No, it's not about the drone strikes:
"Pakistan quake leaves dozens dead" by Abdul Sattar and Rebecca Santana | Associated Press, September 25, 2013
QUETTA, Pakistan — A major earthquake struck a remote area in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 39 people as houses collapsed, and possibly pushing up the earth to create a new island off the coast.
The Pakistani military said it was rushing troops and helicopters to Baluchistan province’s Awaran district, where the quake was centered, as well as the nearby area of Khuzdar. Local officials said they were sending food and tents for people who had nowhere to sleep, as strong aftershocks continued to rock the area.
Most people were killed when their houses collapsed before they could rush outside, according to the chief spokesman for the country’s National Disaster Management Authority, Mirza Kamran Zia, who gave the casualty toll.
He said the death toll might rise and said authorities were still trying to get information from officials in the district.
‘‘We all ran out for safety in the open field in front of our house. Many other neighbors were also there. Thank God no one was hurt in our area but the walls of four or five house collapsed,’’ said Khair Mohammed Baluch, who lives in the town of Awaran, roughly 30 miles south of the epicenter.
--more--"
"Toll in Pakistani earthquake rises past 300" by Salman Masood and Declan Walsh | New York Times, September 26, 2013
ISLAMABAD — The death toll from a devastating earthquake in western Pakistan rose to 327 on Wednesday, as soldiers and rescue workers scrambled to reach victims in one of the country’s most remote areas.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in New York, ordered officials to expedite relief efforts for victims of the country’s deadliest earthquake since 2005, when about 70,000 people died in a quake that hit the northwestern mountains.
The quake struck Tuesday afternoon with a magnitude of 7.7, and was felt across the country, causing a small island to rise from the Arabian Sea. It hit hardest at its epicenter in western Baluchistan province.
Violent tremors felled hundreds of mud-walled houses in six remote districts in southwestern Baluchistan, killing hundreds and injuring at least 446, according to National Disaster Management Authority.
While official estimates put the death toll at 271, officials in the affected districts said it had reached 327 and was expected to rise further.
The greatest damage occurred in Awaran, Baluchistan’s poorest district, near the deep-sea port of Gwadar, which Pakistan built with Chinese help during the past decade in the hope of stimulating regional trade.
The death toll rose steadily Wednesday amid reports indicating the growing scale of the devastation. The army said it was airlifting troops by helicopter to Awaran to supplement at least 1,000 troops who had been dispatched by truck.
The head of the National Disaster Management Authority, Major General Muhammad Saeed Aleem, said his priority was to shelter to the homeless; he said medicine, blankets, and water were on the way.
But, he added, the remoteness of the area is impeding relief efforts.
“It was a big quake, and the damage is extensive,” he said.
--more--"
"Pakistan villages still await quake aid" by Adil Jawad | Associated Press, September 28, 2013
DALBADI, Pakistan — Vital relief aid destined for a remote, earthquake stricken region in Pakistan reached desperate villagers only slowly on Friday, as insurgents attacked troops distributing it for a third day.
Authorities say the magnitude-7.7 quake that hit southwestern Baluchistan on Tuesday has so far killed 359 and injured 765. The province, Pakistan’s poorest, is also a conflict zone where separatists and government troops have been fighting for years.
In Dalbadi, where almost all of the village’s 350 homes were destroyed, residents said only private aid had arrived as of Friday.
Residents said the earthquake struck during the few hours of the day when the village had electricity so many children were home watching television. Most of the quake’s victims were crushed when the walls of their mud brick houses caved in.
Poor roads and other lack of infrastructure have hampered relief efforts, and aid operations have become ensnared in the conflict between the army and separatists, who seek an independent state for the Baluch people.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that the government would help those left in need by the quake.
--more--"
"Pakistani relief aid helicopter targeted; Aircraft escapes; quake toll at 355" by Adil Jawad and Abdul Sattar | Associated Press, September 27, 2013
LABACH, Pakistan — Separatist militants fired two rockets that narrowly missed a Pakistani government helicopter surveying a region devastated by an earthquake, underscoring the dangers authorities face in helping victims in Baluchistan, the country’s most impoverished province.
The doctor in charge of the main hospital in the area said the facility does not even have an X-ray machine or a laboratory and that supplies of crucial medicines were running low, as the death toll from Tuesday’s 7.7 magnitude quake climbed to 355 with nearly 700 people injured.
Hey, it's only "terrorists," so.....
Survivors complained that aid was not reaching remote areas.
‘‘We don’t even have tents to cover my kids,’’ said Haji Wajd Ali, who lives in the village of Labach, where every other house was destroyed.
‘‘There are no shops. There is no food. There is no water,’’ he said as temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.
Labach lies just a few miles outside the capital of Awaran district, one of the poorest in Baluchistan.
In the town of Awaran, about 100 people demonstrated around the district office to call attention to the plight of those still waiting for help. The quake flattened wide sections of the district, leaving hundreds of people crushed or injured beneath the crumbled piles of mostly mud brick houses.
See: Pakistan Earthquake
Helping the residents has been made even harder by the danger from Baluchistan separatists who have been battling the Pakistani government for years.
The militants fired two rockets Thursday at a helicopter carrying top Pakistani officials in charge of relief operations, but missed their target, said the deputy district commissioner, Abdur Rasheed. The helicopter was carrying the head of the country’s National Disaster Management Authority, a Pakistani Army general in charge of relief operations and other officials.
In another attack about 12 miles north of the town of Awaran, militants fired at Frontier Corps troops involved in relief operations, said a military official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give information to reporters. None of the troops was wounded.
Earlier Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told members of Parliament that security problems were making it difficult for rescuers to reach some areas.
--more--"
"Second major earthquake rocks southwest Pakistan" by Abdul Sattar | Associated Press, September 29, 2013
QUETTA, Pakistan — A major earthquake rocked Pakistan’s southwest Saturday, killing at least 15 and sending panicked people running into the street just days after another quake in the same region killed hundreds, officials said.
The US Geological Survey said on its website that a 6.8-magnitude quake was felt in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province.
Pakistan’s Meteorological Department measured the earthquake at 7.2 magnitude, saying its epicenter was about 90 miles west of the town of Khuzdar.
Baluchistan government spokesman Jan Mohammad Buledi said those killed Saturday died in the Mushkay area of Awaran. The death toll from Tuesday’s earthquake was 359, he added.
Little may have been left to damage after the Tuesday disaster. Few of the mud and homemade brick houses in the area survived the 7.7-magnitude quake that leveled villages and buried people in the rubble. Since then tens of thousands of people have been sleeping under the open sky or in tents.
Pakistan’s chief meteorologist, Arif Mahmood, told Pakistani television that Saturday’s earthquake was an aftershock and such tremors could continue for weeks.
I doubt the Globe will stay on the story that long.
Pakistan television showed people at the main hospital in Awaran district fleeing into the street. In the provincial capital of Quetta, the tremor was so strong it prompted members of the local parliament to evacuate the building.
Baluchistan is Pakistan’s largest but least populated province. The rough terrain and the lack of decent roads have made access difficult for rescue staff.
The Pakistani Air Force has been air dropping supplies and using helicopters to remove injured people.
But the Pakistani military has also been targeted by separatists operating in the region. The military has been trying to suppress an uprising in the vast, arid province for years by rebels who want an independent state for the Baluch people.
In the latest attack, gunmen Saturday killed four Pakistani troops carrying rations for earthquake victims.
The Frontier Corps troops were near the town of Panjgore, 480 miles south of Quetta, when their convoy was attacked, said a Pakistani military official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Three troops were also wounded.
To the north, Pakistan is dealing with militants who want to overthrow the central government and establish a hard-line Islamic state.
Newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to pursue peace talks with the militants. But the militants have given little indication they are interested in negotiations.
They initially rejected talks with the government and later demanded Islamabad release prisoners and begin withdrawing troops from the group’s tribal sanctuary before talks could begin. Recent attacks have also called into question their interest in negotiating.
On Saturday, a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban criticized Sharif, saying his government is not serious about peace talks. The spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, did not explicitly reject the offer, but his words gave little room for negotiations.
TTP = CIA
--more--"
Also see:
"Awaran district, where the quake was centered, has been a stronghold of the separatists. Even among Baluchistan residents who are not part of the armed conflict, there is strong resentment against the central government, which many residents contend exploits the province’s oil, natural gas, and mineral deposits."
Related: Separatists kill 13 in Pakistan
Other earth-shaking events in Pakistan include car bombs in the marketplace during the holidays; the killing of Shi'ites (which are being protested and attacked) even after a funeral, and Christians (which are being protested) by any means necessary, including death squads; the destruction of shrines by Al-CIA-Duh linked groups as they bomb a bus and attack a hospital (talk about obvious provocations) and bombing a food line will really win over a population; school burnings (which have been sanctioned) which was a surprise even though they were targeted (what's with the girl's schools). I guess the Pakistanis simply have a problem with love. Got so bad the poor girl had to move to Canada; courtroom bombings and rulings that will put the former ruler Musharraf on trial for treason (and other things) even as he is bailed out of house arrest then rearrested. Maybe he will receive the death sentence upon conviction; then there is the story not to be believed being backed up with reinforcing mythology even though the Pakistanis appear to know the truth. And they wonder why such operations are attacked and despised?; Bombings and attacks on army convoys, spy agencies, funerals and gravesites, police officers, politicians, soldiers, and even the presidential guard (someone sending a message to the new guy?) as the battles go on; and this odd, one-day wonder that faded away (most likely due to FBI involvement and the foreign hand of some foreign agency).
What shakes me is you are now current on the situation in Pakistan -- as told by the Boston Globe to the great citizens of New England.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Judge grants bail for ex-Pakistani leader" by Asif Shahzad | Associated Press, November 05, 2013
ISLAMABAD — A court granted bail Monday for Pervez Musharraf, a former president of Pakistan, in a case related to the death of a radical cleric, paving the way for an end to his months-long house arrest, his lawyer said.
Musharraf, 70, returned to Pakistan in March after years of self-imposed exile. He already had been granted bail in three other cases against him. However, he is still barred from leaving the country, said his lawyer, Ilyas Saddiqi....
I'm sure he could at some point, oops, slip out of the country again.
As to the Red Mosque cleric and crisis, it was found out later that the cleric was an asset or agent of MI-6 and was being used for destabilzation purposes. That's not excusing government conduct or Musharraf, it is just saying that the surface of AmeriKan media reports are really a thin layer of shit.
The other cases have to do with his alleged role in the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the death of a separatist leader killed by the army, and the detention of Pakistani judges.
Had a hand in Bhutto's killing if for no other reason than lax security details.
--more--"
