Category: ENGLISH

As the United States (US) on Thursday rejected Foreign Office (FO) claims that a Jan 24 drone strike targeted an Afghan refugee camp in Kurram Agency, the army’s media wing explained that the drone targeted a terrorist hiding in an Afghan refugee complex in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said: “The drone strike on Jan 24 in Speen Tal, Hangu district, was on an individual target who had morphed into Afghan refugees and not [on] any organised terrorists sanctuary, which have been eliminated.”…

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SARGODHA: Spiritual leader and custodian of Sial Sharif Shrine of Sargodha Pir Khawaja Hameeduddin Sialvi has taken back his call of protest after meeting Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday. While speaking to media after the meeting, the chief minister said that a committee has been constituted to resolve differences between the government and Pir Sialvi, adding that political rivals tried to create acrimony between them. Punjab Auqaf Minister Zaeem Qadri, Pir Riazud Din from Rawalpindi, Pir Mudassir Taunsvi of Taunsa Sharif and Speaker of Data Darbar shrine Ramzan…

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A little over a month after he was barred from making any appearanceon electronic media by a court, televangelist and TV host Amir Liaquat Hussain has launched an eponymous news website. Called Amir Liaquat Hussain news (alhnews.com), the Urdu-language website, launched on January 14, features a wide array of news categories, including local and international, business, health, sports and entertainment news. Also highlighted on the website are columns penned by and video commentaries featuring Hussain, and even childhood and family photos of the controversial anchor. “If the voice is banned a 100,000 times, the picture is forbidden…

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The death of Naqeebullah Mehsud was an extrajudicial killing, the Additional Inspector General of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, on Tuesday told the victim’s grieving friends, family and tribesmen gathered on the outskirts of Karachi. Abbasi, who headed a three-member team investigating Naqeebullah’s killing in an ‘exchange of fire’, assured his kin that Naqeebullah had never been involved in terrorism-related activities as alleged earlier, but had been innocent and was in fact killed in a ‘fake encounter’. “This was a fake encounter in which an innocent man was…

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Kasur turned tense on Tuesday as residents surrounded the house of a suspect arrested for the rape and murder of six-year-old Zainab Amin, whose DNA matches samples taken from the crime scene. Earlier today, police sources told DawnNews of the arrest of the suspect, saying his DNA was a match with samples on record, but the Punjab government has yet to confirm this information. As a mob began gathering around the house, police also reached the area urging people to remain calm in order to avoid any untoward incident. Television footage showed…

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A grade 12 student at a private college in Charsadda shot his college principal dead on Monday after being censured for skipping school to attend the November 2017 sit-in of religio-political parties in Islamabad’s Faizabad area. In a video acquired by DawnNews, the student, while being arrested, appeared to justify the murder saying he believed the college principal had committed blasphemy. It was not immediately clear what prompted that charge. “I have been taught… to kill… to not be afraid. Don’t be afraid of disrespecting the one who” commits blasphemy, the student…

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The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday accepted a petition asking for a probe into the the alleged ‘fake’ police encounters carried out by former Malir SSP Rao Anwar. The high court issued notices to Anwar, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khowaja and Home Secretary Sohail Anwar Siyal along with other high ranking officials to appear before the court on February 20. Anwar, who is under scrutiny over his alleged involvement in the extrajudicial killing of Waziristan native Naqeebullah Mehsud, earlier failed to appear before the Sindh IGP…

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The parents of eight girls who had been raped and murdered in Kasur since 2015 appeared before the Supreme Court on Sunday and pleaded for justice. “Give us justice,” the parents ─ including those of six-year-old Zainab whose body was found in a trash heap on January 9 ─ pleaded before a three-member bench of the apex court. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, was hearing a suo motu case on the grisly rape and murder of the six-year-old that shocked the nation this month.…

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A committee comprising the Inspector General Police (IGP) Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) Sanaullah Abbasi and DIGs South and East was formed on Thursday to investigate the death of Naqeebullah who was allegedly killed in a “staged encounter”. A notification issued by the provincial inspector general police office said the committee is mandated to “assess the genuineness of encounter” and “dig out profile of the deceased”, and directed to submit its findings within three days. Earlier in the day, Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal took notice of the incident, following reports…

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The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday reserved its judgement on a petition filed against the Pakistan Awami Tehreek-led (PAT) protest being held on The Mall today. The PAT is set to relaunch its protest campaign to “force the PML-N out of power – both in the federal and provincial governments” ─ shortly and leaders of the PTI and PPP are expected to attend the inaugural rally on The Mall. The Jamaat-i-Islami and the PML-Q, too, have pledged their support. A petition against the rally was filed by Advocate AK…

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By ASGHAR ALI MUBARAK Islamabad: The Journalist Panel scored a thumping victory in the National Press Club elections 2018-19 held on Saturday, January 13rd 2018 here at Islamabad. The Chairman NPC Election Committee Nasir Zaidi announced result of the main office-bearers according to which as President; Tariq Mehmood Chaudhry 989, Asif Bashir Chaudhry (1074), Bilal Dar (1030) and Kashif Rafique (989) as Vice-Presidents; Myra Imran Azam( 943) as vice president women seat ,Shakeel Anjum (1225) as Secretary, Ms. Nausheen Yousaf (AZAD Panel 1073) as Finance Secretary and Abid Abbasi (1219),…

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KASUR: Police are scra­m­bling to find clues that could lead them to the culprit behind the rape and murder of Zainab in Kasur, while the deadline assigned to them by the Punjab police chief to make the arrest expired at 8pm on Saturday. At least four agencies — the Counter Terrorism Department, the Intelligence Bureau, the Special Branch and the Punjab Forensic Science Agency — have been seized with the case and each agency has arrested suspects separately, while investigating the matter. Separately, a new video, which apparently shows the kidnapper…

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After Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of the brutal murder of six-year-old Zainab in Kasur, Inspector General Punjab Arif Nawaz Khan submitted a report to the Supreme Court on Thursday saying that 272 suspects have been questioned about the incident. The report said that geo-fencing data from the area was acquired and all resources are being employed to catch the culprit. It also said a house-to-house search was being conducted based on the information provided by the last witness of the crime. It said…

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With riots triggered by perceived police inaction over the rape and murder of 6-year-old Zainab Amin continuing throughout the day in Kasur, the alleged murderer and rapist of an 8-year-old child was killed in Punjab’s Sheikhupura district by police on Wednesday night. Police say Shiraz Arif Raja had abducted, raped and murdered 8-year-old Maliha, whose body was found in a pile of trash on January 4 stuffed in a gunny bag. Maliha, who had been visiting Sheikhupura to spend winter vacations with her maternal uncle’s family, had gone missing on December 29.…

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