You mean they are not calling it a "clone of Russian XYZ" or "old tech" or "useless" or "made of cardboard" or "exaggerated claim" yada yada? That, if true is indeed sad. They seem to be losing their ostrich-ness.bart wrote:I have been trolling the unmentionable forums in the wake of the ATV launch and stunned silence seems to be the order of the day.
I'm disappointed by the performance too.bart wrote:I have been trolling the unmentionable forums in the wake of the ATV launch and stunned silence seems to be the order of the day.
Principal rivalry in the IOR will be China with its help from the support bases in TSP, SL, MYanmar, DB etc. It is too big and SLOC is too thin for China.NRao wrote:
1) China seems to have - for the time being at least - decided not to provide Pakistan with submarine related nuclear techs
2) In return Paki navy seems to have become an arm of the Chinese navy
Looks like China is willing to provide an "umbrella" of sorts.
To the Editor:
Robert Kaplan ("Center Stage for the Twenty-first Century," March/April 2009) correctly underscores the Indian Ocean's strategic importance. But in envisioning "dynamic great-power rivalry" between Beijing and New Delhi there, he is too pessimistic about the United States' ability to maintain influence, too optimistic about China's ability to exert influence rapidly, and too dismissive of India's inherent regional advantages.
Kaplan contends that the United States must skillfully manage an inevitable decline by leveraging the support of allies. But the U.S. military has successfully sustained its level of operations in the region while expanding its range of missions. Washington is working intently with its partners to support cooperative maritime activities globally, as expressed in the maritime strategy released in October 2007.
The United States is shaping itself into an indispensable maritime balancer by deploying the right number and right kind of naval forces and establishing task forces and maritime headquarters that bring diverse partners together. These activities efficiently act as a tipping weight in the Indian Ocean, allowing the United States' other forces to be used elsewhere.
Kaplan's "elegant decline" argument also gives more weight to the number of U.S. ships, submarines, and aircraft than is warranted. The current versatility and capabilities of U.S. naval platforms, coupled with their useful employment in specific scenarios, is a clearer measure of their effectiveness than numbers alone.
Kaplan is correct that the United States must strive to be "continually useful," and the U.S. Navy is doing so. Under U.S. leadership, the multinational naval coalition Combined Task Force 151 conducts counterpiracy operations in the Indian Ocean region, most recently rescuing a U.S. merchant captain taken hostage by pirates.
Moreover, the United States' systemic indispensability is being nurtured through two key initiatives. First, the United States has established regional "maritime operations centers" around the world, partnering with other countries to plan, coordinate, and execute a wide range of mutually beneficial naval actions. Second, the U.S. Coast Guard, in concert with the U.S. Navy, has closely collaborated with interested nations through the Maritime Domain Awareness project to study the global maritime factors that affect collective security, safety, trade, and environmental interests. U.S. energy and leadership are essential here. This is not decline but preeminence (without domination).
Taiwan's status, combined with other territorial and resource interests on China's maritime periphery, will leave China's navy primarily focused on Taiwan for the foreseeable future. Moreover, deploying a sustainable out-of-area expeditionary capability requires not only ships and ports but also extensive logistical support and high levels of training and experience. Ship steaming times to the Arabian Gulf from Chinese and Indian naval ports are 13 days and three days, respectively, making it comparatively easier for India to secure the sea-lanes there and respond to a crisis. India, which clearly enjoys a home-court advantage in the Indian Ocean, neither needs to solve the expeditionary problem nor possesses a strategic imperative similar to Taiwan that would bind its naval operations. No matter how much access to Indian Ocean ports China may gain, it cannot trump geography without a revolution in capabilities and strategic interests.
THOMAS CULORA
Chair, Warfare Analysis and Research Department, U.S. Naval War College
ANDREW ERICKSON
Associate Professor of Strategic Studies, China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College
Pakistan? What could this possibly have to do with the peace-loving and religion-of-peace following people of Pakistan?The French-language document gives a detailed picture of how (Bryant Neal) Vinas traveled from New York to Pakistan and what he did while he was there.
So what? That is not a crime in Pakistan. Over there, if you kill Americans, you get paid big time. Billions with a B is what we're talking about.He admitted involvement in an attack on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan in September 2008....
