The chief of Taliban militants who US and Pakistani officials said might be dead has surfaced to meet journalists in his stronghold of South Waziristan.

Hakimullah Mehsud, who became Taliban chief after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US missile strike in August, looked healthy in pictures broadcast by Pakistan’s private TV on Monday.

Sailab Mehsud, one of the journalist who met the militant chief on Sunday, said Hakimullah had vowed revenge for Baitullah’s killing.

A suicide bomber dressed in a military uniform struck the lobby of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) office in capital Islamabad on Monday, killing at least five staff members in what the police said was a serious and disturbing security breach in a building tightly guarded by private security officers.

Interior minister, Rehman Malik, said that the bomber detonated about 16 pounds of explosives just after noon, when the United Nations compound was full of people. The bomber wore the uniform of a paramilitary unit assigned to guard diplomatic missions in the area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Talking to the media while inspecting the site of the blast, the interior minister said the terrorists were targeting like an injured snake and more such attacks could not be ruled out. He said that the concerned authorities had been directed to see who allowed the suicide bomber to enter into the building and DIG Operation would take over footage of the CCTV.

Geo TV reported that it has obtained CCTV footage of the suicide blast. The footage shows a man believed to be the suicide bomber wearing uniform of FC personnel and holding a bottle in his hand. He enters the office and in a span of the next few seconds a powerful blast occurs, the channel reported.

The World Food Program said that four of the dead were Pakistani nationals, while one was from Iraq. Two were two women: Farzana Barkat, an office assistant, and Gulrukh Tahir, a receptionist. The other two were men: Mohammed Wahab and Abid Rehman, both financial assistants. The Iraqi victim was identified as Botan Ahmed Ali al-Hayawi, an information and communication technology officer.

The bombing was the first direct attack against a United Nations agency here in the Pakistani capital, and Ishrat Rizvi, the spokeswoman for United Nations operations in Islamabad, said that all of the organization’s offices in Pakistan were immediately closed.

“This is a temporary arrangement to ensure the safety and security of our staff,” she said by telephone. Offices will remain closed Tuesday, as the organization assesses how to respond to the heightened risks for its workers and honors its dead.

Around 80 people work at the heavily fortified United Nations compound, a three-story building in an upscale residential neighborhood that is equipped with video surveillance cameras, motion detectors and explosives detection devices. The street was barricaded at both ends, and vehicles and visitors were allowed entry only after a thorough security check. The boundary walls of the building were secured by barbed wire, and a paramilitary post was located within walking distance.

A security guard watching the barrier at the entrance of the street said he had not noticed any suspicious activity before the explosion, which deafened him for a few moments. He and another police official, both of whom declined to give their names, seemed at a loss to explain how a stranger dressed as a paramilitary trooper armed with explosives managed to make it through several security checkpoints.

Mr. Malik said that the bomber simply asked a security official at the agency’s main gate for permission to use the bathroom. Some security officials, however, said they believed the bomber may have had assistance from security officers within the compound.“I was on the upper floor when there was the sound of a huge explosion downstairs,” a World Food Program employee who declined to be named told The Associated Press. “I found many of my colleagues lying on the floor full of blood. We immediately put the most critically wounded in a vehicle and rushed them to hospital.”

Mr. Malik, the interior minister, said 19 private security guards, as well as two police officials and three paramilitary police officers, were deployed to secure the building. It is also located near the headquarters of the navy, as well as Bilawal House, the political office of President Asif Ali Zardari, though he has not spent much time there since being elected.

The World Food Program is providing food aid to as many as 10 million poor and displaced people across Pakistan. While the organization did not announce immediate plans to scale back or adjust its activities, its top officials were weighing the possibility in the aftermath of the attack.

“The security of our staff is of utmost concern, and there are discussions going on about how to balance security concerns with our mandate to feed the hungry,” said Caroline Hurford, an organization spokeswoman based in London. “Seemingly, the neutrality of the humanitarian worker no longer holds good.”

Two of the organization’s officials — including Mr. Hayawi, who died in Monday’s attack — were injured in early June in a truck bomb attack at the Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar that killed 11, including two United Nations employees with other agencies, Ms. Hurford said.

Thirty United Nations employees were in the hotel at the time, and afterward, many were relocated due to the security risks. The heightened risks for humanitarian workers in Pakistan were underscored by the organization’s executive director, Josette Sheeran. “This is a tragedy — not just for W.F.P. — but for the whole humanitarian community and for the hungry,” she said in a statement after Monday’s attack.

The explosion comes at a time when the Pakistani Army is planning to launch a full-scale offensive in South Waziristan, the rugged tribal region in the country’s northwest that is a stronghold of the Taliban.

In South Waziristan, the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, met a group of reporters on Sunday and vowed that attacks against Pakistani and American targets would continue.

One of the reporters who met Mr. Mehsud, Anwar Mehsud, who works with a Pakistani Television channel Aaj TV, said Monday that he and four other reporters met the Taliban leader at his invitation to dispel reports that he had been killed in an American drone attack.

Mr. Mehsud, he said, appeared with his top lieutenants in a show of Taliban unity and force: Waliur Rehman, the head of the Taliban in the tribal region of South Waziristan; Qari Hussain, the head of the suicide bombing squad of the Taliban; and Azam Tariq, the new spokesman for the Taliban. Mr. Mehsud was in good spirits, he said.

The prior leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a drone attack in August, and reports had circulated that Hakimullah was killed in a power struggle over the succession. Hakimullah Mehsud was also the apparent target of an American drone attack a few months ago in the Orakzai tribal area of western Pakistan, Pakistani officials said.

The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) has appealed to federal and provincial governments of financial assistance for organising ‘World Performing Arts Festival’ scheduled to be held at the end of November.

It is a brave step of the RPTW to put efforts for holding such a major event - World Performing Arts Festival - without any kind of sponsorship as the theatre was rocked by three blasts last year that put a dent in the confidence of the participating international performers and families who flocked to the venue along with their children.

The blasts also caused lack of multinational companies’ interest to sponsor the theatre. Now the RPTW is confronting severe financial crisis. No doubt the theatre managed to organise the Sufi festival despite a flat refusal from even the performers of the Muslim countries to participate in the festival owing to security concerns. It was quite feasible for the RPTW to buy their own lights, sounds, props and stage equipment together with this estate some 10 years ago but now owing to price-hike hopes of performers and organisers have shattered for arranging such recreational as well as cultural-saving festivals.

The RPTW that has been organising the festival for the last 20 years will be seen nowhere if the government refrains to provide support in such a crucial time when the RPTW have featured 83 countries and 168,000 artists from all over the world this year.

Talking to The Nation here on Sunday, RPTW chairman Faizan Peerzada said the worldwide financial crunch had made it difficult to organise the festival as no multinational company was ready to sponsor the event. He said the federal as well as Punjab government must help them out keeping in view their services for the country which they rendered by holding international art festivals and introducing Pakistan on the world’s cultural map.

Peerzada said he had written letters to the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister for financial aid but to no avail. “I have also pinned my hope on Governor Salman Taseer, whom I shall meet on Oct 8,” he added. Peerzada further said he would also hold second press conference in this regard on Oct 14 to update the media about appeal for funds.

“Senator Pervaiz Rashid, chairman of the special committee, is a heartily culture-promoter. We are also planning to meet him in this regard for seeking financial assistance as well as security protection,” he added.

Talking to The Nation Senator Pervaiz Rashid said the Punjab government was ready to provide maximum possible assistance in organising the festival. He said no doubt the Punjab Government would provide immense security protection to the festival, adding the security arrangements would more than their expectations.

Praising the cultural activities organised by the RPTW, he said everyone in Pakistan waited for this festival, as he himself was fond of such refreshing activities. However, the senator said that the RPTW should present their programme to the government what they intended to do this year.

Regarding the issue of financial assistance, Punjab Government Secretary Information Shoaib Bin Aziz said it was a simple issue as they should submit their agenda and demands first, then after evaluation the government would be able to examine and give its view point what could we do for them. It is worth mentioning here that some local artists including Taj Mastani, Saieen Zahoor, Surraiya Multanikar, Surraiya Khanum, Sher Miandad, Pappu Saieen, Mansoor Malangi, Akhtar Chinar Zehri from Balochistan and Zarsanga from NWFP had participated last year in the festival. As the performers from all over the world have flatly refused to come in Pakistan owing to security reasons, the Punjab government has intensified security arrangements in this regard.

{Source: The Nation}

Not just the recently shown security concerns, but a deal struck with former president Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf, amid guarantees by Saudi Arabia’s King Shah Abdullah, prevents the chief of his own faction of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Sharif from contesting polls.

