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How an arrest in London sparked chaos in Karachi

Altaf Hussain after Imran Farooq murder (Credit: theguardian.com)
Altaf Hussain after Imran Farooq murder
(Credit: theguardian.com)

London, June 3: On Tuesday, police in London arrested a man on suspicion of money laundering. Thousands of miles away in Karachi, Pakistan’s turbulent coastal metropolis, traffic snarled, shops shuttered, trains stopped, embassies closed and millions braced for further havoc. (As of Tuesday evening, there were reports of gunfire and 12 vehicles set aflame, but no casualties.)

The man taken in by Scotland Yard is Altaf Hussain, leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the dominant political party in Karachi. Despite living in self-imposed exile in Britain for more than two decades out of fear for his life, Hussain has remained a kingpin in this megacity of nearly 20 million, depending on how you count it. He casts a long, dark shadow over the city, notorious for its gangland violence and volatile political divisions.

The MQM draws support from Karachi’s large population of mohajirs, the descendants of those who migrated to Pakistan from what is now India in 1947, when colonial India was cleaved in two by the departing British. The party commands a crucial bloc of seats in Parliament, almost all of which are concentrated around Karachi in southern Sindh province.

The city’s ethnic polarization — it’s also home to huge ethnic Pashtun and Sindhi populations — has led to years of sectarian tensions, punctuated by attacks and street battles. The MQM’s vast political machinery is complemented by brass knuckles. A leaked 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable, citing local police, claimed that the party maintained its own parallel militia of as many as 10,000 active fighters, with 25,000 in reserve.

British authorities have been investigating Hussain, 60, since the 2010 assassination in London of a MQM official, Imran Farooq, who had grown estranged from the party. Last week, they froze Hussain’s bank accounts. MQM officials said today that he was brought in only for questioning, but it seems clear that he is under arrest.

Hussain is considered a charismatic, larger-than-life figure. Ensconced in his compound in northwest London, he would coordinate the operations of his party via teleconference and get beamed over satellite to address mass gatherings and rallies.

While the MQM has staunch middle-class backing and is credited with running Karachi efficiently, it is thought to benefit from a whole slew of underworld activities, including extortion and targeted attacks on opponents. MQM officials routinely deny any connection to such wrongdoing.

Hussain himself has earned notoriety for his incendiary rhetoric — once telling an aggressive journalist that he had “his body bag ready” and, in another instance, warning critics to end their “false allegations” against him. “Don’t blame me, Altaf Hussain, or the MQM,” he said, “if you get killed by any of my millions of supporters.”

Scotland Yard may struggle to charge him with incitement to violence or prove a direct link to Farooq’s death. So it appears its most solid case surrounds Hussain’s funds and their use in Britain. Earlier raids on Hussain’s house led to the impounding of about $600,000 in cash.

Meanwhile, in Karachi, MQM officials have called for calm, sending out mass text messages throughout the city advising residents to ignore rumors that could cause further disruption or violence. Like many political parties in South Asia, the MQM’s cohesion depends greatly upon the presence of its towering founding figure. The doubts and fears in Karachi are as much about what happens at home as they are about what happens in a British courtroom far away

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TTP Split May Strengthen Haqqani Network

A LONG-rumoured and much-encouraged — both by the military before and the PML-N government now — split in the TTP appears to have come to pass. A chunk of the so-called pro-state, pro-peace Mehsud fighters in the TTP has rejected the leadership of Mullah Fazlullah, the emir of the TTP, in a move that could have significant ramifications for internal security and foreign policy in the weeks and months ahead. To begin with, the so-called Sajna faction of the Mehsuds in the TTP’s verbal and actual fighting with other elements in the proscribed group may presage a resumption of the government’s dialogue process, but this time with just the militants who do want to cut a deal with the government. The government would paint such an outcome as a validation of its dogged pursuit of dialogue. But would it really be a victory?

