Two soldiers were killed and as many injured when their vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb by suspected Taliban militants in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region on Sunday. The soldiers were attacked in a mountainous area when they were heading to a check post after fetching drinking water. Initial reports had said the vehicle had hit a landmine. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Pakistani troops on Sunday killed 17 militants and recovered 22 bodies of suspected Taliban fighters in the country's restive northwest and tribal areas, while an anti-Taliban mayor survived a fifth assassination bid in a town near Peshawar.
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan's troubled Swat valley declared local Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah, his spokesman Muslim Khan and five other aides as "proclaimed offenders", on Wednesday and ordered them to appear before it within a week.
"The federal government has set up an investigation team of security agencies and Sufi Mohammad will be formally charged on the basis of its findings," the Dawn quoted North West Frontier Province Law Minister Arshad Abdullah, as saying on Monday.
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday dismissed the military's claims that their chief in the Swat valley was 'critically' wounded, asserting that he was healthy and unhurt in the army operations in the restive region, where troops killed at least two militants in the latest fighting. The Taliban's response came in the wake of the military's recent statement that they had 'credible' information about Maulana Fazlullah being injured in the offensive against militants.
Richard Holbrooke, the United States Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has asserted that the Obama administration "believes that what happens in Afghanistan and Pakistan is of vital interest to our national security and that India is a country that we must keep in the closest consultations with."
Pakistani troops on Friday consolidated their positions in the restive north-western Swat valley and nearby areas in the wake of two attacks by Taliban fighters that killed 14 security personnel, even as militants retaliated by targeting a mosque, leaving 40 dead.
Moving from street to street, Pakistani troops on Sunday captured several key areas in Swat valley's main town Mingora from Taliban as their offensive to regain the control of the restive tribal region entered the decisive phase.
Pakistani military on Thursday surrounded the Swat valley capital Mingora where around 5,000 armed Taliban fighters were dug in for a long haul with roads being mined and trenches dug and a deadly battle loomed for control of the strategic town.
A report, titled 'Threat to VVIPs, politicians, foreign missions and military installations', said terrorists could carry out suicide attacks disguised as women or as military or police personnel.
Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry said on Wednesday that Pakistan has become the "ground zero of terrorism" and "security threat" to the United States.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Thursday expressed concern over attacks on Hindus and Sikhs by Pakistan-based Taliban and asked the government to take up the matter with the neighbouring country "immediately and in full earnest."
Taliban has come under tremendous pressure following Pakistan's military action against the militant group in Swat valley and adjoining areas, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday.
Former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Maleeha Lodhi has ridiculed the recent fears of the Obama administration and the US Congress that the Taliban when they gained control of the Swat Valley -- since recaptured by the Pakistani military -- would get a hold of the country's nuclear arsenal.
Days after the United States Senate approved a $1.5 billion package for Pakistan, including $400 million in military assistance, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik told The Financial Times that his government has put Punjab and Sindh on high alert to avert the possibility that Taliban terrorists, fleeing the military offensive in the Swat valley and Waziristan, may seek refuge in these areas.
Taliban militants, who had kidnapped a top civil official in the restive Swat valley in North West Frontier Province on Sunday, released him only in exchange for two militants, raising question marks over a peace deal stuck between the militant group and the government. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the official, Kushal Khan, and his guards had been released in exchange for two militants who were arrested in Peshawar last week.
A fragile truce in the Swat valley of northwest Pakistan collapsed on Wednesday as troops targeted militant hideouts with artillery and helicopter gunships, killing at least 20 insurgents. The attacks on armed followers of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah in and around Matta were launched after the militants carried out overnight attacks on police posts near Kabal and Saidu Sharif, officials said.
Police and paramilitary troops set up security posts and bunkers protected by sandbags in Kabal, a small town near Maulana Fazlullah's stronghold at Imamdheri.
A pro-Taliban cleric's militant followers on Saturday clashed with security forces at several places in Swat valley of northwest Pakistan leaving up to 15 people dead, a day after troops backed by helicopter gunships attacked a seminary run by him. The skirmishes erupted after security forces attacked Maulana Fazlullah's sprawling madrassa at Imamdheri, three kilometres from Mingora, the headquarters of Swat district in North West Frontier Province.