Online news agency on Sunday revealed details of the meeting between PML-N chief and Saudi king. It said that Mian Nawaz Sharif cannot contest polls under an accord with the Saudi king and his staying out of polls is part of a deal.

The news agency claimed Nawaz Sharif during his visit to Saudi Arabia in the holy month Ramazan met with Saudi king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz the latter asked the former to honour the agreement made between Saudi government and former president Pervez Musharraf.

The report said that during the above meeting Nawaz Sharif was reminded that he cannot contest elections for 10 years under the agreement.

Pakistan Muslim League-N has denied the allegation that Nawaz decided not to contest by-election under a deal with Saudi king.

Talking to ARY NEWS on Sunday, The PML-N Information Secretary Siddique Al-Farooq rejected any secret deal with the former dictator, saying “It’s all propaganda and baseless story released by the news agency…Were the newsmen present in the meeting with King Abdullah or the Saudi government has released details of this meeting?”

He said PML-N would continue demanding the trial of Musharraff under the high treason act of Article 6 of the Constitution, demanding that the federal government should place its representation to file the case against the former president.

Also, talking to a local news TV on Sunday, spokesman of PML-N Senator Pervez Rasheed said there is no substance in the report carried by the news agency.

Senator Pervez Rasheed categorically ruled out the report.

The Punjab Government had filed a petition in Lahore High Court (LHC) to stop by-polls in constitutions of NA-55 and NA-123 on the basis of security reasons while LHC returned petition to halt by-election in NA-123 with objection.

The provincial government in its petition contended that the Chief Election Commission (CEC) did not consult with the Punjab Government regarding holding of by-polls as it was needed with Law Enforcement Agencies due to prevailing law and order situation in the country.

The petition said that the country is facing terrorism incidents and under these circumstance, by-elections not possible in NA-123 and NA-55.

{Source: ARY News}

By Shahzad Chaudhry

The US administration and its representatives in Pakistan must be chewing on their nails ever since the House passed the reconciled 2009 bill on aid to Pakistan. Just as Senator Pressler became a household character of villainous leanings in Pakistan in 1990 after President Bush, the elders (refusing to certify Pakistan’s sanctimonious conduct in the nuclear domain) Senators Kerry and Lugar, and Congressman Berman are most likely to engage the Pakistanis for some time. Not that the Pakistanis mind the $1.5 billion a year coming into their kitty. Exactly what do the Americans hope to assuage with the award of the new aid bill?

First the good things — let us assume that Pakistan had a social development policy but was still searching for a strategy. A policy states intent while the strategy links the resource, the means to an end. The Kerry-Lugar Bill provides perhaps the most elaborate linkage of the means to the ends for social development in Pakistan. The creators of this blue-print deserve our kudos. If they happen to be Americans, which is likely, we need to hire them for Pakistan’s Ministry of Social Development because not even the Pakistanis can be expected to identify the exact areas of our essential attention in such detail.

If, however, those who helped draft the document are Pakistanis, which is more likely because only the Pakistanis can be that certain of where the state has screwed up in its prioritisation, they still need to be hollered in to be part of the administration at home so that they can keep tabs on where the effort heads after it is launched. They also need to be home, if indeed they happen to be accomplices, for the not-so-good things that seem to have found their way into the bill.

A few things squeak through the smart work that has helped shape the bill. The amount of insistence that goes into reassuring a political process smacks of perceived insecurity. What makes it even more eerie is how the US has generally been comfortable dealing with a one-window process in dictatorships or autocracies and yet, somehow, they seem to have awakened to the need to sustain a more inclusive and just democratic order in Pakistan. If it has something to do with the party in power in the US and their political philosophies in client states, that may explain the apparently principled position. But the amount of dollars that are planned to go into training parliamentarians and members of the various committees betrays a more intimate input of interested quarters from within Pakistan.

It seems to me that any discussion between the political mandarins in Pakistan with the frequently visiting US interlocutors had to run on these lines: “nine years of dictatorial rule and the 24 before that have robbed us politicians of the opportunity to establish democracy as the pillar of a stable Pakistan; all the dollars that have been given to these regimes have always gone into the pockets of the corrupt dictatorial rulers; the 12 billion that you gave to the previous regime cannot be accounted for; if democracy were to be strengthened, and that would entail teaching politicians how to practice politics, including setting up their offices in their respective constituencies, they need a special attention for financial awards. It will enable them to become the strongest supporting hand of the democratic government and through that ensure upholding of the common interests of the democracies of this world. They could be taught better by physically seeing democracies in work and, therefore, should need repeated visits to Westminster and Capitol Hill; the use of political surgeries in their respective constituencies will help Pakistan keep a tab on wayward religious leanings inimical to neighbouring regions. Democracy will deliver and needs to be strengthened.”