A basic problem is the ideological affinity and political allegiances of the Sajna-linked TTP militants: they lean heavily towards the Haqqani network and Mullah Omar’s Afghan Taliban — which means that the price for agreeing not to fight against the Pakistani state inside its territory will likely be a demand to turn a blind eye to stepped-up activities across the border in Afghanistan. That, just as the Obama administration has signalled its intention for an Iraq-like withdrawal from Afghanistan over the next couple of years, could have a destabilising effect at the very moment that some kind of stability is needed to help the incoming Afghan administration pursue its own negotiated settlement with the Afghan Taliban. Moreover, does Pakistan really want to be in the position internationally of officially giving space to militants with an avowed agenda of fighting in a neighbouring country?

If the foreign dimension is troubling enough, what would it mean for internal security if the TTP is split and at war with itself and encouraged to do so by the state? Surely, state and society will themselves become collateral damage. Already, there is speculation of fresh violence in Karachi, because involuntary migration from Fata in recent years has replicated many of the militants fault lines there in Karachi itself. Beyond that, while the Fazlullah-led group —including TTP Swat, Mohmand and Bajaur — is seeing its influence wane and its ability to strike inside Pakistan hampered by a leadership hiding in Afghanistan, it would be foolish to underestimate Fazlullah and his men. After all, he is the man who was all but written off after his fiefdom in Swat was taken away — and yet he returned to snatch the leadership of the TTP. Setting all of that aside, there still remains a fundamental problem in the government’s dialogue-driven quest for peace: ought there really to be space for a group such as the Sajna-led militants in Pakistan going forward?

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Pakistani Taliban Faction Condemns Violence, Breaks Away

TTP's Azam Tariq (Credit: geotv)
TTP’s Azam Tariq
(Credit: geotv)

LAHORE, May 28—A major faction of the Pakistani Taliban broke away and condemned violence on Wednesday, weakening the militant group allied with al Qaeda that seeks to overthrow the Pakistani state.

The split in the Pakistani Taliban, known formally as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, comes after months of attempted peace negotiations between the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the militant organization. It also followed weeks of bloody infighting within the TTP.

The move could push Pakistan closer to an army operation against the remainder of the TTP, an offensive that Washington has long wanted.

Although the stated aim of the talks was to forge a peace deal with the whole TTP, Pakistani officials had privately said the realistic goal was to see which factions were amenable to peace and which were irreconcilable. An operation planned by the army was put on hold when Mr. Sharif launched peace talks in late January.

The breakaway faction is led by a warlord named Sajna who is also known as Khan Said or Khalid Mehsud, announced a “complete separation from the current organization that has lost its way.”

Sajna represents most of the militants from the fierce Mehsud tribe, who made up much of the TTP. His faction, now calling itself Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Mehsud group, accused the rest of the TTP of criminality.

The breakaway group, if it goes on to agree to a peace deal with the government, could now join the ranks of the so-called good Taliban—jihadist groups that don’t fight within Pakistan such as an outfit led by Gul Bahadur, which is active in Afghanistan.

“We consider kidnapping for ransom, extortion, damage to public facilities and bombings to be un-Islamic,” said a statement from the breakaway faction.

“Tehreek-e-Taliban Mehsud group believes in stopping the oppressor from cruelty, and supporting the oppressed.”

The breakaway group was originally led by a commander named Waliur Rehman, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last year.

It was always considered relatively moderate, It was involved in many of the activities it now condemns and is likely responsible for the deaths of thousands of Pakistanis, analysts said.

The TTP, which works independently of the Afghan Taliban, was formed in 2007 in the lawless tribal areas under the influence of al Qaeda to target Pakistan.

The breakaway group pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban.

“We have the deepest respect for jihadist organizations of the right beliefs fighting against evil powers,” the group said.

The rest of the TTP is still led by Mullah Fazlullah, a militant from the Swat district outside the tribal areas who isn’t a Mehsud.

The leadership of the TTP passed outside the Mehsuds for the first time when Mr. Fazlullah was made chief in November after the previous leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone stroke.

Many from the Mehsud clan never accepted the new leader.

Rahimullah Yusufzai, a veteran journalist who was formerly part of the government’s negotiating committee for the peace talks, said he expected some other factions of the TTP from the tribal areas to join the breakaway faction.

Parts of the so-called Punjabi Taliban—militants from the country’s most populous Punjab province—could also possibly join.

