Pakistan Advisory Sheet

INSTANT 08:00CDT - 14 June 2002

Death Toll at Least Eight, Scores Injured in Consulate Attack

PAKISTAN: An attacker crashed a bomb-laden Suzuki van into a guard post outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday, killing himself and at least eight (8) other people and injuring 45. On estimate of injuries in the popular press says that the injury toll was substantially higher, though most wounds were probably less than life-threatening. The massive blast incinerated a dozen cars, blew a 10-foot-wide hole in the compound wall, and sent debris flying a half-mile. One Pakistani police source said they suspect that the attack was the work of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. ERRI analysts said that the incident may have links to Al-Qaeda, but that there is a greater likelihood that the actual perpetrator was a member of one the Pakistani militant groups (JEM, HUM, etc.) opposed to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf's assistance to the U.S. led "War on Terrorism."

No Americans were believed killed, but one U.S. Marine and five Pakistani employees in the consulate were reported to be slightly injured. Some of the bodies of victims were completely blown apart, making it difficult to determine exactly how many people were killed.  It was the fourth attack on Western interests in Pakistan this year. The U.S. embassy in Islamabad and all U.S. consulates in Pakistan will be closed on Friday and throughout the weekend as a security assessment is conducted, the State Department said.

02:00CDT/12:00 Pakistani time - 14 June 2002

Explosion Reported Outside U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan

KARACHI, PAKISTAN (EmergencyNet News) -- According to preliminary reports coming from the region, an explosion has damaged the U.S. consulate and killed at least five people. The blast is believed to have been as the result of a car bomb explosion that took place at 11:15 a.m. Karachi time, (01:15 a.m. EDT). More than twenty (20) other people were also reportedly wounded by the detonation, including police officers protecting the mission. The preliminary death and injury toll may rise, rescue officials said. U.S. officials said that no staff  from the consulate were killed or injured in the explosion. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though most analysts are blaming Islamic militants for the attack. EmergencyNet News is monitoring events in Pakistan closely and will bring you additional details if/when they become available...

13 June 2002

TODAY'S CENTRAL FOCUS:

Pakistan Could Be Resisting Wider War On Terror?

PAKISTAN: No official details of the talks have emerged yet but Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has been holding talks with visiting United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in which he was expected to argue that the US should not extend its war on terror to Kashmir. On Wednesday, Pakistan emphatically rejected Rumsfeld's comments that members of Usama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network were operating in Kashmir. Pakistani officials allegedly are complaining in private that Rumsfeld has "been duped by Indian propaganda."

Rumsfeld is in the region in a primary attempt to further reduce the risk of India and Pakistan going to war over Kashmir. But, the US is also anxious that tensions with India should not deflect Pakistan's efforts to hunt down al-Qaeda fighters near the border with Afghanistan. India has ruled out any deployment of American troops on its soil in the hunt against al-Qaeda or to play any monitoring role in Kashmir.

Analysts in Islamabad says Rumsfeld's suggestion that al-Qaeda might be active in Kashmir have reportedly "caught the government there by surprise." Previously, US officials have said there was no evidence al-Qaeda members were in Kashmir, although India has insisted they were operating there. An unnamed Pakistani military spokesman said Rumsfeld's "comments suggested a lack of knowledge of the realities on the ground in Kashmir," where the army has reportedly been trying to prevent militants from crossing into Indian-administered territory.

On Wednesday, Sec. Rumsfeld is quoted by several press agencies as saying that he had "seen indications" that al-Qaeda fighters were operating in Kashmir. Today, US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is quoted by the British Ananova news service as saying that the United States has "a good deal of scraps of intelligence" from "people saying they believe al-Qaeda are in Kashmir or in various locations." "The facts are that I do not have evidence and the United States does not have evidence of al-Qaeda in Kashmir," Mr. Rumsfeld said in Islamabad after talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. "It tends to be speculative," he added. "It is not actionable. It is not verifiable." "The cooperation between the United States and Pakistan on the subject of al Qaeda is so close and so intimate and so cooperative," Rumsfeld said, "that if there were any actionable intelligence as to al Qaeda anywhere in this country, there isn't a doubt in my mind but that the Pakistan government would go find them and deal with them."

ERRI analysts said that SecDef Rumsfeld is obviously engaged in a very delicate balancing act with the sensibilities of both India and Pakistan, in order to further facilitate the goals of the U.S. war on terrorism. A previous ERRI assessment had suggested that it was probable that al-Qaeda operatives were cooperating with and assisting Pakistani militant groups in the Kashmir region.

PAKISTAN: Pakistani intelligence and government officials said on Thursday that American Jose Padilla, accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty" bomb in the United States, traveled to a central Asian country in April looking to buy radioactive materials. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least two associates of Padilla are now in custody in Pakistan, and FBI agents are questioning them at an undisclosed location. The hunt for the Brooklyn-born Padilla, 31 also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, began after the arrest in March of Usama bin Laden's lieutenant Abu Zubaydah. Zubaydah is currently in U.S. custody in an unknown country.

01 June 2002

United Nations Staff Families To Leave South Asia

PAKISTAN: Because of the continuing tensions between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, diplomats say the United Nations has decided to evacuate the families of its staff from the two countries. Citizens and non- essential diplomatic staff from the UK, the US and other Western countries have also been advised by their governments this week to leave the region. Indian and Pakistani troops have continued to shell each other across the Line of Control in Kashmir, with exchanges of mortar and machine-gun fire in several areas.

Foreign ministers of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations said they were very concerned about the confrontation -- they urged Pakistan to halt militants making attacks into Indian-administered territory. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had seen indications that Pakistan has given orders to stop infiltrations across the Line of Control -- one of India's key demands. He said if that happened, he would be asking India to withdraw its forces.

The following nations have issued the following travel advice to their citizens:

* US and UK: Citizens, non-essential diplomats and families to consider leaving India.

* Germany: Citizens advised to leave India. Diplomats stay.

* Denmark: Citizens asked not to travel to India or Pakistan.

* Canada and Australia: Non-essential diplomats to go. Citizens advised to leave.

* New Zealand: Families of diplomats in India being withdrawn.

10 May 2002

INDIA: Police said on Friday they had shot and killed two militants of the outlawed guerrilla group Lashkar-e-Taiba, arrested three and seized guns and explosives in New Delhi. Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of nearly a dozen groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state. Both the dead militants were Pakistani nationals and one of them was said to had been involved in a bloody attack on an army base in Delhi's historic Red Fort in December 2000.

Police first arrested three members of the group at a railway station in the heart of the city on Thursday as they were taking guns and explosives to a rendezvous with the two others. New Delhi Assistant Police Commissioner Rajbir Singh said: "We tried to nab the two militants based on the information provided by the three accomplices. They seem to have planned some major strike in the capital." The police tried to ambush the two militants, who saw them, opened fire and were killed in the shootout. Police seized an AK-47 rifle, two automatic pistols, five kilograms of RDX explosives, detonators, bullets, mobile phones and currency worth US$4,000 from the men.

PAKISTAN: ERRI analysts today said that their preliminary analysis of the bombing of bus containing French naval experts on 08 May 2002 probably involved the active participation of local Pakistani militant groups. High on the list of suspects being examined by analysts are the Lashkar-i-Taiba, Jaish-i-Mohammad, and Harakat ul-Mujahidin. ERRI's Clark Staten said today that it is possible that the Paki militants may have been inspired by Al-Qaeda, or maybe even received some sort of logistical support from them, but that the act itself was probably motivated by an attempt to discredit Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, drive a wedge between his government and Western powers, and/or cause Westerners to depart Pakistan.

In a sweep against Islamic militants on Thursday, Pakistani authorities rounded up nearly 300 suspects while U.S. and French investigators searched for possible links between al-Qaeda terrorists and a suicide bombing that killed 14 persons, including 11 French engineers. French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie went to the site of Wednesday's blast and then visited a dozen French citizens wounded in the attack. They were flown home on a military jet on Thursday. Three FBI agents also examined the twisted, charred skeleton of the Pakistani navy shuttle bus that was destroyed in the bombing. Paramilitary rangers set up posts and concrete barriers at major hotels and places frequented by Westerners.

27 Apr 2002

PAKISTAN: Tribal elders and Muslim clerics said on Saturday that U.S. forces have joined Pakistani paramilitary troops in searching an Islamic school near the Afghan border for members of Usama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror organization. Maulvi Abdul Hafeez, a prominent cleric at Mir Ali, 200 miles southwest of Peshawar, said: "The Pakistani forces with the help of American soldiers on Friday stormed a religious school at Darpa Khel to search for al-Qaeda men. We condemn this Paki-U.S. operation." The White House sees the entry of U.S. government personnel into the wild tribal regions as the beginning of a dangerous but necessary phase in the hunt for al-Qaeda fighters who have taken refuge outside Afghanistan. ERRI analysts said that the response of the Muslim clerics was to be expected...

22 Apr 2002

PAKISTAN: Officials said several rockets were fired at a state-owned gas well which caught fire in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan early on Monday. Employees from the state-run Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) and local authorities took an hour to bring the blaze under control after the attack at around 03:00 hours local time (21:00GMT Sunday). The well is located in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district, east of provincial capital Quetta. No one has claimed responsibility for over a dozen rocket attacks on gas fields in the last two months which, officials say, have damaged four wells in Dera Bugti, an area where tribal chieftains often fight over the benefits from gas exploration.

07 Apr 2002

Spring Offensive Planned For Kashmir??

INDIA: A senior police official said some 3,000 to 4,000 Muslim militants are waiting to cross into Indian-administered Kashmir to escalate violence during upcoming provincial polls. Referring to the Line of Control, the border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, Inspector General of Police K Rajindera Kumar said: "Conservative estimates suggest that there are between 3,000 to 4,000 militants waiting on LoC to cross into Kashmir." He also said some 400 Kashmiri youths had crossed into the Pakistani zone of Kashmir last year to acquire arms training.

Kumar said the militants were waiting for the snow to melt before infiltrating. He said: "Their aim will be to increase violence in Kashmir in the run up to the upcoming assembly polls." An election is scheduled to take place in late September or early October as the six-year term of the present state government expires on 9 October....

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Wednesday, March 20, 2002-Vol. 8 - 079

U.S. Security Team To Investigate Pakistani Church Attack

WASHINGTON: The U.S, government said on Monday it would send a team of agents to Pakistan to help investigate this week's grenade attack on an Islamabad church. In related news, the Pakistani government announced it dismissed the city's police chief and four other senior officials for failing to prevent the attack. Five people -- including a U.S. embassy employee and her teenage daughter -- were killed and 45 others injured when two unidentified militants threw grenades into Islamabad's main Protestant church packed with Sunday worshippers. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that special agents from the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security would work with Pakistani officials to track down those responsible for the attack.

An FBI team of agents already is working with the Pakistani security agencies in Islamabad. The State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Pakistan, saying its has received reports indicating "terrorists may seek civilian targets." The DoS also has authorized voluntary departure for family members of embassy and consular staff in Pakistan.

An official statement issued in Islamabad said the Pakistani government fired Islamabad's police chief and four other senior police officials for failing to prevent Sunday's terrorist attack in the city's diplomatic enclave. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by President Pervez Musharraf, who told the country's security agencies that people "expect fast and speedy justice and it is our duty to live up to their expectations." He also told his security chiefs that "the prevailing law and order environment cannot be allowed to continue and hard decisions have to be taken."

08:00CST - 17 Mar 2002

Religious Violence Rises...

