Islamabad, March 11 (IANS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai Thursday described India as a friend and Pakistan as twin brother of Afghanistan, which could not be stable without Islamabad’s cooperation.
India has gone out of the way to help Afghanistan. But Pakistan is twin brother of Afghanistan and without cooperation from Pakistan, there could be no stability, Karzai said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani here.
“We are fighting against terrorism; I brought message from people of Afghanistan to the people of Pakistan,” he said and assured Pakistani leaders that his country would never allow its soil to be used against Pakistan, Geo News reported.
Karzai said, “We want future with no terrorism” and peace is not likely to be restored in Afghanistan without the help from Pakistan.
Gilani said that Pakistan will enhance its cooperation with Afghanistan to eliminate the terrorism and bilateral ties between the two countries would be furthered.
The prime minister said Pakistan will extend all possible help to Afghanistan for its reconstruction and the trade volume between the two countries would also be ramped up.
“We want to take the strategic partnership with Afghanistan forward,” he said.
Islamabad, March 11 (IANS) A British boy who was kidnapped in Pakistan has been recovered and two people have been arrested, media reports said Thursday.
Pakistani-origin British child Sahil Saeed who was snatched from his residence in Jhelum, a city in northeast Pakistan, was found Wednesday in Sialkot, a city in the northeast of Punjab province, along with two abductors, Xinhua news agency said citing TV reports.
Police officers said some members of the boy’s family were involved in the kidnapping that took place last week.
According to sources, the child has been sent back to Britain with his father.
Islamabad, Mar.11 (ANI): Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the international community to come up with a ‘Marshall Plan” for the region to help both Pakistan and Afghanistan root out militancy from their respective territories.
Talking to a selected group of media persons on the sidelines of a dinner hosted in the honour of visiting Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Zardari said both Islamabad and Kabul must stand together to persuade the international community to help both countries fight out extremism.
“The two countries need to speak the same language at international forums because both suffer from the same malaise caused by the same mindset of militancy and extremism,” Zardari said.
Underlining that there is no ‘quick-fix’ solution to terrorism, Zardari said Pakistan is prepared to fight militancy to the end.
Karzai also called for a partnership between both countries and urged for a better trade and economic links.
Karzai, who arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday evening, is likely to meet Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other top officials during his stay. (ANI)
Islamabad, March 10 (DPA) Two suspected US drone attacks Wednesday in Pakistan’s restive tribal region near the Afghan border killed at least 12 people, intelligence officials said.
The airstrikes took place in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, a known sanctuary of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants.
“A drone fired five missiles on a vehicle apparently carrying some miscreants,” said a local intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Six people died in the attack”.
The second drone fired two more missiles on a crowd of villagers carrying out relief work, killing six people and injuring several others.
“The total death toll now stands at 12 but it may rise as some injured are said to be in critical condition,” said the official.
A second intelligence official confirmed the incident and put the death toll at 14. He said the identity of those killed was not known yet.
The attack occurred in an area that is controlled by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander who has signed a peace deal with the Pakistani government.
Dozens of Al Qaeda operatives and some major Taliban leaders have died in the US aerial strikes, although a large number of civilians also perished.
Pakistan, a key US ally in fight against terrorism, has repeatedly protested the airstrikes, saying they violate the country’s sovereignty.
But analysts believe Pakistani spy agencies covertly share intelligence with CIA about the possible targets.
Islamabad, March 10 (IANS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived here Wednesday on a two-day state visit during which he will hold talks with the Pakistani leadership on a range of bilateral and regional issues.
Karzai was welcomed at the Chaklala military air base by Senate Chairman Farooq H. Naik, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Commerce Minister Amin Fahim and other senior officials, APP reported.
During his stay, Karzai will meet his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Oghi (Manshera, Pakistan), Mar.10 (ANI): At least five people were killed here after suspected Islamist militants attacked the office of a U.S.-based Christian aid agency on Wednesday.
Media reports said the gunmen burst into the office of the World Vision agency in Mansehra district, 65 km north of Islamabad, at about 9 a.m. local time.
