Pakistan approves, seeks drone attacks in Waziristan

 

ISLAMABAD: Two top government officials told Reuters on Thursday the two drone strikes on Wednesday in Waziristan were carried out as a coordinated “joint Pakistan-US operation”.
A Reuters report from Islamabad said 10 militants were killed in this year’s first two drone strikes in Pakistan, officials said on Thursday, six months after the attacks were suspended by Washington to give it space to pursue peace talks with the Taliban.

The report said: “Two top government officials said Pakistan had given the Americans ‘express approval’ for the latest strikes — the first time Pakistan has admitted to such cooperation.”“Baseless” was the one word comment when a correspondent for The News contacted the Foreign Office after Reuters released this report.

“The attacks were launched with the express approval of the Pakistan government and army,” said a top government official, requesting not to be named as he was not authorised to discuss the issue with the media.

“It is now policy that the Americans will not use drones without permission from the security establishment here. There will be complete coordination and Pakistan will be in the loop.”“We understand that drones will be an important part of our fight against the Taliban now,” the official added.

“Another official was quoted by Reuters as saying Pakistan had asked the Americans for help after the attack on Karachi airport, and would be intensifying air strikes on militant hideouts in coming days.

“Pakistan has always publicly opposed the US drone strikes, saying they kill too many civilians and violate its sovereignty, although in private officials have admitted the government supports them.“The Pakistani government is weighing all options after the Karachi attack.”

Bombs against Kurds, other attacks in Iraq kill 33

BAGHDAD: A double bombing tore through Kurdish political party offices in northern Iraq in the deadliest of a series of attacks nationwide that killed at least 33 people, officials said.

It was the second such assault in as many days. Nobody claimed responsibility for Monday´s attack.

But an al-Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the previous double bombing Sunday against Kurdish offices in Jalula, northwest of Baghdad, killing 19 people.

The group said in an online statement that the bombings in Jalula were in response to the detention of Muslim women by authorities in the self-rule Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Iraq is grappling with its worst surge in violence since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006 and 2007, when the country was pushed to the brink of civil war despite the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. troops.

The Americans withdrew at the end of 2011.Monday´s attack took place in the town of Tuz Khormato, about 200 kilometers (130 miles) north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden truck into a checkpoint leading up to the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the nearby Kurdistan Communist Party.

Bombs against Kurds, other attacks in Iraq kill 33

BAGHDAD: A double bombing tore through Kurdish political party offices in northern Iraq in the deadliest of a series of attacks nationwide that killed at least 33 people, officials said.

It was the second such assault in as many days. Nobody claimed responsibility for Monday´s attack.

But an al-Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the previous double bombing Sunday against Kurdish offices in Jalula, northwest of Baghdad, killing 19 people.

The group said in an online statement that the bombings in Jalula were in response to the detention of Muslim women by authorities in the self-rule Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Iraq is grappling with its worst surge in violence since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006 and 2007, when the country was pushed to the brink of civil war despite the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. troops.

The Americans withdrew at the end of 2011.Monday´s attack took place in the town of Tuz Khormato, about 200 kilometers (130 miles) north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden truck into a checkpoint leading up to the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the nearby Kurdistan Communist Party.

C’wealth media body concerned over attacks on Jang, Geo Writes to PM Nawaz

LONDON: Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) President Rita Payne has written a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressing concern on targeting the Geo TV and Jang Group.

According to a press release, Payne said during the past few weeks, many incidents of attacks on the media in Pakistan have surfaced. Attack on Geo TV anchor Hamid Mir in Karachi and torture on resident editor, Jang Multan, are aimed to muffle the voices of rivals, which is a cause of concern for the CJA.

Payne said she understands that it was time when journalists and editors would cross the line between reporting and intentional commentary on an issue. She said the hard-won freedom of press in Pakistan needs to be protected. She appealed to Nawaz to make sure protection of the media against torture and pressure.

Iraq attacks kill 20

BAGHDAD: A wave of attacks across Iraq, including twin car bombs in an ethnically mixed tinderbox city, killed 20 people Wednesday as a year-long surge of violence showed no signs of let-up.

Nearly 50 people were also wounded in the violence, which struck in and around Baghdad, as well as in Salaheddin and Kirkuk provinces to its north, all areas afflicted by near-daily bloodshed.

In the deadliest attack, two vehicles rigged with explosives went off in the centre of Kirkuk, killing eight people and leaving nine wounded, said provincial health chief Sabah Mohammed.

Kirkuk, an oil-rich ethnically diverse city, lies at the centre of a swathe of territory that Iraqi Kurdistan wants to incorporate into its three-province autonomous region over the objections of the central government in Baghdad.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Elsewhere in north Iraq, two people were killed when a suicide attacker set off a truck bomb in Suleiman Bek, while a corpse booby-trapped with explosives killed a policeman in nearby Tuz Khurmatu.

In the adjoining province of Salaheddin, two separate bombings left a policeman and a soldier dead.

In the capital, meanwhile, a car bomb killed four people in a shopping area of Saba Abkar, while a policeman was shot dead in district in the south.

On Baghdad´s northern outskirts, two policemen were killed by a roadside bomb. (AFP)

Iraq attacks kill 33 as 2014 death toll tops 4,000

BAGHDAD: Attacks across Iraq killed 33 people on Wednesday, the latest in a months-long surge in violence that has left more than 4,000 people dead this year.

The shootings and bombings struck in Baghdad and restive parts of the north and west, leaving dozens more wounded, security and medical officials said.

The protracted spike in bloodletting has fuelled fears that Iraq is slipping back into the all-out conflict that plagued it in 2006 and 2007, when a brutal sectarian war left tens of thousands dead.

In the deadliest attack, a suicide car bomb exploded in north Baghdad, killing at least 16 people and wounding 50 others, security and medical officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Elsewhere in and around the capital, six people were killed in multiple attacks, while three others died in the northern provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh.

Also in north Iraq, a series of 11 bombings in the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu killed five people, four of them members of the same family, and wounded 11.The blasts targeted homes belonging to ethnic Turkmen.

The town, which is also populated by Arabs and Kurds, lies in a stretch of territory that Kurdish leaders want to incorporate into their autonomous region over the objections of the central government.

Insurgents often exploit poor communication between Arab and Kurdish security forces to carry out attacks in the area.

Iraq attacks kill 20 as security forces cast ballots

BAGHDAD: Deadly attacks on Monday, including a spate of suicide bombings, killed 20 soldiers and policemen as they cast their ballots ahead of Iraq´s first election since US troops withdrew.

The bombings in Baghdad and north and west Iraq raise serious concerns about the ability of the country´s security forces to protect voters during Wednesday´s general election, when more than 20 million Iraqis are eligible to vote.

They come amid a protracted surge in violence and fears the country is edging towards all-out conflict. Attackers wearing suicide belts hit polling centres in Baghdad and cities north of the capital, while roadside bombs struck military convoys and targeted journalists covering the polling.

At a voting centre in western Baghdad where six security members were killed, ambulances rushed to and fro, collecting the wounded, as soldiers cordoned off the street and ushered passersby away, an AFP journalist said.

Attacks elsewhere left 14 dead overall -- all members of the security forces -- officials said.In the main northern city of Mosul, meanwhile, six journalists were wounded as a bomb went off while they were travelling in a military vehicle to cover police and troops voting.

The blasts shattered an early morning calm, when soldiers and policemen had queued outside voting centres amid tight security across Baghdad and around the country as polls opened, leaving with the traditional purple ink-stained finger indicating they had voted.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, lambasted by critics for allegedly consolidating power and targeting minority groups amid a deterioration of security, is bidding for a third term in the polls with Iraqis frustrated over poor basic services, rampant corruption and high unemployment.

The month-long campaign has seen Baghdad and other cities plastered with posters and decked out in bunting, as candidates have taken to the streets, staged loud rallies and challenged each other in angry debates.

Iraq attacks kill 20 as security forces cast ballots

BAGHDAD: Deadly attacks on Monday, including a spate of suicide bombings, killed 20 soldiers and policemen as they cast their ballots ahead of Iraq´s first election since US troops withdrew.

The bombings in Baghdad and north and west Iraq raise serious concerns about the ability of the country´s security forces to protect voters during Wednesday´s general election, when more than 20 million Iraqis are eligible to vote.

They come amid a protracted surge in violence and fears the country is edging towards all-out conflict. Attackers wearing suicide belts hit polling centres in Baghdad and cities north of the capital, while roadside bombs struck military convoys and targeted journalists covering the polling.

At a voting centre in western Baghdad where six security members were killed, ambulances rushed to and fro, collecting the wounded, as soldiers cordoned off the street and ushered passersby away, an AFP journalist said.

Attacks elsewhere left 14 dead overall -- all members of the security forces -- officials said.In the main northern city of Mosul, meanwhile, six journalists were wounded as a bomb went off while they were travelling in a military vehicle to cover police and troops voting.

The blasts shattered an early morning calm, when soldiers and policemen had queued outside voting centres amid tight security across Baghdad and around the country as polls opened, leaving with the traditional purple ink-stained finger indicating they had voted.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, lambasted by critics for allegedly consolidating power and targeting minority groups amid a deterioration of security, is bidding for a third term in the polls with Iraqis frustrated over poor basic services, rampant corruption and high unemployment.

