Two commandos of the special forces were also killed in the rescue operation that was launched after negotiations between the government and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants to end the hostage crisis failed.
The attacks on Karachi airport and the Airport Security Force camp are growing signs how Pakistan's home-made monster, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is growing stronger and is no longer under the tight grip of the Inter-Services-Intelligence, its godfather. Vicky Nanjappa reports how these attacks are just the beginning and there are many more to come.
An anti-terrorism court on Friday handed down '23 times' death sentence to three militants of outlawed Pakistani Taliban for the 2009 attack on the country's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence's headquarters here that killed 35 people.
A Pakistani military helicopter carrying 11 foreigners crashed in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir on Friday, killing ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway and at least five others as the Taliban claimed responsibility for the downing of the chopper and said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the target.
'Nobody wants him to gain power.' 'But saying that all these players together conspired against Imran Khan and had him arrested would be in the realm of conjecture but possibilities cannot be ruled out.'
Three Taliban militants have been given a death sentence by a Pakistani court for attacking trucks carrying critical supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan in 2010.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday cancelled his upcoming visit to the United States where he was scheduled to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.
An examination of some user profiles linked to these banned outfits indicates open support of sectarian and extremist ideology. A few of these profiles have also publicly 'liked' pages and groups related to weapons use and training.
Pakistan's banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi on Wednesday took responsibility for a bomb attack on a senior judge of the Sindh high court earlier this month in which nine people were killed.
Tehreek-e-Taliban militants, who launched a major assault on Pakistan's largest airport in Karachi, were carrying XStat devices, which can heal gunshot wounds within seconds and were aiming for a long siege of the facility, a security official said on Monday.
This year saw no improvement in bilateral ties as India accused Pakistan of cross-border infiltration and re-activation of terror-launching pads near the LoC.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that India was waging a proxy war against his nation trough terrorism.
'The last thing he would want is new tensions with India.'
The decision was taken during a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the southwestern the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday.
The diplomatic crisis between Pakistan and Afghanistan deepened on Sunday after Kabul announced that it will withdraw its ambassador and other senior staff from Islamabad after the abduction and torture of the daughter of its envoy to Pakistan.
"All 10 terrorists have been killed, the airport secured and they were unable to damage any aircraft or installations," a spokesman of the Inter Services Pubic Relations said.
The Pakistani Taliban has reportedly issued a challenge to the country's media to stop the praise of retired Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and instead get behind Pakistani captain Misbah-ul Haq, whom they branded as ''sub-standard'' and a ''low-level player''.
At least 13 militants affiliated to Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban were killed in a heavy exchange of fire with security forces in the country's financial capital on Monday. The terrorists, in police and rangers' uniforms, were killled in the notorious Al-Asif square of Karachi, said senior superintendent police of Malir district, Rao Anwar.
Pakistan Army and United States-led forces in Afghanistan have decided to target Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah using drones rather than a ground operation in the areas where he is believed to be taking sanctuary.
The Pakistan government has, however, put the JuD on the list of groups being closely watched by the officials.
A US drone strike on Thursday killed at least 7 militants including a commander of the dreaded Haqqani network in northwestern Pakistan's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud and three others were killed in the US drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border on Friday.
A key Pakistani Taliban commander involved in an assassination attempt on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been arrested in the troubled South Waziristan tribal region, sources said on Wednesday.
Pakistani Taliban chief has ordered militants to hit the leaders of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ruling party after the government lifted a moratorium on death penalty and set up military courts to try terrorists.
Authorities in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were warned of an imminent revenge attack on the army-run school in Peshawar months before a Taliban-sponsored carnage claimed 148 lives, mostly that of children.
At least 10 people, including five soldiers, were killed on Monday in a Taliban suicide attack at a market close to Pakistan's military headquarters in Rawalpindi, a day after one of the deadliest attacks on security forces killed 20 troops.
The TTP, however, did not confirm the death of its chief in the drone strike.
A close aide of slain Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was among six militants killed in a United States drone attack in Pakistan's lawless tribal region 10 days ago, media reported on Tuesday.
Amid deepening concerns in China over the regrouping of the ETIM, blamed by Beijing for all the violent attacks in its volatile Xinjiang province and elsewhere in the country, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Mullah Baradar at Tianjin and sought to prevail on him to build a 'positive image and establish a broad and inclusive political structure that suits Afghanistan's national realities'.
IS, especially active in northern Sindh and Balochistan, was also behind the abduction and killing of two Chinese nationals last year.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, who masterminded the Peshawar school massacre, was believed to be killed after being seriously hit in air strikes in Pakistan's restive Khyber tribal area over the weekend.
Pakistan Army on Friday said it has arrested nearly 100 terrorists and foiled an imminent jailbreak attempt to free top Al Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, sentenced to death for the murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl in 2002.
In a development that may raise an alarm in the security establishment, flags of dreaded terror outfit ISIS along with those of Pakistan were today raised in Kashmir after which police promised a thorough probe and legal action against those involved.
TTP released a video of its militants holding a Shoulder Launch Missile, which the militant group claimed to have used in downing a Pakistan military helicopter.
'Pakistan's provision of safe haven to the LeT a will probably continue to be a key irritant in relations with India'
Pakistani authorities have arrested the main facilitator of the gruesome attack on Bacha Khan University that killed 21 people, mostly students, while he was trying to slip across the border to Afghanistan, a media report said on Wednesday.
Authorities in Pakistan have frozen bank accounts with more than Rs 400 million of over 5,100 terror suspects, including JeM chief Masood Azhar who is under "protective custody" after the terror attack on the Pathankot air base, officials said.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF's grey list, Pakistan has imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts, a media report said.
A gun battle was still continuing inside the old airport near the hangars and workshop as military and other security personnel tried to clear up the runaway and surrounding area from the terrorists.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances