under the name, Syedul- hohada Scouts, registered as part of the Balochistan Scouts Association, an affiliate of the worldwide scouting movement.

For years, young men like Ismatullah have volunteered to protect sensitive events, such as religious processions during the holy month of Muharram.

But their chairman says the threat is now so great that they should be paid full time as an auxiliary to government security forces.

"We have around 200 young men who perform security duties on specific occasions, but most of them are students and workers, and can't work full-time," said Syed Zaman, chairman of the Hazara Scouts.

"We are trying to make a system to start their salaries for permanent deployment and also coordinate with the security agencies. Hopefully, we will be able to form a regular force... and salaries in a month," he said.

Scouts president Ghulam Haider said it was a mistake to rely on government security when the first of two suicide bombers struck at the snooker hall in the Alamdar Road neighbourhood.

"It resulted in another bomb blast minutes after the first one and we lost many more people," Haider told AFP.

"We didn't want that to happen again, so immediately after the blast on February 16, we armed our youth to man the streets and entry points, which helped to prevent the chances of a second attack," he claimed.

Hazara Town, where the market was bombed, is very exposed, in the shadow of the Chiltan mountains and near the bypass which links the Afghan border town of Chaman to Karachi.

While paramilitary Frontier Corps and police patrol the main approaches, they are not visible inside the neighbourhood.

"Security agencies can't protect us. They don't know the area because most of them come from outside Quetta. So we're planning to set up our own permanent posts inside our areas," said Haider.

The police, however, have their doubts.

"If we start private policing by arming one particular community, it will set the wrong precedent," said Fiaz Ahmed Sunbal, head of Quetta police operations.

He claimed police were planning to close entrances to Hazara Town, and would recruit 200 young Hazaras to patrol their own areas.

Haider says closing off roads will isolate the community but welcomed the recruitment of Hazara Scouts as a long-term solution.

Others warn that time is running out.

"If they don't do anything and something happens again, we will take up guns and go out and kill our opponents. There will be open war," said 26-year-old shopkeeper Zahid Ali.]]>
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			<title>Punjab investigates how Malik Ishaq, sons obtained 11 arms licences</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513649/provincial-govts-action-punjab-investigates-how-malik-ishaq-sons-obtained-11-arms-licences</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513649/provincial-govts-action-punjab-investigates-how-malik-ishaq-sons-obtained-11-arms-licences#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 13 04:55:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=513649</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ASWJ chief obtained licences from Sindh, Balochistan govts despite being a resident of Punjab.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Punjab government has decided to investigate how Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat chief Malik Muhammad Ishaq and his two sons were able to obtain 11 arms licences from the Balochistan and Sindh governments, despite being residents of Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab.


The provincial government is also seeking a reply from Interior Minister Rehman Malik on how Ishaq was allowed to travel abroad despite various cases pending against him under the Anti Terrorism Act, 1997.

According to a confidential report prepared by the Special Branch (SB) of Punjab police, it seeks further action to investigate the matter.

The Punjab government sought the details of 11 weapons licences, which were issued from both Sindh and Balochistan in the name of Ishaq and his two sons Malik Muhammad Usman and Malik Muhammad Haqnawaz.

The report stated that Ishaq acquired five arms licences from the two provinces. Three for automatic weapons were issued by the Sindh government on a residential address in Jacobabad. Another two were issued by the Balochistan government with residential addresses of Jaffarabad and Quetta in the name of Ishaq.

Similarly, three licences for assault weapons were issued by the Balochistan government in the name of Usman. It also issued three in the name of Haqnawaz.

The report recommended that the Punjab home department can take up the matter with the interior ministry to investigate how they managed to obtain arms licences from the provinces of which they were not residents.

Punjab takes 119 LeJ, SSP, ASWJ in protective custody

The top authorities preferred to detain and not arrest members of ASWJ and banned outfits Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) in a province-wide operation.

As many as 119 members of the ASWJ, LeJ and SSP were taken in ‘preventive detention’ under the Maintenance of Public Order in a province-wide operation by the Punjab police and Counter-Terrorism Department, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Police and counter-terrorism officials claimed that some cases have also been registered against a leader as well as some activists of the SSP.

Malik Ishaq, Ghulam Rasool Shah, and Maavia Azam Tariq are already in police custody.

The persons named in the 4th Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 were detained from Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Faisalabad, Jhang, Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalnangar, Bhakkar, Toba Tek Singh, Sialkot and other districts of Punjab during a crackdown, says a report of the Punjab police. The report has details from the counter-terrorism department and police regions and districts.

A control room has been set up in the office of the inspector general of police. A DIG and SP will directly monitor the control room as liaison officers and coordinate with the AIG operations.

Prominent among those hauled in include Maulana Abdul Hameed Khalid, the provincial chief organiser of the ASWJ. Sources familiar with the matter said a case of putting up a resistance during the crackdown has been framed against Khalid and numerous activists of the banned outfits.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Contextualising militancy in Punjab</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513421/contextualising-militancy-in-punjab</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/513421/contextualising-militancy-in-punjab#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 13 18:59:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ayesha.siddiqa]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=513421</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Political parties are happy to go along and do seat adjustment because of their inability to challenge Zia’s children.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It is certainly a cruel statement to make but it seems that the killing of Hazara Shias and their subsequent protest has initiated a debate regarding sources of terrorism in the country. Although a popular argument is that the internal chaos and bloodletting are the work of outside powers, some questions are being raised about our own inefficiencies in dealing with extremist forces operating in the country. Two propositions are being forwarded. First, that the jihadis are indeed Zia’s children and of the generals that followed him. Second, that these jihadis may be the military’s creation but that it is now the political parties who have the dominant ownership.

To begin with the second line of thinking, a lot of fingers are being pointed at the Punjab government. There are reports of the party trying to work out an electoral deal with the political component of the SSP/LeJ for some seats in central and south Punjab. At this juncture, there seems little difference between the PML-N and the PTI as far as their support of militant groups is concerned. However, it is also important not to de-contextualise the entire debate.

The PML-N government was not always like this. It had contested the SSP/LeJ network during the 1990s, but with little support from the establishment. For instance, when Nawaz Sharif and his brother screamed their heads off about sectarian violence in Pakistan and Punjab, they were contradicted by the Foreign Office. The Sharif government of the 1990s also targeted the LeJ resulting in a botched terrorist attack on the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. The LeJ terrorist leader Riaz Basra also threatened them. This was a point when a combined intelligence and police operation could have helped but it didn’t happen. Moreover, the government was dismissed in 1999. There is certainly a possibility that the Sharifs got scared. More importantly, there was also the issue of being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea after they returned to Pakistan and power in 2008.

The Pakistan and Punjab of the 2000s was different in terms of its relationship with terror groups which were being neatly put to order, rearranged and regrouped. The number in Punjab fell from about 70 odd militant groups (small and large) in the 1990s to a few large ones. However, these were protected and had links with the agencies and continue to do so. The government in Punjab and the police were not authorised to question and challenge most of these groups. Police officers often complain of situations when they arrest terrorists who are later whisked away from police stations by other more powerful intelligence agencies. It was certainly not the PML-N that had allowed organisations like the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) to walk in and out of the Pakistan Air Force, whose officers were later involved in one of the assassination attempts on Pervez Musharraf. Interestingly, the JeM continues to be treated as a good friend and allowed to expand infrastructure. The logic for continued friendship is that the operation was conducted by splinter groups and not the mother organisation.

Moreover, at that point in time even the media was not too keen to hear about jihadis in Punjab. I remember in 2007-08 no one in the larger civil society was ready to hear about the problem in Punjab. In fact, when a New York Times journalist did a story about the problem, a local English daily went out of its way to counter the report and do several stories negating the presence of extremist elements in Punjab. In fact, Mushtaq Sukhera, the senior police officer, who has been dispatched to Quetta to fight LeJ, was then RPO Bahawalpur and vehemently denied a jihadi presence in south Punjab. He even claimed that the JeM madrassa on the main GT Road was ordered to stop any further construction. However, those orders, if there were any, were never carried out.

More than personal inefficiency, this was about the real powers continuing to support the JeM and other Deobandi and Ahle Hadith militant groups. It is indeed a fact that none of the main parties in power had any knowledge of Mumbai or any control or communication with the LeT or any of the other religious-militant groups. This was not their domain, especially not after the Mumbai attack.

The decade of the 2000s is also the period when a lot of the militant organisations were allowed to go underground, which meant spreading in society far and wide. They started building their social clout, which the intelligence agencies now believe can be capitalised in mainstreaming these organisations and thus taking them away from violence. It is definitely not any political government’s idea to bring the militants into politics as it goes against the logic of electoral politics. More parties mean more concessions and dividing the vote bank. Until now, supporters of all jihadi networks happily voted for one or the other party without burdening them with any consolidated demands. However, it is now that they are being made to think of forming their own political platform. Sadly, the mainstream political parties are happy to go along and do seat adjustment partly because of their inability to openly challenge Zia’s children. Such cowardice is not forgivable but it is essential to understand the context.

These jihadis will disappear the day their creators run out of uses for them. They were raised initially during the 1980s but integrated in the tactical planning, as indicated in one of the papers produced at GHQ, to play the role of additional division to fight India. Later, they were put to multiple uses. These will get costly with time especially if they are not needed after 2014. In any case, these are risky assets to maintain in a nuclear environment. Going by the splinter-group theory, what if they start an accidental war? Getting rid of them at this stage is not hugely difficult either. In Punjab and Sindh, where these are spreading rapidly, they could be removed through an intense intelligence and police operation. It is mainly the intent and planning that could get things going.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>If a Shia, you are on your own</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512887/if-a-shia-you-are-on-your-own</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512887/if-a-shia-you-are-on-your-own#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 13 16:37:14 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Ejaz Haider]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=512887</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[When governments make alliances with terrorists these organisations are supposed to bust, they cannot be effective.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Let me make it simple: if you are a Shia in Pakistan, you are on your own. This fact I state for the benefit of all those citizens of this country, Shia and Sunni, who are grieving the slow demise of Mr Jinnah’s Pakistan and expecting that the tide could be reversed through state action.

Now for the longer answer.

There is no doubt about who is killing the Shia. The Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ) has repeatedly taken responsibility for it. Its captured terrorists have often stated before courts that they have killed Shias and, given the opportunity, will do it again. The identity of the killers is a settled issue.

Nota Bene: The issue of the proxy war between Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Iran, the funding to Sunni extremist groups and whatever is left of Shia extremists, and circumstantial evidence of indirect involvement of hostile agencies is important but peripheral to the main issue, i.e., the terrorists are Pakistanis and killing on the basis of centuries-old denominational differences. The current murderous spree, of course, has a modern political and geopolitical context.

A more relevant question is: if the group that is involved in these killings has not only been ID-ed but IDs itself, what is stopping the state from acting against it, and effectively?

This is where the problem begins.

The LeJ was begotten from the dark womb of the Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The SSP, banned by Pervez Musharraf, has reincarnated itself as the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. It has a certain political presence. It is technically not the LeJ, even as de facto it is. LeJ terrorists, along with the hardline splinter group of Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM), have over the last five years, come to form the backbone of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conglomerate. The TTP is an entity that political parties now — the ANP included (in desperation) — want to talk to, even as the state considers the LeJ a terrorist entity.

So while the LeJ is a terrorist organisation providing manpower to the TTP, the state is being pressured to talk to the latter and give it the legitimacy of an insurgent group.

But this is not all. In Punjab, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is in talks over seat adjustment with the ASWJ, the Dr Jekyll to its Edward Hyde, the LeJ. Leaving aside the PML-N’s petty lying about the issue, it is a fact that it wants to placate the LeJ through a dangerous liaison with the ASWJ. The general impression is that this is being done to win votes. That’s only partially true. The primary reason is that the PML-N doesn’t want mayhem in Punjab, its central vote bank, where it wants to win and win big through a lot of development work (even if lopsided) by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The Faustian bargain is meant to keep the LeJ, and by extension the TTP, at bay. In other words, the PML-N is doing this for the same reasons that the ANP wants to talk to the TTP. The problem with this short-term approach is just that: it is short term and allows these groups the respite and the space to strengthen themselves and emerge as even more potent contenders against the state.

What about the army and the ISI; how do they look at this phenomenon?

Short answer: they are greatly worried. Next question: what are they doing about it?

Short answer: not much.

Central question: why the hell not? This requires a longer answer and some perspective.

Fact 1: The total strength of the army is about 550,000 troops. Out of this, around 110,000 are deployed in the operational areas in the west. Approximately 60,000 to 70,000 are deployed along the Line of Control as part of 10 Corps and Force Command Northern Areas. The rest are in peacetime locations, to be mobilised to defend the eastern border when required. Additionally, there are a number of other command and staff duties to be performed.

Fact 2: Armies generally operate on the 33.33 per cent principle. At any time, 33.33 per cent are deployed, the same percentage is in training and equal numbers, more or less, are resting and retrofitting. Pakistan’s internal war has thrown this awry. The deployment has gone up to 54 to 55 per cent, training retains the same percentage and the resting and retrofitting has gone down to about 12 percent. The ops areas tenure has upped from 22 months to over two years and a high percentage of units are now awaiting second and third rotation to the ops areas. Evidently a killer.

Fact 3: The Pakistan Military Academy has had to raise the 4th Pak Battalion because the internal war has taken a heavy toll of young officers. The officer-to-soldier kill ratio is very high, upped from 1:16 to 1:14 and now stands at 1:8. This means a shortage of YOs. (Some officers consider it a matter of pride; I consider it a weakness but that’s a separate topic.)

Corollary: the army is stretched thin. It cannot be everywhere and, quite apart from operations to wrest territory, is not meant to address the problem of urban terrorism. Even the counterterrorism sub-units in the Special Services Group, like the Zarar and Karar companies, are meant for fire-fighting, not gathering intelligence and pre-empting.

And the ISI? It has the capacity to gather intel and it does. But equally, there are other organisations like the police, the Intelligence Bureau and the CID units whose primary job is to gather intel. Why are they not effective? Answer: when political governments make alliances with the very terrorists these organisations are supposed to bust, then they cannot be effective. There are other reasons too but this is the primary one.

And when Frontier Corps does get involved, sending terrorists to their afterlife, as in Quetta, the leaders of these organisations invoke the law and register cases against the FC. Recently, the new Inspector General Police (IG) Balochistan met with LeJ leaders and defended this by saying the police have to reach out to them.

The question is: if the LeJ is a banned terrorist organisation, how are these leaders at large and meeting the IG?

The confusion gets confounded. More on this next time.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>An unholy alliance</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512400/an-unholy-alliance</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512400/an-unholy-alliance#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 13 16:48:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[feisal.h.naqvi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=512400</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Punjab is unwilling to act against the LeJ because PML-N has an electoral alliance with ASWJ, alleged killers of Shias]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Amir Mir is one of Pakistan’s most respected journalists and an authority on militancy and terrorism. He has written a number of books on the subject including the well-regarded “Talibanisation of Pakistan: From 9/11 to 26/11.” In 2006, he won the APNS award for the best investigative journalist.

Mr Mir’s credentials are worth noting because this past Friday, he authored a front-page article for The News which stated in blunt terms that: 1) the Federal Government wanted the Punjab Government to “launch a massive crackdown on the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) and the defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP)”; 2) “Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is unlikely to oblige” the Federal Government by launching such an operation; and 3) the “main reason” why the Punjab Government is refusing to take action against the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is because it has “a seat-to-seat adjustment deal between the PML-N and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) for the upcoming elections”.

In case the alphabet soup of parties has left you confused, let me explain.

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is a militant group which has explicitly taken responsibility for the mass killings of Shias in Balochistan and elsewhere. The LeJ has also expressly taken responsibility for last week’s murder of Dr Ali Haider and his 12-year-old son in Lahore.

The SSP is an organisation established in the early 1980s by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi whose avowed intent was to turn Pakistan into a Sunni state. The SSP was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organisation under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. According to Mr Mir and others, the ASWJ is merely a rebranded version of the SSP. In any event, the ASWJ has also been declared to be a banned organisation.

Let me therefore repeat Mr Mir’s central contention in simpler words: the Government of Punjab is unwilling to act against the self-proclaimed killers of Shias because the PML-N has an electoral alliance with a banned organisation believed to support the killing of Shias.

Is Mr Mir’s assertion correct? Frankly, I don’t know. The PML-N has denied Mr Mir’s report as it had denied an earlier report to the same effect in The Express Tribune. Unlike the Tribune, Mr Mir has issued a response to the PML-N’s denial in which he has reasserted his contention. He has noted that he had filed his report after getting the PML-N’s version from a member of that party’s central executive committee, that the PML-N and the ASWJ had jointly contested a by-election on a Punjab Assembly seat for Jhang in March 2010, and that Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had openly campaigned for a PML-N candidate in 2010 along with Maulana Ludhianvi (a leader of first the SSP and now the ASWJ). Mr Mir has also noted that the Government of Punjab has admitted paying a monthly stipend to the family of Malik Ishaq — the vice-president of the ASWJ, allegedly a founder of the LeJ, and an accused in at least 43 different cases for the murder of over 70 people. As noted by The Express Tribune and other newspapers, witnesses who appear against Mr Ishaq tend to die suddenly.

What does all of this mean? I do not know for sure. But I am certainly not reassured by what the PML-N hierarchy is saying.

Take, for example, this recent statement by Ahsan Iqbal:

 “We strongly condemn terrorist acts against Ahle Tashee …. These incidents have been happening for a while now. Who is behind these acts of terrorism? Why are these elements still at large?”

Seriously? The PML-N is the second largest political party in the country and, as the ruler of Punjab, directly responsible for governing half the population of Pakistan. The Shia population of Pakistan has been getting slaughtered at an increasingly rapid rate. How is it that the Deputy Secretary General of the PML-N can have no idea and no opinion as to the entity responsible for those killings, especially when the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has repeatedly, proudly and openly claimed responsibility?

Not convinced? Take a look at the statement of condemnation issued by Mian Nawaz Sharif after more than 80 people were massacred in Quetta. That statement is too long to reproduce here but is notable only for the blandness of its language and its refusal to blame any specific group (excluding, of course, the Federal Government).

Khurram Dastgir Khan of Gujranwala, my good and extraordinarily learned friend, represents the PML-N on Twitter. I specifically asked him to comment on Amir Mir’s report but got no reply. Instead, Mr Dastgir has linked to reports of Mian Shahbaz Sharif ordering action against LeJ after prefacing them with the slogan “action, not words”. If Mian Shahbaz Sharif is finally taking action against LeJ, that is a good thing. But it needs to be understood that words too are important.

I have criticised Imran Khan in the past for his desire to enter into negotiations with the Taliban and I stand by that criticism today. At the same time, Imran Khan deserves tremendous credit for being the only major opposition figure to openly denounce the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. I have yet to see any similar open and public condemnation of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi by the PML-N. And its absence is being increasingly noted by Pakistan’s Shias.

Let me state some simple figures. Shias make up anywhere from 15-25 per cent of Pakistan’s population which in turn means about 30 to 50 million people. Even the lower end of that range represents a very large number of people.

I mention these figures because the PML-N needs to understand that: 1) the Shias are watching; and, 2) irrespective of how many Shias get killed, the remainder will still outnumber those tempted to vote for the PML-N by its pussy-footing around with the likes of Maulana Ludhianvi.

I’m sure the Sharif brothers already know that killing Shias is immoral. But they may also wish to consider that buying votes with Shia blood is bad politics.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Fire and blood</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511946/fire-and-blood</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511946/fire-and-blood#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 24 Feb 13 16:52:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zarrar.khuhro]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511946</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nothing short of an all-out full-spectrum war, with all the pain and blood that entails, will rid us of the LeJ.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Arresting Malik Ishaq under the MPO (maintenance of public order) and carrying out ‘targeted operations’ — whatever that means — is no way to handle the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Action against the LeJ cannot be limited to Quetta, or even Balochistan because this is a group that is entrenched in every part of Pakistan, a group which spreads its poison from pulpits and Facebook pages alike, a group that is actively aided and abetted by a very active political wing. Unlike their TTP allies, they cannot be geographically or politically isolated. A few scattered arrests cannot harm them.

Nor can they be negotiated with, in the mistaken assumption that bringing them into the ‘mainstream’ will somehow moderate them. That is folly. They have long since declared war on Pakistan, and nothing short of an all-out full-spectrum war, with all the pain and blood that entails, will rid us of them.

It will require Pakistan’s institutions to work together in a way that they have never done before. The civilians will need to stop playing politics and debating semantics. The army and agencies will have to purge themselves of those who still mistakenly look upon this group as some kind of asset and it will require the judiciary to work with the government, agencies and the police to plug the holes that allow people like Malik Ishaq and his cronies to walk free time and again.

While this war must begin with intelligence-based police and paramilitary operations, it cannot end there. We must not allow the state to fool us with limited operations, eyewash arrests and the killing of foot soldiers while the commanders walk free and the infrastructure of terror remains intact.

A partial operation is in fact more dangerous than no operation at all. In the past, the LeJ has systematically killed and intimidated witnesses, the police and judges alike, and stopping short of its complete eradication means that they will do so again with the result that no one in the security agencies or judiciary will ever be willing to stick their necks out again.

If special courts are needed in which the identity of the witnesses, arresting officers and judges is concealed, then so be it. If secret evidence is allowed, with the right of bail and even the right to appeal suspended then so be it. If monitoring crosses the border into invasion of privacy, then so be it. If the most dangerous terrorists never even reach the court and are instead ‘disappeared’ or ‘encountered’ then so be it.

One cannot fight an enemy of this nature by adhering to rules or even without giving up some basic liberties and right; don’t fool yourself into thinking that this is possible. And guess what? It happens anyway. Politicians have never refrained from falsely implicating and victimising their rivals. The agencies have never shied away from torturing, killing and dumping ‘suspects’ and the police have never had many qualms in simply ‘removing’ certain criminals who got too big for their boots. In a civilised society such measures are reprehensible, but this is not a civilised society, nor is it likely to become one in the near future. This is a functioning anarchy spiralling towards civil war and disintegration, where the state has abdicated its responsibilities. As such, it’s not unreasonable to ask that these tactics be used against those who so richly deserve them.

And these are, in any case, ad-hoc and short-term tactics that will undoubtedly result in grave abuses if allowed to continue for very long. In the medium term, draconian anti-terror legislation and judicial reform will be needed to make sure that a weak FIR does not result in the release of mass murderers. The law-enforcement agencies acting against the terrorists must be protected from reprisals and special high-security jails will be needed to prevent the all too frequent escapes, and to eliminate the ability of these killers to use jails as bases of operations and recruiting grounds.

More importantly, no distinction can be made between the LeJ and its political wing, the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. But a ban must go beyond simply outlawing a name, it must outlaw an entire ideology and those who propagate it — whether through a pulpit, party platform or twitter account. Similarly, strict rules must be made to disallow the airing of the viewpoints of these groups and their spokespersons on the media. There can be no TV interview of Ehsanullah Ahsan or Ludhianvi. Free speech ends where incitement to violence begins. Those making electoral alliances with terrorists, and the ASWJ is nothing less than the political wing of a terrorist organisation, must be treated like terrorists themselves.

Make no mistake, there will be retaliation and blowback on a scale that even blood-stained Pakistan has not yet witnessed, but better to pay the price now than die the death of a thousand cuts. Sooner or later those being butchered will take up arms and then we will be faced with a nightmare that will make Syria look like a walk in the park. This then, is a prescription to deal with the cancer that is the LeJ. It will be painful and at times the cure will seem worse than the disease, but it must be done. It won’t happen. It won’t happen because our politicians are spineless; our agencies are either incompetent or in cahoots, and our superior judiciary is more interested in admitting blasphemy petitions against Sherry Rehman. Once the headlines move on, so will all of them. The arrested killers and their political cronies will be released, threats will be made and massacres will be carried out. And the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and its allies will be one step closer to a victory that was made possible not because we lost, but because we refused to fight.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Sectarian violence: Federal, Punjab govts spar on LeJ</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511811/sectarian-violence-federal-punjab-govts-spar-on-lej</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511811/sectarian-violence-federal-punjab-govts-spar-on-lej#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 24 Feb 13 05:12:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[abdul.manan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511811</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Interior minister urges crackdown on LeJ bases in Punjab; Sharif brothers question Malik’s performance.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Amidst growing calls for a decisive crackdown against the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) extremist group, federal and provincial government officials shifted the responsibility for taking action against the outlawed organisation blamed for most sectarian violence in the country.


“Law and order is a provincial subject, therefore, provincial governments are responsible for peace,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday and questioned the Punjab government’s “reluctance” to go after the LeJ bases in the province.

He faulted the Punjab government for going soft on the LeJ even though it has been told umpteen times to dismantle LeJ bases in southern parts of the province. If the reluctance continues, the interior ministry will directly take action against the LeJ through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), he added.

Malik called upon LeJ militants to renounce violence and surrender their arms. The government is willing to negotiate if the LeJ and Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi give up violence.

Malik’s diatribe came a day after the Punjab administration detained Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) chief Malik Muhammad Ishaq, who is also said to be a leader of the LeJ, under the Maintenance of Public Order for 30 days.



The LeJ has claimed responsibility for two deadly bombings in Quetta’s Alamdar Road and Hazara Town neighbourhoods in the past few weeks. Nearly 200 people, mostly from the Hazara Shia community, were killed in these attacks.

Incensed by Malik’s scathing criticism, the Sharif brothers hit back, questioning his performance as interior minister

“Rehman Malik should in form the nation as to what action he has taken over the brutal murder of hundreds of innocent Muslims in Balochistan,” Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said while speaking to the media after offering condolences to the family of Prof Dr Ali Haider, who was killed in a targeted attack in Lahore.

Asked if there was any link between Dr Haider’s murder and the recent sectarian attacks in Quetta, Nawaz Sharif, the chief of the ruling party in Punjab, evaded a direct reply. Instead, he said there was rule of law in Punjab, where the security situation was much better than other provinces

Nawaz also hit out at the federal government for the volatile security situation in the country, particularly in Balochistan. Had the federal government taken action after the Almdar Road double bombings, the Hazara Town tragedy would have been averted, he said.

Apart from the Sharif brothers, Punjab government spokesperson Senator Pervaiz Rashid also made a rejoinder. He said Malik Ishaq was detained twice by the Shahbaz Sharif-led government. He accused the interior minister of leveling allegations for political purposes.

“Rehman Malik neither wrote a letter to the Punjab government to arrest Malik Ishaq nor provided any material, on the basis of which the ASWJ chief could have been arrested,” he added. Senator Rashid went on to reveal that 11 arms licences were issued by the Balochistan and Sindh governments to Malik Ishaq and his two sons – Malik Usman and Malik Muhammad Haq Nawaz.

Malik Ishaq’s trial demanded 

On the other hand, the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) demanded Malik Ishaq be brought to justice.

“We have always been demanding arrest of all those involved in any act of sectarian violence, irrespective of their party affiliation,” HDP Chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara told a news conference in Quetta. “[Malik] Ishaq must be brought to justice and punished for involvement in violence,” he added.

Malik Ishaq’s arrest – which came a day after the army denied any links with the LeJ – should not be “eyewash”, said Sajid Naqvi, leader of the Shia Ulema Council. “We demand his trial and the authorities should provide protection to witnesses who would like to appear in the court,” he said.

Abdul Khaliq also called for a joint session of parliament to discuss the killings of Hazaras in Quetta. He asked Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to summon intelligence agencies to brief political forces on what he called “the genocide of Hazaras in Quetta”. He clarified that his party had never made an appeal for army deployment in Quetta, adding that despite repeated attacks against their community, the party had never given up the democratic path. (With additional reporting by Mohammad Zafar in Quetta)

&nbsp;

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Action against the LeJ</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511587/action-against-the-lej</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511587/action-against-the-lej#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 20:41:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511587</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The action against the LeJ leader has come late; but the fact that it has happened is possibly a good omen.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Finally, as public pressure continues to mount over the killings of Shia in the country, the leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Malik Ishaq, has been detained for one month at the Rahim Yar Khan jail. Previously, he had been held at his own home. It is unknown on what charges Ishaq has been held but it should be noted that at least two FIRs exist against him in Khanewal district. Before this, the leader of the extremist group had been held in jail for prolonged periods only to be released on court orders due to lack of proof. This time, too, Ishaq, at a press conference before his arrest, stated that the LeJ had nothing to do with recent attacks on Shias, including the ones in Quetta (despite the fact that following both, the group claimed responsibility for them) and that he would be “willing to go to any forum to ensure peace in the country”.

The action against the LeJ leader has come late; but the fact that it has happened is possibly a good omen. The question now is whether it will be possible to hold him for any length of time in keeping with the gravity of crimes committed by his group over the years. The fact that the LeJ has, according to reports, split into various factions, adds to the complications surrounding the whole affair. Although there is no doubt in most people’s minds that Ishaq is behind many attacks, it is hard to say precisely who is giving the orders in Quetta, with Usman Saifullah Kurd repeatedly named as the man behind the Hazara massacres.

However, it is clear we need some kind of action. The capture of Ishaq is, therefore, welcome. It coincides with an operation in Quetta in which two LeJ activists were killed and four arrested. It seems obvious that we need to go after all these groups with as much force as we can muster. The need, however, is also to have reliable police investigations so that evidence against them can be presented, the due process of law followed and those arrested not allowed to walk free this time as has happened more than once in the past. This is, of course, one reason for the continued sectarian violence we face across the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>A tale of two countries</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511600/a-tale-of-two-countries</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511600/a-tale-of-two-countries#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 20:16:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shandana.minhas]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511600</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Contrary to the narrative, a lot of people in Pakistan DO support persecution of people for their ‘otherness’.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The story of coverage given to the latest massacre in Quetta is a story of gratuitous emotion and new sacred cows for old. We know that some anchors were tossing and turning the night of the tragedy, others so upset they almost took their own eyes out with the curling iron. We know that some parliamentarians were moved to tears by the fortitude and dignity of young Shias chanting “Labaik ya Hussain”. We know that others banded together to demand the ‘khufia agencies’ be made accountable to parliament. We know that the chief justice took suo-motu notice of the incident. We know that people who last week refused to say the Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) out loud now sing songs about it on demand. And we know from the LeJ twitter feed that on the afternoon of February 22, “Ameer ul Mujahideen Malik Muhammad Ishaq sb ne ghar se girftari dy di”, and that he set off amidst chants of  ‘Kafar Kafar Shia Kafar’.

The public’s anger thus, temporarily appeased, the spotlight will go back to the upcoming elections. Discussion about the countries who fund militants, why terrorists are convinced enough of the toothlessness of our justice system to turn themselves in, and when the few robber barons that run our media will put the country’s interest before their own, can get back in line.

So, too, can any sincere, forensic examination of why is it that our society has proved to be such fertile ground for the seeds of violence. Ask yourself that question, as well as your ‘hukmaran’, and you might get a discomfiting answer.

Contrary to the under-construction narrative, a lot of people in Pakistan DO support the persecution of people for their ‘otherness’. And have done so from before the time ‘Zia launched his Islamisation drive’ and ‘Musharraf nay sab ka baira ghark kar diya’.

Early indications of a future where it is okay to think one kind of Pakistani is superior to others — on the basis of faith or ethnicity — is evident in moves after 1947 to prohibit minorities from holding certain offices, but its biggest manifestation to date remains Bangladesh. A ‘saneha’ for which we have yet to demand accountability, or even offer an apology. Bangladesh, meanwhile, has achieved a growing economy and the enactment of legislation banning religion from politicking.

Not for us such accumulated wisdom. Many Pakistanis have stayed silent through the mistreatment of ethnic minorities and religious minorities, like the Ahmadis, Hindus, and Christians, too. They have stayed silent when there was no real danger of being shot for dissenting and they remain unable to see that the dehumanisation of one ‘other’ opens the door to the dehumanisation of all others. Pressed, they will tell you the incidents of bonded labour, burning villages, executions, daily humiliations, didn’t really happen and if they did, it was because of bad leadership, the army, poverty or illiteracy. As if a top to bottom culture of exclusion, where every aspect of life is dictated by what is kept out and not what is invited in forms all by itself. Sometimes, silence is a choice. And you can’t really sell people spiels they don’t want to buy.

With this history, I must regretfully ask if it is possible that the reason so many of my compatriots are now agitating for the accountability of bigots is because the Shia minority is bigger than all the other minorities put together? Could it be that we can no longer avoid an awkward conversation because there is an awful lot of them and they refuse to go away quietly?

I ask this question now because there is a chasm between what we are saying and what we have been doing, and it will take more than gratuitous emotion to bridge it. Do we want to? Will we manage to? Only time will tell. Time, or the first person to stand on the roof of the world’s tallest building that Malik Riaz and Arab investors were talking about building in Karachi.

Perhaps, it’s just as well the deal fell through. He might have been disappointed by how everything looks the same.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>What if it was your child?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511601/what-if-it-was-your-child</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511601/what-if-it-was-your-child#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 18:24:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511601</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Before business as usual, before the next massacre, we have to take these murderers on and deliver them to justice.]]>
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				<![CDATA[What if it was your child? What if you had to sit with the body of a parent, or of both, in freezing cold, with the feeling that nobody cared? Imagine, if you can, the sound and smell of death. Imagine, if you will that you are a Hazara or a Shia. These are questions that were inescapable the last week. Yet, for those of us who are not Hazara or Shia, it is quite simply unimaginable. What happened to them happened to them. The human capacity for empathy has a limit, perhaps, is overrated. All of us would like to think that deep down we care, that we are not completely heartless.

However, after the second or third day of a sit-in, the traffic jam begins to irritate us a little. The television anchors seem to repeat themselves. There is work to be done, social events to attend, bills to be paid. We have done our bit, changed our Facebook status, expressed horror and outrage, maybe even stopped by at a protest on our way back from work. Now we have to get on with it. In short, we want business as usual. To imagine, that nothing happened or maybe just that bad things happen to other people. In short, not to imagine, that there will never be business as usual for a lot of people, the show has ended. For many children, in Philip Larkin’s words, there will be, “Never such innocence again”.

Our capacity to go on despite the terror and misery around us, is loftily termed as “resilience”, “the spirit to carry on” and other such clichés. Perhaps, it is not resilience, perhaps it is simple cold-blooded apathy. Maybe it is just a validation of Tolstoy’s observation in Anna Karenina, “There are no conditions of life to which a man cannot get accustomed, especially if he sees them accepted by everyone around him.” Maybe, it should not be business as usual, more roads need to be blocked, more of ordinary life disturbed. The sole reliance on human empathy is a feeble hope; all it gets you is tersely worded slogans after the mass graves, after the deed is done, “Never again”, “Never forget”, etc.

The cynicism has facts to bear it out. The PML-N did not have the courage to name the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), even when it had taken responsibility. Not even the shame to apologise for the electoral arrangement with Malik Ishaq. It is even more chilling to reflect on what sort of voters approve of this arrangement. Malik Ishaq was acquitted by the courts; the courts which deem it worth their time to order the registration of a blasphemy case against Sherry Rehman, which has now been registered by the same Punjab police which provide security to Malik Ishaq. The prime minister did not have the common decency or the spine to attend the funeral or even reach out to the victims. The Supreme Court is unwilling to believe the LeJ’s admission of responsibility. Even those who condemn the LEJ by name, in the same breath, ask for negotiation with the TTP. The same TTP which also thinks of Shias as wajib-ul-qatl, the same TTP whose alliance with the LeJ is no secret. What wicked stupidity is this? If we have to do this, let all those arguing for negotiation hold a conference at the Hazara graveyard. Look the victims in the eye and tell them that although we are sorry for their loss, yet we think it best to surrender. Hold the hand of the 85-year-old grandfather in Lahore and tell him that his 12-year-old grandson killed on his way to school, for being born a Shia died in vain. We think it is good strategy to make a deal with his murderers.

The army has never felt the need for forging a consensus when it comes to Baloch nationalists or finding the ‘anti-state’ elements within them and make them go missing. Yet, the TTP and the LeJ hold press conferences at will. The ISPR tells us that the army has no links with any banned outfits. Let us take its word, however, the question of how 1,000kgs of explosives move in the FC garrison, known as Quetta, still remains. How come no LeJ operatives have been apprehended till these horrific blasts? How come Usman Kurd escaped from a maximum security prison? The ISPR might have answers to these questions; we have not heard them yet. Perhaps, a sit-in outside the GHQ might persuade them to answer. Before we move on to our next tragedy in waiting, it might serve us to have that overdue debate on our national security state paradigm and how it is killing us.

Those who were protesting with coffins were not soliciting our pity. Our sympathy is futile. Our empathy is not strong enough. They are not victims of a random accident or natural tragedies. They are victims of carefully planned, sophisticated attacks of murder conducted by people we know of. We have to take on the LeJ, the TTP and anybody who shares this sectarian, murderous ideology for a minimum standard of fairness, decency and self-respect. If that does not persuade us, then we have to do it for self-interest. For that reason, ponder over the almost imponderable question, “what if it was your child?” To argue for the use of force makes some people uneasy. The full might of the state has to be used to crush these criminals. The argument for the use of force has to be made unashamedly; we will be ashamed later for not doing so.

I defy anyone to go to sleep after viewing the picture of a beautiful Hazara child crying over the body of her father. This is when the cliché of “never forget” comes to life. However, at a level we might not be willing to acknowledge yet, we will forget, most of us will. We will find a way of going to sleep soon. Before that time, before business as usual, before the next massacre, we have to take these murderers on and deliver them to justice. Watching the Hazara men, women and children sit in defiance to the cowardice and apathy that surrounds them on a bleak day, in sub-zero temperature, one may end by quoting the words of Edmund Blunden: “This was my country and it might be yet/But something came between us and the sun.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Spurned by Afghanistan, Pakistan to contact Interpol over Maulvi Faqir</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511605/spurned-by-afghanistan-pakistan-to-contact-interpol-over-maulvi-faqir</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511605/spurned-by-afghanistan-pakistan-to-contact-interpol-over-maulvi-faqir#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 17:32:14 +0500</pubDate>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511605</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Interior Minister calls on Punjab government to do more to initiate criminal cases against LeJ chief Malik Ishaq.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Minister for Interior Rehman Malik on Saturday said that Pakistan would soon request Interpol for repatriation of senior Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Maulvi Faqir from Afghanistan.

Malik’s statement come a day after Afghanistan refused requests to extradite Maulvi Faqir to Pakistan after the militant commander was arrested along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border earlier in the week.

The interior minister told media in Islamabad on Saturday that Pakistan will now seek help from Interpol to get custody of Faqir. The militant commander is believed to be behind a series of terror attacks in Pakistan.

"We want his deportation to Pakistan so that action can be initiated against him in accordance with the law," Malik said.

LEJ safe havens in Punjab

Malik admitted that militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has claimed responsibility for recent bomb attacks on the minority Hazara shia community in Quetta, had safe havens in Punjab.

Reiterating that law and order was a provincial subject, Malik urged provincial governments to take action against criminals of banned outfits. He appreciated Punjab government’s move to detain Malik Ishaq, but said more needs to be done including initiating criminal cases against the LeJ chief.

Commending intelligence agencies for providing accurate information about terrorists, Malik said that those involved in terror acts in Balochistan would be dealt with the full force of law.

Replying to a question about Taliban's dialogue offer, Malik said first they (Taliban) should demonstrate seriousness for talks by surrendering their arms.]]>
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			<title>Shahbaz orders immediate arrest of Dr Haider’s killers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511531/shahbaz-orders-immediate-arrest-of-dr-haiders-killers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511531/shahbaz-orders-immediate-arrest-of-dr-haiders-killers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 10:13:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511531</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Sharif brothers visit slain family's residence to offer condolence.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Sharif brothers have ordered the immediate arrest of the killers of Dr Syed Ali Haider and his son, while addressing the media outside the slain doctor's residence on Saturday.


Unidentified gunmen shot dead Dr Syed Ali Haider and his 11-year-old son in the Gulberg area of Lahore on Monday. Dr Haider died on the spot, while his son sustained injuries. The child succumbed to his wounds at a hospital.

Speaking to the media, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif called the murder “gruesome” and said that he was deeply saddened by this loss of lives. He went on to say that Dr Haider belonged to a noble family that had served Pakistan unconditionally.

Nawaz assured the media that Shahbaz Sharif was personally monitoring the case and was being kept up to date by the police force. He added that instructions had been given to the police to find those responsible immediately. Once found, the killers would be punished severely, he said.

Addressing the local media, Haider's father said that he was content with the way the investigations were going and that the provincial government was working very hard to find the murderers.

“The rest is up to God,” he said.

Responding to questions from the media, Nawaz stated that the federal government is not doing enough to keep Pakistan safe. Shedding light on the security situation in the country, he gave an example of the attacks on the Hazara community and said that had the government taken notice of that community's living conditions long time ago, the recent spate of violent bombings in Quetta could have been avoided.

Nawaz said that Karachi faced similar violence issues.

He demanded that the government take serious notice of the country's law and order situation and take adequate measures to address important national security issues.]]>
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			<title>Public order: Malik Ishaq detained under MPO for a month</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511399/public-order-malik-ishaq-detained-under-mpo-for-a-month</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511399/public-order-malik-ishaq-detained-under-mpo-for-a-month#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 05:22:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Kashif Zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511399</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ASWJ chief was released on bail by a court in July 2011.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Police have detained Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) senior leader Malik Muhammad Ishaq a week after the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) sectarian militant group claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing in the Hazara Town neighbourhood of Quetta.


Malik Ishaq, who is also a leader of the LeJ, was being held under the “Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) on the orders of the Punjab government”, said police official Tanveer Ahmad.

Senator Pervaiz Rasheed confirmed the news and said Malik Ishaq would be held for one month. “There were complaints against him, that he had been making provocative speeches in the past month,” he said.

A court released Malik Ishaq on bail in July 2011, even though he has been implicated in dozens of murders.

Before he was led off by the police, Malik Ishaq addressed a news conference at his residence in defiance of the district administration instructions.

The February 16 Quetta carnage “was a failure on the government’s part and had nothing to do with me or the LeJ”, he said. “We are blamed for any attack against the Shia community anywhere in the country.”

Malik Ishaq added that the ASWJ was a “peaceful organisation” and was being used as a scapegoat by the security agencies.



Sources said Malik Ishaq “surrendered as the police were reluctant to enter his house”. In the past three months, four FIRs were registered against Malik Ishaq.

Punitive action

On February 20, the Frontier Corps killed four alleged terrorists, including the suspected mastermind of the February 16 attack. However, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has hinted at possible “foreign involvement” in the bombing.

(With additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2013.]]>
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			<title>From Alamdar to Kirani</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511102/from-alamdar-to-kirani</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511102/from-alamdar-to-kirani#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 13 18:19:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[amina.jilani]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511102</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Men, paid to protect the lives and livelihoods of the common citizens of Pakistan, have no will or intent to so do.]]>
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				<![CDATA[From January 10, when 93 people were killed in bomb blasts in Quetta to February 16, when 89 men, women and children died in a massive bomb blast in the same city, bringing the Quetta toll of death to 182, and all in the space of one month and five days — was this not time enough for a government to act in some manner, considering that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) proudly claimed that they were the murderers, as they now have done? Their targets were poor Shias of Quetta, who have lived in fear and trepidation of their lives for long.

Since the LeJ are getting away with murder and mayhem and the governor of Balochistan, who presides over a pathetic governor’s rule, has admitted that “there is chaos everywhere and the state does not seem to be effective” (“does not seem to be” is ridiculous, it ‘is not’), therefore, we can expect more killings of Shias.

The federal government and all the petrified pillars of state have abdicated, done a Pontius Pilate, washing their hands off the entire matter of murder. The law minister has declared that “the situation is not so bad that the army should be deployed in [Quetta]”. The Supreme Court pronounced that the prime minister should bear responsibility for the carnage. Well, as everyone knows, he can take responsibility for nothing.

And the head of state is far more involved in the election process — approving symbols, trying to galvanise his party, plotting the caretaker set-up, and so forth — than he is in dwelling upon the safety and welfare of the citizens of the country. Since he runs the government and all else, other than the awkward judiciary and the overweening military, the responsibility for law and order and the lives of mainly the poor and deprived (high profile victims there have been but low in proportion to the rest) sits firmly on his head.

However, he and the others, who form the so-called ‘leadership’ can do nothing but ‘condemn’ all terrorist attacks and that too anonymously, as they avoid mention of the perpetrators, even though their identities are plastered all over the press — the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Lashkar-this and the Lashkar-that, or whoever it may be who deals in death.

What is it with these people who sit, or rather cower, in high chairs? Are they all too frightened out of their skins that they dare not name names, or act in any way to prevent the dance of death that extends from Balochistan, over to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and down to Karachi? The sole security they are worried about is their own. Security arrangements involving the dual head of state and political party co-chairman are a joke as they cross all boundaries of logic and smack of cowardice. The same applies to the hundreds of minion ministers, to the chief justice of Pakistan, and somewhat disgracefully, even to the military top brass — the guardians paid to guard the nation.

Reported in the national press on February 19 was a news item detailing how the Rawalpindi roads are ‘cleared’ for the COAS to pass on his daily voyages. On February 18, a lawyer was clobbered by a soldier’s rifle butt when he parked his car in an area that had been ‘cleared’. And in September 2012, two police officers were manhandled when they attempted to cross a road on the COAS’s route. This is utter nonsense, as is the size of the motorcades that accompany the corps (sometimes mistakenly written corpse) commanders (at least he of 5 Corps) when they travel from point to point on roads that are ‘cleared’ for them.

So, these men, paid to protect the lives and livelihoods of the common citizens of Pakistan, have no will or intent to so do. That being so, Hazara Shias and other Shias and all other citizens will continue to be at the non-mercy of the militant groups who have a free hand to murder and maim in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2013.]]>
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			<title>2 LeJ members killed, 4 arrested in Quetta</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511195/2-lej-members-killed-4-arrested-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511195/2-lej-members-killed-4-arrested-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 13 17:20:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511195</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Arrests made during targeted operations against criminal elements.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) members were killed and four were arrested in a raid in Quetta, BBC reported on Friday.

The government, in the aftermath of Quetta bombing that killed 89 people on February 16, had started a targeted operation in the city.

Around 170 suspects were arrested during several raids and government vowed to continue with the crackdown until all the elements involved in terrorist activities were arrested.

The LeJ had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The members of the group have been protesting in Karachi and Quetta against the killing of LeJ members.

Earlier today, LeJ chief Malik Ishaq was also detained in Rahim Yar Khan district jail.]]>
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			<title>LeJ leader Malik Ishaq detained in Rahim Yar Khan jail</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511115/lej-leader-malik-ishaq-detained-in-rahim-yar-khan-jail</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511115/lej-leader-malik-ishaq-detained-in-rahim-yar-khan-jail#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 13 13:54:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511115</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[LeJ chief denies role in recent attack on Hazara community in Quetta, calls it a government failure.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Top leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Malik Ishaq was detained for one month on Friday, Express News reported.

Ishaq was earlier detained in his house, however since the Quetta bombing that killed 89 people on February 16, the police have  detained him in the Rahim Yar Khan district jail.

Those killed in the attack mostly included members of the Hazara Shia community. The LeJ claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Before being detained, Ishaq held a press conference and declared the Quetta bombing a government failure.

Denying any role in the terror attack, Ishaq said every time the Shia community is attacked, LeJ is wrongly blamed.

Four FIRs were registered against the LeJ leader during the last three months alone in the district of Khanewal.

Earlier this week another senior LeJ leader Ghulam Rasool was detained in Gujranwala by local police.

Both these detentions have come in the aftermath of the Quetta bombings, particularly after demands for military operations in the province were publicly made.

Last week, Interior Minister Rehman Malik requested the Punjab government to act decisively against the LeJ so that terrorist attacks on Pakistan's Shia minorities could be prevented in the future.

ASWJ, LeJ protests 

The Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), which had been protesting in Karachi over the recent targeted attacks against their members, raids at their affiliated offices in Quetta as well as detention of some members in Punjab, gained impetus when two more of their colleagues were gunned down in Karachi on Friday.

The ASWJ protesting at Nagan Chowrangi in the city after mid-day prayers, however, after news of the murder of their colleagues reached the demonstrators, protests also erupted at Qaidabad, Lasbela and Sohrab Goth. The protesters also blocked traffic.

ASWJ spokesperson Maulana Saeed Akbar Farooqi though told The Express Tribune that the protests were peaceful, and all members of the ASWJ have been directed to maintain decorum and not force businesses to close.

Meanwhile, protests by the LeJ and the ASWJ were reported from different parts of the country, including Quetta.]]>
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			<title>Imran Khan condemns Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for attack on Hazaras</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/509030/quetta-bombing-imran-khan-condemns-lashkar-e-jahngvi-for-attack-on-hazaras</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/509030/quetta-bombing-imran-khan-condemns-lashkar-e-jahngvi-for-attack-on-hazaras#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 18 Feb 13 13:42:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=509030</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PTI chief demands chief justice take suo motu notice of attack on Hazara Shia community in Quetta.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has strongly condemned the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) for the Quetta bombing that left over 80 members of the Hazara Shia community dead. Khan had tweeted the statement after a press conference in Islamabad.

On Saturday, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), seen as the most ruthless sectarian group, had claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Khan demanded that the culprits be brought to justice and the people be protected.

The PTI chief also said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should take suo motu notice of the incident.

Khan also demanded that the government give compensation to the families of those who were killed as a result of the blast.

The party chief also said that members of his party will protest in all four headquarters to express solidarity with the Hazara community.

“We demand that a special court be set up and the culprits be punished,” said Khan.

Members of the Shia community and civil society took out protest rallies in different cities of Pakistan on Monday to protest against the attack. A strike was also observed in Karachi.

The Hazara community in Quetta had also once again refused to bury their dead, giving a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to arrest the killers.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan security: Zardari calls meeting with allies</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/493385/balochistan-security-zardari-calls-meeting-with-allies</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/493385/balochistan-security-zardari-calls-meeting-with-allies#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 13 10:52:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=493385</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[President will consult with the allies over the issue of Balochistan’s security.]]>
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				<![CDATA[President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday called a meeting of government allies belonging to Balochistan, following the uproar caused in the aftermath of the twin blasts resulting in over a 100 deaths in Quetta, Express News reported. 

The session is scheduled for Monday, January 14.

The president will consult with the allies over the issue of Balochistan’s security.

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf arrived in Quetta to meet Shia Muslim families refusing to bury their dead after devastating bombings.


At least 92 people were killed and 121 wounded Thursday in twin suicide attacks claimed by militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in an area dominated by Shias from the Hazara ethnic minority.

It was the worst ever sectarian attack on Shias, who account for around 20 per cent of Pakistan’s 180 million people and are regularly targeted for attack by extremists.


Shia families have refused to bury their dead and vowed to continue a sit-in protest with thousands of others until the army takes over security in the city.

They have been sitting in the open with the bodies for the past 48 hours.]]>
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			<title>PM Ashraf to meet Shias refusing to bury dead in Quetta</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/493377/pm-ashraf-to-meet-shias-refusing-to-bury-dead-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/493377/pm-ashraf-to-meet-shias-refusing-to-bury-dead-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 13 08:25:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=493377</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Premier telephones law minister to seek legal advice over imposing governor rule in Quetta or calling in the army.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf arrived Sunday in Quetta to meet Shia Muslim families refusing to bury their dead after devastating bombings, officials said.

At least 92 people were killed and 121 wounded Thursday in twin suicide attacks claimed by militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in an area dominated by Shias from the Hazara ethnic minority.

It was the worst ever sectarian attack on Shias, who account for around 20 per cent of Pakistan's 180 million people and are regularly targeted for attack by extremists.

Shia families have refused to bury their dead and vowed to continue a sit-in protest with thousands of others until the army takes over security in the city.

They have been sitting in the open with the bodies for the past 48 hours.

"Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has arrived in Quetta, he will meet the leaders of the Hazara community," a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The prime minister telephoned Law Minister Farooq H Naek seeking his legal advice over imposing governor rule in Quetta and calling in the army to control the law and order situation, reported Express News.

The premier asked him to deliberate on the two options so that the government can take a decision.

An AFP reporter said up to 8,000 people including women and children had gathered at the protest and faced a cold night in the open with the coffins of more than 60 of the dead.

"Quetta has become a killing field and we are protesting to stop target killings," said a protester who identified himself as Ali Raza.

"None of my relative was killed, but I am here to support the families who have lost their loved ones, and they have been sitting in the open in this harsh weather for the past 48 hours," Raza said.

Nadir Ali, an elder of the Hazara Shias, said the prime minister should sack the provincial government and impose federal rule in Balochistan province, handing over security to the army.

"We will not hold talks with anyone from the provincial government because they have never listened to us in the past despite a spate of killings. We will talk to the prime minister only and demand imposition of governor's rule," he said.]]>
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			<title>Quetta carnage: Terrorism can be wiped out in 90 days, says Imran Khan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/493359/expressing-solidarity-imran-khan-arrives-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/493359/expressing-solidarity-imran-khan-arrives-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 13 06:53:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sidrah.moiz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=493359</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Khan says some terrorists can be brought to negotiation table, while others will have to be dealt with guns.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan -- who arrived in Quetta on Sunday to join the protesting families of those who died in Thursday's attack -- said that terrorism “can be wiped out in 90 days.”

This is not the first time Khan has made a 90-day claim. He has previously said that the PTI can eradicate corruption in three months if voted into power.

Khan said that PTI was very clear on the matter of terrorism:
“Some terrorists can be brought to the negotiation table, while others will have to be dealt with guns.”
Khan arrived in the provincial capital to express solidarity with the protesting families, who have been staging a sit-in at Alamdar Road, where hundreds of protesters have gathered since Friday near the snooker hall that was the scene of Thursday’s twin suicide attacks, alongside 86 coffins carrying the victims’ shrouded bodies.

Khan said the incumbent government did not care about anyone, except for itself.

“There is absolutely no future of Pakistan under this government. People are fleeing Balochistan, given the current situation of security,” he said.

Khan added that the government was not doing anything, but “minting money” for financing their elections campaigns.

The PTI chief said that governor rule should be imposed in Balochistan and that, if the governor agrees, the army should be called in to control the situation.

Consoling the relatives, Khan said that the whole country was with them in this moment of grief. He said that the government of Balochistan should immediately step down.

“The ones who oppress you, inflict violence upon you are not Muslims, nor humans,” said PTI chief.

Quetta protests continue

Even 36 hours after the deaths of their loved ones, the families say they will not bury their dead unless the army takes control of the provincial capital and protects members of their sect from vigilante-style wings of extremist groups.

Banned militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the bombings, which took place in an area dominated by the Hazara community and killed 102 people, with over 200 wounded.

Demonstrations are expected to pour in key cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar.]]>
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			<title>Spiralling violence: Quetta residents plead for army control</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/492921/spiralling-violence-quetta-residents-plead-for-army-control</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/492921/spiralling-violence-quetta-residents-plead-for-army-control#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jan 13 22:27:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[muhammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=492921</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Death toll soars past 100 amid shutdown in the city to mourn Thursday’s massacre.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Besieged members of the Shia community appealed to the army on Friday to take control of the provincial capital and shield them from extremist groups as the death toll from Thursday’s twin bombings soared past 100.


The outlawed extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide and bomb attacks at a snooker club in the Shia-dominated Alamdar Road neighbourhood of the city.

On Friday, a thick pall of gloom hung over the city as businessmen and traders joined both nationalist and mainstream political parties in mourning the previous day’s carnage. All shopping malls, business centres and markets were closed in response to a call by the Anjuman-e-Tajiran Balochistan.

Roads and thoroughfares were deserted for the most part as motorists stayed indoors. In eerie silence, law enforcers and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the main roads and thoroughfares.

While the death toll rose to 102, hundreds of Hazara community members, who are Shias by sect, erected barricades and burnt tyres on Brewery Road and at Bacha Khan Chowk to protest Thursday’s massacre.

They shouted slogans against the provincial authorities and called for the army to take over the city.

Shia Ulema Council chief Maulana Amin Shaheedi criticised Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani over the country’s security.

“I ask the army chief: ‘What have you done with these extra three years you got (in office)? What did you give us, except more death?’” Maulana Shaheedi told a news conference. He was referring to a three-year extension in service given to Gen Kayani by then premier Yousaf Raza Gilani in  July 2010.

Mourners had initially planned to bury the victims’ bodies after Friday prayers but decided later to leave the bodies in place until the community had received assurances of protection. Maulana Shaheedi said scores of bodies were still lying on the road. “They will not be buried until the army comes into Quetta.”

The Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) president echoed Maulana Shaheedi’s demand, saying that unabated violence has proved that the provincial government had no right to continue in power.

The HDP president, Abdul Khaliq Hazara, demanded that an interim government be put in place in the province in consultation with all stakeholders. If this does not happen, Hazara warned that sectarian violence could engulf all communities and ethnic groups living in the city.

The HDP president also hit out at law enforcement agencies for their “failure to stem the tide of targeted killings of Hazara community members”.

Three newsmen – Samaa TV reporter Saifur Rehman Baloch, cameraman Imran Sheikh and NNI news agency photographer Muhammad Iqbal – were also killed in Thursday’s twin bombings.

On Friday, they were buried in Quetta and Karachi. Senior politicians joined hundreds of mourners at the funeral of Saifur Rehman in Karachi.

The journalist community observed a black day across Balochistan to protest the killing of their colleagues. They hoisted black flags atop local press clubs and wore black armbands as a mark of protest.

In a statement, the Quetta Press Club president said bomb blasts and targeted killings had claimed lives of around 30 journalists in the province over the past four years – but the authorities were oblivious. (With additional input from Agencies)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2013.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Day of carnage</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/492648/day-of-carnage</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/492648/day-of-carnage#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jan 13 20:17:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=492648</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The weakness we show by failing to protect the most vulnerable, we embolden militants to replicate Bloody Thursday.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In the very last tweet Irfan Khudi Ali sent out before he was killed in a blast in Quetta, he said, “Hazara families of Machh, Khuzdar finally succumbed to the genocidal pressure and are moving out. Sad day for diversity in Balochistan.” Later that day, Irfan was one of nearly 100 people killed in three different blasts in Quetta. More than 20 other people were killed in separate attacks in Swat and Karachi.

On this, one of the deadliest days in Pakistan even by our recent violent standards, we saw the full spectrum of threats that the country faces. In Balochistan, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has declared war on the Shia community, reserving particular ire for the minority-within-a-minority Hazaras. The two blasts targeting Shias in Quetta took over 90 lives. Then, there is the war being fought by the Baloch separatists, which occasionally turns violent and so we had separatist group United Baloch Army claim responsibility for a blast, which killed 11 people in a Quetta market. The Taliban, as shown by the attempted murder of Malala Yousufzai, is still able to operate in Swat despite the strong army presence and so were the likely culprits behind the killings of 21 people at a religious rally in Mingora. Meanwhile, in Karachi, not only is the Taliban making its presence felt but there is also the usual daily cocktail of targeted killings and political bickering turning violent.



You would think, given the sheer variety and scale of violent threats that we face, that this would be the most important matter consuming our body politic. But the last decade has shown us that the worth of human life is very cheap in this country and January 10 proved to be no exception. On a day when these horrific attacks should have received wall-to-wall coverage, the news media was more concerned with the latest antics of Tahirul Qadri and other prominent political leaders. These political leaders did not seem particularly vexed by the existential terrorist threat we face. Qadri, for one, is threatening to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Islamabad for his Long March. Right now, the only march we need is against the killers in our midst, but Qadri seems to be more worried about strangling democracy. He certainly has street power but he is wielding that power in a thoughtless way that betrays little concern for the tens of thousands of victims of terrorism.

Mainstream political parties have been no better. At a time when terrorism threatens the very fabric of our nation, they are concentrating on what divides them rather than seeking unity. No mainstream party in the country today actually supports the goals and methods of the militants but they are unable to forge a unified strategy for tackling the militant menace. Unbelievably, there are still many in the political parties who favour negotiations with the militants. Here are many questions for them — questions that they have never been able to answer. Given that there are at least a dozen different groups carrying out terrorist attacks in different parts of Pakistan, who are we going to negotiate with? All negotiations involve give-and-take so what are we willing to give, in the form of territory and lives, to the militants? If our ultimate aim is disarming militants and ensuring they can never attack civilians again, how are we ever going to convince them to do this through negotiation?

This focus on the process of negotiation, rather than the outcome of defeating militants, shows just how little this unending violence is penetrating the bubble in which our politicians reside. The more weakness we show by failing to protect the most vulnerable in society, the more we embolden the militants to replicate days like Bloody Thursday. Our apathy and indifference only make the problem worse. Unity is hard to come by these days but our political class needs to strive for it and show the militants that the country has decided they must be defeated by any means necessary. The time has come to fight fire with fire and finally rout the militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Black Thursday: Bloodbath in Quetta</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/492456/black-thursday-bloodbath-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/492456/black-thursday-bloodbath-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jan 13 22:31:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=492456</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[At least 93 dead, over 200 wounded in a series of bomb blasts, suicide attack.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A string of bombings left at least 93 people dead and over 150 wounded in one of the bloodiest days of violence that Balochistan has seen for years.


“A suicide bomber detonated the explosives inside a crowded snooker club on Alamdar Road, a Shia-dominated neighbourhood of Quetta,” Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told The Express Tribune.

“Fifteen minutes later, another explosion went off outside the club as police, mediapersons and rescuers rushed to the site,” Durrani added.

A senior police official said 81 people were killed and 121 injured – some of them critically. “The fatalities include a television journalist and cameraman, eight police officials and five Edhi volunteers,” Mir Zubair Mehmood, the capital city police officer (CCPO), told a news conference.

The two media men were identified as Samaa TV reporter Saifur Rehman Baloch and Imran Sheikh.

Hamid Shakeel, the deputy inspector general of police (Investigation Branch), said the snooker club was situated in the basement of a four-storey building which collapsed with the impact of the blast.

Moments before the blast, the home secretary said, a man was seen carrying a bag into the crowded snooker club. The man is suspected to be a suicide bomber.

As soon as mediapersons, police and rescue officials reached the site, the second blast went off. Television channels counted the two explosions as suicide attacks. But the home secretary later described the second as a time device that was planted in a car. Most of the casualties were caused by the second blast.

The bombings disrupted power supplies and plunged the Alamdar Road neighbourhood into darkness. The area is dominated by the Hazara community, who are Shias by sect. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the blast and said their target was the Hazara community.

A spokesperson for the militant group told Quetta-based journalists in a phone call that the first one was a suicide blast and the second was a planted bomb.

The casualties were driven to the Civil Hospital where a state of emergency was already declared. Dozens of injured are in critical condition, medics said, adding that the death toll could rise.

“We have enough life-saving medicine to treat the injured,” Health Department official Dr Saleem told The Express Tribune.


An old man cries over the death of his relative in the Quetta blast. PHOTO: AFP
After the Alamdar Road blast, there were two more blasts on Prince Road, which is part of the commercial district of Quetta, whipping up fear and panic among residents.

Earlier in the day, a massive bomb went off near a paramilitary checkpoint at a busy roundabout of Quetta, killing around a dozen people, including a paramilitary soldier, and injuring 40 others.

The United Baloch Army (UBA), an insurgent group, claimed responsibility for the blast which took place in Bacha Khan Chowk, the commercial district of the provincial capital.

“It was a time device,” Quetta police chief Mir Zubair said.  “The bomb was planted underneath a vehicle parked near a picket of the Frontier Corps (FC),” he told journalists as investigators sifted through the rubble for more clues. “FC personnel were the target,” said police investigator Hamid Shakeel.  The explosion destroyed at least 15 vehicles, three of them belonging to the FC, and 10 nearby shops. One of the FC vehicles was turned into a heap of mangled metal. An explosives expert said the bomb weighed 20 to 30 kilogrammes.

After the blast pools of blood, shattered windows, charred pieces of metal and merchandise from street vendors littered the roadside. Home Secretary Captain (Retd) Akbar Hussain Durrani confirmed 11 fatalities. “Among the dead were an FC soldier, a naib tehsildar and a Revenue Department official.” However, an Edhi rescue official added that one of the injured died while being driven to a hospital.

“One FC personnel was killed and 10 were injured – two of them seriously,” said Murtaza Baig, the spokesperson for the paramilitary force.

Most of the casualties were shifted to the Civil Hospital where medics told The Express Tribune that they have received 35 injured – some of them with critical wounds. Another 15 injured were shifted to other hospitals of the city.

The UBA claimed responsibility for the blast in a phone call to Quetta-based journalists. The group’s spokesperson said the paramilitary force was the target. The UBA is one of many groups fighting a bloody insurgency in the province.

The group had earlier kidnapped John Solecki, former chief of UNHCR in Balochistan, who was later set free.

It was the deadliest day in Quetta since a suicide bomber blew himself up at a 2010 mourning procession, killing around 50 people. (With additional input from Agencies)

(Read: Are we serious against terrorism?)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Violence is on the rise in Balochistan: Report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/488311/violence-is-on-the-rise-in-balochistan-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/488311/violence-is-on-the-rise-in-balochistan-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 13 05:25:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=488311</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sectarian strife and targeted killings continue to claim more victims by the day.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The past five years have been difficult for Balochistan according to statistics revealed by the home department. Violence in the province has claimed over 2,100 lives and left 3,845 injured in over 3,232 incidents of bomb blasts and rocket attacks in this period. Amidst rising sectarian strife and targeted killings, the government’s inability to deal with the situation appears more jarring than ever.


Throughout the province, sectarian killings remain the biggest challenge. From 2008 to 2012, 758 members of the Shia community were killed in 478 incidents. Of these, 338 victims belonged to the Hazara community, indicating that Hazaras remain the prime targets of these aggressions.

The province has become a base for a decade-long insurgency as well as a killing field for various sects. Banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi allegedly keeps targeting Shias throughout Balochistan. Accordingly, officials have beefed up safety measures from Quetta to Taftan and are even planning to hold meetings with interior ministry officials to discuss possible arrangements to facilitate the movement of Hazaras from Marriabad to Hazara Town and Hazar Ganji.

“The shia community, the Hazaras in particular, remains the prime target of violent groups in the province,” Balochistan Home Secretary Captain (retd) Akbar Durrani told The Express Tribune when asked about these statistics. “We are struggling against militants, but the situation is not as bad as [what is] being reported.”

He added that the increasing trend of violence in Balochistan is alarming, regardless of the disparity between the reported numbers and the actual happenings on the ground.



The findings also uncover staggering ‘kill and dump’ statistics. Around 570 dead bodies have been found strewn throughout the province, with 370 of the victims belonging to the Baloch community and 89 to the Pashtun community. The rest remain unidentified to this day.

Further still, over 402 non-Baloch have been killed in 498 incidents, and over 486 injured in multiple attacks.

Not surprisingly, security personnel have also suffered great losses. As many as 340 Frontier Corps personnel and 380 policemen have lost their lives in the line of duty, and 508 security officials in total have been left wounded.

Analysts say that despite the staggering figures, the provincial government is yet to review regulations pertaining to the movement of pilgrims under the Travel Agency Act of 1976.  In one instance, police decided to refer the investigation of ‘sensitive cases’ to the Crime Investigation Department after the arrest of alleged terrorist Sher Dil of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, also known as Babu, in a bid to curb violence in Balochistan.

Sectarian  target killings

Number of incidents: 478
Number of Hazaras killed: 338

Total number of members of the Shia community killed: 758

Loss of security personnel

Frontier Corps personnel killed: 340

Policemen killed: 380

Security officials wounded: 508

‘Settlers’/ Non-Baloch target killings

Number of incidents: 498

Number of those killed: 402

Number of those injured: 486

‘Kill and dump’

Total number of bodies found in sacks:  570

Number of victims from the Baloch community: 370

Number of victims from the Pushtun community: 89

Unidentified victims: 111

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Sectarian violence: Militants behind DI Khan bombings arrested, say police</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/488285/sectarian-violence-militants-behind-di-khan-bombings-arrested-say-police</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/488285/sectarian-violence-militants-behind-di-khan-bombings-arrested-say-police#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 13 00:40:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zulfiqar.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=488285</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Suspects confess involvement in three blasts, 11 other terrorist attacks.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Four militants said to be involved in a series of sectarian attacks on Shias were arrested in DI Khan and presented before the media on Wednesday.


The men, identified as Walid Akbar, Ikramullah, Abbas Ali and Ilyas, belong to banned outfits Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

DI Khan Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Qazi Jamilur Rehman said the Pakistan Army, several investigation agencies and police jointly interrogated the suspects. The four arrested men are said to be involved in three bomb blasts and 11 other terrorist acts in DI Khan.

The suspects were also planning an attack on Police Lines in DI Khan and two DSPs of City Police Station, Abdul Ghaffar and Salauddin Kundi, along with Shia leaders in the city.

Rehman said some police personnel were involved in the terrorist attacks and were collaborating with the attackers. He said the policemen had confessed their involvement, but did not divulge their names.



During interrogation, Rehman said the accused men told the police they were provided with three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from their organisations to be used to target Muharram processions in DI Khan.

One of the IEDs was hidden under a pile of garbage on the roadside in Toi Fazal Colony on November 24. Nine people including five children were killed, while 26 others were injured in the blast.

Another IED was put in a pressure-cooker placed in Commissionary Bazaar on Muharram 10, leaving seven people dead and 138 injured.

The third IED they were carrying was to be planted in Basthi Dewala on November 28 to target another procession, but the militants were deterred due to the presence of police.

Later, the same IED was planted near Polytechnic College. On the same day, they also hurled a hand grenade at police officer Ghazanfar, hoping the attack would prompt DPO Sohail Khalid to come to the site so they could use another bomb to target him. The bomb disposal squad, however, managed to defuse the explosives.

The DIG said the arrested men told the police they had been involved in other terrorist acts in DI Khan. On March 14 this year, they were involved in a suicide attack on a police mobile in Commissionary Bazaar, which left DSP Abdul Ghafoor injured.

In 2009, they were involved in an attack on the vehicle of Syed Masthan Ali Zaidi in which two police constables were killed. On November 22, 2009, they attacked Raza Hussain near Rehmania Hospital in DI Khan, killing him. Several other targeted killings were also mentioned, including an attack on a retired police sub-inspector and one on their own colleague who they suspected of spying for the police.

Police have recovered a suicide jacket and a remote -controlled bomb used in the Muharram 10 blast in Commissionary Bazaar. They also seized other material used to make explosive devices.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2013.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Muharram bombings: Police arrest four Taliban, LeJ terrorists from DI Khan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/487903/muharram-bombings-police-arrest-four-taliban-lej-terrorists-from-di-khan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/487903/muharram-bombings-police-arrest-four-taliban-lej-terrorists-from-di-khan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 13 07:51:35 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=487903</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[DIG DI Khan presents criminals before media today, who were apprehended during targeted operation.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Police on Wednesday arrested four terrorists belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi who were involved in carrying out bomb attacks during Muharram in Dera Ismail Khan, Express News reported.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Dera Ismail Khan Qazi Jameelur Rehman presented the criminals before the media today, who were apprehended during targeted operation.

The police seized suicide vests, explosive devices, detonators and weapons from their possession. The criminals confessed to having carried out 11 terror bids.

DIG Rehman added that the terrorists received training in South Waziristan.

Ten people were killed in a bomb targeting a mourning procession in the city, while 22 others were wounded.

The Taliban had dispatched more than 20 suicide bombers across the country for attacks on the Shia community, TTP's spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan was earlier quoted as saying.]]>
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			<title>Gunmen kill Shia leader during mourning procession in Chiniot</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/487416/gunmen-kill-shia-leader-during-mourning-procession-in-chiniot</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/487416/gunmen-kill-shia-leader-during-mourning-procession-in-chiniot#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jan 13 08:04:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rabia.mehmood]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=487416</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Shia community members identify one of the attackers as a former Sipah-e-Sahaba leader.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Organiser of Shia religious activities and license holder for the main mourning processions in Chiniot, Malik Mukhtar Hussain, was allegedly target killed by six armed men during a mourning procession which was underway on December 31.

Six gunmen on three motorbikes had barged into the vicinity of Imambargah Qasr-e-Abu Talib located in Chowk Shori Pipli area in Muhallah Rangraizan and opened fire at Hussain.

Two teenage devotees were also injured in the attack that took place during the mourning procession for the death of the 8th Imam of Shias.

Eye witnesses told the The Express Tribune that although the imambargah compound does not have a gate, security was beefed up by police. They added that the gunmen tried to forcibly enter the compound and succeeded in crossing the police check point, eye witnesses said.

Syed Shahan Raza, devotee and eye witness of the incident told The Express Tribune via telephone that, Hussain had walked past him, moving towards the entrance point of the imambargah to inquire why there was a clamour when the armed motorcyclists opened fire at him.

Raza said he went to the DHQ Hospital with Hussain and that he had to be shifted to Allied Hospital in Faisalabad, but Hussain succumbed to his injuries on the way. Raza added, “Hussain had received several bullets including one in the head.”

34-year-old Hussain owned a catering business and leaves behind a young son and a wife.

The incident took place between 10:45pm to 11:00pm on Monday.

An FIR against the gunmen was lodged under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 780 A of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Station House Officer of the concerned police station, Naveed Murtaza, was suspended as a result of “negligence” in this incident. District Police Officer Zameerul Hassan said, “We have been working on this case since Hussain was murdered.”

The newly inducted SHO of the police Station, Ghulam Abbas, told The Express Tribune that the police have not yet managed to arrest any of the suspects named in the FIR, however, he said that the police was conducting raids.

The two teenagers, identified as Muazzam Ali, 16 and Zeeshan Ali, 17, came under fire because they were standing behind Hussain in the procession.

Muazzam was put on a ventilator late last night owing to critical injuries he sustained in the chest and neck. Zeeshan was also injured with a bullet that pierced through his chest.

Members of the Shia community of Chiniot told The Express Tribune that the attackers abandoned their bikes at the imambargah and managed to evade the police. They identified one of the attackers as Chauhdry Zulfiqar Jutt, a former Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan district-level leader. Jutt has a criminal record.

Locals said that sectarian tensions in the area had increased after the murder of banned militant outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba’s former district president Hafiz Abubakar in September, 2012.

In the month of Ramazan during August 2012, founder of banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and now the Vice President of Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jammat, Malik Ishaq, visited a mosque in Chiniot and an FIR was registered against him on charges of inciting hatred by delivering speeches that fueled sectarian tensions in the area.]]>
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			<title>Sectarian violence: Bloody penultimate of a deadly year</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/486881/sectarian-violence-bloody-penultimate-of-a-deadly-year</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/486881/sectarian-violence-bloody-penultimate-of-a-deadly-year#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 12 22:39:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=486881</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[19 Shia pilgrims killed in a car bomb attack in Mastung; Jaish al Islami claims responsibility.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[For Pakistan’s embattled Shia community, a bloody 2012 ends on a sombre note. The penultimate day of the outgoing year saw 19 Shia pilgrims killed in a massive car bomb attack in Mastung district, some 60 kilometres west of Quetta.


According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, more than 320 Shia community members have been killed in targeted attacks in Pakistan in 2012.

On Sunday morning, sectarian extremists detonated a car bomb near a convoy of buses taking 180 Shia pilgrims to Iran, killing at least 19 people and wounding 25 – some of them critically.

Officials said the blast occurred as the three buses were overtaking a car on the main Quetta-Taftan Highway in the Dringhar area of Mastung district. Two vehicles of Levies Force – tribal police – were escorting the convoy, officials added.

The blast triggered a fire on one of the buses, according to witnesses. “The bus next to us caught fire immediately,” said 60-year-old pilgrim Hussein Ali “We tried to save our companions but were driven back by the intensity of the heat.”

Another pilgrim Jan Danish recalled the grisly scene. “The bus was on fire, and people inside were crying for help,” he said. “We managed to rescue 10 – while the rest were burnt to death.”

Home Secretary Captain (Retd) Akbar Hussain Durrani said the bomb was remotely detonated. “It was not a suicide attack. The device was planted on a car parked by the roadside,” he told The Express Tribune.  Bomb Disposal Squad officials added that the car was rigged with 70 to 80 kilogrammes of explosives.

The region’s top administrator confirmed the casualties. The injured included four women and some children, he added. “Medics, however, are having trouble identifying the bodies, many of which have been charred beyond recognition,” Tufail Baloch, the deputy commissioner of Mastung, told The Express Tribune.

Edhi centre in-charge, Babul Khan said that they have moved 18 bodies to an Imambargah in the Alamdar Road neighbourhood of Quetta.

A Levies official said the powerful explosion was heard within a radius of several kilometres. “Two of the Levies personnel escorting the convoy also received injuries,” he added.

The pilgrims belonged to different parts of Punjab – including Lahore, Jang, Rahim Yar Khan and Khanewal – and they were going to Iran and Iraq for religious pilgrimage.

Soon after the attack, Levies and Frontier Corps personnel threw a security cordon around the site as rescuers ferried the casualties to the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital where a state of emergency was declared. Medics said some of the injured, including four women, were in a critical condition.

Jaish al Islami, a splinter group of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) sectarian extremist outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group’s spokesperson, Ghazi Haq Nawaz, called up Quetta-based journalists from an undisclosed location and said his group carried out the Mastung attack.

It was the second deadliest attack on the Shia community in Mastung since late last year. On September 20, 2011, gunmen plucked 26 Hazara community pilgrims from an Iran-bound bus and shot them dead in the same district. The LeJ had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The stretch of Quetta-Taftan Highway passing through Mastung has become a hazard for Shia pilgrims. In September this year, three pilgrims were killed when their bus was bombed. In June, 13 pilgrims died in another bomb attack on a pilgrims’ bus.

Shia community bodies – including Hazara Democratic Party, Tahfuz-e-Azadari Council and Shia Ulema Council – denounced the latest “barbaric attack” and announced three days of mourning.

At a joint news conference, the community leaders Juma Asadi and Qayyum Nazar Changezai demanded the Supreme Court and the federal government bring perpetrators of violence against Shias to justice.

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf condemned the bomb attack and directed Pakistan Air Force to send a C-130 plane to evacuate the bodies.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister Secretariat, Premier Raja also directed local authorities to provide best possible medical assistance to the injured. (With additional input from agencies)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Another year of the state’s decline</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/486735/another-year-of-the-state%e2%80%99s-decline</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/486735/another-year-of-the-state%e2%80%99s-decline#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 30 Dec 12 18:01:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=486735</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan was thoroughly mired in terrorism that it did not have the capacity to put down.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan has spent the year 2012 deciding what it wants to do: 1) with its relationship with America and the scores of powerful countries worried about the international terror Pakistan is incubating; 2) with its policy towards the Taliban in the face of an overwhelmingly isolationist popular opinion moulded by the deep state; and 3) with an economy rapidly unwinding under pressure from a bad law and order situation, shrinking writ of the state, and corruption.

In 2011, the army had controversially fallen foul of America but was not questioned by politicians in parliament who, instead, joined it in issuing unrealistic resolutions which the army could not implement. Moral weight of these consensual resolutions fell to the advantage of the Taliban and al Qaeda using terror to mould the minds in the country. But Pakistan hurtled itself into more self-flagellation and self-hatred when it reopened the Nato supply route amid loud announcement by the religious parties, non-state actors and other extremists that they will attack the resumed supply convoys.



The vendetta between the Supreme Court and the ruling PPP continued through the year, culminating in the dismissal of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani — which became internationally controversial and internally divisive. Scandals of corruption continued to attach to the PPP in power but the moral arena of the PPP-judiciary conflict was thoroughly confused when the son of the chief justice of Pakistan was accused of corruption. Meanwhile, the public plaint that pendency of cases at the courts was getting out of hand was ignored. Terrorists were allowed to go free by the courts either because the judges and the witnesses were threatened or the cases were badly investigated. As far as the Taliban were concerned, the judicial system was tilted in their favour in 2012.

Pakistan’s efforts at lessening regional tensions were doomed by its contradictory conduct. Free trade with India and relaxation of the visa regime between the two countries went ahead but the process was hounded by the long marches of protest mounted by the Defence of Pakistan Council that objected to the award of the reciprocal Most-Favoured Nation status to India. Not much was done to disarm the lack of trust of the international community and India on the 2008 case of Mumbai attacks carried out by a Pakistani terrorist organisation, the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistan’s reputation as a responsible state was damaged after Saudi Arabia handed over Abu Jandal to India — the terrorist involved in organising the Mumbai attacks in Pakistan.

Terror spread like a stain of blood from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Karachi where crime and ideology mixed to take a cruel toll on the man in the street. Throughout 2012, shopkeepers were killed because they could not pay protection money (bhatta) to gangs enjoying political patronage. Towards the end of the year, the Taliban made good their pledge to increase their presence in Karachi. The police proved unable to handle the situation because of its non-merit-based induction of manpower. By the end of the year, it was proved that Karachi was yet another city where Pakistan was unable to tackle terrorism without international assistance in funding and training — and that training could only come from states Pakistan was officially accusing of acts against its security.

A most reprehensible state policy of accusing America — at times together with India and Israel — of doing terrorism in Pakistan indirectly let the Taliban and al Qaeda off the hook and may have encouraged them to kill more Pakistanis with impunity. In 2012, Pakistan completely ignored the killing of Shias in Parachinar, Quetta, Gilgit-Baltistan and Karachi. The Hazara of Quetta, targeted by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, were forced to join the ‘boat people’ of Southeast Asia in trying to enter Australia to escape persecution at home. By the end of the year, as the process of withdrawal of America and its allies from Afghanistan kicked off, Pakistan was thoroughly mired in terrorism that it did not have the capacity to put down. Dangerously, it continued to develop tactical nuclear weapons that ran the risk of being stolen by al Qaeda.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Poverty, ideology and resistance — in Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/475119/poverty-ideology-and-resistance-%e2%80%94-in-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/475119/poverty-ideology-and-resistance-%e2%80%94-in-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Dec 12 17:33:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ayesha.siddiqa]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=475119</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Poverty-violence linkage ignores the fact insurgents are brutalised middle class forced to take arms against state.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A fairly popular notion in Pakistan is that poverty drives people towards violence and militancy. There are at least a couple of research papers that seem to have given wind to such an argument. A study by the Sustainable Policy Development Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the World Food Programme found linkages between food insecurity and militancy. Another one by the Pakistan Institute for Development Economics (PIDE) found linkages between food insecurity, landlessness and violence. In both cases, Balochistan was seen as a place where this link was seen as being obvious.

Although the Balochistan chief minister might not have seen either of the two studies, he seems to have responded to the popular notion that poverty drives war and so offered jobs to the Baloch insurgents in the mountains. He has asked them to come down from their hideouts, lay down arms and that they will get jobs and a state pardon. What a chance for people like Dr Allah Nazar to make peace, get a cushy job as a senior executive in a pharmaceutical company and live life happily ever after. However, there are flaws in Aslam Raisani’s offer and the underlying argument that links poverty with militancy.

First, assuming that poverty was the main driver to have sent the Baloch up the mountains to resist the state, what is the mechanism for them to return given the fact that there is a huge trust deficit between the insurgents and the state? The fact of the matter is that the federal government has failed to honour its own initiatives in the form of the Mushahid Hussain and the Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain missions. In fact, the state went ahead and killed Nawab Akbar Bugti even after pretending to talk. Today, there is no single neutral arbiter that both sides would trust.

Second, how can trust begin to develop as long as Balochistan is being flooded by other kinds of violent agents of the state like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD). The LeJ, in particular, is going around killing the Hazaras and sowing seeds of discontent in a land where different communities did coexist much more peacefully in the past. The formula that one kind of militant may be allowed and not the other is not going to impress anyone.

Third, the poverty-violence nexus is very linear. I was reminded of a study carried out in the 1990s by a British-American strategic thinker, Colin S Gray, in which he argued that weapons did not make war. The idea was to question a popular notion that once weapons are created they tend to generate propensity for war. But the more important issue was not to look at war simplistically as a product of a single element. Fortunately, the PIDE study by Sadia Mariam Malik admits that the formula used in the study is linear.

If poverty and landlessness were the two main drivers then it surely doesn’t explain why militants are constantly being recruited from Punjab, which is the granary of Pakistan. It doesn’t explain why the mid-tier leadership of the militant outfits based in Punjab is from the middle class. There is a need to differentiate between the causes of conflict and violence. For instance, the LeJ in Balochistan does not kill because people are poor but due to their inherent ideology to target Shias and create dissent in the area.

This is not to argue that poverty does not have any impact. In Punjab, for instance, the proliferation of madrassas is connected with poverty. Surely, in other provinces, too, people would be sending children to religious seminaries to solve the problem of free boarding and lodging for their children. However, there are other factors used to motivate people to fight. The exhibition of photos and videos of dead bodies of Muslim men and women in Palestine, Kashmir, Myanmar and other places along with the message that it is God’s duty towards its people to protect these people becomes a driver.

Many police investigators argue that the jihadis from Punjab are the most rabid and brutal. These young warriors are incensed by the brutality towards sister and brother Muslims whom they have never seen or met. Interestingly, we have greater sympathy with this formulation than the idea that a lot of those fighting the state in Balochistan are angered by the brutality towards their kith and kin. Using simplistic methodologies like a poverty-violence linear linkage, we comfortably ignore the fact that the insurgent base at the moment comprises a middle class that was brutalised to a point that they were forced to take up weapons against the state.

The application of the above theory in Balochistan is problematic also because it does not take into consideration the fact that Balochistan is not this single-monolithic whole. The province can be divided into three: (a) a Pashtun area, (b) a Baloch area that includes places such as Dera Bugti, Kohlu and others that I call the ‘heartland’, and (c) a Baloch area along the Makran coastal belt. The Pashtun area is generally more peaceful and more developed than the other areas. The problem with the Baloch heartland, which is tribal, is not just its tribal legacy but also the fact that the state has continuously supplied weapons and strengthened the traditional patronage-based system that it proposed to replace. This means that conditions continue to be the same. The heartland is also the area where the LeJ and others are making way. This means that violence as a means of negotiating violence will persist.

The coastal belt is totally another place. This is an area where the idea of Pakistan was not dominant even in 1947 as it was in Lahore, Karachi or other places. Sadly, the state never ventured to showcase Pakistan as a positive formulation. Moreover, the battle that was waged around 2006 has not endeared the state to ordinary people. When the FC jawans enter houses and brutalise people in hot pursuit, poverty alone does not matter.

It is also a fact that years of violence have stripped most Baloch area of any socioeconomic development potential. The Baloch middle class, which does not want to be part of this battle, has moved away to other places. Here is a case of war creating poverty and not the other way around.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Alleged LeJ militant, four ‘target killers’ among 20 arrested</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471907/alleged-lej-militant-four-%e2%80%98target-killers%e2%80%99-among-20-arrested</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471907/alleged-lej-militant-four-%e2%80%98target-killers%e2%80%99-among-20-arrested#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 12 21:17:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=471907</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Law enforcers arrest militant who may have been involved in the Rangers complex attack.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[An alleged Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant possibly involved in the Rangers complex attack and four suspected target killers were among 20 suspects rounded up by the law enforcers in raids across the city on Tuesday.


In Orangi Town, a man allegedly associated with the banned militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), was arrested during a search operation. The suspect identified as Anees-ur-Rehman was involved in many terrorism cases and attacking law enforcers, police sources said.

The suspect was shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation about his group’s involvement in the attack at a Rangers residential complex this month, which left at least three people dead.

In North Nazimabad, four men allegedly involved in numerous targeted killings were arrested during a sting operation.



The suspects were taken into custody by Rangers within the Sharae Noor Jahan police remits. But the police said they were not handed over to them for interrogation. The four alleged target killers were Waqas, Sabir, Hasham and Hamid, and their association with political or religious organisations was not disclosed.

In Liaquatabad, another suspected target killer allegedly associated with a political party was arrested by the police.

SP Haseeb Afzal Baig said the suspect, Athar Khan aka Athari, was wanted by police in several cases, including extortion, targeted killings, street crimes and riots. Further investigation is under way.



Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police also arrested a suspect, identified as Abdul Samad, who was carrying a 9mm pistol from North Karachi. The man was pretending to be a member of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and was demanding extortion money from a trader, SHO Chaudhry Afzal said. In a raid at a house in Taiser Town, two alleged kidnappers were detained and weapons seized from them. Rangers have not disclosed their identification.

The Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) seized at least 17 stolen vehicles, said SSP Imran Shaukat on Tuesday. The ACLC police also arrested 11 suspects during the raids.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Karachi Rangers arrest suspected LeJ terrorist</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471625/karachi-rangers-arrest-suspected-lej-terrorist</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471625/karachi-rangers-arrest-suspected-lej-terrorist#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 12 10:05:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=471625</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The suspected terrorist has been involved in attacks on security forces and other bomb blasts.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Karachi Rangers claimed to have arrested a suspected terrorist belonging to the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s (LeJ) Qari Shakeel group on Tuesday, reported Express News.

According to sources, Aneesur Rehman was arrested from the Orangi Town area after Rangers received intelligence reports.

The suspected terrorist has been involved in attacks on security forces and other bomb blasts, the sources added.

The suspect is being interrogated for further information.

