On Friday twin blasts rocked Karachi killing at least 33 people and injuring more than 167, some of whom remain in critical conditions.

The first blast occurred when an explosives-laden motorcycle rammed into a bus on Karachi’s Shahrah-i-Faisal Nursery Bridge, near Shahrah-e-Quaideen, a key thoroughfare in the city, while the second explosion took place inside the Jinnah Hospital.

The first explosion occurred at 3.05 PM.

TV news channels quoted witnesses as saying that a motorcycle-borne suicide bomber rammed the bus.

However, Karachi police chief Waseem Ahmed said initial investigations had indicated that an explosive device planted in the motorcycle was triggered by remote control as the bus was passing by. The exact cause remains unknown.

Meanwhile, police have registered FIRs of the twin blasts under anti terrorism act and arrested 20 suspects, it has emerged.

Were you near the site of the blast when it occurred? Did you hear the blast? PKonweb invites its readers to share their account of the blast and comment on who they think may be or have been behind such heinous crimes. Is it a conspiracy to create a Sunni-Shia divide in Karachi particularly and in Pakistan in general? If so, who are behind it and why? Share your thoughts.

Comments will be moderated for clarity and space restrictions.

The cancellation of the Pakistan Day military parade on March 23rd in the federal capital has dashed the lifelong dream of President Asif Ali Zardari, who was keen to take salute from the armed forces on the Jinnah Avenue.

The annual military parade – the Pakistan Day parade – was canceled for the third consecutive year due to security concerns arising from the engagement of military troops in the war against terrorism. The last time the parade was held was in 2007 with General Pervez Musharraf as the chief guest amid extraordinary security in the sports complex of the federal capital.

The Joint Staff Headquarters, which is the organizer of the annual event, has conveyed this decision of canceling the parade to the country’s top political leadership in Islamabad.

The reason that the Joint Staff Headquarters has given for the cancellation is “credible intelligence reports of serious security threats due to engagement of troops in the Tribal Areas”.

More than 120,000 Pakistani troops are engaged on the Western border battling the militants from across the Pak-Afghan Durand Line.

The military parade is a regular event in the countries of the region where the latest weapons and defense technology is put on display.

A Pakistani woman was caught stealing lingerie from a well-known shop in Kuwait City.

The woman, who was caught red-handed stealing 12 lingerie pieces from a well-known shop selling branded products has been referred to the authorities, reported Alam Alyawm daily.

According to a complaint filed with the police by the store lawyer, the suspect taking advantage of the cashier who was busy with other customers tried to steal the undergarments.

However, she was stopped at the door by the guard when the alarm sounded.

The capital city of Kuwait called Kuwait City has millions of South Asian economic immigrants including Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshis.

Two bombs exploded in Karachi on Friday, one outside Jinnah Hospital’s Emergency Ward, treating victims from an earlier attack on Moharram mourners at Shahrah-e-Faisal Road’s Nursery Bridge, which left 25 dead and dozens injured.

Authorities appealed for calm following the blasts in Karachi, which took place within two hours of each other. No one has claimed responsibility.

Related story:
Jundullah Behind Karachi Ashura Blast: Report

The chaotic city of 18 million people has a history of religious violence and has been tense in recent weeks due to deadly clashes between rival political parties.

In late December, a bomb killed 54 Shiites attending Ashura procession in the city, sparking riots causing property damages in billions of rupees. The Karachi City police chief (CCPO) Wasim Ahmed on Jan 25th blamed the blast on Junduallah.

Jundallah, which means Soldiers of God‎ or People’s Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), is an insurgent Sunni Islamic organization based in Balochistan that claims to be fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran.

The first blast on Friday targeted a bus carrying Shia worshippers, most of them women and children, killing 13 and wounding 49, officials said.

The bomb was attached to a motorcycle and detonated as the bus drove to a religious procession held in connection with the Arbaeen holy day that marks the end of 40 days of mourning after the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein.

An hour after the first attack, a second explosion was heard outside the emergency ward of Jinnah Hospital where the injured were being shifted. The second blast was also caused by an explosives-laden motorcycle in the hospital’s parking lot that left at least 13 people dead, while many others were injured, a bomb disposal official Munir Sheikh said.

