Blasts kill 28 in Lahore Pakistan
Sep 2, 2010 Pakistan
LAHORE: Three bombs exploded at a Shi’ite procession in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, with a mounting death toll of 28 people and wounding over 170, piling pressure on a government already overwhelmed by floods.
Police said two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd, after a lull in violence during the floods, the type of attack that Pakistani Taliban militants have claimed in the past.
Sajjad Bhutta, a senior Lahore official, told Reuters the death toll had climbed to 20, with at least 170 wounded. Rescue services said 25 were killed.
Some sources have said that the death toll has risen to 28.
Soon after the Lahore blasts, a mob set fire to a police station. People also beat policemen, witnesses said.
Pro-Taliban Sunni militants frequently attack Shi’ites as part of a campaign to destabilise the US-backed government.
The renewed violence came as millions of Pakistanis continued to struggle for food and water more than a month after the worst floods in the country’s history, deepening concerns over the stability of the country.
The floods have ravaged Pakistan’s economy, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said, with massive job losses and soaring inflation expected to hurt a nation whose stability is vital to the US war against militants in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The floods have inflicted damage to the economy which may, by some estimates, reach $43 billion, while affecting 30 percent of all agricultural land,” Gilani said briefing the cabinet.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, with cotton the main cash crop. The sector is a major source of employment.
Facing the prospect of long-term economic pain, Pakistan hopes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will soften the terms of an $11 billion loan. Pakistani and IMF officials are meeting in Washington to work out the impact of the floods.
“This economic loss will translate into massive job losses affecting incomes of thousands of families, which may have serious social implications,” said Gilani, whose government was heavily criticised for its slow response to the catastrophe.
Pakistan’s military has taken charge of relief efforts, but some charities, some linked to militant groups, have also stepped in, raising concerns they may exploit public anger.
The United States on Wednesday formally added Mehsud’s Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, to its blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations subject to travel and economic sanctions.
The TTP is the main Pakistani militant alliance which operates from Pakistan’s northwest.
It is suspected of being behind most bomb and suicide attacks across Pakistan.
Before the floods struck a vast swath of the country, the army said it had scored major gains against the Taliban. In renewed air strikes in the northwest, Pakistani forces killed up to 62 militants, their family members and other civilians with no ties to the fighters, officials said on Wednesday.
Washington has repeatedly urged Pakistan to go after militant sanctuaries in the northwest saying these have helped boost the Afghan insurgency, now at its deadliest. Pakistan says it is doing all it can to fight the militants.
Testing ties further, Pakistan’s army said on Wednesday it scrapped talks with US military officials after a military delegation sent to Washington had to go through “unwarranted” airport security checks.
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it could take Pakistan years to recover from the floods with threats from water-borne disease and opportunistic militants.
“The danger always is that you get groups who have an ulterior motive who provide aid to try to curry favour,” he said after visiting an aid camp. – Reuters/Dawn News
Tags: lahore attack, lahore blast, Lahore Pakistan
CrossTalk: Pakistan Next Target for US?
Sep 1, 2010 Pakistan, war on terror
Tags: afghanistan, India, Karzai, Pakistan, US
As Pakistan drowns, its leaders fight
Sep 1, 2010 Pakistan, pakistan politics
After a month of extensive flooding in Pakistan’s Indus river, the waters are finally pouring into the Arabian Sea.
The fury of the floods has inundated almost one-fifth of the country’s agricultural land, destroying crops orchards and sweeping away livestock. In the end, it displaced almost 20 million people and destroyed irrigation systems, schools, hospitals, wiped out entire villages and destroyed more than a thousand bridges.
All in all, the government now estimates the total losses from the devastating floods to be around $43bn. Just a few years ago the government also estimated the losses incurred from the ongoing alliance in the so-called War on Terror, which is said to be around $35bn.
Add the two and you get a figure of $78bn – something the Pakistani leadership will have to bear in mind.
Already the country’s external debt is said to be a staggering $53bn on which the country is paying back $3bn annually for debt-servicing, putting an extra burden on the already faltering economy. The question is what happens next?
Calls for revolution
At least one self-exiled political leader, Altaf Hussain of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), thought the time was rife for a revolution. He has already told the peasants who have lost everything to occupy the homes and estates of the feudal, whom he says control this country and hold sway over parliament, the bureaucracy and the military.
Hussain even asked the patriotic generals to bring the feudal landlords to book and hold them accountable. The message was enough for the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) party to move a point of order in the National Assembly against the MQM.
The message also fueled a ferocious debate on private TV networks in which political figures from various parties and the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party fought verbal bouts in front of a bewildered nation that was already dreading the tough times ahead because of the worst floods in living memory.
Forgotten was the plight of the poor people who were now planning to return to their destroyed farms and villages as the waters gradually started to retreat.
Target killings persist
The floods did nothing to stop the target killings in Karachi, which continue unabated and where two political rivals – the Awami National Party (ANP) and the MQM – are fighting what is now dubbed as a turf war for control of Pakistan’s economic jugular and its major port city, also the financial hub of Pakistan.
