Pakistan/Terrorism: Pakistani Taleban claim responsibility for Karachi bombing 

Asmatullah Shaheen, one of the commanders of Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP), or Taleban Movement of Pakistan announced on Wednesday that his group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 43 people in the commercial capital Karachi, and threatened more attacks on the US Ally. "My group claims responsibility for the Karachi attack and we will carry out more such attacks, within 10 days," Shaheen told a news agency reporter in Peshawar.

He didn't explain the motive for the attack. The Pakistani Taleban has rarely claimed responsibility for attacks in Karachi. Shaheen said that one of the group's men was sent to the southern port city the day before the procession to carry out the bombing. "We will carry out more such attacks and also target government installations," Shaheen said.

A bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body as crowds marched down Mohammad Ali Jinnah Road in the heart of Pakistan's largest city on Monday. The attack sparked riots as mourners went on the rampage, throwing stones at ambulances, torching cars and buildings and reducing shops to charred wreckage. Firefighters continued to drench the flames Wednesday.

Pakistan/Terrorism: blast damages NATO tankers on Quetta-Sibi highway

The Dawn daily newspaper reported that a man was injured and four NATO tankers were damaged in a blast on Tuesday which took place on the highway connecting Quetta and Sibi. “Unknown assailants had planted a bomb beneath a NATO tanker parked on the national highway along with over two dozen other NATO tankers near a restaurant,” a police official, who preferred not to be named told the newspaper.

Reportedly, police rushed to the site soon after the incident and recovered another powerful bomb which had been planted under another NATO tanker. The bomb disposal squad was trying to defuse the explosive.

Separately, Taleban blown up a government primary girls' school in Shabqadar region of North West Pakistan. According to sources the five-room school was completely destroyed in the bomb blast. Senior Police official Mohammad Riaz Khan confirmed the blast and told reporters that a nearby house was also damaged. However, there were no reports of any causality in the blast.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide bombing death toll rises to 8

According to Pakistani police the death toll from a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim gathering in the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir increased to eight Monday. “Another 80 people were wounded in Sunday night’s bombing in Muzaffarabad — a rare sectarian attack in an area police say has little history of militant violence. The dead included three police,” said police official Yasin Baig, adding that another 10 police were among the wounded.

Reportedly, the suicide bomber set off explosives he was carrying as police searched him outside a ceremony commemorating the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, held every year on Ashura at the end of the Islamic holy month of Muharram. Baig said it was the first time a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite gathering in the region.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, security was put on high alert fearing sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni Muslims following the attack, and the army was called in to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide bomb blast kills 4 in Peshawar

At least four people have been killed and 20 others wounded on Thursday in a suicide bomb blast in downtown Peshawar. Reportedly, the blast occurred outside main office of Pakistan International Airline (PIA). “At least four people were killed and 20 others were injured in the suicide blast in Peshawar area near State Life Building situated at Mall Road in Saddar,” Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Liaquat Ali said. Senior North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Minister Bashir Bilour arrived on the blast site and informed the media that at least two suicide bombers caused the blast, killing at least two people on the blast. “The suicide bombers were riding a motorbike. The bombers blew themselves up on being intercepted by the security personnel Hayatullah at the post situated on Arbab Road, killing the security man Constable Hayatullah on the spot,” Bilour said.

Meanwhile, police and the security personnel cordoned off the area and started garnering clues from the blast site. The ambulances arrived on the spot and have rushed the injured and bodies to nearby Lady Reading Hospital. Earlier, On Tuesday, the Peshawar Press Club had been hit by a suicide bomber. Three people had been killed and several others injured in this attack in the capital of the NWFP.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide attack kills 4 at press club in Peshawar

At least four people have been killed and 17 others injured, including journalists when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Press Club in Peshawar on Tuesday. "It was a suicide attack. The bomber wanted to enter the building. The police official at the gate stopped him and he blew himself up," senior police official Karim Khan told reporters. The city's main Lady Reading Hospital said four people were killed, including a policeman and a press club employee. "We have received four bodies and 17 injured," Doctor Zafar Iqbal told reporters. Police said four journalists were among the wounded.