Whoa! That's a loaded statement...According to the document obtained Thursday, the Queens, New York-born Vinas converted from Catholicism to Islam in 2004. He hooked up with al Qaeda in Pakistan three years later, and by September 2007 was determined to wage jihad in Afghanistan, the document says.
Allah don't care about warplanes!! Their bombs will be caught by a fakir in his kurta dont you know? Pakistan was saved this way in 1965, you idiots.He left New York exactly six years after al Qaeda struck the city and arrived in Lahore, a major city in eastern Pakistan, on September 12, 2007... Weeks later, the document says, Vinas was in Afghanistan's Kunar province, a hotbed of the insurgency, with a group of 20 insurgents who crept up near an American combat outpost. At the last minute, they decided not to fire mortars on the base because American war planes were circling overhead, the document says.
So he was too dumb to recite "AoA" and push a button?Vinas then returned to Mohmand, an agency in Pakistan's tribal areas, the document says. His handlers then asked him to become a suicide bomber. He agreed, and was sent to Peshawar, Pakistan, to receive more instructions. But Vinas told investigators that his handlers decided he needed more religious instruction before he would be ready to become a suicide bomber, the document said.
The jihad curriculum is hosed. You can actually be evaluated for becoming a suicide bomber and be involved in a mission to attack an American post before you learn how to fire an AK-47?Between March and July 2008, Vinas said he attended three al Qaeda training courses, learning how to fire an AK-47, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and handguns. He also familiarized himself with explosives and was taught to make suicide bombing vests.
You stood-up allah and the houries. No earthly pleasures for you.Vinas stated that he left Pakistan's tribal areas in October 2008 and returned to Peshawar in search of a wife. That's where he was arrested a few weeks later.
I thought that Pan-Islamism was dead, guess I was wrong. This means once US leaves Iraq and AfPak jihadies who are lying low currently would come out of woodworks to do their jihad...US envoy: most Taliban funds come from overseas
"More money is coming from the (Persian) Gulf than is coming from the drug trade to the Taliban," Holbrooke told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels
He said there was no evidence that governments in the Persian Gulf or anywhere else were providing the financing.
"The money is coming in from sympathizers from all over the world with the bulk of it appearing to come from the Gulf," he said, adding that he did not have hard figures for the amount of overseas funding reaching the Taliban.
"What I believe happens is that the Taliban funds local operations in the Pashtun belt out of drug money, but the overall effort gets massive amounts of money from outside Afghanistan," Holbrooke said.
No need to be disappointed, here it is :archan wrote:You mean they are not calling it a "clone of Russian XYZ" or "old tech" or "useless" or "made of cardboard" or "exaggerated claim" yada yada? That, if true is indeed sad. They seem to be losing their ostrich-ness.bart wrote:I have been trolling the unmentionable forums in the wake of the ATV launch and stunned silence seems to be the order of the day.
But for few pakis, reality has dawned on them ...likeYou want a photo? Just look for a photo of a russian submarine on the internet. Put an Indian flag on it. There's your Indian sub. Nothing there is indigneous. BARC's reactor = FAIL. Reactor = Russian. There are probably 100's of Russian engineers there telling them how to build the crap (er assemble it). See the text of MMS's speech. He thanks the Russians. To call it indigienous is a joke. If the Russians could sell their moms, daughters or nuke subs they would. They can't so they have to "lease" them or basically build them for money. You got like 5 billion laying around? They'll come to your home and build you one too. Damn joke
I think we are missing the point here, it doesnt matter how they acquired it, what matters is taht they did acquire it and they can acquire more of it. And ofcourse how to develop suitable countermeasures. Pakistan at this stage is not even remotely in need of a nuclear submarine considering our coastal size. WE need tactical development more than anyhting else to be honest.
This may be a joke for most people here but, the military planners in Pakistan are most likely scrambling right now. India now has a formidable triad system (air,land,sea). While Pakistan may have a limited second strike capability in the form of the LACM babur, the indian's have a nuclear-powered submarine which tilts the whole equation. Now at time india could have this sub at sea for months on end
Dont sweat it though, Pakistan has always managed to match india teeth for teeth, when the indian's first launched brahmos we were crying fowl, then we rose from the ashes and tested the babur. This can be seen over and over throughout our history. Thus this is a blessing in disguise for Pakistan to now start working on its own miniturized nuclear reactor which is used to power subs (nothing that our nuclear scientist cant accomplish). Also we already have a pretty advanced submarine manufactering base set up (augosta, miniture subs, etcc)
we should start working with the chinese on Type 96 project to counter this indian threat otherwise we would be sitting ducks against them, dont expect we would use umbrellas to cover ourselves from indian missiles, we have to counter it we must and the only and best option and partner we have is China something must be done here before its too late if india take superiority over us anywhere we would be easy targets for them.
Congrats to India.
We Pakistanis need to stop using the Arjun and LCA to stick our heads in the sand. India is pulling ahead at an exponential rate and Pakistan seriously needs to up its game both economically and technologically.
Question?
When was the last time Pakistan made a major military achievement in terms of technology?
QUETTA: Participation of two Pakistan players in the World Junior Canoeng Championship has become doubtful due to non-availability of funds.
Pakistan is being represented by canoeists from Balochistan Mohammad Abubakar Durrani and Mohammad Shoaib Khilji.
Eight foreign intelligence agencies are meddling in Pakistani Balochistan. There is a 9th possible player: Oman, where US and UK and reportedly Israel maintain ‘listening and monitoring outposts’. But it is the wily Indians who walk away with the top prize.
Afghanistan has many neighbors. India is not one of them. It does not share any borders with Afghanistan. But after CIA, India’s two intelligence services – the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – are among the most active in the occupied country.
Yep! The Yanks should have used pooki expertise.The Indians have also sold the Americans, or at least some key people within the American intelligence and strategic communities, on the dubious Indian ‘expertise’ on Afghanistan.
Ah Yes! The good, the bad, and the ugly pooki.This is where the Indians and Karzai’s people are running a joint venture of pumping saboteurs into Pakistan disguised as the so-called ‘Pakistani Taliban’, who are also known as the Fake Taliban to differentiate them from the Afghan Taliban who are fighting the foreign armies in Afghanistan and are not fighting Pakistan.
What happened to the thousands of Indian training centers?Apart from the Indian Embassy in Kabul, there are nine consulates strategically located in the US-occupied country.
From Pakistan’s point of view, this US-NATO operation is bogus.
Need I say more? How about this brilliant conclusion:Knowing that this operation could be used by intelligence operatives [Indian, Afghan and possibly even American] to push undercover agents and saboteurs inside Pakistan, Pakistani authorities formally objected to Washington over the military action noting very clearly that pushing terrorists inside Pakistan is not a solution.
Ah! The K word again.In simple everyday language, the Indian officer is supposed to open enough fronts for Pakistan from the west in order to distract Pakistan’s grip and attention over Kashmir, the Indian occupied region to the east.
Unbelievable! But wait! Its not over yet.The Indian major-general has led an operation where young men from Pakistan and Afghanistan have been recruited in the name of waging jihad against America. Once in, the young men are brainwashed.The brainwashing sessions include virulent sermons against Pakistan and its role in betraying Islam. The indoctrination ends with the mission that Pakistan needs to be the first target in the jihad against America. Whoever sides with Pakistan in this battle is a supporter of America’s occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.These young men with ‘messed up minds’ are then sent to Pakistan to carry out bombings, suicide attacks, targeted killings, and slaughter innocent people.
Most of them are introduced as Islamic militants or Taliban. But a large number of them are also sent in to pretend they are Pakistanis fighting for the separation of Balochistan from the motherland.
As soon as these terrorists finish blowing up pipelines or killing university professors in Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta, Indian consulates in Afghanistan arrange for their Urdu writers to pen down neatly written statements in Urdu which are then dispatched to Pakistani news organizations.
And, here's the paranoia:A small minority in northeast India, a region that has been the seat of Muslim nobility and empire for most of the past ten centuries, continue to be well acquainted with Urdu, the language of the old Muslim nobility in the region. The only other people outside Pakistan who can show off a few experts in this language are Indians from the northwestern part of their country
Intelligence agencies from eight different countries are suspected to be active in the wave of terror inside Pakistan. These spy outfits belong to the United States, India, Afghanistan, Iran, UAE, Israel, Britain and Russia.
Everyone's against me. Why Oman, you ask?Pakistani authorities have been slow in discovering the role of a 9th country in this mix: Oman.
Oman is situated right across the Arabian Sea, facing the coastal line of Balochistan. Thanks to cross migrations between Oman and Pakistan over the past two centuries, a substantial portion of the Omani population is of Pakistani Baloch descent. They have traditionally worked for the security service and the army of successive Omani kings, including the incumbent, Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed. At least two countries, the US and Britain, have intelligence ‘listening and monitoring outposts’ in Oman. There have been reports that Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed had also granted Israel the right to use his territory for discreet information gathering operations targeting neighboring countries, especially Iran and the region surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. This area includes Pakistani Balochistan.
So, why are the foreign intelligence agencies interested in B'lochistan? Hain?The suspicion is that at some level Oman is helping US access Pakistani Balochistan without the knowledge of the Pakistani government.
Silly Russians! But we pookies only care about the Indians.The nine foreign intelligence agencies are in Afghanistan for various purposes. The American and the Omani roles have been explained[/b]. Karzai’s intelligence is simply ready to join any effort that harms Pakistan. The Indians want to punish Pakistan for supporting the struggle of the Kashmiri people against Indian occupation. India also wants to destabilize Balochistan enough so that China abandons the huge development projects inside the Pakistani province, an objective that the Americans would welcome without hesitation. Iran is more concerned about the CIA-backed Jundullah terrorist group that is working on setting the Sunni Balochi population inside Iran against the Shiite majority. The Dubai emirate of the UAE has been told by the Indians that Pakistan’s Gwadar port in Balochistan is being developed as competition. The Brits are also closely aligned with the Americans.Israel is the only country with the longest experience in dealing with Islamic groups. Washington sought Israeli assistance in this regard after 9/11. The Indians were smarter. They approached Israel in the 1990s to counter Islamic groups backed by Pakistan. This leaves out the Russians who are most probably fishing in troubled waters and are there to reclaim the influence they lost in the area with the end of the Soviet Union 18 years ago.
What can I say! Paranoia, thy name is pukistan! May Quraishi's tribe grow.But it is the Indians who walk away with the prize. They have played their cards well and convinced likeminded lobbies in Washington to let them use the Afghan soil against Pakistan for a good seven years now. But as the situation deteriorates for the Americans inside Afghanistan, a desperate Obama administration is listening to Pakistani complaints for the first time and possibly taking some action to reign in their wayward Indian friends.
India’s Arihant — upping the psychological ante
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
By Shireen M Mazari
………………… Incidentally, those in Pakistan who have been ranting for years over the use of Islamic warrior names for our missiles seem absurdly mute in commenting on India’s aggressive usage of Hindu mythology warrior names not only for its missiles but now also for its nuclear-powered submarine. ……………................
The News
There was this brilliant article I read that went along the lines of "Indians are so clever in Blochistan that nobody has seen them there, nobody has heard of them, but they are still doing the Indians' bidding without even knowing about it"anupmisra wrote:What can I say! Paranoia, thy name is pukistan! May Quraishi's tribe grow.
LAHORE: The military has delayed a full-scale ground operation in South Waziristan Agency against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud as the two sides have covertly reached an understanding, the Telegraph claimed on Tuesday. A report in the UK daily said details are still not known, but the military had deliberately delayed launching the attacks against Baitullah after “having corralled his stronghold in South Waziristan”.
Around six brigades of troops have blocked the four main arteries into Baitullah’s territory, which thousands have fled for fear of missile strikes by US drones. Citing a senior official, the paper reported that authorities want Baitullah to announce that he would not attack the government in the future. The official said it would not be a “total surrender”, but a guarantee on Baitullah’s part that he would not indulge in anti-state activities in the future.
The claims have not been verified independently, the Telegraph reported, but said the delay was sure to anger the United States.
