Monday, July 30, 2012

Predictable Pakistan Post

NEXT DAY UPDATE:

"A new boldness from the Haqqanis that aims at mass US casualties has reduced the room for ambiguity between the two countries. Inside the administration, it is a commonly held view that the United States is ‘‘one major attack’’ away from unilateral action against Pakistan, an official said: “If 50 US troops were blown to smithereens by the Haqqanis, or they penetrated the US Embassy in Kabul and killed several diplomats — that would be the game changer.’’

Oh, so a FALSE FLAG is being planned against Pakistan so the U.S. can BOMB and INVADE!

Btw, it is NOT FUNNY anymore!

How PREDICTABLE!

In sticking with the new format I'm putting the things I care most about up front:

"US drone attack kills 12 in Pakistan" July 07, 2012

ISLAMABAD — Missiles fired by a US drone killed at least 12 suspected militants near the Afghan border on Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Several insurgents were also wounded in the attack that destroyed a compound near Miran Shah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region, the two officials said. The drone fired five missiles.

Btw, compound means house.

The militants who were hit were believed to be fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an insurgent commander whose forces frequently target US and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

A similar drone attack on Sunday killed eight of Bahadur’s fighters.

In a separate development Friday, a government official said gunmen killed 18 people in an attack on a restaurant in southwestern Pakistan.

Abdul Razzaq said two people were wounded in the restaurant attack in Turbat, a remote town in Baluchistan Province.

He said the dead and wounded were Pakistanis trying to travel with the help of smugglers to Europe through Iran. No other details were available.

US drones often target suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts in the tribal regions of Pakistan’s rugged northwest, but Friday’s missile attack near Miran Shah was the first since Islamabad reopened NATO supply lines to Afghanistan on Wednesday.  

Related: Pakistan Reopens U.S. Supply Line

Pakistan closed the supply routes in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Islamabad agreed to reopen its border to the coalition supplies after Washington apologized for the deaths of the Pakistani troops.

The drone attacks, however, remain a source of deep frustration and tension between the United States and Pakistan.

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"US missiles kill 9 suspected militants in Pakistan" Associated Press, July 24, 2012

ISLAMABAD — US drones fired eight missiles at a compound owned by a powerful militant commander in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing nine suspected insurgents, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

It was unclear whether the commander, Sadiq Noor, was at the compound in Dre Nishter village in the North Waziristan tribal area during the attack. Noor is the most important commander for Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a prominent Pakistani militant focused on fighting in Afghanistan.

The nine suspected militants who were killed were believed to be Bahadur’s fighters, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The strikes have caused tension between Washington and Islamabad. They are extremely unpopular in Pakistan because many people believe they mostly kill civilians, an allegation disputed by the United States. 

Related: '168 Pakistani kids killed by US strikes'

Is that on top of the 775 civilians since 2004?

Must be over 1,000 by now!

Pakistani officials regularly denounce the attacks as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, but the government has supported some of the strikes. That cooperation has come under strain as the relationship between the United States and Pakistan has deteriorated.

Pakistani officials say they want the drone strikes to stop and are asking the United States to feed intelligence gathered by the pilotless aircraft to Pakistani jets and ground forces so that they can target militants.

US officials say Pakistan has proved incapable or unwilling to target militants the United States considers dangerous.

Pakistan allegedly has a nonaggression pact with Bahadur, the militant whose men were targeted Monday, though the country’s military has never acknowledged that.  

Hitler had one of those with Stalin!

Also Monday, a Pakistani court ordered police to protect an Afghan couple who eloped and feared being murdered by the bride’s relatives, said police officer Kamal Hussain.  

That sure is an odd thing to do in a land of intolerance.

--more--"

"8 killed on attack on army camp in Pakistan" by Asif Shahzad  |  Associated Press, July 10, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gunmen killed eight people in an attack Monday on a Pakistani Army camp in a city where hard-line Islamists protested the decision to reopen the NATO supply line to Afghanistan, police said.

Police were searching for the attackers, and it was unclear if any of the Islamist protesters were involved, said Basharat Mahmood, police chief in the eastern city of Gujrat, where the attack occurred.

‘‘It is surely a terrorist attack,’’ said Mahmood. ‘‘The attackers could have taken cover. They could have hid themselves among the protesters.’’

The camp on the outskirts of Gujrat was attacked at around 5:20 a.m., a little less than an hour after the leaders of the Defense of Pakistan protest movement finished delivering speeches inside the city, said the police.

The group, which includes hard-line Islamist politicians and religious leaders, left the city of Lahore on Sunday along with 8,000 supporters in 200 vehicles to make the 185-mile journey to Islamabad. They traveled about halfway, spent the night in Gujrat, and then began marching toward Islamabad, planning to hold a rally in front of Parliament.