The town of Mansehra has served as the hub for relief efforts following the October 2005 earthquake that killed 73,000.
The area has been generally peaceful although there have been occasional incidents of violence.
The town is located east of the Swat region, where the army launched an offensive a year ago to clear Pakistani Taliban. (ANI)
Islamabad, Mar.10 (ANI): Pakistan has once again blamed India of meddling in its internal issues through Afghanistan.
In an interview with Geo News, Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit said Islamabad would raise the issue of India’s interference with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai during his visit to the country.
Karzai is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on a tw-day visist today (Wednesday.)
“India is exploiting Afghan land to put into practice its nefarious designs against Pakistan. The issue will be discussed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during his Islamabad visit,” The News quoted Basit, as saying.
Basit said that though Islamabad and Kabul have some issues between them, things have improved over the period of time.
“There are differences prevailing between Pakistan and Afghanistan however both countries are gradually improving their ties,” he said.
Pakistan has long been blaming India of supporting covert activities in Balochistan using its consulates in Afghanistan.
India, however, has rubbished all such allegations. (ANI)
Islamabad, Mar.10 (ANI): An Italian archaeological mission in Pakistan has discovered a large number of Buddhist sites and rock shelters in Kandak and Kota valleys of Barikot in the Swat Valley linked to the Bronze Era.
“These are some of the finest and most fascinating ancient discoveries preserved in good condition,” Gulf News quoted Dr Luca Maria Olivieri, the Director of the archaeological mission, as saying.
“These rock carvings depict agricultural cult scenes in red colours, cup marks meant for rituals, for example, for holding liquids or preparing the ochre pigment, dancing scenes, battle scenes and a large number of animals,” said Dr Olivieri. (ANI)
Islamabad, Mar.10 (ANI): Armed assailants stormed into a building housing the office of a US based non-governmental organisation (NGO) on Wednesday killing at least five persons in Manshera region of North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
According to reports, extremists attacked the office of World Vision and killed five persons, including two women.
However, an aid worker put the death toll to six and said similar number of persons were injured in the attack.
“They opened fire and also exploded hand grenades. So far we have confirmation about the deaths of five people, including two women,” The News quoted senior police officer Waqar Ahmed, as saying.
Another aid worker, while confirming the killings, said some of the staff member were feared trapped inside the NGO building.
“Five staff from World Vision are dead, six are seriously injured. More information is coming. The staff are trapped in the office,” he said. (ANI)
London, Mar.7 (ANI): Claiming that the agencies are close to solve the case concerning the kidnapping of British toddler, Sahil Saeed, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that there is growing evidence of involvement of some family members in the abduction.
Talking to reporters in Islamabad, Malik said investigations suggest the hand of some one very close to the family being involved in Sahil’s abduction, who was kidnapped from his grandmother’s house in Punjab’s Jhelum last week.
“There was someone very close to the family because of the way the situation happened, the way the abduction has happened, the way the entry was made, the way the conduct was made during that whole operation,” Malik said.
He also warned the kidnappers to release the five-year old Sahil, as authorities were closing in on them.
“We have certain leads which we would not like to disclose but I’m warning to those abductors ‘Leave the boy because we are very near to you’. We will make sure that we make an example out of it so that nobody dares to do these kinds of things in future,” Malik said.
Meanwhile, sources have revealed that Sahil had travelled to Pakistan with his father after a row between his parents that left his mother Akila Naqqash stranded in their Oldham home, allegedly without her passport.
Family elders in Jhelum had encouraged a rapprochement between the couple, and the father and son were preparing to fly home when the kidnapping occurred, The Times reports.
It may be noted that Pakistani High commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, had first pointed towards ‘insiders’ role in the abduction.
However, Sahil’s family members had out rightly rejected the notion.
Pakistani police officials had claimed to solve the case within 24 hours on Thursday, when Sahil was kidnapped, but admitted that they were clueless even after three days post the abduction.
“We are totally blind with no clue in hand so far about the kidnapped child, but our investigation continues. We are concerned about the safety and security of the child,” senior police official Raja Mohammad Tahir Bashir, who is heading a team of officials working on the case, had said on Sunday. (ANI)