Err.. isn't he "Bad Taliban/Fake Taliban/Pakistani Taliban" and therefore a brainwashed Indian agent who gets his orders from the 900 Indian consulates in Afghanistan?The military has delayed a full-scale ground operation in South Waziristan Agency against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud as the two sides have covertly reached an understanding
Nine houses demolished in Mohmand Agency
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Our correspondent
GHALLANAI: In a joint action, the political administration and security forces demolished nine houses and arrested as many tribal elders for their failure to hand over wanted persons to the authorities in Gandhab, Halimzai subdivision in the troubled Mohmand Agency on Tuesday.
Official sources said the security forces cordoned off Sultankhel, Charagan, Shanikhel and Nasapa areas and took positions on the nearby hilltops early morning before taking the action. They dynamited and torched the houses of nine close relatives of the wanted persons. ……………..
The News
This is how all US aid ends up, in the pockets of US companies.Peshawar - Fear is spreading across University Town, an upmarket residential area in Pakistan's north-western city of Peshawar, due to the overt presence of the controversial US private security contractor Blackwater.
Sporting the customary dark glasses and carrying assault rifles, the mercenaries zoom around the neighbourhood in their black-coloured armoured Chevy Suburbans, and shout at motorists when occasionally stranded in a traffic jam.
The residents are mainly concerned about Blackwater's reputation as a ruthless, unbridled private army whose employees face multiple charges of murder, child prostitution and weapons smuggling in Iraq.
'Sometimes, these guys stand in the streets and behave rudely with the passers-by, sometimes they point guns at people without provocation' said Imtiaz Gul, an engineer, whose home is a few hundred metres from the US contractor's base on Chanar Road in University Town.
'Who rules our streets, the Pakistani government or the Americans? They have created a state within the state,' he added.
Blackwater provides security to the employees of Creative Associates International Inc (CAII), an American company carrying out multi-million-dollar development projects in the country's Islamic militancy-plagued Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Lou Fintor, a spokesman for the US embassy in Islamabad, said that Blackwater-Xe was not in any way associated with its missions in Pakistan. But the denial does not include the possibility that the security firm was working for a private US company.
Blackwater has recruited dozens of retired commandos from Pakistan's army and elite police force through its local sub-contractors, said an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Some Pakistani security officials suggested that besides providing security to the aid workers, Blackwater was carrying out covert operations.
On June 9, suicide bombers drove an explosive-laden vehicle into Peshawar's sole five-star hotel, the Pearl Continental, after shooting the security guards, and detonated it at the side of the building where some Blackwater guards were staying.
Sixteen people died including four of the security firm's personnel - two Westerners and the same number of locals. Four more guards were injured.
The dead bodies and injured were moved quietly. Neither the Pakistani government nor any foreign official admitted these deaths, apparently at the request of US officials.
It was rape-bil-raza not rape-bil-jabr, says Sanaullah
LAHORE: There is a difference between rape-bil-jabr and rape-bil-raza, and therefore, no solid proof of rape against PML-N MPA Munawwar Gill, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday. Since both Gill and the woman consented to act and the woman, after receiving a huge sum of money, withdrew the charges, there are no grounds for rape, the law minister told a private TV channel. Naseerabad police had registered a case against Gill on the complaint of 35-year-old Tahira Parveen who alleged that he raped her at gunpoint. Tahira, a resident of Green Town, had told police that Gill had called her to a local hotel under the pretext of helping her settle a property dispute and raped her.
It is permitted by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). An entire village can be punished as per FCR.arun wrote:What a medieval notion of justice. Is being punished for being a close relative of a wanted person permitted by Islam?
As far as I know, nobody was mocking the 'Islamic' names, the real point of ridicule was that they named their missiles after Babur/Ghauri etc who were Afghans and even Tipu who is an Indian.arun wrote:Shireen Mazari on the Arihant:
India’s Arihant — upping the psychological ante
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
By Shireen M Mazari
………………… Incidentally, those in Pakistan who have been ranting for years over the use of Islamic warrior names for our missiles seem absurdly mute in commenting on India’s aggressive usage of Hindu mythology warrior names not only for its missiles but now also for its nuclear-powered submarine. ……………................
The News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8170142.stm1There are serious differences emerging between the US and the various power centres in Pakistan which could adversely affect the entire region.
