Pak News Wire

Darren Clarke named Europe’s Ryder Cup captain

Darren Clarke named Europe’s Ryder Cup captain

Darren Clarke is Europe's new Ryder Cup captain.

Long march: Shikarpur families wait for govt to hear them

<div>KARACHI:  The last time Arfa saw her uncle was when he was on his way to work. He had some documents in his hands and had just stopped at the Karbala Maula Imambargah to offer his prayers. </div> She never saw him again. Her uncle, Syed Ghulam Mustafa, was one of the 62 men who died in a powerful blast that ripped through the imambargah’s prayer hall on January 30. Arfa and her family had joined other families of the victims of the blast in a protest at Numaish Chowrangi on Wednesday. A total of 2,000 men, women and children along with the Wurasa Shuhada Committee of Shikarpur had marched from Shikarpur to hold a sit-in in the city. They demanded that an army operation should be carried out in Shikarpur to weed out the militants. They added that if their demands were not met, they will march up to the house of the chief minister (CM) of Sindh. The committee, which is headed by Allama Maqsood Dhomki met with a Pakistan Peoples Party delegation from CM House and presented them with a list of 25 demands. Sindh Information and Local Bodies Minister Sharjeel Memon termed the negotiations successful till the filing of this report. The committee, however, has not made an announcement as yet about whether they plan to continue with the sit-in or not. Sources claim that their top demand was for a military operation like Zarb-e-Azb in Shikarpur. They demanded the arrest and execution of those responsible for the blast along with a search operation of madrassas in the area. The protesters also demanded government jobs for the victims’ families, a ban on religious outfits, medical facilities for the injured, proper security at imambargahs and Shia institutions along with installation of CCTV cameras. “A search operation must be carried out in madarssas in Shikarpur,” said Shamshad, who lost two nephews, a cousin and a neighbour, in the blast. “The army needs to step in now.” While talking to The Express Tribune, Arfa said that when the blast happened, their house shook and thick black smoke made it difficult to see anything. She remembers running outside with the rest of the women in her house to see if their men were alive. “We have spent our childhood here,” she said. “Shikarpur used to be so lively. Now it’s just grim.” The protesters were being led by the committee but are also being supported by the Majlis-e-Wahadat-e-Muslimeen (MWM). According to MWM’s Amin Shaheedi, these protests were being organised to wake the government up from its sleep and do something for the people. “Why can’t CM Qaim Ali Shah ban all groups involved in sectarian violence?” he asked. “Why is the Punjab government supporting them? Why has no operation been carried out against them in Balochistan?” Men and women sat with solemn faces, listening to the cleric’s speeches and shouting slogans with them. The protesters arrived in Karachi on Tuesday night after leaving Shikarpur on Sunday afternoon. During their journey, they made stops in Sukkur, Bhit Shah and Hyderabad. After visiting the Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard, they settled at Numaish Chowrangi, where camps for food, telephone and medicine were also set up. Protesters said that 95 vehicles had escorted them to Karachi. Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2015.

Long march: Shikarpur families wait for govt to hear them

KARACHI: The last time Arfa saw her uncle was when he was on his way to work. He had some documents in his hands and had just stopped at th...

Police officer pleads not guilty

Police officer pleads not guilty

A police officer in Alabama accused of slamming a 59-year-old visitor from India to the ground, causing partial paralysis to the man, entere...

Latest developments in fight against ISIS

Latest developments in fight against ISIS

ISIS launches a new assault but gets pushed back. What else is happening in the battle against the extremists.

Inside search for Flight MH370

Inside search for Flight MH370

Cop under fire for turning off camera

Cop under fire for turning off camera

A St. Louis man has filed a lawsuit alleging excessive force in a case that involves an officer turning off a dashcam video of that man'...

Syrian activists are heckling ISIS online

Syrian activists are heckling ISIS online

Hidden, but vocal, average Syrians are questioning one of the most feared terror groups in the world and attempting to hold them accountable...

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ‘top target’

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ‘top target’

The U.S. is maintaining a list of about two dozen top ISIS operatives in Iraq and Syria it hopes to target in airstrikes, according to a sen...

Shining light on China’s ‘Rat Tribe’

Shining light on China’s ‘Rat Tribe’

Kristie Lu Stout speaks to photographer Sim Chi Yin about migrant workers who live underground in Beijing

U.S. keeping ISIS kill list

U.S. keeping ISIS kill list

Does India have a Big Brother problem?

Does India have a Big Brother problem?

The attack on Charlie Hebdo reignited a furious debate about freedom of expression in India

This year, the biggest show on earth gets bigger

This year, the biggest show on earth gets bigger

Chelsea fans abuse man on Paris metro

Chelsea fans abuse man on Paris metro

Kurdish forces repel ISIS offensive in Iraq

Kurdish forces repel ISIS offensive in Iraq

After hours of heavy fighting, Kurdish fighters in Iraq have repelled an assault by ISIS fighters southwest of Irbil, Kurdish officials said...

Bin Laden told of al Qaeda suspect’s plot in ‘chilling’ letter: US

NEW YORK: A US prosecutor told jurors at the terrorism trial of accused al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer that his plan to bomb a shopping center in England in 2009 was described in a “chilling” letter recovered during the military raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In an opening statement at trial in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, prosecutor Celia Cohen said the letter from al Qaeda’s head of Western operations updated bin Laden on plans by Naseer and others to carry out attacks in New York, Copenhagen and Manchester, England. “You will see that chilling reminder in the letter to Osama bin Laden that al Qaeda’s goal was to attack infidels in their home territories,” Cohen said. Jurors were not told that the letter came from the May 2011 raid in Abbotabad, Pakistan that killed bin Laden. But before the trial, Cohen said it was recovered in that operation. Naseer, who was extradited from Britain in 2013, is representing himself at trial. With Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney for Brooklyn who is President Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general looking on, Naseer proclaimed his innocence. “The evidence will not show the defendant was a member of al Qaeda,” Naseer said. Naseer, 28, faces up to life in prison if convicted of providing and conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda and conspiring to use a destructive device. The trial would be the first in the United States to feature evidence from the raid on bin Laden’s hideout. The raid ended a nearly 10-year hunt following the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States using hijacked jetliners. Prosecutors say Naseer was leader of an al Qaeda cell plotting an attack on Manchester and that another cell conspired to bomb the New York City subway system, while a third planned to attack a Copenhagen newspaper that had printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Two men, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the New York plot. A third, Adis Medunjanin, was convicted at trial and sentenced in 2012 to life in prison. Zazi was the first witness called Tuesday. Cohen said Naseer like Zazi coordinated his plans through a Pakistan-based al Qaeda facilitator, “Sohaib,” using email addresses intended to disguise his identity and describing the attack as a “wedding” or “marriage.”

Bin Laden told of al Qaeda suspect’s plot in ‘chilling’ letter: US

NEW YORK: A US prosecutor told jurors at the terrorism trial of accused al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer that his plan to bomb a shopping cen...