Another bomb was found inside a television outside Jinnah Hospital, DawnNews reported. The bomb disposal squad said that 25 kg of explosives were found inside the television.

Developing story: Check for updates…

Melbourne: Pakistan loses all the matches of the tour to Australia including three test matches, fives ODIs and one twenty twenty match on Feb 5 in Melbourne.

Chasing an easy target of 128 runs, Pakistan started disastrously by losing both their openers, Imran Nazir (naught) and Imran Farhat (8), for just 10 runs on the board.

However, wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal came to rescue to take his team out of trouble. He held the one end intact as other batsmen were being dismissed at regular intervals.

Pakistan were well on the way to success as long as Kamran was at the crease but his ouster changed the whole scenario and the tourists who were needing only 30 runs from 35 balls to win the match managed only 27 runs with one wicket remaining to give Australia their first T20 win against Paksitan.

Kamran blasted 64 off only 33 balls with seven fours and two sixes while the second top scorer was his younger brother Umar with 21. The only other batsman reaching double-figure was Umar Gul (10).

Shaun Tait was the most successful bowler with three wickets for 13 runs, supported by Shane Watson and Steve Smith claiming two wickets each.

Earlier, Michael Clarke who was leading the Aussies in the absence of Ricky Ponting, won the toss and elected to bat but his team could not make any big score and were all out for 127 in 18.4 overs.

Except Michael Hussey (40 not out), Clarke (32) and David Warner (24), no batsman could enter into double figures as three batmen were run out by alert Pakistani fielders.

For Pakistan, Umar Gul captured three wickets for 20 runs while Malik claimed two for 31. Pacers Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took one wicket each.

Shoaib Malik led Pakistan as their T20 captain Shahid Afridi was banned for playing two T20 matches for ball tampering.

Imran Nazir returned to Pakistan lineup and Imran Farhat made his T20 debut.

Australia also included two debutants – legs-pinning allrounder Steve Smith and left-handed batsman Travis Birt.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud is dead, the US media reported on Thursday, citing counter-terrorism officials.

Both CNN and Fox News quoted senior US intelligence officials as saying that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief was killed in a drone attack last month, although his death still remains unconfirmed by the Pakistani military.

Fox News noted that this was so far the strongest signal that Washington had offered about Hakimullah’s fate.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that Afghan Taliban commander Sirajuddin Haqqani was the target of the heaviest US drone strikes in North Waziristan earlier this week, but he might just have escaped the assault.

A commander of the Haqqani group told CNN that “Siraj was in the area but had left moments before the strike”.

The TV network said the reported strike on Tuesday night were unusual for the relatively high number of missiles fired — at least 19 — and for the high death toll.

Neither Islamabad nor Washington has officially confirmed the death of Hakimullah, who is complicit in a deadly attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan late last year that left 7 CIA officers dead.

Hakimullah Mehsud issued his own death warrant when he appeared on an Al-Jazeera video sitting beside Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi. Balawi is believed to be the person behind attacks on the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan. Shortly before the release of this video, he died while carrying out a suicide bombing, killing eight people including 7 CIA officers at Fort Chapman.

Western intelligence agencies vowed to avenge death of its officials. Drone strikes were increased taking out many including Hakimullah. Attempts are being made to take out Haqqanis – both Jalaluddin and his son Sirajuddin who support Taliban in Afghanistan but have bases in North Waziristan and adjoining areas.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed and two more were wounded by an improvised bomb in the lower Dir area of Swat Valley today. The area was known “as a Taliban stronghold,” the New York Times notes. But the “Pakistani military had declared cleared of the militants.”

Pakistan’s Taliban TTP claimed responsibility for the attack which was outside a girls’ school in the northern Lower Dir district of the Swat Valley and threatened more attacks on Americans. Three children and a Pakistani paramilitary soldier were also killed and 131 people were wounded in the blast.

“We will continue such attacks on Americans,” Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Two US army trainers were also among the wounded, most of who were school children. Two journalists accompanying the convoy were also wounded. Operation Commander, Col. Nadeem Mirza is also reported to have sustained injuries.

Initial reports said the blast was triggered by a remote-controlled device. But DAWN, citing an official, reported the bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a convoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps that was on its way to inaugurate a school in Kad that was blown up by the Taliban but rebuilt with money from the United States Assistance for International Development (USAID).

Police and security officials said the vehicle laden with 140 kilograms of explosives had done the job.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, the American forces were there merely “to attend the inauguration ceremony of a school for girls that had recently been renovated with U.S. humanitarian assistance.” These guys were merely trainers part of the small cadre — maybe a hundred or so — of U.S. special forces in Pakistan, beefing up the local Frontier Corps’ counterinsurgency skills.

The unnamed Pakistani official said that the American soldiers were trainers training the Dir Scouts of the Frontier Corps in Dir.

“They usually wore Pakistani dress, shalwar qameez, and Chitrali caps to conceal their identity”, the official said.

The Americans were traveling in an armoured vehicle with electronic jammers.

“A remote controlled explosives device would not have done the damage. This was clearly a targeted hit. The bomber targeted their vehicle”, the official said, requesting he not be named.

The killed US soldiers have been identified as Sgt John, Sgt Sikle and Sgt Andrew. A US army major identified as Maj. Roth has been critically wounded.

The bodies of the slain US soldiers and wounded paramilitary personnel were later evacuated to Peshawar by helicopters.

Reporting on the latest US casualty in the AF-PAK theater of war on terror, Wired said: “It’s another sign that America’s once-small, once-secret war in Pakistan is growing bigger, more conventional, and busting out into the open. The U.S. Air Force now conducts flights over Pakistani soil. U.S. security contractors operate in the country. U.S. strikes are growing larger, more frequent, and more deadly; the latest attack reportedly involved 17 missiles and killed as many as 29 people. Billions of dollars in U.S. aid goes to Islamabad. And now, U.S. forces are dying in Pakistan.”

Now Can We Start Treating This Like a Real War? the report’s headline said.

Read the whole Wired.com report here >…

Twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday said had he been the president, he would have faced all charges against him in courts regardless of the indemnity provided to the president’s office by the Pakistan constitution.

Talking to reporters in Peshawar, after a meeting of the PML-N’s North West Frontier Province chapter, Sharif said he would have gone to courts to get his name cleared of all allegations if he was the president of the country.

The comeback Pakistani leader who was deposed and exiled by Gen (R) Musharraf in 1999, said he would request the PPP-led coalition government to accept court verdicts, including the verdict against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), for the survival of the country.

The PML-N chief said those floating the idea of a national government were mistaken, as the constitution did not provide for any such set up.

Sharif said his party had always opposed US drone strikes in the Tribal Areas.

Sharif added that President Zardari had disappointed him by not implementing the Charter of Democracy and the government was confronting problems because of this.

Sharif’s party leads the government in the largest province of Pakistan with his brother Shahbaz Sharif as its Chief Minister.

Social divide to make bloody revolution inevitable: Shahbaz

Punjab’s chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif told a student gathering in Lahore today that there was a social divide in the country and if this social divide was not overcome, nobody will be able to stop a bloody revolution from coming.

He told the young crowd the country’s progress was not possible in the absence of a transparent system of accountability.

Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to Washington, says he believes the U.S. won’t walk away from Afghanistan.

Giving an interview to NPR (National Public Radio), Pakistan’s envoy to USA, Haqqani said he believes that whatever the outcome of the war against al-Qaida, the U.S. won’t abandon Afghanistan to its own devices the way it did after the defeat of the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

“My understanding from interactions with senior officials in the United States is that the Obama administration does not wish to walk away from Afghanistan, that it understands the cost of doing so and that nobody wants a Central Asian Somalia or a failed state as a legacy,” he said. “After all, they don’t want anybody plotting and planning attacks against America sitting in Afghanistan.”

Haqqani also made a case in favor of Pakistan’s insistence for Predator Drones, saying his country would rather have technical expertise with which it can combat militants on its border with Afghanistan than have the U.S. fire missiles into Pakistani territory.

“Pakistan prefers to do everything on the Pakistani side of the border itself,” Haqqani told NPR’s Robert Siegel. “And the reason is very simple: We have a military capability in certain areas and in some areas we lack certain technical capabilities and we would like that technical capabilities for ourselves.”