Fine words and noble ideals have not been stated before; but it begs the question: is the US going to ensure democracy in Pakistan? When have they ever been able to do so before? Now, if this is not insecurity and a grab for resources, what else is? One hopes that money allocated to these activities is just enough for a few truants only and does not become a beeline to the democratic capitals of the world.

The American interest to set our curriculum may just be a step too far. Pakistan’s educational system is desperately short of resources and if there is one single gain that should be made of the $7.5 billion is to channel most of it into education. This shall have to be project based and with clear indication of developing and restoring the Pakistani state schools into some level of dignity and capacity. On the curriculum, only the Pakistanis know what to teach their children; and if for the sake of some crumbs we are going to be dictated on how our children turn out to be in future, perhaps we can do with a little less but keep our children from turning into American clones.

Another area of interest that the bill generates is the importance of human right. It intrigues me though when a special mention is made of the need to preserve the Balochi, Sindhi and Pashtun culture but no mention is made of Punjab. Is the bill encouraging dissent in the state?

The military related provisions are the most transparent and leave a sour taste. One of those needs the military to be trained to appreciate democratic governments and learn to be controlled by them. Another clause binds the military to a subordinate behaviour to the democratic government otherwise the $1.5 billion aid will be suspended. It seems like a dire warning after that most dreadful incarceration of standing in a corner of the classroom when the rest of the children amble along the session with a comely teacher. I wonder what happened to the “one jeep – two trucks” analogy; one hopes the major on the jeep would have been through the corrective learning process.

Less said of including and naming geographical locations where the US wants Pakistan to take action. It is demeaning and pays put to the normalisation process that Pakistan is trying to pursue separately with India. Without a sensible recourse to the underlying dynamics of the Indo-Pakistan complexities, the bill takes a prescriptive line and details what it would hope to see enacted.

What is the clause on the need for enhancement of a national airline doing there? Is a large order for Boeing on the way? And what about a study to replace the AH-1 Cobra; will the Americans tell us what is suitable to buy for our forces? And the promotions in the senior ranks; are we that insecure as a government and a nation?

In comparison, the Americans spend in Afghanistan $30 to the one that they spend on Pakistan. Afghanistan also seems to have a proud leadership and a better group of interlocutors in Washington. I say take the elements of social development strategy from the bill; show some steel to retain national dignity on the rest; and see if the $1.5 billion will still hold. It should, if the US is so genuinely interested in seeing Pakistan stable. The money is anyway a supplement and not supplant.

The writer is a retired air-vice marshal of the Pakistan Air Force and served as its deputy chief of staff. Email: shhzdchdhry @yahoo.com

{Source: The News}

By Talha Zaheer

Toronto’s Gerrard Street was ablaze with a cacophony of familiar sights and sounds. Was this really Canada? It was hard to tell. This was the second time I had joined the joyous melee of chaand raat on foreign soil. The boisterous scene was enjoyable, but anyone present in the vicinity could be forgiven for thinking that Eid was purely a Pakistani event, not quite open to the rest of the Muslim world.

The streets leading up to the city’s India Bazaar were choked and one had to park a fair distance from the hub to walk over. The south side attracted most of the families with its garment stores and hastily made henna tattoo outlets. It was impossible to drown out the noise even as you walked towards the uplifting aroma only desi restaurants can emanate. Meetha paan in hand, I set about observing the kind of crowd I was prone to avoiding back home in Pakistan.

The scene outside Lahore Tikka House pretty much summed things up. There was an impromptu bhangra party spilling on to the already clogged streets. Streetcars and their mystified occupants were stranded as the music got louder and party got wilder. A Hummer passed by for the umpteenth time, its occupants hanging precariously from its windows, prompting a bystander to declare it was a rental. Other cars were similarly decked in shaving foam ‘Eid Mubaraks’, but what really caught my attention were the number of Pakistani flags that were being brandished to mark the religious occasion.

The euphoria subsided only momentarily as skirmishes took place as only they can in good, old-fashioned, Punjabi-expletive-inspired phaddas. Yet even they failed to dissuade the throng of humanity from its celebratory frame of mind. Most women were decked in desi attire and most seemed to have heeded my incessant calls to boycott dresses in that horrible dark blue tinge. A solitary desi in a miniskirt looked completely out of place and seemed to get as many disapproving stares from aunties who have made Canada their home as she would have received approving stares had she been in Lahore’s Liberty Market. The only thing lacking were motorcycle and cyclewallahs and their daredevil stunts. Alas, Honda CD70 doesn’t exactly have a market in this part of the world.

It was interesting to note that the few Bengalis who happened to venture in the area confessed to feeling that Eid had become a Pakistani celebration. This made me wonder along two lines: why have expats added a patriotic tinge to what is a religious event, and what exactly does it mean to be Pakistani?

How many of us really do participate in public celebrations in the home country? I’ll be the first to admit I would avoid Independence Day and chaand raat on the streets and not merely from a fear of traffic jams. There are too many people who think like me who also avoid these street events so much so that I recently came across people having issues with the public celebrating Pakistan’s win over India. Really? For a people without food and electricity, even the slightest celebration is a Godsend and yet some of us complain. Ladies and gents, let’s get this straight: celebrations of the kind that I witnessed on Gerrard Street are the true essence of our nation. It is our inherent Pakistaniat.

Even in the supposedly sophisticated diaspora, our public celebrates in much the same way as it does at home. There is no shame in that, no shame in associating yourself with how our people celebrate. To reject it would be to reject our Pakistaniat. I, for one, have grown to appreciate the multitudes of people and their celebratory zeal. Sure, there are plenty of show-offs and attention-seekers, but showing off what you have – even if it’s just a rental – is part of the Pakistani dream. We are a people who love to flaunt our wealth (even when we don’t have it). But let’s not disenfranchise ourselves merely because we feel the nouveau riche and middle classes aren’t classy enough.

As for the tendency of turning Eid into a patriotic event, I ask, why not? It does bind us together and it does remind us of home. Just like back home, there are generally two or more Eids here. We are prone to wearing shalwar kameez, feasting on sawaiyyan, applying decorative henna, collecting and distributing Eidi, calling loved ones back home, and even engaging in the post-Eid-namaz, three-touch hugs. What could be more Pakistani than that? Eid does in fact play a significant role in shaping the identity of our expats, both young and old, religious and otherwise. So inherent is the patriotism in Eid that I am aware of a Christian of Pakistani origin who frequents Eid prayers just to bond with his people and recreate that homely feel.

Stereotyping and mocking such celebratory displays has become a pastime for some of us. It’s about time we embraced our people instead of alienating them. Sure, we feel secure in our little elitist bubbles sitting atop our classy credentials. But by doing so we reaffirm our disconnect with our own. Acceptance is the first step to deliverance; perhaps we can do away with our prejudice and celebrate with wanton abandon the simple pleasures that keep most of our people happy.

-Toronto-based Talha Zaheer blogs about diaspora-related issues for Dawn.com. He is also the Toronto FC correspondent for Goal.com.

{Source: Dawn}

Illegal hunting is going on in the country and even the sanctuaries and Wildlife department reserves are no longer safe for animals.

Animal Safety Organisation Pakistan President Muhammad Usman said this at a rally held here on Sunday to mark the World Animals Day. The organisation also set up a free medical camp at Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh where Dr Rafiullah, Dr Fahad and Dr Amin examined the animals and administered them free medicines.

The rally was taken out from the camp and concluded at Kabotar Mandi.

Mr Usman said Pakistan was a signatory to seven international conventions on environment and needed to urgently develop and implement a biodiversity action plan to conserve its depleting plant and animal species.

He said while the responsibility for the job primarily lies with the government, which must prepare the required reliable data on a priority basis, the media needed to create awareness about the crucial link that existed between humans and other living creatures.

About the animals which have become extinct in Pakistan, he said they included one-horned rhinoceros, Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, Asiatic cheetah, vultures and gharial while those endangered included green turtle, marsh crocodile, houbara bustard, musk deer, cheer pheasant, white-headed duck, Dalmatian pelican, Marco Polo sheep, Punjab Urial, blackbuck, brown bear, black bear, Asiatic wolf, snow leopard, common leopard and Indus dolphin.

‘Each species is a building block of the ecosystem and gradually losing these blocks means destabilising the entire structure’.