At stake are the upcoming Afghan elections, the US offensive in Helmand province in Afghanistan, curbing the Taliban in Pakistan and a potential worsening in Islamabad's relations with both Kabul and Delhi.
The differences have emerged as the US, Britain, France and Nato stake an enormous amount of political prestige on rapidly improving the security situation in Afghanistan and receiving more co-operation from Pakistan on combating the Taliban in both countries.
Stop asking questions; prosecute Saeed: PC to Pak
Updated on Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 13:21 IST
New Delhi: Taking on Pakistan for its apparent reluctance to act against JuD chief Hafiz Saeed citing lack of evidence, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that enough proof has been provided and it’s time that Pakistan starts to act against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks.
Criticising Islamabad for inaction, Chidambaram said, “They should stop asking questions and get on with the job. There is enough evidence provided in the dossier given to Pakistan.”
"It has been a little tiresome," he said while referring to Pakistan's repeated claim that it does not have proof to prosecute Saeed. ………………..
Zee News
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... 11/495493/Pak provides fresh proof of Lashkar involvement in 26/11
Taking offense is easy. Sridhar, Shrilleen and her ilk survive monetarily (and through regime changes) by creating controversies and cooked-up stories out of thin air. In order to create chaos out of order, normal things must seem to offend or bother people like her (and a couple of other people we all know). You see, everyone worth his/her salt in the "land of the pure" is an arm-chair journalist and / or a strategic thinker, and hence, a keyboard warrior. Doesn't take much. That's the only paying game in town for "has beens". You get invited to TV talk shows and get to write for worthless newspapers.SSridhar wrote:How does 'Destroyer of Enemies', even if it is a Sanskrit word, sound theological to Pakistan and offend her ?
I find absolutely nothing new in these disclosures. The dossier published by Hindustan Times already contained references to training material, maps, training centres in Karachi (Azizabad) and even in Thatta. Why is this being repeated ?Aditya_V wrote:Dog and Pony show continues
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news ... 11/495493/Pak provides fresh proof of Lashkar involvement in 26/11
Anupmisra, such sentiments are not limited to Madam and a few others. It is all pervasive, ubiquitous in the Land of the Pure.anupmisra wrote:. . . Sridhar, Shrilleen and her ilk survive monetarily (and through regime changes) by creating controversies and cooked-up stories out of thin air. In order to create chaos out of order, normal things must seem to offend or bother people like her (and a couple of other people we all know). You see, everyone worth his/her salt in the "land of the pure" is an arm-chair journalist and / or a strategic thinker, and hence, a keyboard warrior. Doesn't take much. That's the only paying game in town for "has beens". You get invited to TV talk shows and get to write for worthless newspapers.SSridhar wrote:How does 'Destroyer of Enemies', even if it is a Sanskrit word, sound theological to Pakistan and offend her ?
Prominent public speakers frequently refer to these names to whip-up public sentiment and passion against India. It was for the same reason that Pakistan introduced an aggressive military ceremony at the Wagah border-crossing. Similarly, during the 1965 war, Pakistan Navy decided to bombard the non-decrepit and non-strategic town of Dwarka on the Gujarat coast since it was associated with the Hindu mythology of Mahabharat and the operation was therefore aptly code-named “Operation Somnath” symbolizing the dozens of times the marauder Ghazni pillaged the nearby and the famous Somnath temple again in Gujarat. The Army’s invasion in the same war was code-named ‘Operation Gibraltar’, referring to the Rock of Gibraltar which was named as ‘Jebel al Tariq’ by the Muslim invader Tariq bin Ziad. Similarly, the various units of the invading guerilla army forces in 1965 were named as Tariq, Ghaznavi, Salahuddin, Qasim and Khalid, all thus named after Muslim war heroes. Examples are plenty.All normal onlee. The less pious abduls are being shown their place by more pious abduls.PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Taliban stormed the home of a pro-government Pakistani militia leader and killed him Wednesday as clashes between troops and Islamists flared in the Swat valley, officials said.
More than 50 Taliban raided the residence of Khalilur Rehman and shot him dead in Shangla, which borders the region where the army three months ago launched an operation to crush militants, police and a local lawmaker said.
