Tag Archives: Pakistan

Islamic State claims suicide attack on Pakistani consulate in Afghan city

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the Pakistani consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, stoking fears over the spread of the ultra-radical movement in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials said all three attackers and at least seven members of the security forces died during the attack by the Islamic States, which hitherto had not struck high-profile Pakistani targets in Afghanistan.

The attack, which coincided with efforts to restart the stalled peace process with Taliban insurgents and ease diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan, added a dangerous new element to Afghanistan’s volatile security mix.

“This is a major concern for us if they carry out more attacks like this,” an Afghan security official said. “We have enough problems to deal with already.”

Nangarhar, the province in which Jalalabad is located, has become the main Afghan stronghold of Islamic State (IS), which has battled the Taliban for leadership of the Islamist insurgency, attracting many former Taliban militants.

But IS has not so far been regarded as ready to organize and mount a complex attack involving suicide bombers and gunmen hitting a major urban target, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said a suicide bomber had tried to join a queue of people seeking visas to Pakistan and blew himself up after being prevented from entering the building.

Witnesses in Jalalabad, the main trade gateway to the Khyber Pass and Pakistan, said heavy gunfire and a series of explosions could be heard during a battle that lasted several hours, and residents and children from a nearby school were evacuated.

Islamic State said on its official Telegram messaging service channel that three members wearing suicide-bomb vests carried out the attack, which it said had killed dozens of people including “several Pakistani intelligence officers”.

It said two suicide attackers had been killed while a third escaped.

Pakistan condemned the attack but said all members of the consulate staff were safe, with one official slightly injured by broken glass.

The attack carried echoes of one last week on the Indian consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, when a group of assailants barricaded themselves in a house and resisted security forces for about 24 hours after a suicide bombing.

Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States met this week to try to resurrect efforts to end nearly 15 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan, even as fighting with the Taliban intensifies.

In Pakistan on Wednesday, at least 14 people were killed in am explosion near a polio vaccination center in the southwestern city of Quetta.

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Sultan and Mirwais Harooni and Andrew MacAskill in Kabul, Tommy Wilkes in Islamabad and Omar Fahmy in Cairo; Editing by Robert Birsel and Miral Fahmy)

Effort to revive Afghanistan peace talks begins in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States held talks on Monday to resurrect a stalled Afghan peace process and end nearly 15 years of bloodshed, even as fighting with Taliban insurgents intensifies.

Senior officials from the four countries are meeting in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to launch a process they hope will lead to negotiations with Taliban insurgents, who are fighting to re-impose their strict brand of Islamist rule and are not expected at Monday’s talks.

The Pakistani prime minister’s foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, opened the meeting, saying the primary goal should be to convince the Taliban to come to the table and consider giving up violence.

“It is therefore important that preconditions are not attached to the start of the negotiation process. This, we argue, will be counterproductive,” he said.

“The threat of use of military action against irreconcilables cannot precede the offer of talks to all the groups.”

Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry were joined by Richard Olson, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and General Anthony Rock, the top U.S. defense representative in Pakistan, as well as China’s special envoy on Afghanistan affairs, Deng Xijun.

Renewed peace efforts come amid spiraling violence in Afghanistan, with last year one of the bloodiest on record following the withdrawal of most foreign troops at the end of 2014.

In recent months the Taliban have won territory in the southern province of Helmand, briefly captured the northern city of Kunduz and launched a series of suicide bombs in the capital, underlining how hard Afghan government forces are finding it fighting on their own.

Peace efforts last year stalled after the Taliban announced that their founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for two years, throwing the militant group into disarray as rival factions fought for supremacy.

The Taliban, who were ousted in 2001, remain split on whether to take part in talks.

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s faction has shown signs of warming to the idea of eventually joining peace talks, and other groups are considering negotiating, senior members of the movement said last week.

But a splinter group headed by Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund, which rejects Mansour’s authority, has dismissed any talks where a mediating role is played by Pakistan, which observers say holds significant sway among Taliban commanders holed up near its border with Afghanistan, or the United States or China.

“We have a very clear-cut stance about peace talks: all the foreign occupying forces would need to be withdrawn,” Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, Rasool’s deputy, told Reuters on Monday.

“The issue is between the Afghans and only the Afghans can resolve it. We would not allow any third force to mediate between us.”

Officials are keen to limit expectations of a quick breakthrough at Monday’s talks.

Afghanistan has said the aim is to work out a road map for peace negotiations and a way of assessing if they remain on track.

(additional reporting by Jibran Ahmed in Peshawar; Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Robert Birsel and Mike Collett-White)

Relief Efforts Intensified as Death Toll in Afghanistan and Pakistan Continues to Climb

Monday’s 7.5-magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan and Pakistan and sent tremors into India and Tajikistan has now claimed the lives of over 250 people according to multiple news agencies.