Pakistani public opinion against U.S. missile strikes by unmanned drones is very high specially because of civilian casualties. Haqqani said “You must also understand that when you have unmanned aerial vehicles drop missiles, taking out people, and it infuriates public opinion, then obviously the Pakistani government has to stand by Pakistani public opinion.”

Pakistan observers believe there exists a tacit agreement between Islamabad and Washington that allows U.S. Drone strikes inside Pakistan while maintaining denialiility and giving Islamabad the levy to criticize these strikes.

The U.S. says it will give Pakistan unmanned drones for spying and intelligence gathering.

Security along the Afghan-Pakistan border remains a major concern while a conference is under way in London.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is attending the conference, unveiled Thursday a plan to woo Taliban fighters away from the insurgency. Observers say it is a prelude to Afghan Exit Strategy.

Are the West making strategic mistakes in Afghanistan? The Dichotomy of Surge and Dialogue, War and Reconciliation. Buying peace, Reaction of Neighbors. Guests: Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Tariq Fatemi..

It is a battle between former champions as Australia and Pakistan go head to head in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 final at Burt Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch tomorrow (Saturday).

Australia put its hands on the trophy in 1988 and in 2002 while Pakistan won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2006.

According to Asian Image website, Australia’s victories came in its own backyard and in New Zealand while Pakistan won the events when they were hosted in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The two sides have met six times in U19 Cricket World Cups with Pakistan winning four contests. It won the league games in 1988 and 1998 by 32 and 27 runs respectively before winning by 163 runs in the semi-final in 2006 and by six wickets in the quarter-final in 2008.

One of Australia’s two victories was in the inaugural final in 1988 when a Stuart Law-inspired team defeated Pakistan by five wickets in Adelaide. The Pakistan side included players like Basit Ali, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed who went on to represent Pakistan with distinction at the highest level. Australia’s second and last victory over Pakistan in a World Cup was in 2000 in Sri Lanka where it won its group stage match by 27 runs.

In the tournament so far, fourth-seed Pakistan is the only unbeaten side, having won its matches against the West Indies (by 40 runs), Papua New Guinea (by six wickets), Bangladesh (by four wickets) in the group stage before overpowering defending champion India by two wickets in the quarter-final and the West Indies in the semi-final by four wickets.

In contrast, sixth-seed Australia lost its group stage match by two wickets in a high-scoring thriller in Queenstown but recorded comfortable victories against the USA (by 108 runs), Ireland (by 209 runs), New Zealand (by 62 runs) before ending the challenge of Sri Lanka in the semi-final by two wickets.

Pakistan captain Azeem Ghumman said: “The team is feeling good and confident. We came into the tournament convinced that we could do well. We came here to win and we hope we can do that.

“We have been together as a team now for a long time and this is a big factor in the way we are playing. We get on well together, we are like a family and we play as a team not just as individuals.”

Azeem said he would like his boys to focus on their preparations rather than worry about Australia. “I don’t think any one team is especially more challenging. We have not played Australia very much recently so we don’t know them so well but they are a good side. It doesn’t matter who we are playing, we have to get our own game right.

“The important thing for us is that we have to get through the first 10 or 15 overs. We have been relying heavily on our middle-order so we are just asking our top-order batsmen to stay there. If we can get through the first 10 overs, then we can build a good score.

“It looks like a good batting track but I’m not sure if it’s a 300-run track. It depends so much on the bowling and how the teams perform,” Azeem said.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh hoped his side would stick to the basics. “The side that does its basics right in these sorts of games usually comes out on top. If we can go out there on Saturday and do the basics better than Pakistan, then I think things might go our way.”

Marsh said his side respected Pakistan as an opponent. “Obviously, Pakistan has a fairly good batting line-up and a few good spinners, so we’ll be looking to counter them. We’ve got full respect for Pakistan and in the final anything can happen, so we’re just looking forward to it.

“With the sort of experience in our side, it was always a goal to be in the tournament at this end. Like any other team, we have come here to win the tournament and not just to fill up the numbers. We’ve got the side that is capable to win this tournament.”

Pakistan’s Hammad Azam, who scored a match-winning 92 not out against the West Indies in the semi-final said: “I’m very happy that our team qualified for the final. That was our dream – to play in the final and to win it. We have reached the final and now we will try our best to win.

