Terror strikes Lahore’s Mall Road; senior cops among 13 dead
Lahore (13 Feb, 2017) The explosion went off in Lahore’s busy Mall Road during a rally attended by hundreds of pharmacists protesting against changes to a drug sale law outside the provincial assembly building. The suicide blast, occurred during a protest, which was being staged by drug dealers against the Drug Act introduced by the Punjab Government. Senior police officers were among 13 people killed when a Taliban a suicide bomber blew himself up targeting them during a protest rally outside Pakistan’s Punjab assembly in Lahore that also wounded more than 73 others. Sources said that some 400 people were protesting when the explosion took place.
Inspector General Police Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera said that 13 people, DIG Traffic Lahore Captain (R) Ahmed Mubeen and acting DIG Operations Zahid Ikram Gondal, along with six security men were also martyred in the tragic incident.
He said the suspected suicide bomber reached the police officials by foot and blew himself up.
The Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Blast hits Pakistan’s Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine
Thursday 16 February, 2017: At least 88 dead more than 250 injured, including children and women, as ISIL claims blast at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in Sindh province. According to report “There was a huge crowd gathered there for the ‘religious ceremony’ at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, and there was a very big explosion. “The medical facilities at Sehwan are not equipped to deal with a very big emergency, the closest hospital to the shrine were around 70km away.
Witness Nazakat Ali was praying when the bomb exploded. “The explosion happened, and everyone started running,” he told. Another victim speaking from a hospital in Sehwan. “We were pushed out, there were so many people. I saw blood. I saw people injured and dead bodies.” A spokesman for medical charity Edhi said the attacker appeared to have targeted the women’s wing of the shrine, and around 30 children accompanying their mothers were dead. Lal Shahbaz Qalander is Pakistan’s most revered Sufi shrine, dedicated to a 13th-century “saint” whose spirit is invoked by devotees in ecstatic daily dancing and singing rituals in Sehwan Sharif. Daesh, the Middle East-based militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s affiliated news agency AMAQ reported.
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Eight killed as three bombers storm Charsadda court
PESHAWAR/CAHRSADDA – (21 Feb) At least eight people including a lawyer were killed and 25 others injured, when three suicide bombers struck a lower court in Tangi tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Charsadda district. Police and eyewitnesses said the three attackers equipped with automatic assault rifles, hand grenades and suicide vests stormed the entry point of the court complex.
Upon being challenged by on-duty policemen, two of the bombers blew themselves up at the gates. The third bomber was briefly on the loose inside the busy complex but was killed some 20 minutes later when a hand grenade he was carrying exploded during the exchange of fire with the police. “Bomb disposal experts told that each bomber was wearing seven to eight kilograms of explosives,” . Three alleged facilitators of Charsadda court attack arrested. CHARSADDA DPO Sohaild Khalid said that the police conducted raids in suburbs of Tangi district and arrested the alleged facilitators, adding that investigation was underway to know about their role in the attacks.
“STAND UNITED”
“Each drop of nation’s blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone,” Army Chief Qamar Bajwa said in a statement. Shortly after the blast, the army announced it was closing the border with Afghanistan with immediate effect for security reasons. Insurgents operate on either side of the neighbors’ long and porous frontier. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif quickly condemned the bombing, decrying the assault on the Sufi religious minority. He vowed to fight militants, who target the government, judiciary and anyone who does not adhere to their strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.
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Over 100 terrorists killed in operations across Pakistan: ISPR
17 Feb: RAWALPINDI: Security and law enforcement agencies (LEAs), in a swift response to recent terror attacks, have killed over a hundred terrorists, besides apprehending several miscreants from different parts of the country, the Inter Services Public Relations said. The operations are ongoing across the country, including Punjab, the ISPR said in a statement. Intelligence agencies are making progress to unearth networks behind recent terrorist incidents and the outcome will be shared, said the military’s public relations wing.
‘Linkages from across the border’
“There are linkages of support for these incidents from across the border,” the ISPR said. “The [Pak-Afghan] border has been closed since last night.” No cross-border or unauthorised entry into Pakistan from Afghanistan will be allowed, it said, for which the security forces have been given special orders to keep a strict watch all along the border. (Last Updated)
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‘Elimination of evils’
Army launches ‘Operation Radd-ul-fassad’ across Pakistan to root out terrorism
RAWALPINDI Pakistan Army has launched ‘Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad’ across the country to root out terrorism without any discrimination, the Inter-Services Public Relations said. “The operation aims at indiscriminately eliminating residual or latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made thus far and further ensuring the security of Pakistan’s borders,” the ISPR statement added. “Country wide de-weaponisation and explosive control are additional cardinals of the effort. Pursuance of National Action Plan will be the hallmark of this operation,” the military’s media wing said. The announcement followed a meeting between Chief of Armed Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa, Punjab corps commanders, Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) DG, and the heads of intelligence agencies.
‘Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad’
The countrywide military operation ‘Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad’, or ‘Elimination of evils’ has been launched days after a series of deadly militant attacks killed more than 120 people across Pakistan in just over a week, including civilians, policemen and soldiers.
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Eight (8) Killed as blast hits Lahore’s Defence caused by gas leakage
23 Feb: LAHORE | At least eight people have been killed while 30 others sustained severe wounds in a blast at Lahore’s Defence Z block market. According to details, the explosion occurred at an under construction plaza targeting Bombay Chowpatty outlet in the market. Windowpanes of several nearby shops have been shattered whereas vehicles parked near the plaza were got also affected.
On Friday 24 Feb, 2017: Addressing a press conference , Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed no traces of explosives were found from the site of the explosion, adding it was likely the result of a gas leak and not an act of terrorism. He added that until the investigation is completed a definitive cause of the explosion cannot be declared. The blast took place inside an under-construction building where labourers were present inside when the explosion took place.
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Three Pakistani troops martyred in unprovoked Indian fire at LoC
RAWALPINDI: (13 Feb, 2017) The unprovoked fire came in Thoob sector of the LoC near Bhimber, critically wounding three troops. Pakistani forces responded befittingly to the unprovoked fire, the ISPR said. The wounded troops later succumbed to their injuries. They were identified as Naik Ghulam Rasool, Naik Imran Zafar and Sepoy Imam Bux. Of late, India has been violating the ceasefire along the LoC and the Working Boundary, which the Pakistan Army and Rangers respond to in a fitting manner. Earlier this month, a 25-year-old labourer named Ashfaq was martyred as a result of Indian firing in Khuiratta sector.
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Two personnel killed in Quetta while defusing bomb
QUETTA: The commander of the Bomb Disposal Squad of the Special Branch was defusing the bomb placed by suspected militants near an overhead bridge in the Sariab Road area of Quetta when the device went off, police said. “The BDS commander and a constable were killed in the blast,” DIG Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema said. Eight people were injured, he added. Earlier, the area people informed the authorities after they spotted a suspect object placed close to a wall near the bridge. Police cordoned off the area and called the BDS.
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More than 100 Dead in Avalanches in Pakistan & Afghanistan
5 Feb, 2017: Heavy snow and avalanches have killed more than 106 people and injured dozens in Afghanistan. In the deadliest incident, 53 people died in one village after an avalanche in Nuristan, a north-eastern Afghan province on the Pakistan border. Thirteen people were also killed in an avalanche in northern Pakistan, nine of them in the town of Chitral. Dozens of houses have been destroyed and people were reported to have frozen to death, trapped in cars. Afghanistan’s minister of state natural disasters, Wais Ahmad Barmak, confirmed the number of dead to BBC Afghan. There were also avalanches to the north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
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200 vehicles arrived from China to make Karachi City clean
KARACHI: In about a week’s time, 200 garbage-lifting machines among other equipment imported from China will be used for waste disposal, said Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) managing director Dr AD Sajnani. He added that after arriving at Karachi port, 22 of the 200 garbage-lifting machines and garbage compactor trucks have been cleared. The remaining machinery will be cleared by next week, after which it will be deployed for maintaining cleanliness in the city.
Chinese firm to lift garbage in District South
Sajnani added that apart from these 200 machines, 200 tricycle refuse vehicles, 1,300 handcarts, 5,000 dustbins of 240-litre capacity, several 280-litre steel dustbins, 3,200 dustbins of 260-litre capacity, showers to clean trees, mechanical sweepers and street-washing vehicles will also be cleared along with the other remaining trucks by the next week. After that, they will be able to start operating in South and East districts. We are going to pay $24 per tonne to a Chinese company, Changyi Kangjie Sanitation Engineering Company, but it is also expected that the cost may be reduced in the future, added Sajnani. He said that they are building Garbage Transfer Stations in all of the districts.
Talking about a recently constructed garbage transfer station near Mewa Shah Graveyard, Sajnani added that it is built in the premises of Gutter Bagheecha, which is owned by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. However, he said, a resident has filed a petition in the high court, laying claim to the land. He added that they are facing obstacles but these will soon be eliminated with coordinated efforts. Responding to a question about garbage disposal in other districts of the city, Sajnani said that by the time the company starts operating in South and East districts, the SSWMB will take the initiative one step ahead by expanding it to all the districts of the city.