Pakistan madrassa raid 'kills 80'

While addressing a massive rally at the Central Jamia Mosque, here Tuesday, he said that the previous attack was also conducted in the same month, and condemned the way Pakistani Army had taken the blame on themselves, which was an open declaration of war as thrust upon Pakistan.

Earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rehman also led the massive rally, which emanated from Tank bazaar and ended at the said mosque.

Addressing the rally, he said that Afghan president Hamid Karzai had contacted us for peace in his Country, but our rulers don`t seem to be interested in peace in their own Country.

He cautioned America that it cannot remain in Afghanistan forever, which has always proved to be a deathbed for foreign invaders, and has advised America to sign a peace deal with warrior elements modeled on the pattern of Wazirstan accord, and make haste in pulling out its forces out of Islamic Countries at the earliest.

He also derided the women protection bill as just an effort to promote "unethical virtues" and would never be allowed to succeed.

He expressed his surprise at the fact that Hasba bill was challenged in the Supreme Court, but was bent on forcing the Hudood Ordinance and women protection bill at all costs.

At the end of the rally, condolence prayers were offered for the martyrs of the raid.

Nawaz condemns Bajaur attack, calls on people to hold Musharraf accountable

PML-N Quaid and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the attack on a maddraseh in Bajaur where 80 persons were killed and said that the people should no longer allow a truculent dictator to continue killing their fellow citizens for his survival.

In a statement released here Nawaz Sharif said that no Pakistani military or civilian ruler in history had more blood on his hands than the present dictator whose survival it seemed depended upon continuously shedding the blood of his fellow citizens. He said that earlier in 1971 General Yahya Khan had killed his fellow citizens in East Pakistan in the same manner.

Nawaz Sharif questioned why was it that those Generals who violated the constitution and usurped power had to then resort to murdering their own people in order to survive? He called upon the people to ask themselves what sort of a country Pakistan had become where an illegal ruler was murdering his own people and there was no one to hold him accountable? He said if the people want to save Pakistan they will have to hold this illegitimate dictator accountable now.

The PML-N Chief said that he felt deeply saddened at the deaths of innocent Pakistanis and had the greatest sympathy with their relatives who were alive. He said when this present illegal and bloody era was over there was a need to probe into all the killings, abductions, disappearances and torture undertaken by the unconstitutional regime of General Musharraf.

NWFP assembly adopts condemnation resolution against bombardment

The NWFP assembly while condemning the bombardment on a seminary in Bajaur agency has called for stern action against those behind the attack besides payment of compensation to the family members of victims.

This demand was made through a resolution unanimously adopted by provincial assembly here Tuesday.

The rule 124 (240) was suspended and the resolution was presented by ANP parliamentary leader Bashir Bilore, provincial education minister Fazal Ali Haqqani and independent member Dr Saleem Khan.

Presenting the resolution, they said this assembly condemns strongly the act of federal government with reference to bombardment on seminary in Bajaur agency. Those found responsible be punished and compensation be paid to the family members of over 100 victims, resolution added.

"We also call upon the federal government to adopt people friendly policies rather than pursuing anti people, anti Pukhtoon and anti state policies", resolution stressed.

The resolution was unanimously adopted.

End. [url=TANK: Opposition leader in the National Assembly and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Rehman has berated President Pervez Musharraf for labeling innocent youth students of a seminary as terrorists, and has termed the statement as a ploy to appease the "foreign masters".

While addressing a massive rally at the Central Jamia Mosque, here Tuesday, he said that the previous attack was also conducted in the same month, and condemned the way Pakistani Army had taken the blame on themselves, which was an open declaration of war as thrust upon Pakistan.

Earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rehman also led the massive rally, which emanated from Tank bazaar and ended at the said mosque.

Addressing the rally, he said that Afghan president Hamid Karzai had contacted us for peace in his Country, but our rulers don`t seem to be interested in peace in their own Country.

He cautioned America that it cannot remain in Afghanistan forever, which has always proved to be a deathbed for foreign invaders, and has advised America to sign a peace deal with warrior elements modeled on the pattern of Wazirstan accord, and make haste in pulling out its forces out of Islamic Countries at the earliest.

He also derided the women protection bill as just an effort to promote "unethical virtues" and would never be allowed to succeed.

He expressed his surprise at the fact that Hasba bill was challenged in the Supreme Court, but was bent on forcing the Hudood Ordinance and women protection bill at all costs.

At the end of the rally, condolence prayers were offered for the martyrs of the raid.

Nawaz condemns Bajaur attack, calls on people to hold Musharraf accountable

PML-N Quaid and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the attack on a maddraseh in Bajaur where 80 persons were killed and said that the people should no longer allow a truculent dictator to continue killing their fellow citizens for his survival.

In a statement released here Nawaz Sharif said that no Pakistani military or civilian ruler in history had more blood on his hands than the present dictator whose survival it seemed depended upon continuously shedding the blood of his fellow citizens. He said that earlier in 1971 General Yahya Khan had killed his fellow citizens in East Pakistan in the same manner.

