Taliban Suicide Bomber Attacks Ashura Procession in Pakistan, Kills 23

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

A suicide attack targeted an Ashura procession in Pakistan overnight, killing 23 people and wounding 62 others, including eight children, as Muslim leaders gathered for a rare summit in Islamabad.

Police in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital said the bomber blew himself up when he was stopped for a security check as Muslim faithful commemorated the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad’s (as) grandson Imam Hussein (as) during the holy month of Muharram.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, another explosion that killed two people near a mosque in Karachi, and attacks targeting security forces in the northwest.

Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP that “we carried out the attacks (on Wednesday) in Rawalpindi and Karachi because the Shiite community is engaged in defiling the Prophet.”

Pakistan is hosting a summit which includes Egypt, Iran and Turkey Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria.

The summit is aimed at strengthening “Pakistan’s international standing and helping remove misconceptions (about the country) created in a section of international media", according to a Pakistani government statement.

India has asked Pakistan to increase security at its embassy

Source : www.pakistannews.net

India has asked Pakistan to increase security at its embassy, following fear of demonstrations or possible retaliation after the execution of Pakistani militant Ajmal Kasab, who was the sole survivor of the terror squad responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

"We did ask for precautionary measures in terms of protecting our diplomats in Pakistan. We sent a missive to that effect," The Dawn quoted Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid, as saying.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that the demand had been made as "there was a need for extra security".

The move follows the Pakistani Taliban's threat on Thursday to attack Indian targets to avenge the country's execution of Kasab.

"We have decided to target Indians to avenge the killing of Ajmal Kasab," said Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan.

Kasab, who hailed from Pakistan's Faridkot village, was hanged at a jail in Pune's Yerwada jail early on Wednesday, after Indian President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his appeal for mercy.

Kasab was sentenced to death in May 2010 after he was found guilty of a string of charges, including waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.

He appealed in the Supreme Court claiming he did not receive a fair trial, but his petition was struck down in August.

During the 2008 attacks, heavily armed gunmen stormed targets in Mumbai including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, a hospital and a bustling train station. (ANI)

Pakistani PM opens defence exhibition, vows to resist terrorists

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minster Raja Pervez Ashraf Wednesday opened an international defence exhibition in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, in which a total of 135 foreign and 74 Pakistani firms are displaying their defence equipment and machinery, local media reported.

Nearly 80 foreign delegations, including 24 high level ones, headed either by their respective defence ministers, secretaries or service chiefs, are also attending the five-day International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS 2012), organizers said.

Inaugurating the exhibition, the prime minister said that Pakistan is confronted with numerous challenges ranging from terrorism and extremism to social problems. "The terrorists will not be allowed to enforce their agenda," he said. He stressed the need to eliminate root causes of terrorism to ensure durable global peace.

About the Pakistan-China relationship, the Prime Minister said that both countries enjoy enduring relations. He said that there is also progress in Pakistan's relations with Russia. Pakistan is also strengthening cooperation with Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey. He said Pakistan supports peace process in Afghanistan.

Referring to Pakistan-India relations, Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf said that two countries are moving in a right direction through dialogue. He described Pak-Iran gas pipeline as the path to development. However, he said, establishment of peace was vital for it.

The Prime Minister said Asia is becoming a centre of economic activity and Pakistan will greatly contribute in this regard. He said efforts are underway to strengthen national economy. In this regard, tax net is being expanded to generate revenue for the development of the country.

Earlier, Minister for Defence Production Sardar Bahadur in his welcome address expressed the hope that the defence products manufactured in Pakistan would greatly cater for the defensive and military requirements of the needy buyers and countries.

Some of the major indigenously developed products are also showcased in the IDEAS 2012 including Battle Tank Al-Khalid, JF-17 Thunder Fighter Aircraft, Jet Trainer Aircraft and UAVs.

Separate country pavilions have been reserved for Turkey and China. Adequate space has also been made available to accommodate defence companies from North America, South America and Asia.

The exhibition opens for officially invited delegations comprising senior officials of foreign countries and trade visitors from abroad as well as from the country.

An organizer, Brigadier Mazhar Mumtaz, said that potential buyers included countries from Far East, Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.

"Pakistan's markets are the countries that are not war intensified as Central Asia, South Asia and Africa," he told a news conference ahead of the conference.

Decision makers from foreign countries are provided with a chance to meet local exhibitors and manufacturers that may further open opportunities for outsourcing as well as joint ventures.

Several high level meetings have also been planned on the sidelines of IDEAS 2012 that would promote potential of Pakistan Defence Industry on the intentional horizons.

The conference includes seminars with major focus on "Security Outlook 2025 - Future Security Trend and Challenges for Defence Industry in Mounting Technological Response".

Scholars from Pakistan, the United States, Turkey, China and other countries would make their respective presentations, organizers say.

An international defence conference is also scheduled.

Suicide attack on Pakistan base kills one

Source : Egypt Independent

suicide bomber killed at least one person when he rammed his vehicle into the gates of a military base in Pakistan's largest city on Thursday, police said, the latest in a series of audacious attacks on security forces.

Thirteen people were wounded in the explosion but the attacker was unable to penetrate into the headquarters of the Rangers paramilitary base in the port city of Karachi.

"It is a heavy blast near the Rangers office, with some casualties," said senior police official Javed Odho.

He told Pakistani television the bomber had used more than 100 kg of explosives in the attack. Karachi is Pakistan's financial hub and is home to 18 million people.

The bombing is the latest in a series of attacks on military bases in Pakistan, including a 16- hour assault on Pakistan's navy base in Karachi in 2011 that killed at least 10 people and an attack on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009.

Some of the assaults have prompted speculation the attackers had sympathizers inside the military who gave them information about the bases.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan, an uneasy US ally, is fighting its own homegrown Taliban as well as other insurgents who cross its porous border with neighboring Afghanistan.

Karachi is home to a number of sectarian groups and fighters allied to the Taliban insurgency and is also faced with an epidemic of violent crime.

3 killed in blast in NW Pakistan

Via : Pakistan News.Net

Islamabad, Nov. 7 (Xinhua-ANI): At least three people were killed and ten others injured when a blast took place in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Kurram Agency on Wednesday, reported local media.

According to local Urdu TV channel Dawn, the blast took place at about noon time at a market area in Sadda, a small town in Kurram Agency which borders Afghanistan.

The injured people include a local political officer and they have all been shifted to hospital, said local media.

Other details about the blast are not immediately available.

This is the second blast reported in the country's restive northwest where a suicide bomb attack on Wednesday morning killed at least six people including three policemen and wounded over 30 others in Peshawar, the largest city in northwest Pakistan.

The target of the Peshawar blast was a local investigation department police officer who got killed together with his two police bodyguards and three others in the attack, including the suicide bomber himself.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. (Xinhua-ANI)