Truth Behind PNS Mehran Attack

KARACHI: Pakistan’s navy says it appears to have regained control of a basethat had been attacked and occupied by militants for more than 15 hours.

Spokesman Salman Ali said Monday commandos were still searching the sprawling facility in Karachi but that “apparently there is no more militant resistance.”

He says the navy would not release details on militant casualties until the base had been fully searched.

Taliban militants assaulted the headquarters of Pakistan’s naval air force, battling on Monday security forces in the most brazen attack in the country since the killing of Osama bin Laden, killing 13 people, injuring 16 others and blowing up at least two military aircraft.

The dead include 11 navy officials and one Ranger, DawnNews reported.

Blasts rang out and helicopters hovered above the PNS Mehran base near Shahrah-e-Faisal almost 14 hours after more than 20 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed the heavily guarded building with guns and grenades, blowing up at least two aircraft and casting doubt on the military’s ability to protect its installations.

The Pakistan Taliban, which is allied with al Qaeda, said the attack was to avenge the al Qaeda leader’s killing on May 2.

Bin Laden was shot dead by US special forces in a secret operation that Pakistan says breached its sovereignty.

“It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden. It was the proof that we are still united and powerful,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Trucks carrying military and paramilitary rangers streamed into the base in the southern city of Karachi in the morning, as security forces tried to end the siege.

A senior security official, who declined to be identified, said the militants had taken over a building in the base.

Another official stationed in the base said the militants had not taken any hostages, but added: “There is a chance that some terrorists have suicide belts or jackets.”

Sixteen military men were wounded in the attack, some reports said that at least three militants had been killed while trying to flee but nothing has been confirmed so far.

The base is 15 miles from the Masroor Air Base, Pakistan’s largest and a possible depot for nuclear weapons.

“They were carrying guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and hand grenades. They hit the aircraft with an RPG,” Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali said of the militants.

A spokesman said two P-3C Orion, maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed and that intermittent gunfire was continuing.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said earlier that the militants had attacked from the rear of the base. “We have been able to confine them to one building and an operation is underway either to kill or capture them,” he said.

Media reports said the attackers had made their way in through a sewer pipe but that was not confirmed. The military’s goal was to capture as many of the attackers alive as possible, television reported.

The attack evoked memories of an assault on Pakistan’s army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009, and is a further embarrassment for the military, widely seen as the only properly functioning institution in Pakistan, in the wake of bin Laden’s killing.

The military has come under intense pressure from the United States and its own people for failing to know that bin Laden had been living in a garrison town, north of the capital and near a top military academy, for years, and also for allowing five US helicopters to penetrate Pakistan’s airspace and kill him.

Taliban militants assaulted the headquarters of Pakistan’s naval air force in Karachi,killing 13 people, injuring 16 others and blowing up at least two military aircraft.

The assault that started at 10:30 pm on Sunday at PNS Mehran base near Shahrah-e-Faisal ended 14 hours later, after more than 20 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed the heavily guarded building with guns and grenades.

Monday morning saw trucks carrying military and paramilitary rangers into the base as security forces battled to end the siege during which two P-3C Orion, maritime patrol aircraft, had been destroyed.

Sources said despite hesitation of the board of governors, the project was initiated as the then Punjab governor was interested in the college’s expansion.

However, after change of guard at the Governor’s House, some ex-Abdailians, who were against the expansion, succeeded in bringing the project to a halt. Some elements within the college were also not in favour of doubling the number of cadets in the college.

Despite many attempts, Principal Mohammed Asif Malik was not available for comments.

However, when contacted, Vice Principal Abdul Qayyum confirmed that the expansion project was not executed due to administrative and financial problems. He said the project was delayed as the board of governors meeting could not be held last year and no green signal was given for the execution of the project.Dawn

The surveillance aircraft were equipped with a variety of enhanced

The surveillance aircraft were equipped with a variety of enhanced
Lockheed-Martin’s P3C Orion is a four-engine turbo-prop, anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft. As a patrol aircraft, it has advanced submarine detection sensors such as directional frequency and ranging sonobuoys and magnetic anomaly detection equipment.
The planes can carry a mixed payload of weapons internally and on wing pylons. The aircraft is designed to have a single integrated tactical picture of the battle space, drawing upon data from aircraft sensors and information from other platforms.
The United States handed two P3C Orion aircraft to Pakistan Navy in late April 2010. By 2012 Pakistan Navy is expected to take delivery of a total of eight P3C aircraft.
Lockheed has upgraded the P-3Cs’ aircraft and mission systems and is providing maintenance under a 2006 contract from the US Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command.
According to Mike Fralen, director for Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors’ maritime surveillance programmes, these aircraft incorporate a variety of enhanced features including communications, electro-optic and infrared systems, data management, controls and displays, mission computers and acoustic processing.

Karachi Youth killed by rangers.

In a shocking incident that came to light late on Wednesday night, Rangers personnel were found involved in the killing of a young man in cold blood in public. The authorities in their earlier version had claimed that the man was killed in an encounter in Clifton.

The incident was captured by several people on their cell phone cameras. The gruesome footage later found its way to television channels. The incident occurred at the Benazir Bhutto Park in the early evening. Afsar Khan of Shireen Jinnah Colony had registered an FIR accusing the young man Sarfraz Shah of trying to rob him at gunpoint.

However, the footage on television channels later revealed that the young man was captured unarmed by the Rangers and shot in cold blood point blank in public. He was seen pleading for his life while surrounded by a group of Rangers personnel who fired shots at him in full public view.

After the incident, relatives and supporters took the body of the young man to the CM House and protested outside. They demanded that an FIR be immediately lodged against the Rangers personnel and those involved be arrested.

After the footage was aired, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who was in Karachi, assured angry reporters that action would be taken against those responsible and the Rangers officials involved would also be arrested. A judicial inquiry has been ordered, he said.

The CM also ordered that an FIR be lodged. Subsequently, the FIR was lodged on behalf of Syed Salik Shah, a journalist and brother of the deceased at the Boat Basin Police Station. A Rangers spokesman Major Bilal claimed that Rangers had initiated a departmental inquiry and will act against those reponsible.

Two Rangers personnel, Shahid and Afzal, of the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Rangers 32 Wing had reportedly been arrested in connection with the murder. Former minister and PPP MNA from Lyari Nabeel Gabol said common citizens are being killed while murderers are being set free. He said the power of the Rangers should be withdrawn and trust in the Rangers after the emergence of the footage had ended. He said those involved should be hanged publicly. The Crime Reporters Association has also condemned the killing and joined the protesters outside the CM House.

Why Osama Buried in hurry???

After spending many years hunting down the world's most wanted man, why did the U.S. bury Osama bin Laden at sea within 24 hours of killing him?
The reason is bound up within Islamic practice and tradition. And that practice calls for the body of the deceased to be buried within 24 hours, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.

"We are ensuring that it is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition," confirmed the official. "This is something that we take very seriously. And so therefore, this is being handled in an appropriate manner."

But the lingering question is, Why at sea? The official said that finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, so the decision was made to bury bin Laden at sea. Furthermore, one suspects that the U.S. would not have wanted there to be a grave site for fear of it turning into a place of worship for bin Laden's followers. There are rumors, however, that the U.S. asked Saudi Arabia to take the body (bin Laden was born there), but it allegedly refused.
  See pictures of Osama bin Laden.)
It's believed that DNA testing would have been carried out beforehand  has had it confirmed by the White House that the DNA testing matched the slain terrorist leader) to verify that the body was that of bin Laden, as well as being proof against any conspiracy claims that could emanate to suggest that his death didn't take place. The exact location of the burial was not revealed.

 

How osama was killed

In the dark of night, U.S. helicopters approached a high-walled compound in Pakistan on a mission to capture or kill one of the world's most notorious terrorist leaders.

Less than 40 minutes later, Osama bin Laden was dead along with four others inside the complex, and the U.S. forces departed with the slain al Qaeda leader's body to fulfill a vow that originated shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced the successful raid on Sunday night, and senior administration officials provided further details on the assault on the compound they believe was built five years ago about 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for the specific purpose of hiding bin Laden.

The senior administration officials refused to provide information on the composition or numbers of the U.S. mission, but were able to describe to reporters the overall scenario of what happened.

 New Yorkers celebrate bin Laden death After years of intelligence work and months of following a specific lead, they traced a courier linked to bin Laden to the compound in Abbottabad, described as an affluent residential area.
When first built, the compound was secluded and reachable by only a dirt road, the officials said. In recent years, more residences built up around it, but it remained by far the largest and most heavily secured property in the area, they said.

The mission ordered Friday by Obama encountered outer walls up to 18 feet tall topped with barbed wire, with two security gates and a series of internal walls that sectioned off different portions of the compound, the senior administration officials said. The main structure was a three-story building with few windows facing the outside of the compound, and a third-floor terrace had a seven-foot privacy wall, they said.


Months of intelligence work determined that the compound was custom-built to hide a high-value terrorism suspect, almost certainly bin Laden. The officials noted there was no telephone or Internet service at the dwelling, which was valued at more than $1 million, and its occupants burned their trash, rather than leave it out for collection like other area residents.
Calling the U.S. operation a surgical raid, officials said it was conducted by a small team and designed to minimize collateral damage. Upon landing, the team encountered resistance from bin Laden and three other men that resulted in a firefight.
In the end, all four of the combatants in the compound were dead, along with a woman whom one of the men used as a human shield, the officials said. Sources said bin Laden was shot in the head.

At some point, one of the assaulting helicopters crashed due to a mechanical failure, according to the officials. It was detonated as the U.S. team flew away to destroy it, they said.
Obama and the senior administration officials said no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation, which took place very early Monday morning, Pakistan time. They provided no other details of the raid itself, but a senior defense official said U.S. Navy SEALs were involved.

U.S. officials said they used facial imaging and other methods to identify the body as bin Laden.
One official said it was clear to the assault force that the body matched bin Laden's description, but they used "facial recognition work, amongst other things, to confirm the identity."
A senior national security official told CNN that they had multiple confirmations that the body was bin Laden, saying they had the "ability to run images of the body and the face."

Another U.S. official told CNN that bin Laden has already been buried at sea. The official said his body was handled in the Islamic tradition, but did not elaborate.
A senior administration official also said bin Laden's body would be "handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. This is something that we take very seriously, and so therefore this is being handled in an appropriate manner."

According to the senior administration officials, intelligence work determined at the beginning of 2011 that bin Laden might be located at the compound in Pakistan. By mid-February, the intelligence was considered strong enough to begin considering action pledged by Obama when bin Laden's whereabouts had been determined.
Obama chaired five National Security Council meetings from mid-March until late April, with the last two on April 19 and April 28 -- last Thursday. The next day, on Friday, Obama gave the order for the mission, the officials said.
The key break involved one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden, according to the officials. About two years ago, intelligence work identified where the courier and his brother lived and operated in Pakistan, and it took until August of last year to find the compound in Abbottabad raided Sunday, they said.

"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw -- an extraordinarily unique compound," one senior administration official said. "The compound sits on a large plot of land in an area that was relatively secluded when it was built. It is roughly eight times larger than the other homes in the area."

Noting that the courier and his brother had no discernible source of wealth to live at such a property, intelligence analysts concluded the compound was "custom-built to hide someone of extraordinary significance," the official said, adding: "Everything was consistent with what experts thought Osama bin Laden's compound would look like."

Another senior administration official told reporters that Obama's administration did not share intelligence gathered beforehand with any other country -- including Pakistan -- for security reasons. The official said that only a small group of people inside the U.S government knew about this operation in advance.

However, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said members of Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, were on site in Abbottabad during the operation. There was no way to immediately resolve the apparent discrepancy.

OSAMA-Time line Story

A look back at some key moments in the life of Osama bin Laden, including attacks that he was purportedly behind and messages attributed to him.


* 1957 -- Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden is born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is the 17th of 52 children fathered by Muhammad Awad bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant who built a billion-dollar construction company in Saudi Arabia. His mother is Hamida al-Attas, who was from Syria.

* 1979 -- Bin Laden graduates from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah with a degree in engineering. He goes to Afghanistan to join the "jihad," or "holy war," against the Soviet Union. He remains there for a decade, using construction equipment from his family's business to help the Muslim guerrilla forces build shelters, tunnels and roads through the rugged Afghan mountains, and at times taking part in battle.

* 1980 - 1989 -- Bin Laden raises money for the mujahedeen fighting in Afghanistan and also provides them with logistical and humanitarian aid. During these years, he also personally fights in battles against the Soviet Union.
* 1988 -- Bin Laden founds a group he names Al-Qaeda, which in Arabic means "the base."

* 1989 -- The Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan. Bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia to work for the family construction firm, the Bin Laden Group.

August 7, 1990 -- Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, U.S. troops arrive in Saudi Arabia in order to have a close base to eventually go after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's troops. Bin Laden becomes outraged at the U.S. forces' presence near the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina.
* 1991 -- Bin Laden is expelled from Saudi Arabia by its regime. Eventually he and his followers relocate to Sudan, funded by assets that had grown to as much as $250 million, according to some officials. In that African nation, al Qaeda begins to evolve into a terror network.
* December 1992 -- U.S. forces land in Somalia, spearheading a U.N.-authorized humanitarian plan to bring in famine relief supplies. Part of their challenge is disarming the various warlords who controll the country. Prosecutors charge that bin Laden threw himself into the conflict, sending some of his followers to Somalia to train the warlords to fight the U.S. troops

* February 26, 1993 -- A bomb explodes at the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six and wounding hundreds. Six Muslim radicals, who U.S. officials suspect have links to bin Laden, are eventually convicted for the bombing. Bin Laden is later named along with many others as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case.

October 1993 -- Eighteen U.S. servicemen, all of them part of a humanitarian mission to Somalia, are killed in an ambush in Mogadishu. Bin Laden later says that some Arab Afghans were involved in the killings and calls Americans "paper tigers" because they withdrew from Somalia shortly after the soldiers' deaths

* 1994 -- The Saudi government officially strips bin Laden of his citizenship, freezing all the remaining assets he has in the country. His family disowns him as well.
That same year, Bin Laden is the target of an assassination attempt. Afterward, he strengthens his personal security detail.
In the following months, officials believe he funds and directs a series of attacks, including a failed attempt to kill Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and a 1995 suicide bombing at the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan. Authorities now believe that this marked the early days of a growing alliance between bin Laden and other militant Islamic groups, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and its leader Ayman al- Zawahiri.

* 1995 -- A truck bombing at a military base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, kills five Americans and two Indians.
* 1996 -- Sudanese officials expels Bin Laden from their country. He moves with his children and three wives to Afghanistan, where he receives support from the fundamentalist Taliban regime.
That year, U.S. authorities indicts bin Laden on charges he helped train the people involved in the 1993 attack that killed 18 U.S. servicemen in Somalia
* June 25, 1996 -- Nineteen U.S. soldiers die in a bombing of the Khobar military complex in Saudi Arabia.
* August 23, 1996 -- Bin Laden declares a holy war against U.S. forces. He signs and issues a Declaration of jihad from Afghanistan entitled, "Message from Osama bin Laden to his Muslim Brothers in the Whole World and Especially in the Arabian Peninsula: Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Mosques; Expel the Heretics from the Arabian Peninsula."
* 1997 -- In his first interview with Western media, bin Laden tells Peter Bergen -- now a CNN analyst -- that the United States is "unjust, criminal and tyrannical." "The U.S. today, as a result of the arrogant atmosphere, has set a double standard, calling whoever goes against its injustice a terrorist," he said in the same interview. "It wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, impose on us agents to rule us."
Bin Laden also says that "Arab holy warriors" trained in Afghanistan had banded with Somali Muslims in October 1993 to kill 18 U.S. soldiers in a bloody battle on the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. He says, "The U.S. today has set a double standard, calling whoever goes against its injustice, a terrorist. It wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, impose agents on us to rule us, and then wants us to agree to all this. If we refuse to do so, it says we are terrorists."

* February 1997 -- According to court documents, bin Laden orders the militarization of the East African cell of Al Qaeda, a move that culminated in the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, eight years to the day after U.S. troops landed in the Saudi kingdom

* 1998 -- Bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led by Ayman al- Zawahiri, merge, according to U.S. prosecutors.

* February 1998 -- Bin Laden and al Zawahiri endorse a fatwa under the banner of the "International Islamic Front for Jihad on the Jews and Crusaders." This fatwa, published in the newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, on February 23, 1998, states that Muslims should kill Americans -- including civilians -- anywhere in the world.
* May 7, 1998 -- Bin Laden associate Mohammed Atef sends Khaled al Fawwaz a letter discussing the endorsement by bin Laden of a fatwa issued by the "Ulema Union of Afghanistan" which termed the U.S. army the "enemies of Islam" and declared jihad against the U.S. and its followers. The fatwa is subsequently published in Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
* May 29, 1998 -- Bin Laden issues a statement entitled "The Nuclear Bomb of Islam," under the banner of the "International Islamic Front for Fighting the Jews and Crusaders." In it, he states that "it is the duty of Muslims to prepare as much force as possible to terrorize the enemies of God."
* August 7, 1998 -- A pair of truck bombs explode outside the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Some 224 people are killed.

* November 1998 -- Bin Laden is indicted in the United States on 224 counts of murder -- one for each death in the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania
* June 7, 1999 -- He appears for the first time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
* May 2000 -- In the Philippines, Muslim separatist guerrillas who seized 21 hostages at a diving resort in Malaysia publicly announce that they are being supported by bin Laden.
* October 12, 2000 -- Bin Laden is linked to the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, which leads to the death of 17 sailors and injuries to another 39.
* 2000 -- Algerian Ahmed Ressam pleads guilty in connection with a failed plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport during the millennium celebrations. He claims he was trained in urban warfare and explosives at an Afghanistan camp run by bin Laden.
* May 29, 2001 -- Four of bin Laden's alleged supporters are convicted of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa.
* August 14, 2001 -- Bil Laden's last statement prior to 9/11 attacks is given to Al Rai Al Aam newspaper.


* September 2001 -- Four U.S. commercial aircraft are hijacked and then crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, leading to the deaths of more than 3,000 people. Soon thereafter, the U.S. government names bin Laden as a prime suspect.

2001: Bin Laden wanted dead or alive
* November 2001 -- U.S. forces drop leaflets in Afghanistan offering a $25 million bounty for bin Laden.
* December 1, 2001 -- Hazarat Ali, security commander for Jalalabad, reports there was a bin Laden sighting on November 27 in the Tora Bora region. Hundreds of Afghan fighters with American and British Special Forces head to that area to launch a major assault.
* December 25, 2001 -- The Pakistan Observer publishes details of bin Laden's funeral. On the front page, the newspaper reports that an unnamed Taliban leader said bin Laden "had a peaceful natural death in mid-December in the vicinity" of the Tora Bora mountains. The report says that his death was the result of a "serious lung complication." "He was laid to rest honorably in his last abode" in a grave prepared according to the beliefs of the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect of Islam to which the Qaeda leader belonged, the report says.
* December 27, 2001 -- Afghan officials report that bin Laden is in Pakistan, along with al Qaeda sympathizers.



* January 18, 2002 -- Then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says that Osama bin Laden might have died of kidney failure in Afghanistan after becoming separated from a dialysis machine he had used in recent years.
* February 15, 2002 -- Reports go out to top levels of the U.S. government stating bin Laden survived the U.S. bombing assault on his alleged hideouts. They are vague and lack solid evidence that he could be near Afghan-Pakistan border, such as sightings by witnesses or interception of radio transmissions with his voice.
* March 9, 2002 -- A Saudi-owned publication quotes one of bin Laden's wives. The woman, identified only as A.S., said she "feels deep down that he's still alive and that the whole world would have known if he had been killed. Osama's death cannot be hidden."
* May 17, 2002 -- A Saudi-owned newspaper publishes quotes from fugitive Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar in which he states, "Sheikh Osama is still alive, praise God, and this is causing anguish to (U.S. President George W.) Bush who promised his people to kill Osama, not knowing that lives are in the hands of God."
* June 12, 2002 -- A Russian newspaper publishes what it claims is an interview with Omar. The ousted Taliban leader states that bin Laden is alive in Afghanistan. "Osama helped us during the war with the Russians, he would not leave us now," the newspaper quotes Omar as saying. "The Holy War is only just beginning. The fire from this war will reach America, and it will burn the capital that launched an unjust attack on Muslims."
* July 2002 -- Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al Arabi newspaper, says the al-Qaeda leader is in good health, but had been wounded in an attack on his base in Afghanistan last December. Atwan says that Bin Laden's followers had told him that he would not make more video statements until his group launches another attack on the United States.
* March 10, 2005 -- Muslim clerics in Spain issue what they called the world's first fatwa, or Islamic edict, against Osama bin Laden. They called him an apostate and urged others of their faith to denounce him. The ruling is issued by the Islamic Commission of Spain, the main body representing the country's Muslim community.