The month-long campaign has seen Baghdad and other cities plastered with posters and decked out in bunting, as candidates have taken to the streets, staged loud rallies and challenged each other in angry debates.

Diabetic heart attacks, strokes falling: study

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NEW YORK: In the midst of the diabetes epidemic, a glimmer of good news: Heart attacks, strokes and other complications from the disease are plummeting.

Over the last two decades, the rates of heart attacks and strokes among diabetics fell by more than 60 percent, a new federal study shows. The research also confirms earlier reports of drastic declines in diabetes-related kidney failure and amputations.

The drop is mainly attributed to better screening, medicines and care. The improvements came even as the number of U.S. adults with diabetes more than tripled in those 20 years.

"It is great news," said Dr. John Buse, a University of North Carolina diabetes specialist, of the drop in rates.

"The prognosis for folks with diabetes has improved dramatically over the last two decades, at least for those with good access to care," Buse said in an email. He was not involved in the study.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research is reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Diabetes is a disease in which sugar builds up in the blood. The most common form is tied to obesity, and the number of diabetics has ballooned with the rise in obesity. Today, roughly 1 in 10 U.S. adults has the disease, and it is the nation's seventh leading cause of death, according to the CDC.

The obese are already at higher risk for heart attacks and strokes. But diabetics seem to have more narrowing of their blood vessels - a condition that can further foster those problems.

In the 1990s, key studies showed that diabetics could keep their blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol under control. The research suggested that vision and heart problems, leg and foot amputations and other diabetes complications were not necessarily inevitable.

Meanwhile, insurance programs expanded coverage of blood sugar monitors and diabetes treatment. Gradually, larger numbers of diabetics were diagnosed earlier and with milder disease.

For the new study, the CDC tallied complication rates from 1990 to 2010 for diabetics ages 20 or older.

During that time, the heart attack rate fell 68 percent, from 141 to 45.5 per 10,000 diabetics, according to hospital records.

The decline was so great that, despite the growing ranks of diabetics, the actual number hospitalized with heart attacks dropped from more than 140,000 to about 136,000.

The stroke rate fell less dramatically - but still declined by more than half, finishing at 53 per 10,000. The heart attack and stroke rates for diabetics are essentially even now, lead author Edward Gregg noted.

The researchers saw declines in hearts attack and stroke rates for non-diabetics as well, but those improvements weren't nearly as big as they were for diabetics.

Amputation rates also fell by more than half. However, like strokes, the actual number increased over the two decades.

The growth in the number of diabetics "wiped out most of the gains" from the declining rates, so the number who ended up in the hospital for strokes or amputations swelled, said Dr. Robert Gabbay, of Boston's Joslin Diabetes Center.

The study also found that the rate of kidney failure dropped by 28 percent. But that wasn't true for all ages - the rate in those 65 and older actually increased, for reasons that aren't clear. That could be a sign diabetics are living longer - long enough to get kidney disease, Gregg speculated.

The researchers also looked at a less common complication, death caused by dangerous levels of blood sugar. The rate of such deaths dropped by 64 percent; the numbers also declined by 18 percent. In 2010, those deaths totaled 2,361.

 

14 killed in twin Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh

CHHATTISGARH: At least 14 people, including poll officials and CRPF troops were killed in two Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.

The first attack took place in Bijapur district where at least seven poll officials were killed after the bus they were travelling in was hit by a landmine blast. The driver and helper of the bus were also killed, three others were injured.

The second attack took place in the state's Darbha valley, where an ambulance was blown up using an IED. Five CRPF jawans were killed and six were injured in the blast.

13 killed in Miranshah bombing, rocket attacks

MIRANSHAH: At least 13 persons were killed in remote control bomb and rocket attacks on two vehicles on Friday morning, Geo news reported.

Sources said that the first incident occurred in Tehsil Dattakhel of Miranshah, when a remote control bomb planted by the roadside targeted a vehicle that killed three persons and two sustained injuries.

Meanwhile in another incident, a rocket fired on a vehicle at Shawal killed 10 persons. Those killed could not be identified yet.

Five gunned down in Karachi attacks

Karachi: Five people were gunned down in the city on Wednesday in a new wave of sectarian killings that had already claimed two lives a day earlier. Besides, a police constable and an Awami National Party activist were among four other people killed in the city.Three seminary students were shot dead near Darul Sakoon madrassah in Block 14 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Mumbai terror attacks case in Pakistan hit by security concerns

For four weeks since the suicide attack on the Islamabad district and sessions court on March 3, the trial of the seven accused in the Mumbai terror strike of November 26, 2008, was held up.

Defence lawyer Rizwan Abbasi said that the case underway in the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) in the F/8 Markaz which was targeted, was being heard in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi and security concerns were voiced by judge Atiq ur Rehman.

He said an application was made to the law secretary to enhance security at the jail where the trial is also conducted sometimes since the accused cannot be transported outside.

Now the ATC has been shifted to sector G 11 and Mr. Abbasi has moved an application for the accused to be exempted from appearance. While no witness could be cross examined last month, the case will now be heard next Wednesday.

Earlier, the court heard the matter every week and that is likely to continue as is the practice if there is some satisfaction over security. About 32 witnesses have been examined so far in the case.

He said it was not only the Mumbai case but all other cases which were held up due to security concerns after the attack on the court. Most of the cases were adjourned as a result last month.

The prosecution had earlier said there were several witnesses left to be examined and they also had a list of some people whose testimony had to be recorded. The old team of defence lawyers was replaced by Mr Abbasi in a well publicized event last year.

He had said that the trial was moving very slowly and was planning to approach the higher courts for a speedy closure. India has been demanding that Pakistan punish the guilty in the Mumbai attacks and the suspects include Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum.

Proceedings started in 2009 but have dragged on and one of the prosecutors Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot dead in May 2013. The current prosecutor had also demanded increased security cover.

Test accurately rules out heart attacks in the ER

 

WASHINGTON: A simple test appears very good at ruling out heart attacks in people who go to emergency rooms with chest pain, a big public health issue and a huge worry for patients.

A large study in Sweden found that the blood test plus the usual electrocardiogram of the heartbeat were 99 percent accurate at showing which patients could safely be sent home rather than be admitted for observation and more diagnostics.

Of nearly 9,000 patients judged low risk by the blood test and with normal electrocardiograms, only 15 went on to suffer a heart attack in the next month, and not a single one died.

"We believe that with this strategy, 20 to 25 percent of admissions to hospitals for chest pain may be avoided," said Dr. Nadia Bandstein of the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

She helped lead the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and presented Sunday at the cardiology college's annual conference in Washington.

Chest pain sends more than 15 million people to emergency rooms in the United States and Europe each year, and it usually turns out to be due to anxiety, indigestion or other less-serious things than a heart attack. Yet doctors don't want to miss one - about 2 percent of patients having heart attacks are mistakenly sent home.

People may feel reassured by being admitted to a hospital so doctors can keep an eye on them, but that raises the risk of picking up an infection and having expensive care they'll have to pay a share of, plus unnecessary tests.

The study included nearly 15,000 people who went to the Karolinska University hospital with chest pains over two years. About 8,900 had low scores on a faster, more sensitive blood test for troponin, a substance that's a sign of heart damage. The test has been available in Europe, Asia and Canada for about three years, but it is not yet available in the United States.

The patients were 47 years old on average and 4 percent had a previous heart attack. About 21 percent of them wound up being admitted.

Researchers later looked back to see how the blood test and electrocardiogram would have predicted how they fared over the next month.

They figured that in order to find one heart attack in patients like this, 594 would have to be admitted - a huge waste of resources.

A test like this would be "enormously useful," and the study's results are "almost too good to be true," said Dr. Judd Hollander, an emergency medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.

He believes the test should be available in the U.S. and that the amount of evidence that regulators are requiring to approve it is too high.

Dr. Allan Jaffe, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said the problem is not what the test rules out, but what it might falsely rule in. It's so sensitive that it can pick up troponin from heart failure and other problems and cause unnecessary tests for that.

"I think the strategy long-term will be proven," but more studies underway now in the U.S. are needed to show that, he said.

 

Russian media rejects US claims on civilian deaths in drone attacks

MOSCOW: Number of civilian’s deaths from US drone attacks in Pakistan is far bigger than Washington admits, Russian media said on Sunday.

In a documentary on US drones, the Russian media said over 3000 people half of them civilians have been killed in 350 aerial strikes in Pakistan.

The Russian media called US term ‘Signature Strikes’ as worrying since in this procedure suspects are killed in US drone attacks without any substantial evidence.

They said the US drone attacks are tantamount to war crimes and sheer violation of international laws.

Imran links polio team attacks to Shakil Afridi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Imran Khan said attacks on polio teams were linked to the Shakil Afridi incident.
“Polio health workers and policemen were not targeted prior to the Shakil Afridi incident,” said Imran Khan during a news conference alongside a delegation of the World Health Organisation.
The PTI chairman added that he would advise Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to make polio immunisation part of the dialogue process with the Taliban.
“There is a war-like situation in North Waziristan and polio immunisation in the area should be made part of the dialogue process.”