“Now you will have one less enemy,” Mr. Yusufzai said.

“The Mehsuds have always been the backbone of the TTP. I expect Fazlullah will become weaker, day by day.”

Pakistan’s national-security adviser, Sartaj Aziz, and the Interior Ministry, which is handling the peace talks, both declined to comment on the latest development.

Mr. Fazlullah is believed to be based in eastern Afghanistan, putting him beyond the reach of Pakistan’s armed forces.

A relatively small group of the Mehsud clan militants, led by a commander named Shehryar, remains loyal to Mr. Fazlullah. . Fighting between the Sajna and Shehryar factions has left dozens of militants dead in recent weeks.

Parts of the TTP allegedly have support from Afghan intelligence, a connection made public last year when a TTP commander was snatched from Afghan custody by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The breakaway faction said that “using the TTP platform, people in the current organization are tools of secret agencies.”

The Afghan government denies it supports the TTP, and didn’t immediately comment on Sajna’s defection.

Pakistan’s military is thought to be getting impatient for military action against the TTP, one of the sources of its tension with the civilian government.

Following a visit to troops in the tribal areas Tuesday, the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, said: “Together the whole nation has rejected the misplaced ideology of the terrorists, who have clearly lost their cause already and are being marginalized.”

Rifaat Hussain, a security analyst based in Islamabad, said airstrikes by the Pakistani military in recent weeks, along with limited ground action, pointed toward a coming offensive that would target the Fazlullah-led group.

“The army has declared its intention very clearly to launch an operation,” said Mr. Hussain. “The military sees this as an opportunity to finally break the stranglehold of the TTP on the tribal areas.”

The TTP has tentacles across the country and has a major presence in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, where they dominate areas around the periphery of the city and, according to police, use it to raise funds through extortion and other criminality.

Saifullah Mahsud, director of the FATA Research Center, an independent think tank in Islamabad, said that Sajna group had emerged as the dominant TTP faction in Karachi, so his departure from the TTP and his pledge against violence could help the law and order situation in Karachi.

“This is a change in strategy for the Sajna people and it helps Pakistan keep its options open,” he said.

— Safdar Dawar and Qasim Nauman contributed to this article.

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Pakistani Military Says It Killed 60 Militants in Raids

North Waziristan bombed (Credit: thenews.com.pk)
North Waziristan bombed
(Credit: thenews.com.pk)

ISLAMABAD, May 21 — The Pakistani military said it killed at least 60 militants, and injured at least 30, in aerial raids on terrorist hide-outs across the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border early Wednesday. Local residents, however, said the dead also included women and children.

The strikes were carried out in retaliation for recent attacks by the Taliban and came a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the chief of the army, Gen. Raheel Sharif, met to review the security challenges facing the country.

“Confirmed militant hide-outs were targeted early morning today in North Waziristan through precision aerial strikes,” said a senior security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to divulge details of the strikes.

The official said the strikes had been carried out after security forces received intelligence reports that “terrorists involved in recent attacks” in Peshawar and two other areas were “in these hide-outs.”

Another security official said that foreign militants were the main targets of the strikes. “Pakistani militants and foreign militants from Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement were the targets,” the security official said.

There were unconfirmed reports that two Pakistani militant commanders were killed in the airstrikes. The tribal region that borders Afghanistan in inundated with local and foreign militants, and Pakistani state control is very limited.

The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party, is based in North Waziristan and is made up largely of Turkic-speaking foreign militants including Uzbeks and Muslim Uighurs from the oil-rich northwestern Chinese province of Xinjiang, which has seen an increase in violence recently. China blames the Turkistan Islamic Party for the attacks.

The aerial strikes in North Waziristan came almost two weeks after at least nine soldiers were killed there when a powerful explosion hit a convoy carrying security forces.

Though the military denied there were any civilian casualties in Wednesday’s raid, local tribesmen said that at least 10 civilians were killed in the strikes. The claims could not be independently verified.

The strikes were carried out around 2 a.m. in different parts of Miranshah, a town in the restive North Waziristan tribal region, which has long been a bastion for militant factions.