Rehman, 60, formed a private tribal militia known as lashkar and used to provide logistic support to groups fighting the Taliban, residents said.
"He was shot dead soon after he entered the meeting hall of his house," senior police officer Gul Wali said. Rehman's servant was wounded, he added.
Security forces retaliated and killed two militants, Wali said
BEIJING: Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Noman Bashir Wednesday said India's launch of a nuclear-powered submarine has affected the security balance in Arabia Sea, as the sea is highly vital for the entire world and Pakistan does not want anyone’s hegemony on it.
The induction of Chinese F-22P frigates in Pakistan Navy is ``a very big leap forward in respect of Pak-China bilateral cooperation and help enhance our defence capability,'' noted visiting Admiral Noman Bashir while talking to journalists here.
``We are looking beyond F-22P frigates. I had very useful discussions at leadership level here and look forward for commissioning of first F-22P frigate named PNS Zulfiqar on July 30constructed in Shanghai.
``Because of extremely cordial relations between two countries as well as among the two navies, it was very important for me to meet our most trusted friends and as soon as I got first opportunity I embarked on visit to China,'' Admiral Bashir stated.
Commenting on Indian submarine, he said Pakistan had prior information about this project and the nuclear-powered submarine has changed the security situation of Arabia Sea, adding Pakistan does not want to pursue the arms race, it has its own priorities {in other words we cant do a damn about it even if we knew about it before hand}
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan was created on the basis of merit, justice, hard work and honesty but only disparities were promoted in the country and double standard were adopted in all sectors of life including education.
Shrilleen says that the Agostas "can be upgraded". Yes of course - by cutting the sub down the middle and adding a 20 meter segment. But that means Paki Agostas do not have AIP.However, this should not be a major issue for us even in financial terms, as long as the lure of commissions does not distort or destroy our strategic interests. We already have conventional submarines including the Agosta-type which are not only capable of carrying nuclear warheads, but can be upgraded to being fitted with air-independent propulsion technology (AIP) specifically designed to allow conventional subs to remain submerged for longer periods. That is the main advantage of nuclear-powered submarines, along with the speed element – they do not need to surface like conventional subs that need to surface after short periods of being submerged and therefore become vulnerable. AIP technology is specifically designed for conventional subs and the Germans have been in the forefront of this technological development, although the Agostas can also be upgraded.
It is unfortunate that Pakistan’s purchase of subs has been delayed apparently over the commissions lure, because now the international community will make it harder for this country to acquire these subs.
Regulations drafted by the British and continued by TSP.SSridhar wrote:It is permitted by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). An entire village can be punished as per FCR.arun wrote:What a medieval notion of justice. Is being punished for being a close relative of a wanted person permitted by Islam?
WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday denounced the international response to Pakistan's humanitarian crisis as inadequate, with a senator saying that Gulf Arab states should contribute more.
The United Nations in May appealed for 543 million dollars to help the nearly two million people displaced by fighting in northwestern Pakistan. UN figures show that less than 38 percent of the appeal has been met.
The top US diplomat on refugee issues said that the United States had more than met its responsibilities with more than 320 million dollars for Pakistan -- much of it not channelled through the UN appeal. "The humanitarian response has been inadequate," Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz told a congressional hearing. "Other countries must come forward to help."
Right on Mr. Secretary! Where be Paki ummah brothers with dinar-e-riyal cha-ching?The European Union has contributed more than 150 million euros (212 million dollars).
It's not heroin! It's special formula for use in... jelly beans!MONTREAL — Canadian police announced Tuesday they had seized 116 kilograms (256 pounds) of heroin shipped from Pakistan in one of the country's largest ever interdictions of the illegal drug.
Pakistan is making the interest payment on their Canadian loan using loan money from USA which loaned money from China. So it's all good and uh, keep the change!The police also recovered another 100,000 Canadian dollars (92,380 US dollars), according to a statement from police.
Please! Put 'em in-charge of Centcom and 200,000 years later there will still be Taliban running around everywhere. It's upto Uncle Sam to decide how long they want to put up with this nonsense.ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 22 -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani on Wednesday called on the United States to provide real-time intelligence, unmanned aircraft technology and other military assistance to help his country combat the Taliban without relying on attacks from U.S. drones.