8th June -12 June 2015

Story Highlights

  • 18%

    War Against Terror

  • 16%

    Local Government Polls

  • 14%

    Pak - India Tussle

  • 52%

    Other News

War Against Terror

As Pakistan continues military operation against terrorists in different cities, militants also increase attacks on security personnel and civilians.

In recent attacks five people belonging to the Hazara community in Quetta were shot dead.

According to police it was an act of target killing as suspected militants opened fire at two shops in the city’s commercial hub. A few days earlier four policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), were also killed by unidentified attackers in Quetta. According to police sources the police van was on routine patrolling when it was attacked. This was second such attack on police in a week.  Meanwhile 19 militants and seven soldiers were killed in a gun battle earlier this week near Dattakhel, a town in Waziristan and close to the Afghan border.

Meanwhile army chief said that terrorists have been cleared from their strongholds in North Wazirastan and Khyber Agency and they are left in few pockets in the areas closer to Afghan border. A few days earlier, during his visit to Sri Lanka he reiterated that operation Zarb-e-Azb is aimed to bring peace and stability in Pakistan.

Local Government Polls

Rift over local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues as opposition parties refused to accept the results, claiming that elections were rigged. Opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also staged protest rallies across the province today as talks between them and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government regarding the alleged rigging in the local government elections failed. General Secretary of Awami National Party, Mian Iftikhar argued that fair elections were not possible under the current provincial government. He demanded that government should step down and let the caretaker set up to hold re-elections. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had convened an all-parties conference (APC) earlier this week to discuss alleged mismanagement and had invited all the political parties to attend the conference. However the parties that attended APC had agreed to constitute a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging.

Meanwhile Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has said that holding elections again in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not child’s play. He also said that any decision on whether or not to hold re-elections will be taken by the Election Commission and not by political parties. The Chief Election Commissioner’s statement came after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan announced that his party is ready to hold local bodies’ elections again in response to allegations of rigging by the opposition.

Pak-India Tussle

Tension continues to escalate between Pakistan and India. This time the issue/ bone of contention was the latest statement of Indian Prime minister in which he admitted that Indian army played a role in breaking up Pakistan in 1971. Pakistan reacted strongly to this admission and condemned India’s involvement in Pakistan’s internal affairs. Both the Houses of Parliament also passed unanimous resolutions against provocative and hostile statement by Indian prime minister. Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz while addressing the parliament assured the legislators that Pakistan will take all possible steps on the diplomatic front to expose India’s role in the breakup of East Pakistan in 1971.

A day later Indian army attacked separatist rebels over the border with Myanmar and later in a statement warned that the offensive was also a message for Pakistan. Indian media quoted Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore as saying that India ‘will strike at a place and at a time of our choosing’ against all countries, including Pakistan, and groups harbouring ‘terror intent’. While taking serious notice of this statement, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in an address to Envoys Conference of SAARC and ECO Regions, said that Pakistan would protect its interests at all costs. Nawaz Sharif also expressed dismay over recent ‘irresponsible’ statements by Indian political leadership and said such attitude from a neighboring country will take us farther away from our goals of regional peace and stability. 

Other News

All other news are considered under this category.

 

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