Attack on Protestant Church in Pakistan; Two Americans, Three Others Dead

Islamabad, Pakistan (EmergencyNet News) -- At least five people are dead following a grenade attack at the Protestant International Church, during church services today. The church is located nearby to the U.S. embassy and some of the victims may have been embassy employees. Forty-five (45) other people are believed wounded, several of them critically, according to Pakistani medical services. An eyewitness said that a man entered the church during services and threw "several grenades" into the congregation. Chaos ensued. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Islamic militants where immediately suspected, as they have made recent threats against Americans in the country. President Pervez Musharraf condemned the attack as a "ghastly act of terrorism."

INDIA: According to a report from the Reuters news service today, a mob of some 300 Hindus torched Islamic mosques and shops belonging to Muslims in India's northern state of Haryana on Sunday, angered by rumors that a Muslim family had slaughtered a cow, police said.  An official in the police control room in Luharu town of Haryana's Bhiwani district said the mob surrounded the house of the Muslim family suspected of slaughtering the cow, an animal regarded as sacred by Hindus. Not finding the family at home, the mob torched two mosques and three shops owned by Muslims.

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Sunday, March 17, 2002-Vol. 8 - 076

TODAY'S CENTRAL FOCUS:

Pakistan Church Blast Leaves Five Dead

PAKISTAN: In the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, at least five people were killed in a grenade attack on a Protestant church. The church, inside the city's heavily guarded diplomatic enclave and not far from the US Embassy, was crowded with Sunday morning worshippers. The wife of a US diplomat and her daughter, aged about 17, were among those killed. An Afghan woman and a Pakistani national also lost their lives.

Islamabad police said that 45 people were wounded. The condition of several is said to be critical. People from eight different countries were among the casualties. They are reported to include Sri Lanka's ambassador to Pakistan, his wife and child, as well as a number of Americans.

Police say at least two men burst into the church and tossed six grenades at the congregation as prayer services were under way. Three exploded, but the others failed to detonate. Reports said that the attackers walked away, shutting the doors of the church behind them.

There were reportedly between 60 and 70 people attending a service at the Protestant International Church. So far, no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack, and police said it is too early to say whether diplomats or local Christians were the targets.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf called the attack "an act of sabotage against Pakistan's national interests." Attacks on Christians in largely Muslim Pakistan are relatively rare.

THREAT MATRIX:

Pakistani Terrorist Threatens To Have U.S. Plane Hijacked

PAKISTAN: The primary suspect in the abduction and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl said on Tuesday his supporters would hijack a U.S. plane to return him to Pakistan if he was extradited to the United States. Earlier this month, the United States formally requested Pakistan to hand over the suspect, Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, so he can be tried in the U.S. Saeed and another suspect, Aadil Shaikh were brought on Tuesday to a heavily guarded court in Karachi for another remand hearing over their alleged involvement in the Pearl case.

Advocate General Raja Qureshi told reporters outside Karachi's anti- terrorism court: "Omar (Saeed) told the court that his comrades will force the U.S. authorities to return him to Pakistan by hijacking an American plane if he was ever extradited. The Americans will pay dearly if I was ever sent to the United States. I will be back the way I returned from India." The 28-year-old Saeed is a British nationl and a London School of Economics dropout who spent more than four years in Indian jails for attempting to kidnap Western tourists from New Delhi. He was released in December 1999 after members of his Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) group hijacked an Indian airliner to Kandahar.

The crazed Saeed also reportedly said in court: "We are fighting for a cause. We are not alone." In an earlier hearing, Saeed told the court that he kidnapped Pearl because he was unhappy with Pakistan's decision to join the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Judge Shabir Ahmed remanded Saeed and the other suspect to police until 22 March for further interrogation "but also ordered the police to complete the investigation now as there would be no more remands."

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Sunday, January 13, 2002-Vol. 8 - 013

PAKISTAN:

Announcement Says 800 Militants Arrested; Attempt to Head-Off War Between India and Pakistan

[Terror Group Reference: Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), Sipah-e-Sahaba and Tehrik-e-Jafria]

Officials said on Sunday that authorities have arrested more than 800 religious militants during the last 24 hours. The move coincides with President Pervez Musharraf's televised address on Saturday evening in which he announced a ban on four religious parties and warned others to stop their extremism. About 300 people were arrested in the southern port city of Karachi, 350 from the southern Sindh province, 100 from the Northwest frontier province and 86 from the central Punjab province.

Responding to an Indian demand, Musharraf ordered Saturday to disband two Kashmiri militant groups, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM). He also disbanded two sectarian groups, Sipah-e-Sahaba of majority Sunni and Tehrik-e-Jafria of minority Shi'ite Muslim sects. New Delhi also has presented a list of 20 militants it wants extradited for committing terrorist acts against India. Musharraf rejected the demand, saying he would be willing to try and punish them in Pakistan if New Delhi provided evidence against them.

Lashkar-e-Taiba vowed to continue its "holy war" in Kashmir despite being banned by Musharraf. A Lashkar spokesman said in defiance: "The government of Pakistan has no right to ban us as we are a Kashmir-based group fighting against the Indian forces and we will continue our jihad. Our struggle for Kashmir will continue."

The fundamentalist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) party, which supports Afghanistan's former Taliban regime and is calling for Islamic rule in Pakistan, said Musharraf's speech was pro-India and against the Pakistani people. A JUI spokesman said: "This speech will only please India and the United States but not the people of this country as those fighting jihad have been branded as terrorists and militants. The speech is an insult to thousands of martyrs of Kashmir and Afghanistan. People were deeply shocked when Musharraf announced the ban on the two jihadi groups."

26 Dec 2001

WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell declared two groups accused by India in the 13 December attack on its parliament as terrorist organizations. Powell's action today makes it illegal for persons in the United States to provide material support to the two anti-India groups. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), claim to be supporting the people of Kashmir and have conducted numerous attacks in India and Pakistan. The SecState indicated the United States supports India's allegation that the groups were involved in the attack on Parliament, in which 14 people were killed.