* October 2009 -- The book, "Growing Up bin Laden: Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World," written by Najwa and Omar bin Laden is published.
* December 2009 -- A U.S. government official admits a "lack of intelligence" on bin Laden's whereabouts, noting he could be in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates tells ABC that "it's been years" since there was good intelligence on the al Qaeda leader's location.
* January 29, 2010 -- A man thought to be bin Laden is heard on two audiotapes, released in the span of a week. On the first, he claims responsibility for the alleged Christmas Day attempt by Nigerian national Umar Farouk AbdulMuttallab to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane as it neared Detroit, Michigan, from Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

On another tape -- aired days later, also on Al-Jazeera -- a similar voice blames the United States and other industrialized nations for causing climate change.
* March 2010: An audiotape purportedly from bin Laden hints at retaliation if alleged 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed is executed in the United States.


* October 2010: A message from someone thought to be bin Laden appears on jihadist forums urging Muslims to help people suffering from famine, floods, a lack of clean water and the effects of climate change. At the time, a U.S. official says that bin Laden has been in communication with al Qaeda affiliate within Pakistan and beyond, encouraging them to take more military actions.


Weeks later, a speaker in an audiotape -- purportedly bin Laden -- warns France to get its troops out of Afghanistan and not to oppress Muslims at home. "As you kill us, we will be killed," the voice says. "As you imprison us, you will be imprisoned."

* August 2010: U.S. President Barack Obama is briefed on a "possible lead" about the location of bin Laden. Obama said nine months later that intelligence agents pressed to get more information in the subsequent months.


* January 2011: A speaker claiming to be bin Laden warns French troops to leave Afghanistan -- or else two French journalists abducted by militants there could be killed. The man warns France that its alliance with the United States could prove costly.

* April 2011: President Obama said he believes that there is by then enough credible intelligence about the terrorist leader's whereabouts, setting in motion the military operations.


* May 1, 2011: "A small team of Americans" -- later identified as U.S. Navy SEALS -- engage in a firefight in Abbotabad, Pakistan, killing bin Laden in the process, according to Obama. The U.S. troops, none of whom are harmed in the operation, carry out the al Qaeda leader's bo

Osama Died

The mastermind of the worst terrorist attack on American soil is dead, U.S. President Barack Obama announced late Sunday night, almost 10 years after the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.

Osama bin Laden -- the longtime leader of al Qaeda -- was killed by U.S. forces in a mansion outside the Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with other family members, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
In an address to the nation late Sunday night, Obama called bin Laden's death "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda."

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan," Obama said. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world were placed on high alert following the announcement of bin Laden's death, a senior U.S. official said, and the U.S. State Department should be sending out a new "worldwide caution" for Americans shortly. Some fear al Qaeda supporters may try to retaliate against U.S. citizens or U.S. institutions
Hundreds of people arrived at the White House late Sunday night and chanted, "USA! USA!" They then chanted, "Hey, hey, goodbye!" in reference to the demise of bin Laden and then spontaneously sang the national anthem.
"This welcome news is a credit to our intelligence efforts and brings to justice the architect of the attacks on our country that killed nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, in a statement issued Sunday night.

OSAMA SAGA-Timeline

Zardari's justification???

 What was wrong for Musharraf in the past has become right for Zardari today as the Pakistan People’s Party is giving all the justifications and reasons to protect Asif Ali Zardari’s Presidency as well as his co-chairmanship of the party. In the past PPP was deadly opposed to Musharraf leading the PML-Q as head of the state.

On various occasions former president General Musharraf was criticised by different leaders of the PPP for his support for the PML-Q – the then king’s party. Musharraf’s address to the public rallies from PML-Q platform was also criticised by the PPP which was then led by Benazir Bhutto who in 1995-96 had made her deputy in the party Sardar Farooq Khan Leghari to resign from the party membership before taking over as the President of Pakistan. The senior Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, also did the same with Chaudhry Fazal Elahi, who too had to resign from the party membership to become the president of Pakistan.
Today though the PPP under President Asif Ali Zardari is adamant that there is nothing wrong for the president to be the co-chairperson of PPP, this was not the case during Musharraf’s rule. Musharraf was officially not holding any office of the PML-Q but he used to hold party meetings besides addressing Q’s public gatherings, which was generally considered as against the spirit of the constitution.
Musharraf’s conduct was criticised by the PPP not only in the party’s public statements but also formally before the Election Commission of Pakistan. Some of the examples are given below:
On January 26, 2007 an English daily in its story “PPP’s 36 points for free, fair polls” said that on January 25 a 36-point document was presented to the Chief Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) Qazi Mohammad Farooq by a delegation of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians to ensure fair and free elections in the country. The delegation included the PPP secretary-general Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Sardar Latif Khosa, its president for Punjab Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sindh president Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the NWFP president Rahim Dad Khan and information secretary Sherry Rehman.
The newspaper report said: “During the briefing, Senator Latif Khosa said that the CEC had the power to stop Gen Musharraf from attending public meetings and campaigning for the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.”
The same newspaper published a story on May 18, 2005, which was on the issue of the party’s decision for token participation in the mixed marathon at Lahore. It was Punjab PPP Information Secretary Naveed Chaudhry, who told the media on May 17: The PPP condemns Gen Musharraf’s decision to preside over a meeting of the ruling party.”
The same newspaper ran a story titled ‘PPP criticises Musharraf for attending PML convention’ on March 25, 2006. The report said: “People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Enver Baig on Friday lashed out at Gen Pervez Musharraf for attending and speaking at the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) convention in Lahore on Pakistan Day and condemned the ruling party for passing a resolution asking him to remain in the presidency wearing uniform.”
He added: “On the one hand, Gen Musharraf claimed that he wanted to hold free and fair elections in the country and, on the other, he had become a party by attending the convention (of the PML-Q).”
On March 27, 2006 another English daily ran a story: ‘PPPP demand appointment of independent CEC’ in which the then party MNA and presently speaker National Assembly Dr Fahmida Mirza, who is the wife of home minister Sindh Dr Zulfikar Mirza, was quoted as saying: “Dr Mirza criticised President Musharraf for addressing the PML convention in Lahore on March 23, saying that the address also increased and proved the apprehensions of democratic forces about the holding of free and fair elections.”
On Feb 4, 2007 the same newspaper in its story ‘PPP warns of ‘orange revolution’ if polls rigged’ quoting Raza Rabbani said: “He (Rabbani) said bifurcation of districts, delimitation of constituencies and General Musharraf’s addressing the public rallies is part of pre-poll rigging.”
Another English daily on February 5, 2007 in a editorial comment titled ‘Whither PPP’s ‘orange revolution?’ said: “The Pakistan People’s Party alleges that General Pervez Musharraf has begun to rig the coming elections by campaigning for the ruling Pakistan Muslim league.”
On February 26, 2007, yet another English daily report ‘PPP blames wrong foreign policy for suicide blasts’, while quoting the then chairman of Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and chief of People’s Party Parliamentarians, Makhdoom Amin Faheem, said: “On the one hand President Gen Pervez Musharraf was talking about fair elections and on the other he had come out in the open to canvass for the Pakistan Muslim League.”
As compared to Musharraf, President Zardari’s case is far more complicated for the reason that the latter despite being head of the state is a declared co-chairperson of the PPP. Musharraf though he used to act as head of the PML-Q, formally he did not hold any office of the party.