The exact number still isn’t clear as various news agencies report anywhere from 260 to 339 people being killed by the earthquake. The quake also injured 2,000 people, damaged around 6,000 homes, cracked walls to other buildings, and shut down power.

According to the Associated Press, relief organizations have finally reached some of the more remote and impoverished areas that were affected by the earthquake. The United States has also offered supplies and aid that has been stored in warehouses around Afghanistan.

Officials believe that the death toll will continue to rise as there are several remote areas and fallen buildings that have not been reached by rescue efforts.

“We believe the exact numbers are much higher because not all people bring the bodies to the hospitals so there are many that are not being counted. And there are still areas we don’t have access to so we are not aware of the situation there,” Qameruddin Sediqi, an adviser to the public health minister, told Fox News.

Reuters reported that the Taliban has also called its people to help out with the relief efforts and to stay out of the way of aid groups.

“The Islamic Emirate calls on our good-willed countrymen and charitable organizations to not hold back in providing shelter, food and medical supplies to the victims,” the group said in a message of condolence to quake victims, using its formal name.

“And it similarly orders its mujahideen in the affected areas to lend their complete help.”

The quake has also caused landslides. The Pakistan Geological Survey reported to BBC News that landslides disrupted the Karakoram highway between Gilgit and Baltistan.

Afghanistan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 180 from 7.5 Quake

The death toll is rising by the hour in Afghanistan and in Pakistan after a 7.5 earthquake struck at 1:39 pm local time Monday afternoon.  According to news sources, at least 180 people have died. That number is expected to rise.  The earthquake was centered about 28 miles south-southwest of Jarm, Afghanistan, and about 159 miles north-northeast of the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Officials are concerned about the mountainous area near the epicenter due to the vulnerability  landslides because of heavy rains in the last week and the porous nature of the soil.  

According to Reuters, Badakhshan provincial governor Shah Waliullah Adib said about 400 houses were destroyed but he had no figures on casualties.

“Right now we are collecting information,” he said.

Because so many people are cut off from communication, it will take time to know how extensive the damage and casualties will be.  

Scott Anderson, deputy head of office for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Kabul commented “The problem is we just don’t know. A lot of the phone lines are still down.”   

Among those killed were 12 girls who were trampled as they attempted to flee from their school and were crushed by the crowd attempting to leave the building through a stairway.  

Aftershocks are now being watched carefully as authorities feel more landslides will most likely to occur.  

U.S. Exploring Nuclear Deal with Pakistan

Pakistan has one of the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal on Earth, and the Obama administration is exploring a deal that would attempt to limit their nuclear capabilities.

The talks will be the first in the decade since Adul Qadeer Khan, one of the founders of Pakistan’s nuclear program, was caught selling the country’s nuclear technology around the world. The discussion of a deal is also taking place in advance of the arrival of Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who will be in Washington next week. Officials are concerned that the Middle Eastern country may be close to deploying a small nuclear weapon.

“If Pakistan would take the actions requested by the United States, it would essentially amount to recognition of rehabilitation and would essentially amount to parole,” George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the New York Times of the potential agreement.

The deal would loosen controls on Pakistan by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of countries that supply nuclear materials in attempts to see the number of nuclear weapons grow rapidly.

Experts that are familiar with the discussions showed skepticism that Pakistan would agree to the deal. They are not likely to put restrictions on a program that is the pride of the nation and their only defense against India.

Taliban Attack Kills 29 at Pakistan Airbase

Islamic terrorists attacked the mosque at a Pakistani Air Base near Peshawar, leaving at least 29 people dead.

Pakistani Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa told reporters that at least 13 of the terrorists were killed in the assault.  One of those killed by the terrorists was an Army captain.

“We were offering prayers when we first heard the gunshots and then, within no time, they entered the mosque where they began indiscriminately firing,” Mohammad Ikram of the Pakistani Air Force told Reuters by telephone from a hospital bed where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.

“They killed and injured most of the worshippers. I fell on the ground. Then the gunmen went to other places in the base. After a long time, we were shifted to the hospital.”

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack by releasing a statement and video showing Omar Mansoor, the terrorist commander who planned the massacre at a Peshawar school in December, waving goodbye to the terrorists who carried out the attack.

The base was established in the 1950s by the United States as an outpost to monitor communications by the Soviet Union.

Pakistani Christian Killed by Muslim In-Laws After Wife Accepts Christ as Lord

A 28-year-old Pakistani Christian was murdered by his in-laws after his wife proclaimed Christ as Lord and turned away from Islam.

Aleem Masih was shot three times by the father and brothers of his wife Nadia.  The couple was attempting to flee from Lahore, Pakistan to avoid the very situation in which they were killed.

“The couple fled to Narang Mandi, some 60 kilometers [37 miles] away from Lahore, as Nadia’s Muslim family launched a manhunt for them to avenge the shame their daughter had brought upon them by recanting Islam and marrying a Christian,” Aneeqa Maria, an attorney from the human rights organization The Voice Society, told Morning Star News.

The girl’s family found the couple in a rickshaw and dragged them to a farm where they were severely beaten and shot.  Nadia survived her wounds and was taken to a hospital where she continues to recover.

“The attackers returned to their village and publicly proclaimed that they had avenged their humiliation and restored the pride of the Muslims by killing the couple in cold blood,” Maria explained. “Nadia’s brother, Azhar, then presented himself before the police and confessed to having killed his sister and her Christian husband.”

Muslims in the region are threatening officials to not investigate the case and not to file charges against the girl’s family for their actions.

Muslim Landlord Reportedly Abducts, Forces Christian Woman into Islamic Marriage

The family of a Pakistani woman is demanding the return of a Christian mother of three from a Muslim man who abducted and raped her then forced her into an Islamic marriage.

The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) says that Fouzia Sadiq, believed to be in her mid-20s, was taken by Muhammed Nazir, 55.  Nazir is a landowner who “employed” the family of the kidnapped woman.

“Muslim landlord Muhammed Nazir … employed the whole family, including the children in a form of modern day slavery, paying very little money and providing squalid shelter,” the organization said in a release. “The husband signed a contract with a thumbprint, unable to read it due to only 7 percent of Christians attaining an adequate level of literacy.”

The family reported the kidnapping but the next day were threatened. They were also told Fouzia was now Nazir’s property, and she had accepted Islam and married him.

“My sister has been missing for five days and police are refusing to register an FIR, my heart is broken,” said her sister Iqra Sadiq. “Our landlord is a cruel man and we have been starving since he stopped the little payment that was due to us. We have no power and have to face such injustice, please help us!”

The head of the BPCA, Wilson Chowdhry, said that the family will likely never see their sister again or have her released because the legal system in Pakistan is weighted in favor of Muslims.

“The authority of a Muslim man’s words significantly outweighs that of Christians, so they have little hope of ever retrieving Fouzia from a life of pain, brutality and debauchery.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in May urged President Obama to declare Pakistan a “country of particular concern” for not protecting the rights of non-Muslim religions.

Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Confirmed Dead

He may have died in 2013, but officials in Afghanistan are now confirming for the first time that the leader of the Taliban is dead.

Afghani President Ashraf Ghani released a statement Wednesday citing “credible information” that the one-eyed Omar died in a Karachi, Pakistan hospital in April 2013.

“The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban died in April 2013 in Pakistan,” the statement said. “The government of Afghanistan believes that grounds for the Afghan peace talks are more paved now than before, and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process.”

Omar had been suffering from liver and kidney issues.  Afghani Security Services spokesman Abdul Hassib Seddiqi told the BBC Omar died from health problems.

Several U.S. intelligence officials said they had long believed Omar to have died because of the fractured nature within the current Taliban.

“I’ve tended to believe the rumors that he was dead since the serious splits started in the Taliban,” one official told CNN. “If he were alive, he wouldn’t allow these rumors to continue to threaten the movement’s unity to this degree. He would risk some small exposure to invalidate the rumors, and he has not done that despite incredible internal demands that he do so.”

Analysts are now concerned the official announcement of Omar’s death will spur ISIS to try and gain a foothold among the Taliban supporters in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistani Court Suspends Asia Bibi Death Sentence

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has suspended the death sentence of a Christian woman that many claim was falsely accused of blasphemy by Muslims.

Asia Bibi, who has spent the last five years on death row, was also given permission to appeal the conviction against her.  No date has been set for the appeal.

“The execution of Asia Bibi has been suspended and will remain suspended until the decision of this appeal,” her lawyer told reporters.

The accusations against Bibi came in June 2009 when a group of Muslim women objected to the Christian woman collecting water from a bowl after being ordered to do it by her bosses.  The women then incited a mob by saying Bibi had insulted Muhammad leading to Bibi’s beating by a mob and eventual arrest.

“Today is the happiest day for me and my five children. I am now hopeful that my wife, my children and I will get justice from the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” Bibi’s husband Ashiq Masih told reporters from a hidden location as the family is continually being threatened.

“When I have ever met my wife in her cell before, I have found her weeping most of the time, but today she is happy.”

While Pakistan has never executed someone for blasphemy, several convicted people have been lynched by mobs after their release from prison.