On Sunday, the Crime Investigation Department averted a major bomb blast in Karachi on Ashura after killing a suspected suicide bomber and arresting his accomplice – both belonging to the LeJ.]]>
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			<title>Reconciliation policy: Malik offers second chance to outlawed groups</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471510/reconciliation-policy-malik-offers-second-chance-to-outlawed-groups</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471510/reconciliation-policy-malik-offers-second-chance-to-outlawed-groups#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 12 05:11:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=471510</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Interior minister calls for talks, says ‘good behaviour’ will result in lifting of ban.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[In a move that is likely to make the international community uneasy, Pakistan has decided to lift a ban on some proscribed organisations that are no longer involved in terrorist activities.


The government is ready to review its policy to keep a check on banned outfits in order to promote its reconciliation process, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

“We invite all banned outfits for talks. Their cases will be reviewed if they are not involved in terror in the recent past,” Malik told the media, adding that his ministry will host these organisations in Islamabad soon.

Some security analysts, meanwhile, termed the offer for dialogue a welcome sign, which, they said, would promote peace and decrease violence in the country.

Officials working on the proposed review policy told The Express Tribune on Monday that it is likely that a ban on Tehreek-Jafria, Harkatul Jihad Islami and some organisations in Balochistan will be lifted. Meanwhile, organisations that are on a watch-list, such as Sunni Tehreek and Jamaatud Dawa, will face fewer restrictions.

On the other hand, violent hard-liners which are already facing a strict ban, particularly the Punjabi Taliban and Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, may face even tougher sanctions. Malik said that those groups which have given up violence will be allowed to work for public welfare. He added, “But strict action will continue against those organisations which do not give up terrorist activities.”

During the meeting with representatives of terror outfits, the minister said, it will be gauged which organisations have refrained from violence. Referring to several banned outfits which have resurfaced under new names, interior ministry officials told The Express Tribune that the government will review all lists.

Malik also asked the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakeemullah Mehsud, Waliur Rehman, Punjabi Taliban chief Maulana Ismatullah Muawiya and pro-Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Nazir to surrender for the sake of a peaceful future for their children.



“I knew where the TTP receives its weapons from. I would advise TTP leaders to surrender before our brave security forces catch you people,” the interior minister declared.

Currently, the interior ministry has outlawed around 43 organisations for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities. Amongst the 43 banned groups, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Muhammad were banned before the 9/11 attacks for propagating sectarian violence. This year 14 organisations were added to the list of banned groups. Most of these were based in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In total, there are around 232 religious organisations operating in Pakistan according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). There are around 53 Deobandi organisations, 39 Barelvi organisations and 20 Shia organisations.

The United States, United Nations and India had been pressing Pakistan to ban some of these organisations allegedly involved in conducting terror attacks around the world. However, even after the UN passed a resolution in 2005 requesting Islamabad to ban three organisations, namely the Hafiz Saeed-led JuD, the Al-Akhtar Trust, and the Al-Rashid Trust,  Pakistan did not ban them and chose to ‘closely monitor’ their activities instead.

According to the list of banned outfits under review, groups that have changed their names include Sipah-e-Sahaba (now identified as Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan and Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat).

PIPS Director Muhammad Amir Rana stressed the need for a new mechanism where the government should review the banned groups’ list on an annual basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Suspected bomber killed, accomplice held in CID’s raid</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471423/suspected-bomber-killed-accomplice-held-in-cid%e2%80%99s-raid</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/471423/suspected-bomber-killed-accomplice-held-in-cid%e2%80%99s-raid#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 26 Nov 12 21:34:25 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The suspects were planning on carrying a series of six attacks on mourners, police and the media.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The city narrowly escaped a major bomb blast on Ashura when the Crime Investigation Department’s (CID) team busted a group of terrorists before they could make their way to the main procession route on MA Jinnah Road.

On Sunday, CID’s team killed a suspected suicide bomber and arrested his accomplice from Manghopir. They also seized an explosive-laden car.

CID Anti Extremist Cell chief SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan said that the team raided Sultanabad in Manghopir on a tipoff. As soon as they neared the suspects’ hideout, the alleged terrorists started firing at the police.

In the following exchange of fire, one of the suspects, Gul Muhammad Mehsud, was killed and Ataullah alias Saddam was arrested, while the remaining suspects managed to escape.

SSP Khan told The Express Tribune that his team also seized a Toyotta Corolla loaded with over 100 kilogrammes of explosives, two suicide jackets with around eight kilogrammes of explosives and three water coolers also filled with explosives weighing over five kilogrammes. The police also seized two motorcycles, Kalashnikovs and pistols.

The explosives were ready to go off, they just needed the push of a button, SSP Khan said. “If we were even a few minutes late, the terrorists would have managed to set off the bomb,” he said, adding that hundreds of lives would have been lost and it would have worsened the law and order situation.

According to SSP Khan, the explosives contained ball bearings, nut bolts and, for the first time, they found iron pieces. “The iron pieces were like bullets for a 9mm pistol, only more dangerous,” he said.

The deceased suspect hailed from Waziristan and lived in Sultanabad in Manghopir. The arrested suspect was Burmese who currently lives in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, but had lived in Orangi Town and Korangi also. “[Ataullah] is a Quran hafiz and a student of a madressa while his father and brother are also teaching at different seminaries.” SSP Khan admitted that the police are trying to figure out “how the Burmese and Mehsuds are connected”.



A few years ago, the suicide bomber, who was involved in the attack on Shia leader Allama Hassan Turabi in Abbas Town, was also Burmese.

The suspects belong to the banned organisation, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and have links to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s Karachi chapter chief Sher Khan Mehsud. “We also have strong evidence that this group, especially the arrested suspect, was the mastermind behind the bomb blasts in Abbas Town and Orangi Town,” said SSP Khan. “They were planning on carrying out six blasts, one after the other, to not only target the mourners but also law enforcers and media personnel.”

SSP Khan further said that the arrested terrorist was being interrogated and the police are hopeful that they will catch the whole gang very soon. He added that the police are trying to determine the group’s involvement in the attack on the Rangers complex.

Sindh IGP appreciates police performance

At a press conference on Sunday, Sindh Inspector General of Police Fayyaz Leghari said that there were terrorism threats during Ashura but the terrorists could not do anything due to police performance. “All the credit goes to the policemen who worked day and night and saved Karachi from a big disaster,” he said, adding that all these law enforcers deserve appreciation.

According to Leghari, the police department is planning to buy 500 police vans with cameras. Half of these will be for Karachi and the remaining ones will be distributed across the province, he added.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan also appreciated CID’s successful raid and announced a Rs2-million award for the team.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>‘Banned organisations involved in target killings more than Taliban’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/467186/%e2%80%98banned-organisations-involved-in-target-killings-more-than-taliban%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/467186/%e2%80%98banned-organisations-involved-in-target-killings-more-than-taliban%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 17 Nov 12 07:58:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.yaseen]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=467186</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[SSP Raja Umar Khitab rules out presence of Taliban in Karachi.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Members of banned organisations are involved in incidents of bank robberies and other crimes in Karachi, more than the Taliban, said CID Functional Crime Unit head Raja Umar Khitab.

Speaking to Roznama Express, SSP Khitab said there was no proof of Taliban’s presence in the Old City area or Lyari, however, reports have been received regarding the presence of banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

On the issue of rising extortion cases, the SSP explained that summoning information regarding extortionists’ hideouts takes up to one week and till that time, the suspects have already shifted to another place.

Members of banned organisations team up with Lyari gangwar suspects and distribute chits among businessmen and traders. The chits have their numbers on them, which are used by police and other agencies to locate them, he detailed.

Locating the extortionists takes up to 5-7 days and within that time, people have already paid extortion after coming under immense pressure and the same happens in kidnapping cases, the SSP said.

The kidnappers take ransom within a week and release the kidnapped person, while most of the families do not even register kidnapping cases.

The SSP lamented that the technology available to the law enforcement agencies is not up to the mark and a great deal of crimes can be curbed in the city if the technology if upgraded.

The original story appeared in Roznama Express on November 17, 2012.]]>
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			<title>CID operation: Police arrest four suspected Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/465282/cid-operation-police-arrest-four-suspected-lashkar-e-jhangvi-militants</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/465282/cid-operation-police-arrest-four-suspected-lashkar-e-jhangvi-militants#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 14 Nov 12 00:13:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=465282</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Law enforcers seize arms and explosive material.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Almost a month to the day when law enforcers nabbed the chief of a faction of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s (LeJ) Sindh chapter, the crime investigation department’s Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) claimed that it arrested another four members of the banned outfit.


AEC chief SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan presented the suspects, who were identified as Asif Hussain alias Hakla, Yasin alias Yawer, Hafiz Mohammad Mubarak alias Omar and Hazrat Ali alias Murtaza, during a press conference at Garden Police headquarters on Tuesday. Officials said that they had been arrested during raids in different parts of the city. Nearly 25 kilogrammes of explosive material, 10 feet detonating wire, four hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs, three TT pistols and a 9mm pistol were also allegedly seized from the suspects.

Khan said that the accused admitted during initial interrogation that they were affiliated with LeJ, and that they had targeted around 15 people on sectarian basis in Qasba Colony, Orangi Town, Manghopir, Old Golimar, Taimuria and other parts of the city. They are also wanted in over 90 cases of robbery in the city.

“They were planning to carry out a bomb blast before Muharram to create sectarian tensions in the city,” claimed the AEC chief. He added that one of the accused, Asif, was the key suspect involved in the kidnapping of Shaukat Afridi, who was a prominent oil supplier to Natoforces.

Afridi was killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up after a CID team raided their hideout in Baldia Town in September 2008.

LeJ reportedly has two factions operating in the city, with one led by Naeem Bukhari and the other by Asif Chohto. AEC claimed to have arrested Chohto’s LeJ Karachi chief on October 5 and Bukhari faction’s Sindh chief, Hafiz Qasim Rasheed alias Ganja on October 17. Rasheed reportedly carried out more than 100 murders, including the assassination of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Raza Haider.

Paramilitary forces conduct separate raids

Rangers detained another 23 suspects during targeted raids in Bilal Colony, Shamsi Society, Model Colony, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Awami Colony, Liaquatabad, Punjabi Club and Post and Telegraph Colony on Tuesday. A suspected target killer, Shamimur Rehman, was among the suspects who were taken into custody. Officials added that 16 weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunitions were also seized.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Karachi unrest: Four LeJ militants among 53 suspects arrested</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/464975/karachi-unrest-rangers-carry-out-operations-in-9-areas-arrest-53-suspects</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/464975/karachi-unrest-rangers-carry-out-operations-in-9-areas-arrest-53-suspects#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 12 07:23:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=464975</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[At least 80 people have been killed in the city in just 10 days.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Police in Karachi have arrested four suspected militants who authorities claimed were planning a wave of sectarian attacks in the city, following a bloody three days in which around 40 people were killed. As many as 53 people were arrested on  Tuesday in a sweep by law enforcement agencies (LEAs).

The megalopolis has been in the grip of political and sectarian violence between majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shias, and the arrests come just days before the start of Muharram.

Mohammad Aslam Khan, the head of the police anti-extremism cell in southern Sindh province, said the four were members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a banned Sunni militant group blamed for many deadly attacks on Shias.

Khan said the men were planning strikes during Muharram, when Shiites hold public processions, and police had seized at least 25 kilos of explosives, along with grenades, automatic rifles and pistols.

Of the 40 or so killed in the city of 18 million people over the past three days, 24 were in sectarian or political violence, Khan said. More than half of the victims were Shia.

"The objective of this wave of target killings was to spread sectarian strife in the city as a prelude to Muharram," Khan told AFP.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is regarded as the most extreme Sunni terror group in Pakistan and is accused of killing hundreds of Shias since its emergence in the early 1990s.

It developed close ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban, which ruled in Afghanistan from 1996 until the 2001 US-led invasion.

Pakistan formally banned the group in 2001 and there have been numerous crackdowns with arrests and killings of known Jhangvi operatives over the last 20 years.

A spokesperson for the government paramilitary Rangers told AFP on Tuesday that troops arrested 23 other suspects across the city, including an alleged "notorious" target killer, in a bid to stop targeted killing.

Earlier in the day, the Sindh Rangers carried out targeted operations in nine different areas of Karachi on Tuesday after a week of continuing violence, reported Express News on Tuesday.

Around 53 suspects were arrested during the operations and ammunition was recovered from them.

According to Rangers spokesperson, operations were carried out in Bilal Colony, Shamsi Society, Model Colony, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Awami Colony and Liaquatabad among other areas.

One target killer, Shamsur Rehman, was also arrested during a raid.

According to the police record, around 80 people have been killed in the city in just 10 days. Targeted killings in the city have left over 1,850 people dead in Karachi this year alone .

On Monday, two workers of a religious outfit and two political activists, among 10 people, fell victim to drive-by shootings, while Rangers and police claimed to have arrested more than two dozen suspects during raids in different areas.]]>
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