The strikes prompted the local government to impose a curfew in the area for fear of possible reprisals against security forces.

“In Mosaki village in Mirali, a house came under attack during aerial shelling, killing 10 civilians inside,” Haji Ghulam Khan, a local tribal elder, said by phone.

“Initially, they carried out bombardment through gunship helicopters and jets, followed by intensive artillery shelling,” Mr. Khan said. “Local people are running for their lives towards the nearby hills.”

A resident of Miranshah reached by phone, who asked not to be named, said that the death toll from the airstrikes was around 70, and that the dead included some women and children. He based his claim on contacts with local residents in Datta Khel, near Miranshah.

Phones went dead in most parts of the tribal region after the strikes and there was no independent confirmation of the number of casualties.

This was the second attack since the Pakistani Taliban announced on April 16 that they were ending a 40-day cease-fire. While the military has been eager to use force against the militants, the civilian government has insisted on holding peace talks. The talks grew out of an initiative announced Jan. 29 by Mr. Sharif, who said he would pursue a dialogue with the Taliban despite their attacks and growing calls in Pakistan for military action against them.

But dialogue between the government and the Taliban has faltered in recent weeks as each side has accused the other of not taking the talks seriously. There has been no public contact between Taliban and government representatives since March 26.

“The Taliban are ready for peace talks and very much serious, but the government side is lacking seriousness,” said Maulana Yousaf Shah, a Taliban representative. “At the moment, the government is the main hurdle.”

He said that the interior minister had announced a meeting between the negotiating committees of the government and the Taliban to discuss the prospects of the talks but that “so far nothing has happened.”

Separately, six people were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in southwestern Baluchistan Province, local news media reported.

Armed gunmen forced their way into the house of Abdul Hameed Baloch, a schoolteacher, in Dasht Chot village, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Turbat, a small town in the province, and opened fire at 4:30 a.m.

Those killed included two of Mr. Baloch’s brothers.

Baluchistan, a natural resources rich province, has long witnessed a simmering separatist movement, led by Baluch nationalists.

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Blasphemy Charge Attempts to Rein in Jang Group
Intelligence agencies go for the Kill

Veena Malik wedding (Credit: pakistanyan.com)
Veena Malik wedding
(Credit: pakistanyan.com)

Islamabad, May 18: Pakistan police today registered a criminal case against against Geo TV owner Mir Shakeel-ur Rehman and Jang media group for showing a programme that allegedly contained blasphemous content, an official said.

Geo channel on Wednesday staged a mock marriage ceremony of controversial actress Veena Malik as a religious song was played in the background.
District and sessions judge of Okara in Punjab province yesterday ordered that a case be registered against Geo media group owner Rehman, anchor Shaistan Lodhi, actress Veena, her husband Asad Khatak and others over the programme.

Police officer Rana Aziz said Veena, her husband Asad and programme hostess Lodhi were also named in the case registered with Margalla police station in the capital Islamabad.

“They have been charged under Section 295 A, 295 C and 298 A of Pakistan Penal Code, which deal with insulting the religion, and Section 7 of anti-terrorism act,” he said.

Veena has recently married and the channel was celebrating the event.

The song eulogizes the marriage of one of the daughters of the Prophet and various clerics and right wing groups said that the way it was played at the mock marriage had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims.

Rallies have been held in several cities and protestors demanded registration of case against them under blasphemy laws, which prescribe maximum death sentence.
Geo group has since suspended Lodhi’s programme.

Lodhi has apologised to her viewers for hurting their sentiments after the programme drew bitter reaction from them.

Geo today published an apology on its Urdu paper ‘Jang’.

The channel administration has already sacked the entire team of the popular morning show, ‘Utho Gago Pakistan’.

The group is already under the hammer for criticizing spy agency ISI after its leading anchor Hamid Mir was attacked by unknown gunmen in Karachi last month.

The Defense Ministry has formally asked Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, which controls media, to ban Geo for vilifying the security institutions.

The media group is also facing criticism from former cricketing hero Imran Khan, which has alleged that it was funded by foreign government and works against national interests.

