Taliban commander blows himself up in NW Pakistan

    ISLAMABAD, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) --

A Taliban commander blew up himself fearing arrest late Friday night in the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, injuring at least two police personnel.

    According to local TV reports, police on intelligence report raided the house where Pakistani members of Taliban were hiding and arrested four of them.

    Police tightened security around the Taliban commander Irfan's house but upon seeing security personnel, he blew himself up with a hand grenade.

    Arms including suicide jackets, hand grenade and bullets were recovered from the house.

    The security situation is deteriorating in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, and due to a series of suicide attacks and bomb blasts in Peshawar, the provincial police with help of other law enforcement agencies have tightened the security measures.

Editor: Deng Shasha

Four killed in N Waziristan drone attack

 Updated at: 2245 PST,

Saturday, January 09, 2010  

  thenews.com,  MIRANSHAH:

A US missile strike on Saturday killed at least four Taliban fighters and injured five others in North Waziristan .

According to sources, the missile struck a compound in Ismail Khel village, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border.

Eyewitnesses said that drones were seen flying across the area following the above strikes.

10 more killed in Karachi violence

The Daily Times, KARACHI:

Ten more people were killed in separate incidents of abduction and targeted killings in Karachi on Friday, as violence – that began after the discovery of a headless body of an MQM worker on Thursday – continued for the second day.

The latest casualties included three MQM workers, an Awami National Party activist and a former police official. Four bodies were recovered from Dhobi Ghat area in Pak Colony police precincts.

Identity: Police said the unidentified attackers killed the men after checking their Computerised National Identity Cards.

Two of the victims were identified as Munawar Siddiq and Javed Khursheed. Munawar was associated with the MQM.

In another incident, two bodies were found in gunny bags in Kharadar police precincts.

One of the victims was identified as Muhammad Naeem, an MQM activist.

The body of former police official, Ismail Katchi, was found from Khokhrapar police limits. A body was also found from Garden area while another discovered from Railway City police limits.

10 die in suicide attack on Ansarul Islam’s base

Pak Tribune, Saturday January 09, 2010 (2029 PST)

BARA/LANDIKOTAL:

A suicide bombing at the base of the group, Ansarul Islam, in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on Friday left 10 people, including its members, dead and seven others injured.

Dr Naeem, spokesman for the Ansarul Islam, told our sources that the rival group, Lashkar-e-Islam, led by Mangal Bagh, was involved in the suicide attack. He and other sources identified the 18-year-old suicide bomber as Abdul Baqi, son of Shargo, belonging to the Kamarkhel sub-tribe from the Tirah’s Sokht area. They claimed the bomber’s head had been found and it helped in identifying him.

The organisation’s members said the bomber wanted to bomb the Friday prayers. They claimed the alertness of the Ansarul Islam’s volunteers foiled the bomber’s plan to kill a large number of people.

Eight people, mostly Ansarul Islam members, were killed initially but later the death toll rose to 10 when more injured succumbed to their injuries. Some of the dead were identified as Dr Jamal, Qamar Gul, Masood, Malik Khan, Sheikh Gul, Shaukat Khan, Umar Khan and Mubarak Khan. The Lashkar-e-Islam group hasn’t yet commented on the attack.

Suicide attack, violence in Pakistan claim 20 people

    ISLAMABAD, Jan. 8, 2010 (Xinhua) --

At least 20 people, including two policemen, were killed in a suicide attack on the base of an outlawed militant group and incidents of firing in Pakistan on Friday, officials said.

    A bomber exploded his device stripped on his body in the officeof Lashkar-e-Islam group in Khyber tribal agency of northwest Pakistan, officials said.

    The attacker struck members of the group when they were entering mosque in the base, they said. Five people were killed and five others were injured, a leader of the group Qari Minhaj said.

    Minhaj said that three children and a passerby were among those killed in the attack.

    In another bomb attack two people were killed and two others were injured in a roadside bomb blast in nearby Bajaur tribal region. A vehicle was hit by the bomb at Charmang area, an official said.

    In the southwestern city of Quetta, unidentified gunmen shot dead two police of an investigative agency on Friday, police said.

    The members of Crimes Investigation Department came under attack when they were coming from night duty. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

    In Karachi, five people were killed in firing in Liyari locality of the port city, police said.

    Unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at the people after funeral procession for seven persons who were killed in the city on Thursday, police said.

    Also in Karachi in early Friday morning, six people were killed and several injured in an explosion near a mosque in Baldia Town of the commercial center. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan