Thousands flee NWA fearing operation: officials

PESHAWAR: Tens of thousands of people from Pakistan´s most troubled tribal district have fled their homes fearing a long-awaited military operation is imminent, officials and residents said Monday.

A government official in Peshawar told AFP that some 58,000 people, mostly women and children, had fled North Waziristan district since air strikes targeting militants in late May killed at least 75 people.

The exodus has increased rapidly in recent days, with more than 25,000 fleeing their homes in the last 48 hours alone, he added.

An official in the district´s main town of Miranshah confirmed the migration was underway to various parts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwha province.

"I am taking my family to a safer location," said one resident who did not wish to be named.

The rugged district that lies on the border with Afghanistan is the main stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the lawless tribal belt after the Pakistani military launched offensives in the six other districts.

Blast kills four Afghan policemen: officials

GHAZNI: An explosion killed four Afghan police including a district chief on Thursday as they attempted to defuse a roadside bomb in the restive south, officials said.

Afghanistan has seen a flare-up in violence ahead of the second-round presidential election on June 14, with Taliban insurgents threatening to disrupt the polls.

Thursday´s blast occurred as Mohammad Qasim and his team attempted to defuse one of two roadside bombs found in Waghiz district of Ghazni province.

"They defused the first bomb and while they were trying to defuse the second one nearby, it detonated and killed them," provincial spokesman Shafiq Nang told AFP.

One policeman was wounded in the attack and taken to a nearby hospital, deputy police chief of Ghazni, Assadullah Safi, said while confirming the incident.

The incident comes after 16 policemen were killed in a series of attacks in the space of 24 hours last month, as security forces gear up to guard the election.

Providing security for the vote is a key test for Afghan police and soldiers, with the bulk of 51,000 NATO combat troops due to pull out of the country by December after more than a decade fighting the Taliban.

No one has claimed responsibility for Thursday´s attack, but roadside bombs are the Taliban´s weapon of choice in their war against the foreign and Afghan forces. (AFP)

PM consults officials for restoring peace talks with Taliban

 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has held consultations with some important officials in connection with restoring the peace talks with the Taliban.
According to the sources, despite the military operation in North Waziristan and other agencies against the militants, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan are in favour of restoring the process of the peace dialogue with the Taliban.

The sources in the capital said that two days before the meeting of political and military leadership on Friday, the prime minister had held talks with former ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmand regarding the restoration of peace talks with the Taliban.

The sources said that the government still wanted to create an atmosphere for talks so that durable peace could be established in the troubled areas.

When The News contacted Rustam Shah in this regard, he said that the prime minister was hopeful and the process was moving forward positively.

19 dead in Iraq as pilgrims, family targeted: officials

SAMARRA: Militants have attacked a bus carrying pilgrims north of Baghdad, killing 11 people, while a family of eight was shot dead south of the capital, Iraqi officials said Sunday.

The bloodshed late Saturday comes during vote counting from the April 30 general election, the first since US troops withdrew in late 2011, and amid a protracted surge in nationwide unrest.

While officials are quick to blame external factors for the violence, analysts and diplomats say widespread anger among minority is also a key cause.

In the deadliest attack, a bombing and shooting targeting the bus of pilgrims killed 11 people and wounded 21, police and a doctor said.

The pilgrims were returning from Samarra north of the capital, when a roadside bomb blast on the outskirts of the town of Balad was followed by gunmen opening fire on the bus.

Also on Saturday evening, police found the bodies of eight family members shot dead inside their home in southeast of Baghdad.

It was unclear why the family had been targeted or who killed them. (AFP)

 

10 killed in northeast of Baghdad twin bombing; officials

BAQUBA: Twin bombings at a market in a town northeast of Baghdad killed at least 10 people and wounded 20 others on Tuesday, security and medical officials said.

The 10:00 am (0700 GMT) blasts in Saadiyah came a day after a suicide bomb in the nearby town of Khanaqin killed 30 people, with Iraq due to hold its first parliamentary elections since 2010 on Wednesday.

Saadiyah lies in eastern Iraq, along a tract of disputed territory that the country´s autonomous Kurdish region wants to incorporate despite Baghdad´s objections. Militants frequently capitalise on poor communication between Kurdish and Arab security forces in the disputed areas to launch attacks.

Iraq is embroiled in its worst protracted period of bloodshed in years, with nearly 3,000 people killed already this year.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who hails from Iraq´s Shiite Arab majority and is accused by critics of monopolising power and targeting minority groups, is seeking a third term in Wednesday´s election.

US imposes sanctions on 7 Russian officials

AP Barack Obama

The United States levied new sanctions on Monday on seven Russian government officials, as well as 17 companies with links to Vladimir Putin’s close associates, as the Obama administration seeks to pressure the Russian leader to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine.

The new penalties were a response to what U.S. officials said is Russia’s failure to live up to commitments it agreed to under an international accord aimed at ending the dispute.

Among the targets of the new sanctions is Igor Sechin, the president of state oil company Rosneft, who has worked for Putin since the early 1990s.

Even with the new measures, Mr. Obama voiced pessimism about whether they would be enough to change Mr. Putin’s calculus.

“We don’t yet know whether it’s going to work,” he said.

Also on the list of those sanctioned by the U.S. are Aleksei Pushkov, the Kremlin-connected head of Russian Parliament’s Lower House, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, and Sergei Chemezov, another long-time Putin ally.

The company-specific sanctions will affect entities like Transoil, a freight rail operator, and other infrastructure companies involved in electrical and gas pipeline construction. The U.S. also sanctioned two entities it alleges are owned or controlled by Bank Rossiya, which is owned by members of Mr. Putin’s inner circle.

Sahiwal rape case: CM Punjab suspends negligent police officials

SAHIWAL: Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif visited the family of the rape victim in Sahiwal and suspended the police officers for mishandling and delaying the case, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif reached the victim’s house early today morning and assured of providing justice to the aggrieved family. On this occasion, the District Police Officer (DPO) briefed the CM Punjab about the case.

Shahbaz Sharif questioned the DPO about the delay in resolving the case and ordered to suspend the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and two Station House Officers (SHO) for being irresponsible and delaying the case for over a month.

Furthermore, CM Punjab ordered the police to arrest the molesters in 48 hours and sentence them for their heinous crime. He also ordered police to complete the challan against the culprits in three days and told that he would request the judges to hear the case on daily basis.

Shahbaz Sharif reprimanded the IG Punjab Police, RPO and other officials and instructed to take prompt action against the criminals and to provide justice to the victim’s family.

He also assured to provide educational assistance to the children of the affected family.

Pak officials take loans, forget pledges: IMF

 

WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Pakistan Mission chief Jeffery Franks has said that Pakistani officials in times of financial crisis take loans and forget their pledges as soon as they are out of the crisis.
In a TV interview, Jeffery Franks said that several IMF programmes with Pakistan could not succeed due to the fact that when officials face financial difficulties, they make all sorts of pledges but as soon as they get out of the crisis they forget to fulfil them. He said this practice must end now.The IMF Pakistan Mission chief said it seems the new government will meet the promises made relating to reforms, particularly in the energy sector and taxation system.

NAB probes corruption charges against USC officials in CPF case

Islamabad: As many as three high officials of Utility Stores Corporation (USC) are facing charges of financial irregularities worth Rs60 million and making some 2,000 illegal appointments in two separate cases recently initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), sources told this scribe here on Friday.

Sources said the investigation has been initiated against the officials, including General Manager Human Resource Wing Inayatullah Daula, Senior General Manager Coordination Sultan Mehmood and General Manager Vigilance Raja Ijaz.

As far as financial irregularity is concerned, it has been alleged that all these high officials of USC played a role in investing huge Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) in National Investment Trust without getting approval from the competent authority and it had resulted in losses worth Rs60 million to the corporation.

The record showed that the USC already held two interval inquiries into the matter in 2011 and 2012 and findings of first inquiry were rejected by the governing board terming it a ‘mala fide attempt’ while the report of the second one gave a clean chit to all officials who were probed in CPF funds case.

In another case, General Manager Human Resource Wing Inayatullah Daula and other officers have been blamed for more than 2,000 illegal appointments but interestingly the NAB has sought all record of these appointments from Inayatullah Daula who is himself accused in the case.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PPP-led government not only inducted all these persons in USC but also announced that it would regularise their services through Khursheed Shah Committee, but it did not materialise due to some bureaucratic hurdles.

According to the official record, around 9,000 USC employees are regular, 4,520 employees are working on contract basis and 2,443 daily wagers work in the USC throughout the country.The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Regularisation of the Contract/Daily Wages Employees in previous government approved regularisation of the 3,925 contract/daily wages employees of USC but the decision was not implemented by the relevant authorities.

The official record showed that the USC administration has already dismissed some 1,100 daily wages employees inducted during the PPP’s government besides showing the door to those 150 daily wagers recruited by the caretaker government.

The NAB spokesman in his written reply said: “The inquiries have been authorised in these case which are under process.” When contacted, General Manager Human Resource Wing Inayatullah Daula told this correspondent that the NAB is currently carrying out investigation against him and some other officials but he is yet to appear before the NAB officials.

“At the moment, the NAB officials have initiated the investigation into some cases and I don’t have any knowledge about how they would move forward in this direction. Whatever they would ask from me, I would let them know each and every thing. Now I cannot offer you any more comments on this issue,” he said.

Senior General Manager Coordination Sultan Mehmood told this correspondent that internal inquiry was conducted with regard to investment of CPF funds and many officials including him were probed but later the findings showed that no ill intention was involved in it.

“Now NAB has reopened the CPF funds case, but so far neither any notice has been served on him nor he has been contacted by any one in this respect. If I am asked to share any information then I would do it to the best of my knowledge,” he said.

USC General Manager (Vigilance) Raja Ijaz told this scribe that internal inquiry into the case already established the fact that the relevant officials did no wrong and they are again ready to face probe into the CPF case initiated by NAB.

“A circular has been issued in which all officials have been directed not to interact with media so I cannot share anything more on this topic. If I share what we are going to present to the NAB officials then it would be violation of official directives,” he said. When contacted, USC Managing Director Khaqan Murtaza said that two internal inquiries have already been conducted to probe CPF funds case and now the ministry has approached NAB to reopen the case.

“The inquiry done in 2012 concluded that no ill intentions were involved when CPF funds were invested in National Investment Trust. But if the relevant authorities thought it right to reinvestigate the case through NAB then they have no reservations about it,” he added.

To a question, he said they also have no reservations about inquiry into recruitments made during the PPP’s government because if there had been violation of rules then the incumbent government has the authority to take action in this respect.

4 dead, including gunman, at Fort Head: officials

FORT HOOD: A gunman opened fire Wednesday at Fort Hood in an attack that left four dead, including the shooter, law enforcement officials said.

One of the officials, citing official internal Justice Department updates, said 14 others were hurt. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information by name.

A U.S. law enforcement official said reports circulating within the Justice Department indicate the shooter died of what appears to be a self-inflicted wound. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing.

The Texas Army base was the scene of a mass shooting in 2009. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in what was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in history.

The Army said on its official Twitter feed that the post was still on lockdown. Injured people were being treated at the post's Carl R. Darnall Medical Center and other local hospitals.

Outside the base, some relatives of soldiers waited for news about their loved ones.

Tayra DeHart, 33, said she had last heard from her husband, a soldier at the post, that he was safe, but that was hours earlier.

"The last two hours have been the most nerve-wracking I've ever felt. I know God is here protecting me and all the soldiers, but I have my phone in my hand just hoping it will ring and it will be my husband," DeHart said.

In Chicago, President Barack Obama vowed that investigators will get to the bottom of the shooting, seeking to reassure the nation whose sense of security once again has been shaken by mass violence

In a hastily arranged statement, Obama said he and his team were following the situation closely but that details about what happened at the sprawling Army post were still fluid. He said the shooting brought back painful memories of the 2009 attack.

Obama reflected on the sacrifices that troops stationed at Fort Hood have made - including during multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They serve with valor, they serve with distinction and when they're at their home base, they need to feel safe," Obama said. "We don't yet know what happened tonight, but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again."

The president spoke without notes or prepared remarks in the same room of a steakhouse where he had just met with about 25 donors at a previously scheduled fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. White House officials quickly pushed tables to the side of the room to make room for Obama to speak to the nation.

 

Thar deaths: Sindh CM denies negligence by Sindh govt, officials

KARACHI: Speaking during the Sindh Assembly proceedings on Tuesday, the chief minister exonerated the government of any responsibility for the Tharparkar debacle.“Nobody below the age of 10 has died there [in Tharparkar] because of drought-induced factors. There are other reasons for the death of children below that age. They did not die of starvation,” Qaim Ali Shah said while delivering a speech in response to a motion moved by the opposition about the humanitarian crisis in the famine-hit Tharparkar district.