Nawaz Sharif questioned why was it that those Generals who violated the constitution and usurped power had to then resort to murdering their own people in order to survive? He called upon the people to ask themselves what sort of a country Pakistan had become where an illegal ruler was murdering his own people and there was no one to hold him accountable? He said if the people want to save Pakistan they will have to hold this illegitimate dictator accountable now.

The PML-N Chief said that he felt deeply saddened at the deaths of innocent Pakistanis and had the greatest sympathy with their relatives who were alive. He said when this present illegal and bloody era was over there was a need to probe into all the killings, abductions, disappearances and torture undertaken by the unconstitutional regime of General Musharraf.

NWFP assembly adopts condemnation resolution against bombardment

The NWFP assembly while condemning the bombardment on a seminary in Bajaur agency has called for stern action against those behind the attack besides payment of compensation to the family members of victims.

This demand was made through a resolution unanimously adopted by provincial assembly here Tuesday.

The rule 124 (240) was suspended and the resolution was presented by ANP parliamentary leader Bashir Bilore, provincial education minister Fazal Ali Haqqani and independent member Dr Saleem Khan.

Presenting the resolution, they said this assembly condemns strongly the act of federal government with reference to bombardment on seminary in Bajaur agency. Those found responsible be punished and compensation be paid to the family members of over 100 victims, resolution added.

"We also call upon the federal government to adopt people friendly policies rather than pursuing anti people, anti Pukhtoon and anti state policies", resolution stressed.

The resolution was unanimously adopted.

End. paktribune.

The security forces besieged the entire area of Bajaur agency and all the entry and exit points were sealed.

The funeral prayer in absentia was held in Fowara chowk Peshawar under Jamat ul Dawat (JUD). It was led by JUD leader Maulana Inam Ullah. Thousands of mourners attended the prayers.

THE JUD has appealed the ulema to offer funeral prayers in absentia in every village and town of the country of those 83 students who were killed in seminary in air strike.

The religious and political leaders have strongly condemned the statement given by the President General Musharraf that the people killed in attack on seminary in Bajaur agency were militants, not innocent.

Equating the students of Quranic teachings with the militants is very shameful, they held.

JUD leaders Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki and Maulana Amir Hamza said that the air strike in Bajaur agency is conspiracy to fuel civil war in the country and blatant terrorism. The attitude of government of Pakistan in regard to this incident is not correct in any way. How shameful it is that the rulers have taken the responsibility of bombardment on seminary rather than condemning the US led coalition forces attack on madrissah.

The statement given by the President General Pervez Musharraf on massive killings of madrissah students that they were militants is tantamount to adding insult to injury, they added.

Protest rallies were held jointly by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba and Passban in Peshawar and Bajaur.

The demonstrators torched the US flag during a demonstration in Anar Changi. Certain areas of Momand agency were also sealed.

End.

paktribune

At protest over missile strike, he warns of suicide bombings. From the Associated Press

Khar, Pakistan - A local pro-Taliban elder on Tuesday told thousands of tribesmen protesting an air raid on a religious school that he had prepared a squad of suicide bombers to target Pakistani security forces.

Inayatur Rahman addressed the angry crowd as a security official said Al Qaeda's No. 2 official, Ayman Zawahiri, and the purported London airline bomb mastermind had both visited the religious school several times, though they weren't there when Monday's raid killed 80 people.

"We will carry out these suicide attacks soon," Rahman said.

Pakistan's military said the school - known as a madrasa - was destroyed by helicopters firing missiles because it was preparing dozens of students to launch attacks in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.

Residents said unmanned U.S. Predator drones were flying above the village before the missile strikes. Pakistani and U.S. military officials denied any American involvement in the attack.

The carnage in the village of Chingai and conflicting claims over whether the victims were trainee militants or madrasa students set the scene for widespread unrest in Pakistan, a Muslim majority country of 165 million people whose government is a close ally in the U.S. war on terrorism.

Here in the nearby town of Khar, 20,000 tribesmen, many brandishing firearms, railed against President Pervez Musharraf and President Bush and called for their deaths.

Smaller rallies were held in other Pakistani cities. The protests come at a volatile time for Musharraf, who has been under pressure to crack down on militants operating along the Pakistan-Afghan frontier.

Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

A senior military spokesman in Peshawar, the province's capital, said earlier on Wednesday that a man had detonated a bomb killing himself and 10 to 15 soldiers, but later reports put the toll at 35.

Major-General Shaukat Sultan said: "It was a training area. It was a suicide attack. The bomber wrapped a chadar [cloak] around his body and came running into the training area and exploded himself where recruits had gathered for training.

"Ten to 15 recruits have been martyred," he said.

According to the same source, the bomb went off on a parade ground next to an army camp in the town of Dargai.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Only last month, security forces attacked a madrasa, or religious school, run by the group in a tribal area near the Afghan border that killed about 80 suspected militants.