The gunmen who attacked the camp were riding in a car and on motorcycles. They killed seven soldiers at the camp and a police officer who tried to intercept them as they were escaping, said Mahmood. Four police and at least three soldiers were wounded, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for the attack on the soldiers. The Pakistani Taliban is an umbrella organization created to represent roughly 40 insurgent groups in the tribal belt plus Al Qaeda-linked groups headquartered in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab Province.

The camp that was attacked was set up to look for the body of an army major who was flying a helicopter when it crashed into a river in the area, said the police.

Members of the protest movement are not known to be supporters of the Pakistani Taliban.  

But like the Occupy protesters here, maybe the protesters there can be tainted (cui bono)?

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"Vehicle hits mine in Pakistan, killing 14 Shi’ites" by Munir Ahmed  |  Associated Press, July 19, 2012

ISLAMABAD — A van carrying minority Shi’ite Muslims hit an antitank land mine in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 14 passengers in what police described as the country’s latest sectarian attack.

Eight members of one family, including three women and three children, were among those killed in the blast on the outskirts of Kohat city, said police official Naeem Khan. The group was traveling from Spai, a predominantly Shi’ite village in the Orakzai tribal area.

“It was a terrorist act. It apparently seems to be a sectarian incident,’’ Khan said, adding that it was unclear who had buried the mine.

Sunni militants in the region, including the Pakistani Taliban, have carried out attacks against Shi’ites in Orakzai and the neighboring Kurram tribal area. They have used antitank land mines in past attacks, said Khan.

I'm sorry, readers, but I no longer by the Zionist War Press sectarian schtick.

--more--"   

Related: "There has been significant infighting about turf and leadership positions within the Pakistani Taliban, between pro-and anti-Taliban armed groups."  

Maybe some are militants from Afghanistan.

"Bombing kills 11 in Pakistan market" Associated Press, July 27, 2012

KHAR, Pakistan — A truck packed with explosives blew up in a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing 11 people, as security concerns led officials to temporarily close a supply route to NATO troops in Afghanistan.  

They just opened it!

The blast in Salarzai town in the Bajur tribal area near the Afghan border also wounded nearly two dozen people, some of them critically, and damaged several vehicles and shops, said Jehangir Azam, a local government administrator.

It is unclear whether the attack was a suicide bombing or if the explosives were detonated by remote control, he added. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.  

Ah, yes, the HALLMARKS of a WESTERN INTELLIGENCE OPERATION!

A shop owner who was injured in the explosion, Sher Mohammed, was sitting in his store when he saw a pickup truck enter the bazaar. Minutes later he heard a loud detonation.

‘‘Something hurt my arm, chest, and leg, and I fell down,’’ said Mohammed. ‘‘When I opened my eyes, I found myself on this hospital bed.’’

The Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in Bajur, but the group’s spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, denied they were behind the bombing. The group often denies involvement in bombings with significant civilian casualties.  

The implication from the war-mongering piece of Zionist war s*** is it really was them anyway.

Any wonder why I'm so unenthusiastic for this slop these days?

The army has carried out several offensives against militants in Bajur, but they continue to stage attacks.

Thursday’s decision to close one of the two border crossings used by NATO to ship troop supplies into Afghanistan was made based on security concerns, said Bakhtiar Khan, a local government official.

--more--" 

Related: Trade vs. aid: Pakistan wants lower tariffs, but US gives money instead

Why does my government always do the opposite of what I would like no matter which party is in charge?

"Pakistan refuses to reopen presidential graft case" by Munir Ahmed  |  Associated Press, July 26, 2012

ISLAMABAD — The crisis has roiled Pakistan’s political system for months, distracting attention from what many in the country believe are more pressing problems, such as the country’s ailing economy and fight against the Taliban....

Also Wednesday, militants coming from Afghanistan fired on a paramilitary checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, wounding two soldiers, officials said.

I can't imagine for whom they are working.

The attack occurred in the Kurram tribal area, a local government official said.

At least 20 militants were involved in the attack, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

--more--" 

Sometimes I feel I'm just going backwards with these posts, dear readers: 

"Ancient artifacts seized by police

ISLAMABAD — Police seized a large number of Buddhist sculptures that smugglers were attempting to spirit out of the country and sell for millions of dollars on the antiquities market, officials said Saturday. Many sculptures could be more than 2,000 years old. The items were probably illegally excavated in ­Pakistan’s northwest (AP)."  

Must have been the "terrorists." 

Taliban would have blown them up, right?