A Pakistani legislator was killed in a suicide attack in the northwestern Swat valley on Tuesday. Details awaited.
Ten people were killed on Monday when militants attacked the home of a provincial legislator's brother in Pakistan's restive north-western Swat valley even as the government banned the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Taliban militants fired a rocket at the home of the brother of Awami National Party legislator Waqar Ahmed Khan in Kabal sub-district, killing his brother, two nephews and seven security guards.
The United States has reacted cautiously to a deal between Pakistan and Taliban in the restive Swat valley saying while there is a track record of such agreements not working, it will be supportive if it meets the benchmark of ending domestic and international terrorism. Washington is willing to see what results the deal bring in and would be supportive if it leads to end terrorist violence, brings in individuals outside the political process into political process.
Nearly 200 boys, some as young as six years, were rescued by Pakistani security forces from Taliban camps in the lawless Swat valley, where they were being 'brainwashed' and trained to become suicide bombers."These children have been brainwashed in a way that now they even want to kill their own parents," he said. Bilour said some children were initially pleased when they were handed over to their parents. But the parents later said their kids were trying to kill them.
Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad, who brokered a now-defunct peace deal between the authorities and insurgents, was arrested on Sunday in northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar for his links to militants and his role in fomenting unrest in the lawless Swat valley. Sufi, who heads the banned Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi, was arrested with his sons Ziaullah and Rizwanullah and an accomplice by a large police contingent during a raid in the City Town area of Peshawar.
Gen Kiyani has already withdrawn regular army troops from South Waziristan as demanded by Baitullah and has lifted the economic blocade imposed against the Mehsuds.
The teenage girl who was filmed being flogged by the Taliban in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley has denied that the incident ever occurred in a statement made to government officials, media reports said today.
'The recent surrender by the Pakistani State to the Taliban in the Swat valley may well turn out to be a watershed in the history of the Indian subcontinent. In terms of long-term impact, this may even overshadow the recent Mumbai massacres. All signs point to the Talibanisation of Pakistan.'
There are 'contradictory communications' emanating from Islamabad about what it intends to achieve in the peace deal with Taliban in the restive Swat valley, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said."I want to get the whole picture of what it is they're attempting to achieve," Clinton said in Tokyo during her first official visit after taking over as the Secretary Of State.She said US will 'thoroughly study' the deal.
The Pakistan government on Monday agreed to enforce Islamic law in large areas of its restive North West Frontier Province, including the Swat valley, in a concession to buy peace in the region, which has been the scene of a raging Taliban insurgency.
The move came hours after four security personnel were injured in a bomb attack on a military caravan in the Malakand area late on Tuesday. Seven persons were arrested in connection with the attack.
A top Pakistani diplomat in the United States on Saturday said that Islamabad was aware that the peace deal with Taliban in the country's troubled Swat valley would not work but went ahead with it as a tactical move. Pakistan's ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani, in a television interview, said even President Asif Ali Zardari knew about its result from the very beginning of the deal. He also said that such strategy could be repeated in the future.
Observing that Islamic law is within the framework of Pakistan, the US has refrained from making any comment on the peace deal between Islamabad and a Taliban-linked group for enforcing Shariah law in the Swat Valley.
Security forces gunned down the chief commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit in north Kashmir's Lolab area of frontier Kupwara district early on Tuesday.
With hardline commander Mullah Fazlullah at its helm, the Pakistani Taliban has vowed to launch a wave of revenge attacks and ruled out talks with the government.
Questioning the "silence" of Pakistani leaders on terrorism, 18-year-old Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on Saturday said she harbours the hope of becoming the prime minister of her country.
The Pakistani Taliban on Monday vowed they would again target teenage rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt last year to become a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace prize.
Yousafzai's marriage to Malik has come as a surprise especially after her recent remarks questioning the institution of marriage for which she faced severe backlash from political and religious leaders in Pakistan.
The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner who once took a bullet for campaigning for girls' education in Pakistan, was over the moon on Friday after completing her degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Britain's prestigious Oxford University.
'Sincere request to the Nobel winner, to spend some time speaking with the minorities of Pakistan'
Ehsanullah Ehsan said that he will release a detailed statement later in which he will mention the agreement he made with the Pakistani security authorities.
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