According to police the explosion shattered windows in the imposing red brick building, damaging the guard hut outside and nearby vehicles. "The guard room outside the gate was badly damaged. Three motorcycles parked inside the compound and one bus on the other side of the road were damaged. Almost all windows of the building were shattered," said Khan. No group claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

India/Pakistan/Terrorism: 26/11 accused Kasab denies all charges against him

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from last year's Mumbai attacks retracted his statement in court on Friday and stated police obtained his confession true torture. "I have been falsely implicated in the case," Kasab said in Urdu. "I was detained 20 days before the attacks while roaming at a beach."

Kasab, a Pakistani national had been charged with 86 separate offences including murder and waging war against India in the November attacks when militants killed 166 people in Mumbai. "He (Kasab) has told the court that he was arrested a few days ... before the attacks and kept in jail," public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said. Kasab is among 38 charged by India in the attacks. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

Nikam said the retraction would have no bearing as the prosecution has sufficient proof against Kasab. "We have clinching evidence against him," Nikam added. Kasab declared he never met Pakistani militant leaders who planned the attacks against India. He said had come to Mumbai to work in films and was not involved in the shootings.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide bomber kills 10 near a mosque in North West Frontier Province

At least 10 people have been killed and 28 others wounded when a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives near a mosque inside a police compound in the Timargira area of North West Frontier Province’s Lower Dir district on Friday. “Most of the 10 people killed in the attack in the Lower Dir region were police leaving the mosque after Friday prayers,” said the area's police chief, Feroze Khan. Ghulam Mohammed, a local hospital official said that most of the injured were also police officers.  

Witnesses said the mosque was badly damaged and the buildings nearby caught fire after the blast. Police said that the bomber had been barred to enter the mosque when the policemen were offering noon prayers due to security measures. The bomber then exploded his explosive-packed car nearby, police said.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the blast, the Prime Minister's office said. No group has taken responsibility for the bombing so far, but Tehreek-e-Taleban (TTP) terrorists have staged a string of attacks against Pakistani security forces in recent months.

Pakistan /Terrorism: security forces kills about 22 rebels in Kurram

Pakistani officials announced on Monday that government troops killed at least 22 suspected rebels in the Kurram region on the Afghan border. Reportedly, Pakistani security forces backed by artillery and fighter aircraft attacked terrorists in Kurram late on Saturday and on Sunday and destroyed 10 of their hideouts. "About 15 militants were killed in bombing late on Saturday and we have reports of another seven killed on Sunday," said a senior government official who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to media.

Another military official said five soldiers had also been killed in the fighting. The latest attack in Kurram came as Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced that the terrorists fleeing the "highly successful" operation in South Waziristan would be chased. The army said offensive in South Waziristan began in mid-October after weeks of aerial raids and troops have taken control of most of the rebels towns and main land routes in the rugged territory.

According to the military nearly 600 militants and up to 79 soldiers have been killed in the onslaught since October 17. However, the death toll is cannot be verified independently.

Pakistan/United States/Terrorism: top Al-Qaeda leader killed in drone strike

Media report says a top Al-Qaeda commander has been killed in a US drone attack in South Waziristan's Ladha region. Officials did not identify who was killed other than to say that it was neither Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden or his second man in command Ayman al-Zawahiri. Authorities told NBC News that the successful strike was the result of stepped-up operations targeting Al-Qaeda in recent weeks.

However, Pakistani officials have denied any such missile strike in the region. "No predator drone strike has taken place today," a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. At least four people were killed and four were injured when a US Predator drone struck in an area of the South Waziristan province. Sources said the strike was part of the expanded use of Predator drones recently authorised by the Obama administration.

The last high-ranking Al-Qaeda official killed by the US was Abu Laith al-Libi on Jan. 28, 2008. As with this report, he was killed by a Predator drone attack.