INDIA/PAKISTAN/KASHMIR: India has reportedly moved ballistic missiles and additional troops to its border with Pakistan as tensions continue to rise between the two countries. Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said that Pakistan had declared war on India and something had to be done. Fernandes said: "When India is attacked in the way it was, frankly what Pakistan has done is wage war against India."

However, analysts say that military action is not a real option as India would be seen as the aggressor and lose international support over the issue. But India could impose economic sanctions by abandoning a 30-year-old agreement which allows Pakistan access to water which passes through Indian territory.

India has cancelled all military leave and moved thousands of soldiers and tanks into the border state of Rajasthan. Pakistan has deployed anti-aircraft guns and transported troops from an eastern garrison town to its border with India.

U.S. military and intelligence officials said that the tensions over Kashmir are probably as high as they have been for many years and that they are monitoring events there very closely. EmergencyNet News will bring you additional details of developments if/when they become available...
(Click here to review: Terrorism: Asia - Chronological Order)

15 Dec 2001

India Strikes Back Against Kashmiri Terrorists

INDIA: A top terrorist of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Nazir Ahmed Yatoo -- alias Shakir Gaznavi -- who was the group's "Divisional Commander" and "Financial Chief," was killed when government security forces raided a hideout at Goshbug in the Baramulla district of Kashmir on Thursday.

In another encounter that followed, two unidentified terrorists who had escaped from the hideout were killed. Some weapons, ammunition and explosives were seized from the site of the two encounters. In Kashmir's Poonch district, two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter at Hari Safeda.

Meanwhile, four Pakistanis of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) were reported killed in an encounter that began on Wednesday and continued into 13 December. In Pulwama district, a member of the security forces was wounded when unidentified terrorists ambushed a group of security personnel at Nagbal on Thursday. In the same district, a Pakistani JEM fighter was killed in an encounter at Wagad.  For more on the terrorist situation in India, see the ERRI Special Report being released later today. (to EmergencyNet News subscribers only-Click here to learn how to subscribe)

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Thursday, December 13, 2001-Vol. 7, NO. 349-10:00CST

TODAY'S CENTRAL FOCUS

Terrorist Attack On Indian Parliament

A suicide squad of terrorists attacked the Parliament building in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, leaving at least 13 people dead. A suicide bomber, who detonated explosives strapped to his waist, and four gunmen lost their lives in the attack and a resulting shootout with security forces. India is racked by separatist and communal violence, but this is the first time such an attack has been launched on the heavily guarded parliamentary complex.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though initial speculation turned to Islamic militants fighting against Indian rule in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where 38 people were killed in a suicide attack on the state assembly two months ago. Asked who might be behind the attack, Home Minister Lal Advani said: "It may be one of the organizations which have been active in the country. Ever since this practice of suicide terrorism has been developed, anything can be attacked."

Witnesses said six people, one the suicide bomber, stormed the complex, killing at least seven people. Witnesses said five attackers stormed through the complex firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades at about 1145 hours local time, soon after both houses of Parliament adjourned. Gunshots were heard for about an hour. Doctors at a nearby hospital said at least five security guards and a worker were killed.

Star News said the heavily armed attackers drove onto the parliamentary grounds in a vehicle with a fake pass. One deputy said she had been told by police that the vehicle, laden with unexploded explosives, was still inside the complex.

Hundreds of troops in full battle gear took up positions around the parliament, sealing off the area as security forces throughout Delhi and around the nation were put on red alert.

Analysts said if Thursday's raid was by Kashmir separatists, India could launch a counter-attack across the Line of Control into Pakistani-held territory, raising the risk of a dangerous confrontation between the nuclear-capable neighbors. New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of arming and funding Islamic militants fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. Islamabad denies the charge.

Pakistan - Travel Warning

September 17, 2001

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to evaluate carefully the implications for their security and safety before deciding to travel to Pakistan and whether to remain in Pakistan. The September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and possible responses in Afghanistan heighten the need for vigilance on the part of American citizens resident in or traveling through Pakistan.

In neighboring Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities, which control at least 90 percent of Afghanistan, continue to harbor international terrorist Usama bin Laden and his terrorist network. While the Government of Pakistan has expressed its full support for the international campaign against terrorism, some public sympathy and support for the Taliban, as well as for bin Laden, exist in Pakistan, and the presence of indigenous sectarian and militant groups in Pakistan require that all Americans in or traveling through Pakistan take appropriate steps to maintain their security awareness. Events in the Middle East also increase the possibility of violence.

As a result of these concerns, the Department has authorized the departure of all U.S. Embassy and Consulate personnel in non-emergency positions and family members in Pakistan. In addition, the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar has allowed some employees to move temporarily to Islamabad in light of rising tensions in Peshawar. All American citizens in Pakistan are urged to consider their personal security situations and to take those measures they deem appropriate to ensure their well being, including consideration of departure from the country. Consulate Peshawar along with the Consulates in Lahore and Karachi and the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad remain available for emergency American citizen services assistance.

Americans who despite this warning reside in or visit Pakistan should exercise maximum caution and take prudent measures. This includes maintaining a strong security posture by being aware of their surroundings, avoiding crowds and demonstrations, keeping a low profile, varying times and routes and notifying the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate in case of any change in the local security situation.

The U.S. Embassy also urges all American citizens to defer travel to the tribal areas of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province until further notice. The Government of Pakistan requires all citizens of countries other than Pakistan and Afghanistan to obtain permission from the Home and Tribal Affairs Department prior to visiting these tribal areas which lie outside the normal jurisdiction of the Government of Pakistan.

U.S. citizens in Pakistan are strongly urged to register and obtain updated security information at the American Embassy in Islamabad, the U.S. Consulate General in Karachi, the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, or the Consulate in Peshawar at the following addresses:

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is located at Diplomatic Enclave, Ramna 5, telephone (92-51) 2080-0000; consular section telephone (92-51) 2080-2700, fax (92-51) 822-632.