S. Mudassir Ali Shah & Aqeel Yousafzai DARGAI/PESHAWAR: At least 43 soldiers were killed and many others wounded, some of them grievously, in a suicide bombing at an army base outside the main bazaar here on Wednesday. The morning explosion, seen as an outgrowth of a recent seminary raid that killed more than 80 people in Bajaur Agency, targeted army recruits on a spacious parade ground located in front of the Punjab Regiment training centre. An official of the Malakand Levies, giving an eyewitness account of the blast that happened at 8.25am, said around 240 recruits were busy doing their routine exercises when the suicide bomber targeted them. "Pools of blood could be seen at the site, littered with charred body parts, pieces of clothing, boots and caps," Noor Jamal, resident of Dargai, told The Frontier Post. Thirty-five people were killed on the spot while seven succumbed to their injuries in Mardan and Rawalpindi hospitals. Given the critical nature of the wounds suffered by the recruits, the death toll is expected to go up. He added the attacker, who strapped explosives to his body, blew himself up bang in the middle of the trainee soldiers - as soon as he forced his way to the ground. The suicide bomber was on a motorbike, according to local journalists, but the interior minister said the chadar-clad attacker disembarked from a bus in front of the training centre and found his way inside. In Rawalpindi, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed 35 soldiers were killed the explosion in the recruit training area. "A man wrapped in chadar came running at 8.30am into the training area and exploded himself where recruits had gathered for training." The injured, some of them in critical condition, were evacuated to military hospitals, the ISPR said of the deadly attack, which prompted the local administration to declare an emergency in the area. "No doubt, it was a terrorist strike linked to the Bajaur air strike," said an official, who did not want to be named. Intelligence agencies had already warned of reprisal assaults in the wake of the incident, he claimed. At least 17 of the dead hailed from Gujranwala and Sialkot districts of Punjab. Some of the victims were identified as Anis, Ashfaq, Suleman, Waqar, Nasir, Arshad Abbas, Asif Saeed, Niaz Mohammad, Amir, Rafaqat, Adnan, Waqar Ali, Shaukat, Ahmad Saleem, Hajan Ali, Javed Ali, Raham Dil, Dilshad, Baqir Ali, Akram, Shah Khalid, Qudoos, Maaf Ali, Lal Din, Waqas, Shakeel, Babar, Mubeen, Akmal and Roohul Hayat. A dozen corpses, charred beyond recognition, lay at the Army Fort. They could not be identified immediately. The wounded soldiers were flown to military hospitals in Peshawar, Nowshera and Rawalpindi. Salim, Liaquat, Shafiq, Kamran, Bakht, Waseem, Ilyas, Bilal, Aslam, Rab Nawaz, Akram, Rajab Ali, Nadeem, Sajid, Munir, Asad, Jamshed, Ijaz, Zahoor were among the injured. The incident triggered manhunts for the suspects in Dargai, Upper Dir and Bajaur Agency, where several suspects were taken into custody and a large number of non-custom-paid vehicles impounded. Agencies add: Hidayatullah Khan, who saw the explosion from his newspaper stall just a few hundred metres (yards) from the parade ground, described the grisly aftermath. "Human limbs, army caps and shoes were scattered all around the blood-splashed ground," he said. A local official said the military cordoned off the area around the military base and put up barricades to prevent people leaving or entering the tribal district. The area had until now not been touched by the fighting between al-Qaeda-backed militants and the army, but it is only 80 kilometres southeast of the Bajaur tribal area near the Afghan border where the school was struck nine days ago. An interior ministry official said the bombing appeared to be a revenge attack for the military strike on the school: "It appears to be a revenge attack by militants who lost a sanctuary in Bajaur." "We can trace back the linkage with Bajaur. We have been receiving intelligence reports about militants being trained for such activities," said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. "We expected it," said a retired general, Mirza Aslam Beg, the former chief of the Pakistani Army, in a telephone interview with Reuters. 'This is tribal vendetta. You must understand the psyche of the tribal people. They had announced they will take revenge and I think they will try to square off the number."

There have been a number of bomb attacks in Peshawar recently - one left six people dead.

Forty-two soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Dargai in NWFP last week.

Meanwhile, in Lahore 14 people were injured by a bomb left in a litter bin close to a bus stop, police say.

Motive unclear

Peshawar police say the man who carried out Friday's suicide attack on a police patrol died on the spot.

They said the attacker was a local man, 20-year-old Nadeem Khan.

His father later identified the body.

Senior Superintendent of Police Iftikhar Khan told the BBC that the bomber was an illiterate man who had been working as an electrician.

He said Nadeem Khan used to spend most of his nights at a local mosque and would return home for breakfast.

The motive for the attack is not clear.

A bomb in a crowded market in Peshawar near the headquarters of Pakistan's border security forces killed six people. It was the most serious in a number of unexplained explosions in Peshawar.

BBC