“I have really enjoyed the tournament and I’m very happy with my form because I haven’t been dismissed yet in this tournament.”

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who took 4-26 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, said: “We’re very excited to be in the final. The team’s looking pretty good. No injury worries, so we’re looking forward to it.
“Pakistan is always very tough at the U19 level. I’ve played them probably five or six times in a series in Australia and Pakistan and also at the last World Cup.”

SAJA & SAMMA are jointly holding a book event with Salman Ahmad, Junoon icon, musician, author and ambassador of peace. on Wed, Feb. 17, 2010, 6:30-8 pm. It is a public event at Columbia Journalism School in NYC. A documentary on Junoon and Salman Ahmad, narrated by Susan Sarandon will also be shown. The event will discuss Salman Ahmed’s new autobiography: Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star’s Revolution.

The book is the story of Salman Ahmad’s passion for making music and of rock as a force to unite people.

Every author likes to think his or her book is one of a kind, but Salman Ahmad’s truly is – and not just because it is the first South Asian book to feature a foreword by Melissa Etheridge, Grammy-winning American singer.

“Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star’s Revolution,” is by Ahmad, the lead singer of Pakistan’s most famous living musician (the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan used to hold that title) and has the lofty goals of affecting changing in Pakistan, the Muslim world and in West.

From the Simon & Schuster website:

With 30 million record sales under his belt, and with fans including Bono and Al Gore, Pakistan-born Salman Ahmad is renowned for being the first rock & roll star to destroy the wall that divides the West and the Muslim world. Rock & Roll Jihad is the story of his incredible journey.

Facing down angry mullahs and oppressive dictators who wanted all music to be banned from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Salman Ahmad rocketed to the top of the music charts, bringing Westernstyle rock and pop to Pakistani teenagers for the first time. His band Junoon became the U2 of Asia, a sufi – rock group that broke boundaries and sold a record number of albums. But Salman’s story began in New York, where he spent his teen years learning to play guitar, listening to Led Zeppelin, hanging out at rock clubs and Beatles Fests, making American friends, and dreaming of rock-star fame. That dream seemed destined to die when his family returned to Pakistan and Salman was forced to follow the strictures of a newly religious — and stratified — society. He finished medical school, met his soul mate, and watched his beloved funkytown of Lahore transform with the rest of Pakistan under the rule of Zia into a fundamentalist dictatorship: morality police arrested couples holding hands in public, Little House on the Prairie and Live Aid were banned from television broadcasts, and Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers proliferated on college campuses via the Afghani resistance to Soviet occupation in the north.

Undeterred, the teenage Salman created his own underground jihad: his mission was to bring his beloved rock music to an enthusiastic new audience in South Asia and beyond. He started a traveling guitar club that met in private Lahore spaces, mixing Urdu love poems with Casio synthesizers, tablas with Fender Stratocasters, and ragas with power chords, eventually joining his first pop band, Vital Signs. Later, he founded Junoon, South Asia’s biggest rock band, which was followed to every corner of the world by a loyal legion of fans called Junoonis. As hismusic climbed the charts, Salman found himself the target of religious fanatics and power-mad politicians desperate to take him and his band down. But in the center of a new generation of young Pakistanis who go to mosques as well as McDonald’s, whose religion gives them compassion for and not fear of the West, and who see modernmusic as a “rainbow bridge” that links their lives to the rest of the world, nothing could stop Salman’s star from rising.

Today, Salman continues to play music and is also a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, traveling the world as a spokesperson and using the lessons he learned as a musical pioneer to help heal the wounds between East and West — lessons he shares in this illuminating memoir.

Says one blog on Salman’s book: The United States has spent many hundreds of billions of dollars–along with much blood, sweat, and tears–on its endeavors in the region. If maintaining security is to succeed, Americans need to understand the differences between the Middle East and a South Asian country like Pakistan. Understanding and common ground can be one and the same, and Salman Ahmad makes a case against extremism, religious supremacy, and intolerance. These concerns are universal, and rock & roll alone will not defeat them. In spite of religious, political, or cultural differences, Rock & Roll Jihad proves how the power of music is still a force to unite people.