The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi is located at 8 Abdullah Haroon Road, telephone (92-21) 568-5170 (after hours: 92-21-568-1606), fax (92-21) 568-0496.

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore is located on 50-Empress Road near Shimla Road or Sharah-E-Abdul Hamid Bin Badees, (Old Empress Road), telephone (92-42) 636-5530, fax (92-42) 636-5177.

The U.S. Consulate in Peshawar is located at 11 Hospital Road, Cantonment, Peshawar, telephone (92-91) 279-801 through 803, fax (92-91) 276-712.

For further general information regarding travel to Pakistan, U.S. citizens should consult the Department of State's Consular Information Sheet for Pakistan, available via the Internet at http://travel.state.gov.

14 August 2001

PAKISTAN:

Three Dead, 16 Wounded in Blast

An explosion ripped through a narrow, crowded street in Quetta, the capital of the province of Baluchistan, on Monday. At least three people were reported killed by the blast. Police said at least 16 other people were injured in the explosion from an IED planted on a bicycle outside a movie theater. It was the second bomb explosion in Pakistan in three days - no group has admitted carrying out the attacks.

12 August 2001

PAKISTAN:

Deputy Mayor Fatally Shot Near Lahore

Police said on Monday that a rival candidate has been arrested after four gunmen shot and killed a newly elected deputy mayor in eastern Pakistan. The elected deputy mayor of the Pakistan Peoples' Party, was killed on Sunday in Gujranwala, some 35 miles north of Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab. Police arrested the rival candidate belonging to the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League.

13 June 2001

PAKISTAN

Karachi Braced For Violence

Ahead of calls for a citywide strike, the southern city of Karachi was reported tense on Wednesday. An early morning bomb blast injured two people and overnight violence left at least one person fatally shot and up to 20 buses burned. Police and army units were said to be patrolling the city. A small bomb was placed under a parked car and totally destroyed the vehicle.

The strike has been called by the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), mainly comprising Urdu-speaking Muslim immigrants from India, and the Sindhi nationalist group, Jiye Sindh Quami Mahaz. They want to protest about alleged police brutality during earlier demonstrations against shortages of irrigation water in Sindh province.

Strike's organizers said police shot and killed two people overnight. But police officials said only one person was killed, shot by another demonstrator. Later, police said a woman and a man were killed and four others wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fired on buses in various attacks overnight.

19 May 2001

PAKISTAN

Police Fear More Sectarian Violence In Karachi

After the killing of a prominent Muslim leader on Friday, police in the city of Karachi have stepped up security amidst fear of a flare-up of sectarian violence. The chairman of the Sunni Tehrik party, along with five other people was shot by unidentified gunmen as he was leaving a mosque after Friday prayers. The shooting was followed by street violence in central Karachi. Police used tear gas to disperse around 500 protestors who set fire to a number of vehicles and smashed windows...

18 May 2001

PAKISTAN:

Six Killed In Karachi Shooting

KARACHI, PAKISTAN -- Saleem Qadri, the leader of the Islamic group -- Sunni Tehrik -- was killed today in a hail of gunfire, as three men on motorcycles assaulted a crowd of people. Six people were killed and at least three others were wounded in the attack. The incident occurred in Baldia town in Karachi's District West after the end of Friday prayers. Police are blaming the attack on a rival gang of Sunni militants, although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. After the attack, a protest broke out near the Karachi's Civil Hospital, with protestors chanting slogans directed against local police and issuing threats of a revenge attack.

05 May 2001

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Attack Kills One In Pakistani Kashmir

A bomb blast in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir has left at least one person dead. The bomb went off in a movie theater in the capital, Muzaffarabad. Fourteen people were injured in the blast - four of them seriously.

Police said the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was placed under a seat inside the cinema and went off at a time when scores of people were watching a film. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion. However, a senior government minister in Pakistan-administered Kashmir described it as an act of sabotage and blamed Indian intelligence for the incident.

23 Apr 2001

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Explodes In Market Near Islamabad

Up to 20 people were wounded when a bomb exploded in a crowded market on the outskirts of Islamabad. The crude IED, hidden in a cart in the vegetable section of the market, exploded during the morning rush hour in the federal capital, destroying a small truck. At least two of the injured were in a serious condition. Patrons and shopkeepers took the wounded to two of the larger hospitals in the area and ambulances were quickly sent to the scene. Police said they were looking for "an Afghan national" thought to have been seen in the area shortly before the explosion. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

18 Apr 2001

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Kills One In Karachi; Water-related Violence??

A bomb blast at a popular shopping center in Karachi has left one person dead. Police said the attack could be linked to a strike called by two regional groups in the province of Sindh to protest at the authorities failure to solve a chronic water shortage. On the eve of the strike, gangs of youths burned buses and cars in different parts of the city, and more than 200 activists were arrested on suspicion of starting trouble.

Police believe the person who was killed in the bomb attack was the bomber himself. A second bomb went off about a mile away but no one was hurt. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and Jeay Sindh group have been staging almost daily protests to demand an increase in the supply of irrigation water for the province. They accuse Pakistan's military government of favoring the larger Punjab province by giving it more water, worsening the drought in Sindh.

04 Apr 2001

PAKISTAN:

Another Muslim Leader Gunned Down

At the start of a annual Shiite Muslim mourning ritual, two men on a motorcycle gunned down a Shiite Muslim leader on Wednesday as the nation went on alert. Soldiers stood guard outside Shiite Muslim mosques. Policemen at roadblocks checked vehicles. Some potentially explosive areas were sealed off. Hundreds of troublesome Islamic militants were barred from entering certain cities.

Despite the precautions, police said two men on a motorcycle killed Shiite Muslim leader Liaqat Gujar in the town of Bihari, about 180 miles southeast of Islamabad. Gujar's group, the Tehrik-e-Jafria (Group for Muslim Law in Pakistan) blame rival Sunni Muslim militants.

Heavy security was put in place throughout the country because the government feared an outbreak of religiously motivated violence on Wednesday and Thursday when Shiite Muslims will march through the streets, beating themselves, usually with bare hands, but occasionally with chains and ropes embedded with shards of glass. 

14 Mar 2001

PAKISTAN:

A Seemingly Endless Cycle Of Violence In Pakistan

The recent attacks by gunmen on prayer meetings in Pakistan is one of the first serious outbreaks of sectarian violence since the military government of General Pervez Musharraf came to power in October. It is not yet clear who has officially carried out the attacks. But similar attacks over the last few years have been blamed on the hatred that exists between hardline Sunni and Shia groups. More than 30 people have been killed in a series of attacks after the 28 February hanging of a Sunni activist, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, for the murder of an Iranian official in 1990.

Pakistan has never been able to fulfil the dream of its founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, of a country in complete religious harmony. He stressed that Pakistan should be secular and tolerant of religious differences. Over the last five decades, Jinnah's dream has been consigned to the trashcan of history.

The outbreak of sectarian violence dates back to the end of the 1970s. At that time the country's military ruler, General Zia-ul-Haq, wanted to make Pakistan - which is overwhelmingly populated by Sunni Muslims - into a more conservative Islamic country. 

General Zia actively encouraged Islamic militancy, with the backing of the West, to fight a holy war in Afghanistan against communism. Pakistan became home to a number of predominantly Sunni groups that were funded, armed, and trained by his regime.

At the same time, the climate created by the Iranian revolution encouraged the backing by Iran of a small number of Shia groups in Pakistan. Before long, hardliners on both sides acquired arms which have always been easily available and plentiful. Two rival militant groups emerged - the Shia Tehreek-i-Jaffria, and the Sunni Sipah-e-Sahaba. A seemingly endless cycle of tit-for tat of violence then began.

Both Sunni and Shia mosques have over the last ten years been attacked by gunmen, and the victims are invariably innocent by-standers or worshippers. When General Musharraf came to power, much of this violence abated. But, now his government must act quickly to stop possible retaliation attacks. Otherwise, we will, once again, being making daily reports on the number of bodies left in the streets of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's military government said it would introduce a new law under which it could ban groups involved in violence between rival Muslim sects in the country. A government statement said a joint meeting of Musharraf's cabinet and the policy-making National Security Council "approved formulation of a stern law to facilitate action against organizations and groups involved in sectarian terrorism." The proposed law, to be presented to the next cabinet meeting, would also provide for banning such organizations.

13 Mar 2001

PAKISTAN:

Gunmen Attack Mosque

Authorities have confirmed that at least nine people were killed in an attack outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in the city of Lahore on Monday. Reports say three armed men on motorcycles opened fire on worshippers gathering for evening prayers. Police said about four people were wounded in the attack. Some 30 people were in the mosque at the time.

Witnesses said the gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons for several minutes. A government official described the incident as "a terrorist attack." About 50 people have been killed in armed attacks in Pakistan in the last month. Observers in Lahore said most of them targeted Shia Muslims, suggesting a sectarian dimension.

Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, was in Lahore during this latest attack, for an overnight stay. Last week, he had warned of stern action against terrorists.

04 Mar 2001

PAKISTAN:

Sectarian Violence Begins To Spin Out Of Control Again

It began to look on Sunday that sectarian violence in Pakistan was starting to spin out of control again as gunmen on motorcycles rode through a city in eastern Pakistan, killing ten minority Shiite Muslims and two policemen in three separate attacks. The killings in Sheikhupura, about 25 miles north of the Punjab provincial capital of Lahore, began in a crowded market when six gunmen on three motorcycles raced by firing automatic rifles. The shots killed three people, all of them Shiite Muslims.

Motorcycle-riding gunmen believed to be the same group then killed a policeman and fatally shot another as the officers were patrolling a road on foot. Minutes later, they gunned down seven Shiite Muslims praying at a cemetery outside the city. No one claimed responsibility for the killings, but police suspect militant Sunni Muslims, who have been targeting Shiite Muslims here with regularity over the past several months. Police said they suspected an extremist Sunni Muslim group, Sipah-e-Sahaba (Guardians of the Friends of the Prophet). However, the group denied the charge.

One of the most violent and heavily armed religious groups in Pakistan, the Sipah-e-Sahaba has been staging demonstrations to protest the hanging execution of one of its members last Wednesday for the killing of an Iranian diplomat. The organization regards Shiites as non-Muslims and wants Pakistan to be declared a Sunni Muslim state.

30 Dec 2000

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Explosion Rocks Karachi

Police said that a child was killed and ten other people were wounded when a powerful bomb exploded in a market area in southern Karachi on Friday. No one claimed responsibility for the blast. Police suspect attackers were targeting the offices of a radical Islamic group fighting in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

The bomb, hidden beneath a shopping cart, was the sixth to rock Pakistan in the last one week. On Monday, bombs exploded in four different cities injuring 45 people. On Wednesday a fifth bomb exploded.

Militant Group Threatens Suicide Attacks In India

Following a bomb blast that wrecked its office in Karachi, a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group threatened Saturday to carry out suicide attacks in India. A leader of the Jash-e-Mohammad group, Mufti Jamil, said:"Indian RAW (Indian intelligence's Research Anyalsis Wing), was behind the blast at our office here. We will now target Indian cities."

Jash-e-Mohammad, formed by Pakistani Islamic militant Masood Azhar after his release by India to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines commercial jet last year, is fighting against New Delhi's rule in Kashmir.

A girl was killed and ten other people were injured when a bomb ripped through the group's office in Karachi late Friday. Mufti Jamil said the activities of Jash-e-Mohammad would not now remain confined to Indian Kashmir. He said: "We will carry out suicide attacks in cities in India itself. RAW should now get ready for our reply..."

INSTANT 09:00CST - 26 Dec 2000

Militants Threaten Suicide Attack On Indian PM's Office.

A hardline Muslim militant group on Tuesday threatened to carry out a suicide attack against the offices of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi. In a one-page Urdu press release, the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba group said: "Our mujahideen, Allah willing, will storm Vajpayee's office and carry out a fidayeen (suicide) attack there."

The threat came after a militant suicide bomber triggered a car bomb outside the Indian army headquarters in the Kashmir capital Srinagar on Monday, killing ten people (see below). The Lashker statement said: "If our cadres can force an entry into Delhi's Red Fort, it will not be an uphill task to barge into Mr. Vajpayees's office. The government should leave the politics of ceasefire and withdraw its troops from Kashmir. If India fails to withdraw its troops we will intensify our fidayeen attacks within India and force it to pull out its troops."

09:15CST - 25 Dec 2000

Multiple Bombs Strike India (Kashmir)/Pakistan; At Least  10 Dead, 60 Injured

Islamabad, Pakistan (EmergencyNet News) -- Yet another wave of religiously-inspired violence has swept across the Far East today, this time in India/Pakistan.  The day of death and destruction began at the Delhi Gate market in Lahore where a bomb explode in the busy shopping area, critically injuring several people. A car bomb also went off near an army headquarters in Kashmir, killing six people and wounding 23 others. Later, other devices of varying power went off in Hyderabad, Faisalabad, and Kharian, Pakistan. Officials say that a total of at least 60 people were injured in the various blasts.  EmergencyNet News continues to monitor events world-wide and we'll be here with you, providing the latest latest news and analysis...

PAKISTAN: 

Protests at UNHCR Office, Tear Gas Used

More than 100 Iranian and Iraqi protesters broke into the Pakistani offices of the United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday and held its staff hostage for several hours. Police said they arrested 80 to 90 of the protesters after the UNHCR lodged a complaint. About 120 people seeking refugee status and settlement abroad occupied the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees by scaling walls and breaking windows and doors. Nobody was injured but the intruders, most of them Iranians, damaged property before the police rescued the staff. The protesters attacked the Islamabad office after their applications for refugee status were rejected because Pakistan only allows the granting of such status to people from neighboring Afghanistan. 

11 Dec 2000

PAKISTAN:

Violence Breaks out At Women's Rally Against Taliban

During a rally on Sunday against Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers, police used tear gas and steel-tipped sticks to disperse protesters. Hundreds of supporters of the Revolutionary Afghan Women's Association staged a rally on the outskirts of Islamabad to protest human rights abuses and discrimination against women by the Taliban.

Some of the protesters - many of them women - threw stones at a Pakistani religious group when they started shouting slogans in favor of the Taliban. Stone-throwing clashes broke out between supporters of the Afghan women and several people in the neighborhood. Several of the women were arrested.

According to Taliban's interpretation of Islam, women are segregated from men and denied free access to work and education. They must wear the all-encompassing burqa and are not allowed to travel without a male member of their family.

27 Nov 2000

PAKISTAN:

24 Wounded By Three Explosions

Police said that at least 24 people were wounded by three bombs that exploded in eastern Punjab province on Monday. Two bombs went off within minutes of each other at a bus stop in the Badamibagh neighborhood of Lahore, the Punjab provincial capital. Fourteen people were hurt injured. The third bomb exploded at a crowded market in Muridke, some 20 miles northwest of Lahore, wounding ten people. Many of the victims suffered burn injuries.

No one has claimed responsibility. Police have no suspects in custody. Initial reports from police said the bombs were hidden in luggage that had been abandoned. There were few details about the explosions in Muridke, which is also the headquarters of one of the larger Kashmiri militant groups, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Police said there was no immediate connection between the explosion and the militant group, but an investigation was underway.

06 Nov 2000

PAKISTAN: 

Bomb Explodes At Newspaper Office 

Police said at least two people were killed when a powerful bomb rocked a newspaper building in the port city Karachi on Monday. Four other people were wounded by the blast. One of the people killed was carrying the bomb when it exploded in the advertising department of the Urdu-language Nawa-e-Waqt newspaper on the main M.A. Jinnah Road in Karachi's eastern district. Police said the blast could be a terrorist act, occurring four days after a bomb blast at a busy square in Rawalpindi city, near the capital Islamabad, wounded 17 people. There was no immediate indication who was responsible for Monday's explosion.

22 Oct 2000

PAKISTAN

Grenade Explodes At Islamic Militant Rally

Police said one person was killed and 13 others were injured when a grenade exploded Sunday at a rally of Islamic militants in southern Karachi. Two of the injured victims were said to be in critical condition. The grenade was fired with a launcher from outside the rally site, which was surrounded by tight security.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Tayyaba Islamic extremist group said the grenade hit a stage where the group's leadership was scheduled to sit. The person killed belonged to the group. No one took immediate responsibility for the attack, but Lashkar-e- Tayyaba leaders blamed neighboring India. 

The militant group, which is holding a two-day convention in Karachi, is one of the main Islamic guerrilla groups fighting Indian soldiers in the Kashmir region. Lashkar-e-Tayyaba is headquartered in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. So far police have not made any arrests. 

Islamist Group To Wage Jihad Against Israel

The Pakistani Islamist group Lashkar-e-Toiba on Saturday said it would launch a jihad (holy war) against Israel and send thousands of militants to fight for the liberation of Jerusalem. The militant group is already battling against Indian rule in Kashmir.

A spokesman for the group said: "Over 20,000 activists of Lashkar have already registered their names with the party for war against Israeli forces. Our suicide squad is also ready to join Palestinian brothers."

As mentioned in the previous report, the group held a convention in Karachi on Saturday and said conventions would be held in other major Pakistani cities in the next two months to mobilize people and recruit volunteers. 

15 Sep 2000

PAKISTAN:

Terror Group Vows Kashmir Suicide Missions And Warns U.S.