Pakistan/United States/Security: Americans held in Pakistan wanted to join jihad

Pakistani officials announced on Thursday that five Americans detained in Pakistan wanted to join a holy war and were in contact with militants through the Internet. "We watched them for one and a half days and then arrested them," Usman Anwar, police chief of Sargodha, told reporters. "We seized laptops and other things from their possession. Later we came to know that they have come here with the intention of 'jihad'."

Pakistani police said they arrested the five men, aged from 18 to their early 20s, in a raid on the house of a member of the banned militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, in the town of Sargodha in the eastern province of Punjab on Monday. Pakistani officials said the men were all US citizens, including three of Pakistani descent, one of Egyptian descent and one of Yemeni descent. A Pakistani security official said the men were detained on Monday. They had flown to Karachi on Nov. 30 and then travelled to Lahore on Dec. 5, and then on to Sargodha, he said. No charge has been framed against them. "Investigations are under way as to whether they have any links with extremist groups," said the official.

In Washington, the FBI said one of its agents and two other officials from the US embassy in Pakistan had spoken with some of the men, four of whom were found to have US passports. "Discussions concerning their possible return to the United States are still under way," the FBI said. FBI spokeswoman Katherine Schweit said the agency was aware of the arrests and was in contact with the families of the missing students. "We are working with Pakistan authorities to determine their identities and the nature of their business there, if indeed these are the students who had gone missing," she said.

Pakistan/United States/Terrorism: police holds 5 US men on suspicion of terror plots

The US embassy in Pakistan announced that FBI is investigating five American Muslim students who are thought to have been arrested in Pakistan Tuesday on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks. Reportedly, the men were held in a raid on a house in Sarghoda in eastern Punjab province. "If they are American citizens, we of course are going to be very interested in the charges that they've been detained on and in what sort of circumstances they're being held," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, said.

Pakistani police said they arrested the five men, aged from 18 to their early 20s, in a raid on the house of a member of the banned militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, in the town of Sargodha in the eastern province of Punjab. Pakistani officials said the men were all US citizens, including three of Pakistani descent, one of Egyptian descent and one of Yemeni descent.

The FBI said it was trying to determine whether they were the same men reported missing from their homes in the US state of Virginia late last month. FBI spokeswoman Katherine Schweit said the agency was aware of the arrests and was in contact with the families of the missing students. "We are working with Pakistan authorities to determine their identities and the nature of their business there, if indeed these are the students who had gone missing," she said.

Pakistan/Terrorism: 12 killed in twin blasts in Multan

(Hussein/Pgp/Pixplanete/Photo News)

At least 12 people have been killed and several others wounded in two simultaneous blasts on the office of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Multan city on Tuesday. The explosions took place at Qasim Bella area of Multan Cantonment. Deputy Inspector General of Police Arif Ikaram said the first blast occurred at 12.10 p.m (local time). “At least 12 people were killed and 10 injured in the blasts, said an official". The injured were taken to the Nishtar Hospital and Civil Hospital, he added. The explosion severely damaged Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) building. The ISI is the country's main and most feared intelligence agency.

On Monday, eleven people, including two policemen, were killed and 45 others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the sessions courts in Peshawar. The attack was second of its kind outside the court buildings in less than three weeks. Earlier, a suicide bomber attacked the Judicial Complex on Khyber Road on Nov 19, killing 21 people, including policemen, and injuring 52 others.

Separately, Taleban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud told the CNN that they are waiting the weather out and will take on the military when winter arrives in Pakistan's tribal region. "We will wait till January for our offensive since we are stronger during the snowing season," Mehsud said. He told CNN he remains confident despite the large-scale military operation currently targeting him and his fighters in the province of South Waziristan. "We have conserved our energy and have not lost our morale," he said. However, neither denied nor confirmed that the Pakistani Taleban was responsible for Monday's suicide blast outside the district courthouse in Peshawar. "Being occupied in other matters, I have not been able to contact my colleagues there, so I will not be able to take responsibility at this time," Mehsud said.