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Muzzling Pakistan’s Media

Karachi, Pakistan — Pakistan’s media is in upheaval these days. But it’s not because of the stuttering “talks” between the government and militant groups, who have publicly vowed to target journalists.

The current upheaval began with the attempted assassination in Karachi on April 19 of Hamid Mir, arguably Pakistan’s most recognizable talk show host and journalist. Mr. Mir survived despite taking six bullets. The real furor came not in reaction to the attack but to Mr. Mir’s employer — Geo Television — which broadcast Mr. Mir’s distressed brother’s statement accusing the country’s premier spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, of being behind the attempted murder.

Most Pakistanis were stunned by these blunt accusations. Even with stronger proof, charges against the I.S.I. or serving military officers are unheard of in a country that has spent half of its existence under military rule and where the intelligence services still exert a powerful and often-intimidating influence.

There have been allegations of military complicity in the targeting of journalists before — most notably in the killings of Hayatullah Khan in 2006, Syed Saleem Shahzad in 2011 and Abdul Razzak Baloch in 2013 — but the difference this time was that the accusations were being made by family members of a man who had survived and could corroborate them.

The military’s spokesperson, while sympathizing with the Mir family’s distress, termed the allegations “emotional” and Geo’s conduct in continuing to air them, “irresponsible.” But far more remarkable was the conduct of some of Geo’s competitors. Attempting to be more loyal than the king, they jumped into the fray, criticizing Geo for its “lack of editorial control” and “flouting of journalistic ethics” in allowing the accusations to be broadcast.

In normal circumstances, Pakistan’s boisterous TV channels are loath to even mention competitors’ names. But efforts to curry favor with the military combined with commercial interests and petty personal issues between owners — Geo News is three times as popular as its closest competitor and attracts up to 70 percent of advertising revenue on news channels — seem to have trumped all previous restraint.

The vitriolic attacks on Geo and its parent company, the Jang Group, have increased with each passing day. One competitor devoted all its talk shows and 20 minutes of every hourly news bulletin for several days to Geo’s faults. Despite the veneer of discussing journalistic ethics, the underlying message was that accusations against a military agency were unacceptable.

Then the military moved in for the real kill. It petitioned Pakistan’s media regulators to ban Geo for defaming the military as well as its associated newspapers, Jang and The News. It also called for unprecedented criminal prosecution of Geo’s owners and journalists.

Cable operators were informally pressured to take Geo off the air. Demonstrations, often by militant religious parties, suddenly began springing up all over Pakistan in support of the I.S.I. and against Geo — probably the first time anyone in the world has rallied to defend an intelligence agency. Now even some mainstream political parties, including the one led by former cricket star Imran Khan, have raised the banner against Geo.

Did Geo make poor editorial decisions? Perhaps. Could it be sued for defamation for airing specific accusations, even by distressed family members, without proof? Possibly. Is the military’s reaction a vast overkill? Most definitely.

From his hospital bed, Mr. Mir has now also pointed his finger at the I.S.I. or elements within it. Suddenly, his credentials as a patriot are being called into question by Geo’s competitors. Mr. Mir has long been a controversial figure and is certainly no saint, but now there are explicit attacks on his character and even his most principled views.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, this naked attempt to suppress media dissent isn’t a sign that Pakistan’s security establishment is reasserting control over the media; rather it demonstrates the establishment’s crumbling control over political narratives and its increasingly desperate measures to put the genie back in the bottle.

But attempts to intimidate and muzzle Pakistan’s media are destined to be futile. When Pakistan’s previous military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, freed the electronic media from state-controlled monopoly in 2002, he scarcely could have imagined it would prove his own undoing five years later. Sure enough, his attempts to rein in an increasingly unruly media in 2007 only spurred greater defiance and dissent. The world had changed, technology provided alternative ways to access information, the public had found a voice. And within a year, he was forced from power.

The biggest loser in this sordid spectacle has been Pakistan’s media itself. Geo’s competitors and those journalists dissembling on the side of ethics while supporting the military’s hubris are being extremely short-sighted. Pakistan’s vibrant print media earned whatever freedom it has through a long process of standing up to despotic rulers rather than bowing down. Freedom of dissent for the electronic media won’t be presented on a platter; journalists will need to fight for it or risk suffering the same fate as Geo down the road.