{Source: Dawn}

A fierce gun battle erupted between Lyari gangsters from the Uzair Baloch Group and the Lyari police, during which, five people, including two police personnel and a teenaged boy, were killed and more than 40 people, including five policemen and three women, were injured.

The gangsters had virtually hijacked almost all of Lyari and were openly using weapons at different intervals. They attacked the Kalakot and Chakiwara police stations and also threw crackers at the Kalakot Police Line. The Lyari police miserably failed to control the situation as the gangsters took charge of the entire area, and the police could not make any major arrests.

According to the police, they received information at about 5am that a huge cache of arms was lying in a rice warehouse in Singo Lane, Chakiwara. The weapons had been hidden there by wanted Lyari gangster, Abdul Jabbar alias Jeango.

A police team, led by Chakiwara SHO Asif Munawar, raided the warehouse, and after a brief encounter arrested four suspects including a wanted Lyari gangster, Hafeez alias Daada, with the recovery of seven Kalashnikovs, two sub-machine guns, one light machine gun, one mouser and 600 rounds. Besides, eight walkie-talkie sets were also recovered from the gangsters. These had been snatched from police personnel at different times.

During interrogation, Daada disclosed that he had killed an orderly of former Chakiwara SHO Babar a few weeks ago, and he used to commit crimes on the order of gangster Jabbar Jeango. According to him, Jeango had kept the arms cache for battle purposes.

Later in the afternoon, gangsters led by Jeango and Baba Ladla hurled a bomb at the gate of the Kalakot and Chakiwara police stations, following which the personnel took positions on the roof of the police station to retaliate. An hours’ long encounter ensued, but the gangsters managed to escape from the scene.

Afterwards, the gangsters fired four Awan rockets at the Kalakot Police Lines, due to which some walls were damaged. No injuries were reported, however.

The gangsters then took charge of almost all of Lyari and started roaming freely in Chakiwara and Kalakot areas. During this time, they shot dead Head Constable (HC) Asif Khan who was in uniform and going to his duty at the SITE-A Investigation after having a shave from a barber shop at Cheel Chowk. The deceased HC leaves leaves behind a widow and two children. He was a resident of the Kalakot Police Line.

HC Khan’s body was later handed over to the Risala police station team which shifted it to his house in the Kalakot Police Line.

While the Risala police team was heading towards the police station, they were intercepted by gangsters at Cheel Chowk.

The gangsters opened indiscriminate fire, due to which Constable Rehmat Zaman was killed, and two other policemen were injured. Constable Zaman was posted at the Risala police station for the past three years.

The gangsters also resorted to indiscriminate firing due to which a passerby, identified as Ahmed Jamal, was injured in Bakra Piri. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The firing by gangsters also claimed the lives of 13-year-old Naved Razzaq at Cheel Chowk and 45-year-old Ali Akber, a resident of Omer Lane. Akber has left behind a widow and three children.

More than 40 people, including women and police personnel, were also injured. They were identified as Ali Akber Punal, 15-year-old Nabil, Abdul Wahab, 15-year-old Saleemullah, PC Ramzan Ali, SI Asif Malik, ASI Sajjad, HC Basheer Ahmed and ASI Malik Nazeer.

Four labourers working at the Sailani Welfare Trust office in Dhobi Ghaat were also injured. They were identified as Ali Bux, Maqbool Shah, Mohammed Shabir and Munay Mian.

A rickshaw driver and his passenger were injured at Dubai Chowk in Bihar Colony. Besides, 15-year-old Maria, 25-year-old Zeenat Bibi, 21-year-old Humaira, Noor Jehan and Zohraan Bibi were injured in Bakra Piri, Maula Madad and Mirza Adam Khan.

DIG South Zone Ghulam Nabi Memon said that the Lyari police gave a tough time to the gangsters and forced them to retreat from the area. He said that he had issued directives to the police to expand the intelligence network and nab gangsters soon after the receipt of correct information.

{Source: The News}

Iftekhar Ahmed interviews Gen. (R) Amjad Shoaib who was Adjutant General during Gen (R) Musharraf’s time and knows a great deal behind Gen (R) Karamat’s retirement and the Kargil episode

Discussion on Peoples Party and Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) with Makhdoom Ameen Faheem who is President of PPPP but has been sidelined.

Discussion on MQM’s foray into Punjab and its tussle with Jamaat-i-Islami; Guests: Hassan Nisar (Columnist) and Haroon Rasheed (Analyst)