Pakistan/Terrorism: 5 killed, 50 hurt in suicide attack outside Peshawar court

At least five people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a bomb blast outside a court building in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on Monday. “The bomber, who came to the court complex in a rickshaw, tried to flee when he was challenged by police,” said North West Frontier Province Senior Minister Bashir Bilour. “He blew himself up when police fired at him,” the minister told reporters at the site of the blast. Five persons were killed in the blast, Bilour added.

About 50 injured people were taken to nearby hospitals. Doctors said six of them were in a serious condition. Several policemen, lawyers and passers-by were among the injured. Bilour said there would have been more casualties if the bomber had managed to enter the sessions court complex on Jail Road, a high-security area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Peshawar has witnessed a wave of terrorist attacks in the past few weeks. Car bombs and suicide attackers have targeted public places, police check posts and security facilities, including the provincial headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Hundreds have died in these attacks.

On Sunday, police commandos acting on a tip killed one terrorists and arrested five others in a raid against a bombing cell accused in recent attacks around the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar. “Three suicide jackets as well as a number of bombs, grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons were seized from the compound,” regional police Chief Liaquat Ali Khan said. He said one suspect was killed and five others arrested following a gunbattle that lasted more than two hours. The detained are suspected of involvement in recent bombings and other attacks not only in Peshawar but in Islamabad and its sister city of Rawalpindi, Khan said, declining to be more specific.

Shootings and blast heard from a mosque un Rawalpindi

Shootings and a blast have been heard this Friday morning from a mosque located near the military headquarters in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. "We have reports that firing was heard. There's a mosque there but we don't know what exactly is happening," said Mumtaz Ahmed, a local police officer.

Pakistan/Terrorism: 39 killed, 40 wounded in terror attack at Rawalpindi mosque

At least 39 people have been killed after gunmen attack on a mosque close to the army headquarters in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Friday, officials said. "We have updated the number of casualties including 39 dead and more that 40 wounded," Sohail Riaz, the official in charge of rescue services' control room in the town of Rawalpindi, told reporters.

Reportedly, at least six to seven gunmen entered the Parade Lanes mosque where people were preparing for Friday prayers, and threw hand grenades while firing at worshippers indiscriminately. Security forces officials opened retaliatory fire. Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistani military spokesman, confirmed the blasts but said had had no details on casualties. "There has been gunshots and blasts at the mosque. Details about the number of terrorists and casualties are yet to come," he said.

Meanwhile, security has cordoned off the area and ambulances have rushed to the scene in the busy Qasim Market area of the city. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. In recent months Pakistani security forces have been targeted by the militants. Nineteen people were killed in an attack on an army base in Rawalpindi in October. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the headquarters of Pakistan's navy in Islamabad, killing a security officer.

Pakistan/Terrorism: troops kill 15 rebels in Swat

At least 15 suspected terrorists, including a senior commander have been gunned down by Pakistani security forces in separate raids to flush out the Taleban from northwestern areas. “Ten suspects were killed in overnight fighting following a raid on a militant hide-out in the Swat Valley,” Major Mushtaq Ahmed said.

Ahmed said on Thursday that one of those killed was the rebel commander Abu Faraj, who was captured in September and accused of suicide bombings in the area. He says Abu Faraj led troops to the site near the town of Kabal and died in the fighting. Local official Adalat Khan says five other rebels were killed when security forces repelled attacks on three checkpoints in the Bajur area that borders Afghan.

Taleban spokesman Yousuf Ahamdi announced on Wednesday that they will step up resistance in response to a US decision to send additional troops to the war-torn Central Asian country. "Their hope to control Afghanistan by military means will not become reality," Ahamdi told a news agency on Wednesday from an unidentified location. "The extra 30,000 troops that will come to Afghanistan will provoke stronger resistance and fighting," he said.

Pakistan/Terrorism: 4 injured in Peshawar blast near police post

(Qureshi Sajjad Ali/Gamma/Eyedea Presse/Photo News)

At least four people, including a policeman was injured when a remote control bomb went off near police check post in Regi area in outskirts of Peshawar on Thursday. Reportedly, a pressure cooker filled with seven kilogram explosives had been installed near police checkpoint that was blasted through remote control.

Speaking to media Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Haroon Baber said the blast occurred near a police picket and injured policeman Ajmal and three passersby. The injured were shifted to Khyber teaching hospital where all of them reported out of danger. No group claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani announced on Thursday that Osama bin Laden is not sheltering in Pakistan and sternly defended his government's efforts to crack down on Al-Qaeda militants. "I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don't think Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan," Gilani said when asked at a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown about efforts to track down the Al-Qaeda leader.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide bomber kills officer outside naval complex in Islamabad

A suicide bomber has blown himself up outside Pakistan's naval headquarters in Islamabad on Wednesday, killing a security officer and wounding at least four people. "It was a suicide attack. Four people were injured -- one is in a critical condition," Bani Amin, a senior Islamabad police official, said. The Naval complex is located near Zafar Chowk in sector E-8 of Islamabad.

Reportedly, the bomber, trying to enter inside the Naval complex, blew himself up when he was intercepted by the security guards at the main entrance of the Naval installation. The Chief Commissioner of Islamabad has said: "One naval official embraced martyrdom while two other navy officials were wounded critically." Police described the bomber as around 17 years old.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Wednesday's bombing came a day after US President Barack Obama said he would send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan and pledged to maintain an "effective relationship" with Pakistan's government.

United States/Defence: Obama says Al-Qaeda have established a safe haven in Pakistan

(Ron Sachs/Pool/Upi/Photo News)

US President Barack Obama said that defeated by the US-led international forces in Afghanistan, the Al-Qaeda leaders have established a safe haven in Pakistan. "After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, Al-Qaeda's leadership established a safe-haven there," Obama said.

Obama said despite a legitimate government was elected by the Afghan people, it has been hampered by corruption, the drug trade, an under-developed economy, and insufficient Security Forces. "Over the last several years, Taleban has maintained common cause with Al-Qaeda, as they both seek an overthrow of the Afghan government. Gradually, the Taleban has begun to take control over swaths of Afghanistan, while engaging in increasingly brazen and devastating acts of terrorism against the Pakistani people," the US President said.

"After consultations with our allies, I then announced a strategy recognising the fundamental connection between our war effort in Afghanistan, and the extremist safe-havens in Pakistan." "I set a goal that was narrowly defined as disrupting, dismantling, and defeating Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies, and pledged to better coordinate our military and civilian effort," Obama said, adding since then, the US has made progress on some important objectives. "High-ranking Al-Qaeda and Taleban leaders have been killed, and we have stepped up the pressure on Al-Qaeda world-wide," he said.

Pakistan/Terrorism: suicide bomber kills parliamentarian

A suicide bomber killed a provincial parliamentarian and his brother in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday as he was receiving guests at his house in Pakistan's Swat Valley on Tuesday. "Dr Shamsher Ali Khan and his brother were killed in the suicide attack," Swat police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq told reporters.

Lawmaker Shamsher Ali Khan was a member of the Awami National Party, part of a coalition that rules the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "People were coming to exchange Eid greetings with him when a man came and blew himself up," his relative Farooq Khan said. According to the police the attacker was among the guests and blew himself up shortly after greeting provincial assembly member Shamsher Khan in his reception area, killing the lawmaker and wounding nine other people.

Spin Zada, a doctor at a local government hospital, confirmed that two bodies including that of Khan were brought to the hospital, and said 11 people were also wounded in the blast. Regional police chief Idrees Khan said the attack occurred near the former Taleban stronghold of Shah Dehri. He said the overall security situation in Swat Valley remained under control despite the continued threat from terrorists. "The Taleban have been struggling to reassert their presence since their defeat," he said. "This incident will not shatter the faith and nerves of the people of Swat." No one has claimed responsibility fir the attack so far.