At a time when all of Pakistan faces an existential threat from extremist groups, needless distractions and attacks on the free press are the last thing Pakistan needs from its army.

Hasan Zaidi is a Pakistani filmmaker and media analyst and a former Pakistan correspondent for NBC News.

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RCD Highway to Link Pakistan with Central Asia

N-25 Highway (Credit: urbanpakistan)
N-25 Highway
(Credit: urbanpakistan)

ISLAMABAD, May 13 – Pakistan and United States on Monday entered into an agreement for the construction of N-25 highway connecting Chaman to Kalat through Quetta.

According to agreement signed by US Ambassador and Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, U.S will provide $64 million to the Federal Government for this vital project immediately, and an additional $26 million shall be allocated later on.

“The United States is proud to partner with the Government of Pakistan in rebuilding essential infrastructure. When completed, this highway will become part of the growing legacy of partnership between our two nations, as it will serve the people of Pakistan for generations to come,” U.S Ambassador said on the occasion.

The construction of this highway will restore a major trade route between Afghanistan and the Central Asia. It will also lead to be a crucial link between Balochistan and rest of the Pakistan including Karachi.

USAID will fund this construction project of the remaining part of 111 kilometers needed to complete the total 247 kilometer-long highway.

The upgradation and rehabilitation work on N-25 started in 2004, but was halted in 2010 due to security challenges in the area. The sections of the road completed so far were built as per NHA-Specifications and standards under supervision of International Consultants. The N-25 National Highway also called RCD Highway is 813 km long, passing through Karachi, Bela, Khuzdar, Kalat, Quetta and Chaman and continuing into Afghanistan. The NHA will be responsible for all construction work.

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Army & Govt Come Together Over Karachi Security

Sharifs in Karachi (Credit: dawn.com)
Sharifs in Karachi
(Credit: dawn.com)

Karachi, May 15 —Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the morale of Pakistan Army would never be allowed to let down and the intelligence agencies should expand their intelligence sharing network so that peace and tranquility in the country in general and in Karachi in particular be maintained.

Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, presiding over a high level meeting at Sindh Governor House expressed his resolve with firm determination that peace in Karachi was precious than anything else and the federal government would not hesitate taking any action of any scale for complete restoration of peace and tranquility in Karachi. Karachi was the economic hub of the country and hence this city would not be left alone at the mercy of criminals.

On the occasion, the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif told the meeting that Pakistan Army was standing beside the civilian government for the cause of restoration of peace in the metropolis.

It was the highest meeting ever held with the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Inter-Services Intelligence chief General Zaheer ul Islam, Karachi Corps Commander Lieutenant General Sajjad Ghani, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Intelligence Bureau Director General, Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, Director General Maj. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, former President Asif Ali Zardari, Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah Jilani, Sindh Chief Secretary Sajjad Saleem Hotyana, Acting Inspector General of Police, Sindh Ghulam Haider Jamali, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Coordination Committee member Haider Abbas Rizvi, Awami National Party Sindh chapter President and Senator Shahi Sayed, Jamaat-e Islami Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman and others.

Nawaz Sharif asked Sindh Chief Minister that being the captain of ongoing targeted operation in Karachi; he should not make the operation a test cricket match but treat it like it was a T-20 cricket match. He questioned as why the process of blocking all illegal and unregistered mobile SIMs was not completed as yet and ordered that it should be completed now without fail to ensure elimination of network of criminals and terrorists operating within the country and from abroad.

He enquired about reasons for delay in issuance of red warrant for arresting the criminals and terrorists, who had escaped from Pakistan to neighbouring countries.

The Premier told the meeting that top civil and military leadership would now monitor the ongoing targeted operation against terrorists and criminals in Karachi. He lauded Pakistan Rangers Sindh for their effective operation and major achievements in Lyari regarding busting gangs of militants.

In this regard, the meeting decided to make the blockage of all such illegal and unregistered mobile SIMs as mandatory within the specified duration and the law enforcement agencies should be given complete free hand.