Shame on politicians

According to sources, nearly all the issues have been settled and negotiations entered in final stage between the two parties as President Asif Ali Zardari has accepted the demand of PML-Q for the slot of Deputy Prime Minister. Chaudhry brothers would hold a meeting in this regard with the President tomorrow (Sunday). PML-Q delegation would also take the Prime Minister into confidence on power sharing formula.

The sources said that PML-Q had demanded seven federal ministries besides their state ministers and governorship in Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ministries that PML-Q demanded included foreign, water and power, petroleum and communication.

According to the agreement, President Asif Ali Zardari has assured five ministries to PML-Q. The sources further said this power sharing formula would be announced following the signing of a written agreement between the two parties.
Political analysts are of the opinion that the entire Q-League will not go with the Chaudhrys of Gujrat and a forward bloc will emerge comprising those members who do not want an alliance with the PPP because of their own political objectives or personal differences with its leadership.
When contacted, former federal minister and a senior Q-League leader Faisal Saleh Hayat said he had no objection to the PPP-PML-Q alliance provided the ruling party gave assurance that it would meet all promises and commitments made with his party. “It will be the win-win situation for the two parties if they make alliance but still we have some concerns over the intentions of the PPP,” he said.
Sources in the PPP said there was some resentment within the party and President Zardari had started a process of consultation with leaders to seek their support for inducting the Q-League into the government in order to secure a comprehensive majority in parliament.
The PPP core committee and parliamentary committee met last week and authorised President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to reach a deal with the PML-Q.
“Both the committees have given a mandate to Prime Minister Gilani to initiate dialogue to forge an alliance with other political parties, including the PML-Q,” a PPP leader said.
The president`s spokesman said: “There is no timeframe for the alliance, but it has been agreed that it should take place soon.”
The PPP required PML-Q`s support for a comprehensive majority in parliament after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F left the government.

Is Democracy is a failure?

Politics in Pakistan mesmerize me.   Not only does one enjoy the daily dose of rhetoric that is spewed from the mouths of our beloved politicians, but the one track mind of those in and out of government baffles the mind.  Politics in Pakistan, much like the political parties themselves seem to be more inclined towards a personality than an ideology.  Nawaz Sharif, Altaf Hussain and Asif Zardari seem to be controlling the present and future of 170 million Pakistanis.  What is ironic of these three distinguished gentlemen is the immense power they control.  Nawaz Sharif, already a two-time Prime Minister – failed miserably on both occasions, Altaf Hussain – a self exiled leader living in London and Asif Zardari – the current President of Pakistan seems to be holding on to his seat with every bit of strength his party can muster.  But why has it lead to a power struggle amongst these political leaders when thousands of Pakistani civilians and soldiers have died over the last few years? Why are we still playing the dirty political games of the past, when history has taught us to do better?
It is highly unfortunate that the two largest political parties in Pakistan are currently vying for the federal government, while the very nation they wish to govern is in flames.  Do not for a second believe that I am being melodramatic with the word “flame”.  From power outages to inflation and from the target killings in Karachi to the drone strikes in the North; we are on a path of destruction.  But here I am – the eternal optimist – believing that a country which was born out of a long and hard fought struggle can make it through the difficult times again.  However, we will only be able to walk through it all with our heads held high, if we review our past and yearn not to repeat them again.
Education is vital to our survival.  Any ounce of resource that our government has should be provided in funding the education of millions of children.  This resource can either be found in the shape of a $7.5 billion aid package or the privatization of an airline that long ago lost its charm and aura.  Thousands of young Pakistanis leave the land of the pure in the blink of an eye for their higher education.  They leave with optimism and sanguinity.  How many students return with the same emotions and feelings?  Not a whole lot. Many return due to the non-availability of work permits, not because they are attracted to the job market in Pakistan.  This needs to change, and an investment in education is the only solution forward.
The religious right-wing needs to yield its toxic influence and allow for positive criticism and open mindedness to grow.  Freedom of religion needs to be practiced and rehearsed according to the same laws preached by the Prophet (PBUH).  Unfortunately we as a nation have strayed so far away from the core of Islam that we have forgotten the true meaning of practicing Islam.  Mind you, this is not the same core that various factions such as the Salafis or Wahabis are trying to attain.  This is a core that allows for dissenting views, one that allows for questions to arise without having to face the wrath of lashes or stoning.  Islam is a religion that was never spread by the sword.  It is time we dump the practice of using religion as a weapon, and turn to using knowledge and literacy as a mode of advancement.  Preaching a militant form of religion is not the route we should undertake in order to secure freedom.  We surely won’t be able to annex Kashmir by practicing such tactics.
Corruption is common.  From the driver putting a few extra hundred rupees on the petrol bill to the MNA putting a few extra lakhs on his projects to the Federal Minister putting a few extra crores to his budget.  This is a menace that has plagued our society for decades and at the alarming rate we are witnessing today, does not seem to be stopping anytime soon.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the level of corruption is only at the lower level since it is almost near impossible to have a corruption clean society.  I am more astonished at the privileged elite who pocket millions and siphon the money to off-shore accounts.  There is just so much money these individuals have gathered over the years that I can guarantee you, they won’t even be able to spend it all in their lifetime, even if they tried too! Corruption in Pakistan even goes against the basic law of diminishing marginal utility.  The more corruption is consumed, the more satisfaction is seemed to be derived.  A stronger judiciary and a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that does not have a political agenda could surely help in bringing many corrupt individuals to the front and place them behind bars!

The current crop of “political leaders need to stop running Pakistan and its institutions like personal fiefdoms” says Ijlal Naqvi, an Islamabad based PhD Candidate in Sociology.  He terms such behavior as profoundly undemocratic as they “encourage no debate, hide what they are doing, and refuse to be accountable to the law”.  With an independent media representing the emerging voice of the public sentiment, we may as well be seeing the change us Pakistanis long for.
Furthermore, none of the three main political players can advocate the issues I have outlined.  One is uneducated, the other is too religious and the third is downright corrupt.  They surely cannot practice what they preach, so how have they managed to fool a nation of 170 million people and gained the ability to even vie for the control of our government? It truly baffles the mind.  But with the determination that has kept us alive for the past 62 years, surely we will be able to overcome our current difficulties.  It is only fair and critical that we start exercising and demanding our civil rights.  It is the only way we can hold our government accountable.  We must fight for our right to education, our right to freedom of religion and our right to a corrupt-free society.  Anything short of this would truly be a sell out on our behalf!
By Agha Raza Haider

Joint KARACHI killing Report

The content of the report clearly showing that who is the main culprit,but yet again it is not a comprihensive report.media and common peoples of karachi knew all these things since long time, however only MQM is targetted in this report for political reasons.

There are others players also involved in this killing game ANP, drug mafia,land grabbers, PPP and Aman Committiee of Layari are some of them.
Any how this report reveles some of the dark faces of MQM but again it looks a biased version.

Karachi Target killing report-Story Exposed

The detailed interrogation reports of 26 persons will be published throughout this week, and the reports also reveal the names of criminals or politicians controlling this bloodshed in Karachi

.A joint investigation by CID, ISI, MI, IB, Special Branch and Rangers have revealed the details of arrested murderers who belong to various political or religious parties and carried out targeted killings in Karachi during 2010.

The names and political affiliations of the 26 target killers captured are as follows:


READ ORIGINAL REPORT (Scanned Copy)

MQM (Altaf) -> Habib-ur-Rehman s/o Majeed-ur-Rehman
MQM (Altaf) -> Murad Akhtar Siddiqui s/o Minhauddin Siddiqui
MQM (Altaf) -> Sultan @ Couple s/o Muhamad Suleman
MQM (Altaf) -> Jamal Abdul Nasir @ Commando
MQM (Altaf) -> Tahir Ali @ Topchi
MQM (Altaf) -> Imran @ Irfan Lamba s/o S. Mehboob Ali
MQM (Altaf) -> Shairq Nafees@ Sheri s/o Muhammad Nafees Shaikh
MQM (Altaf) -> Atif Rasheed @ Ghora s/o Abdul Rasheed