Ironically, the nationalists are keeping a low profile in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, previously known as the Northwest Frontier Province (where they are in power) after angry locals complained that political leadership failed to come to the rescue of the ordinary citizens and warned them of dire consequences.
Sadly even now it appears that neither the government nor other political parties are able to concentrate on relief to the victims of the flood.
Even though they were more than generous to offer advice to the people to start a bloody revolution, they had no idea that the people were perhaps contemplating holding their political leadership responsible for their plight.
If the Pakistani leadership wants to be sincere to the people, it should try and win back lost credibility by putting aside petty differences and uniting to save the country.
If leaders fail now they will have to prepare to face the wrath of 180 million people; and though the idea may be coming from some political circles that the country is ready for a revolution, those leaders would not be the benefactors.
Tags: Pakistan, Pakistan Flood, target killing
Hidden facts behind fake evidences of News Of The World!
Lords, London – England: British police on Sunday bailed without charge a man arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.
Several people are saying that these allegations are quite right & the players must be punished. The simple answer is these are accusations because they are not proved yet & will not because of the weak strength of the evidences.
Hidden facts behind these fake evidences (People saying these are real, here is the answer that these are fake):
1) Picture of Salman Butt with so called ‘fixer’ Majeed & so called ‘reporter’ of ‘News of the World’ :
Take a close look of this picture ==>
- Salman Butt is in front, he should be stand in between of them.
- You can see how much is the difference between the quality of Salman Butt pic, the so called ‘fixer’ pic & the reporter pic.
- The width of the shadow of Salman’s neck is too big then it comes in real.
- Have a look at the right side bottom of the picture, bottom of the so called ‘fixer’ Majeed, there is some thing with white border & with black inner surface, what is it, may be a chair or table or some thing. One thing proves here that the photographer is not professional. Then how he gets high quality picture of Salman Butt.
- The left arm of the jacket/coat which Salman Butt is wearing is so straight, in real its not look like this. Check the yellow line on the left arm of the Salman Butt.
- If you are still not believing, let’s believe it is true for a while, this picture can be take on some kind of party, the press ‘reporter’ is there, the so called ‘fixer’ is the agent of several ‘Pakistani players’. Still it is not proving that any kind of fixing here.
2) 1st Video in which the so called ‘Reporter’ is giving money to so called ‘Fixer’:
- No time is mentioned, it might be recorded after the overs or after the day.
- When ever any kind of bookie takes such a big amount, he never counts it & he always receive cash in the form of briefcase.
- What kind of hidden camera is this, which is just fixed in front of the so called ‘fixer’ & table? A CCTV, no because such a hidden camera can’t provide high quality result (colour view) with high quality voice.
3) 2nd Video in which the so called ‘Reporter’ is giving cash to the so called ‘Fixer’ in the car & after this ‘Fixer’ is giving his jacket to Wahab Riaz:
- Again no date & time is mentioned.
- So called ‘Fixer’ is seeing in the camera & talking.
- Amazingly, so called ‘Reporter’ is giving cash to the so called ‘Fixer’ in the car where there is light & people are walking on the road near the car.
- 3 cameras are in the car according to the video & so called ‘Fixer’ even can’t point out a single camera & he is looking into it.
- In the car the so called ‘Fixer’ is wearing ‘Light Blue’ shirt & when he is giving his jacket to Wahab Riaz, he is wearing ‘Black’ shirt.
- Showing or Giving jacket is not proving anything, because the weather in England is cold & may be Wahab Riaz is feeling cold so Wahab just borrowed the jacket from him.
4) Why the ‘News of the World’ team didn’t went to Police on August 27, 2010:
- Because the evidence were not ready.
- Because they were waiting for some kind of poor performance so they can provide more strength to there fake evidences.
- Some people are saying that because of their weekly edition they leaked the videos on August 28, 2010, well this is not the reason because if they would’ve visited the Scotland Yard on August 27, 2010 with their evidences then there was a chance that Scotland Yard would’ve kept the videos secret until August 28, 2010.
5) So Called ‘Fixer’ Mazhar Majeed released on bail:
Scotland Yard on Sunday bailed without charge a man arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.
“A 35 year-old man has been bailed until a date in the future”, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
6) Salman Butt refuses to resign after false allegations:
The captain of Pakistan Test Cricket Team insisted he would not be resigning after being implicated in an alleged betting scam.
he matter is almost over, the criticisers must now stop criticising. The English media completely failed in their ridiculous mission.
7) Pakistani players can leave England:
The Pakistani players at the center of the scandal are free to leave the country, London’s Metropolitan Police said Monday.
Tags: behind fake evidences, Muhammad Asif, News Of The World, Pakistan, Pakistani Players, Salman Butt
Match Fixing Blame – Real or Fake?
Aug 31, 2010 Pakistan
Tags: Match Fixing, Match Fixing Blame, Mohammad Amir, Pakistan
Two Brothers killed in Sialkot Uncut Video
Aug 24, 2010 Pakistan
DEC video appeal to help Pakistan flooding victims
Aug 18, 2010 Pakistan
The Disasters Emergency Committee would like you to donate money to help the millions of people caught up in the recent flooding.