The meeting updated the Prime Minister about measures being initiated for arresting of criminals and terrorists, who had fled to foreign countries through the Interpol.

Pakistan Rangers Director General informed the meeting that the land mafia, drug mafia and banned religious organisations were behind wreaking havoc in the city and they were sabotaging the efforts of the government for restoring peace and tranquility in the metropolis.

The meeting made lengthy deliberations over reservations of MQM on kidnappings of its workers and extra-judicial murders. The meeting reviewed the pace and strategy of the targeted operation in Karachi, details of arrested suspects, recovery of illegal weapons and issuance of red warrants for arresting the hardened criminals and terrorists.

The meeting briefed the Premier about shifting of the anti-terrorist courts to district Malir, installation of scanners on all routes of entry and exit in Karachi, progress on construction of a high security prison, operation against illegal occupation of land and encroachments and establishment of new Police stations in sensitive areas of the city. The meeting also briefed the Prime Minister about effective implementation of Protection of Pakistan Ordinance and transparent appointments in Police Department.

INP adds: Former President and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday pledged that Sindh government was ready to extend its support to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali regarding maintenance of law and order in Karachi. “We are ready to help the interior minister in every possible way,” Zardari said. The former president stressed the need to demonstrate patience and said that there was need to help everyone. More than 2,000 army jawans have been recruited in police force, he said, adding that police needed to be equipped with facilities.

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MQM Forces Karachi to shut down

Karachi strike (Credit: dawn.com)
Karachi strike
(Credit: dawn.com)

KARACHI, May 2: The country’s financial capital was shut down due to a call for observing a ‘day of mourning’ by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) against extra-judicial killings of its party members, DawnNews reported.

The party has called for a day of mourning in protest against the ‘extrajudicial killing’ of four MQM workers shot dead on Wednesday.

On MQM’s appeal to observe a day of mourning, traders closed down their businesses, commercial centres and shops in Karachi.

Due to absence of public transport on roads, it became quite difficult for people to reach their destinations.

Transporters have also said they would support the party’s call by keeping their vehicles off the roads. Petrol and CNG stations as well as major and minor business centres were shut across the city.

The Private School Management Association on Thursday had announced that schools operating privately would remain shut.

Moreover, the Matriculation and Intermediate boards also postponed all examinations scheduled for today, the new dates for which would be announced later.

Funerals of two of the deceased workers were held yesterday where as funerals of the remaining two, whose bodies were found at Super Highway on Thursday, is scheduled to take place at Numaish chowrangi on Friday afternoon.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had also taken notice of the killings of the MQM workers and ordered the formation of a committee headed by DIG Karachi East Munir Ahmed Shaikh to probe the matter.

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TTP says it has “gifted” a lull in terror in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, May 2 : Accusing the government of using the dialogue process as a political tool and to increase military operations, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday said they did not know who to talk to in Islamabad, as they believed the government had no powers to reach an amicable solution.

In a statement, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said they did not know whether they should talk to the government or the military.Shahid said talks and war could not go together adding that the Taliban had the right to defend themselves. He said, on the one hand, the government claimed it was interested in the dialogue but, on the other hand, it hurled threats at the Taliban.

He said the army had imposed a war on the people in Babar and Shaktoi areas of South Waziristan in the last two days. He also condemned the police action against the relatives of missing persons in Islamabad and said such a situation could not provide an environment for a meaningful and serious dialogue.

“The TTP has insisted that it is ready to talk in the interest of Islam and the Muslims of Pakistan. But we will not accept that the dialogue is used as a political tool and to pursue war startegy,” he said.

Shahid said the TTP had shown sincerity and seriousness during the talks and gifted a 45-day ceasefire to the people and the country but the government had not shown any seriousness since the talks took off.

He said the Taliban had left it to the people of Pakistan to decide whether a war or talks could go together and asked if it was the responsibility of the Taliban only to make the process successful.

He said the Taliban will not step back from serious and useful talks but would not accept the politics of threats and war.“We are fighting for the supremacy of Sharia and our Mujahideen have the capability to face any difficult situation and know how to give a befitting response to the enemy,” the TTP spokesman said.