MQM (Altaf) -> Ikram @ Akoo s/o Habib ullah

MQM (Altaf) -> Anus Bin Haroon s/o Harron Rasheed

MQM (Altaf) -> Syed Abu Irfan @ Urfi s/o Syed Abu Asad

MQM (Altaf) -> Muhammad Ishtiq @ Suleman @ Politce Wala

MQM (Altaf) -> Muhammad Yaseen s/o Abdul Haq

MQM (Altaf) -> Rizwan Mehmood @ Khalid Chamber s/o Mehmood Khan

MQM (Haqiqi) -> Maqbool Hussain @ Maqboola s/o Ali Hassan

Lashker-e-Jhangvi -> Waseem Ahmed @ Barudi s/o Samiullah

Lashker-e-Jhangvi -> Muhammad Abdullah @ Taimor s/o M.Riaz Shahid

Lashker-e-Jhangvi -> Hafiz Ikhlaq s/o Pervaiz Akhtar

Lashker-e-Jhangvi -> Naseem Haider @ Feron s/o Ghulam Haider

Lashker-e-Jhangvi -> Asif Rasheed @ Dumba s/o Haroon Rasheed

Sipah-e-Sahaba – Nasir Qadri s/o A.Qadeer

Sipah-e-Sahaba – Muhammad Shoaib s/o Muhammad Ali

ANP -> Mashwar Nawaz @ Mashwari s/o Anwar Khan

Sipah-e-Muhamamd -> Syed Ali Mehdi @ Suleman s/o Syed Jaffer Ali

MQM (Haqiqi) -> Azhar Ali @ Uncle @ Baboo s/o Abdul Rehman

MQM (Haqiqi) -> Abdul Aziz Ansari s/o Abdul Naseer Ansari

Raymond A. Davis, a retired Special Forces soldier,

The American arrested in Pakistan after shooting two men at a crowded traffic stop was part of a covert, C.I.A.-led team collecting intelligence and conducting surveillance on militant groups deep inside the country, according to American government officials.
Working from a safe house in the eastern city of Lahore, the detained American contractor, Raymond A. Davis, a retired Special Forces soldier, carried out scouting and other reconnaissance missions as a security officer for the Central Intelligence Agency case officers and technical experts doing the operations, the officials said.
Mr. Davis’s arrest and detention last month, which came after what American officials have described as a botched robbery attempt, have inadvertently pulled back the curtain on a web of covert American operations inside Pakistan, part of a secret war run by the C.I.A.
The episode has exacerbated already frayed relations between the American intelligence agency and its Pakistani counterpart, created a political dilemma for the weak, pro-American Pakistani government, and further threatened the stability of the country, which has the world’s fastest growing nuclear arsenal.
Without describing Mr. Davis’s mission or intelligence affiliation, President Obama last week made a public plea for his release. Meanwhile, there have been a flurry of private phone calls to Pakistan from Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all intended to persuade the Pakistanis to release the secret operative.
Mr. Davis has worked for years as a C.I.A. contractor, including time at Blackwater Worldwide, the private security firm (now called Xe) that Pakistanis have long viewed as symbolizing a culture of American gun-slinging overseas.
The New York Times had agreed to temporarily withhold information about Mr. Davis’s ties to the agency at the request of the Obama administration, which argued that disclosure of his specific job would put his life at risk. Several foreign news organizations have disclosed some aspects of Mr. Davis’s work with the C.I.A.
On Monday, American officials lifted their request to withhold publication. George Little, a C.I.A. spokesman, declined to comment specifically on the Davis matter, but said in a statement: “Our security personnel around the world act in a support role providing security for American officials. They do not conduct foreign intelligence collection or covert operations.”
Since the United States is not at war in Pakistan, the American military is largely restricted from operating in the country. So the Central Intelligence Agency has taken on an expanded role, operating armed drones that kill militants inside the country and running covert operations, sometimes without the knowledge of the Pakistanis.
Several American and Pakistani officials said that the C.I.A. team with which Mr. Davis worked in Lahore was tasked with tracking the movements of various Pakistani militant groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, a particularly violent group that Pakistan uses as a proxy force against India but that the United States considers a threat to allied troops in Afghanistan. For the Pakistanis, such spying inside their country is an extremely delicate issue, particularly since Lashkar has longstanding ties to Pakistan’s intelligence service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.
Still, American and Pakistani officials use Lahore as a base of operations to investigate the militant groups and their madrasas in the surrounding area.
The officials gave various accounts of the makeup of the covert team and of Mr. Davis, who at the time of his arrest was carrying a Glock pistol, a long-range wireless set, a small telescope and a headlamp. An American and a Pakistani official said in interviews that operatives from the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command had been assigned to the group to help with the surveillance missions. Other American officials, however, said that no military personnel were involved with the team.
Special operations troops routinely work with the C.I.A. in Pakistan. Among other things, they helped the agency pinpoint the location of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy Taliban commander who was arrested in January 2010 in Karachi.
Even before the arrest of Mr. Davis, his C.I.A. affiliation was known to Pakistani authorities, who keep close tabs on the movements of Americans. His visa, presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late 2009, describes his job as a “regional affairs officer,” a common job description for officials working with the agency.
According to that application, Mr. Davis carried an American diplomatic passport and was listed as “administrative and technical staff,” a category that typically grants diplomatic immunity to its holder.
American officials said that with Pakistan’s government trying to clamp down on the increasing flow of Central Intelligence Agency officers and contractors trying to gain entry to Pakistan, more of these operatives have been granted “cover” as embassy employees and given diplomatic passports.
As Mr. Davis is held in a jail cell in Lahore — the subject of an international dispute at the highest levels — new details are emerging of what happened in a dramatic daytime scene on the streets of central Lahore, a sprawling city, on Jan. 27.
By the American account, Mr. Davis was driving alone in an impoverished area rarely visited by foreigners, and stopped his car at a crowded intersection. Two Pakistani men brandishing weapons hopped off motorcycles and approached. Mr. Davis killed them with the Glock, an act American officials insisted was in self-defense against armed robbers.
But on Sunday, the text of the Lahore Police Department’s crime report was published in English by a prominent daily newspaper, The Daily Times, and it offered a somewhat different account.
It is based in part on the version of events Mr. Davis gave Pakistani authorities, and it seems to raise doubts about his claim that the shootings were in self-defense.