A major Pakistani terrorist group said on Thursday it would continue suicide missions against Indian forces in the Kashmir region and warned the United States not to declare it a terrorist organization. Lashkar-e-Taiba group chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed told a news conference the suicide missions started last year to hit Indian military installations had been a success.

Members of the group stormed an Indian army camp on Tuesday on the outskirts of Srinagar, killing at least four soldiers and wounding five. Saeed said recent statements by U.S. and Indian officials indicated the United States was planning to declare Lashkar, one of more than a dozen Muslim guerrilla groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, a terrorist organization.

Using what some counter-terrorist analysts would consider a worn-out argument for the mass murder of innocents, Saeed said: "This will be a total injustice. We are freedom fighters like any other party fighting for freedom." He said the decade-old insurgency of Kashmir was a "jihad" (holy war) against "oppression and occupation" rather than terrorism.

Saeed said the United States seemed to have "surrendered" to what he called "anti-jihad propaganda" by New Delhi, which accused the Muslim militant groups of using jihad as a slogan to shield "terrorism" in Kashmir. He said he feared Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would use his current visit to the United States to pressure Washington to declare Lashkar a terrorist group as done with another guerrilla group three years ago.

H warned: "Such a step would mean America declaring all Muslims as terrorists that will only earn it hatred and enmity. Rather than stopping jihad, any such decision will give a new spirit and fillip to our activities. We will not give any relief to India, but America will add to its enemies. Our jihad in Kashmir is for peaceful purposes and we will continue it as a religious duty..."

14 Sep 2000

UNITED STATES:

Plane Carrying Pakistani Leader Victim Of Bomb Threat

An airliner carrying Pakistan's military ruler and 120 other people bound for England and Pakistan was forced to return to John F. Kennedy International Airport after a bomb threat on Wednesday night. No injuries were reported. The threat was received by telephone after Pakistan International Airlines Flight 722 left the airport.

The plane bound for Manchester, England, and then on to Karachi, turned around and landed without incident. Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, was on the plane. A call on Wednesday night to a 911 dispatcher in New York warned that three bombs had been placed on the plane and would detonate upon takeoff. The call was received as the plane was in position to take off.

The pilot was informed of the threat but decided it was safe to take off because the plane and luggage had already been swept by bomb-sniffing dogs. As the plane was flying near Boston, the pilot decided the aircraft should be re-examined and returned to Kennedy Airport. When it landed in New York, it was moved to a remote area of the airport's tarmac and all passengers were taken off the plane. Authorities said the jet and the luggage were checked again by dog teams for explosives. No reports of of any explosive devices being found were received... 

08 Sep 2000

PAKISTAN:

Blast In Lahore Market

A bomb attack in the Pakistani city of Lahore left five people dead and at least 18 others wounded on Thursday. The powerful explosion ripped through a crowded market in Dharampura, eastern Lahore. It was the second blast in the city in less than a week.

On Sunday, three people were killed in a similar explosion but it is not clear who carried out either attack. The latest blast took place when a bomb, left in a shopping bag at the side of a congested street, went off. The crude bomb, which weighed 1.5 kilograms, damaged several shops and shattered glass.

A bomb squad officer said: "It was a time device and was planted on a scooter which was parked very close to the shop." The injured victims -- said to include women and children -- were taken to nearby hospitals and the condition of several was reported to be serious.

05 Sep 2000

PAKISTAN: 

Bus Bombing Reported in Lahore

According to police, at least three people were killed and several others were wounded by a bomb that exploded at a crowded bus station in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday. The bomb went off when a bus, bound for the city of Faisalabad was about to depart the main bus stand. It was not immediately clear if the device was placed inside the bus or planted near the vehicle. The blast damaged some other vehicles. Some of the injured were said to be in critical condition. No one  has claimed responsibility for the explosion which police described as a "terrorist attack."

03 Aug 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Two Killed, Four Wounded In Bomb Blast

Two people were killed and four others were wounded in another bomb blast that rocked Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta on Thursday. According to local police sources, the blast was apparently the result of a time bomb which went off during the afternoon in a auto repair shop. Those killed were auto mechanics and the injured included two children who were said to be in critical condition. This was the fourth bomb blast in Quetta in the last two weeks.

24 July 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN

Hand Grenade Explodes On Rail Tracks In Quetta

Police said on Monday that three people were wounded when a hand grenade exploded near a railway track in southwestern Pakistan, injuring three people. The Russian-made grenade exploded on Sunday when several people tried to remove it from the tracks on the outskirts of the Baluchistan provincial capital of Quetta.

The grenade was found one day after a powerful bomb exploded in a crowded market in Quetta, killing nine soldiers and wounding 28 other people, many of them military personnel. A little-known or previously unknown group called the "Baluch Liberation Army" has claimed responsibility for Saturday's bombing. In a handwritten letter sent to an international news agency, the group said it was fighting for the freedom of mineral-rich Baluchistan province. 

22 July 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

Considered a national hero by fundamentalists across the country, Azhar has also been threatening liberal and "Westernized" Pakistanis to "change their ways and join other Muslims or face the consequences..."

08 July 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Blast Kills One In Lahore

Amid a police crackdown against the followers of Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a bomb blast killed one man in the city of Lahore on Friday. The bomb, planted on a road and apparently remotely controlled, went off outside a bus station as a bus was crossing the spot, wounding at least four passengers, one of whom later died.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, which the police said seemed aimed at blowing up the bus that was leaving Lahore for the northern Punjab town of Gujrat. It was not known whether the blast had any link with a march that Sharif's wife had vowed to lead on Saturday despite a ban imposed by the military-led government on public rallies and marches.

03 July 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Retailers Riot For A Fourth Day

Sparked by a government campaign to make them pay taxes, striking traders clashed with police on Sunday in the fourth day of violence in the city of Multan. Police said they arrested 57 protesters on Sunday -- bringing the total of arrests to 103 in four days -- from different parts of Multan, in the south of the central province of Punjab. Small groups of retailers and police fought pitched battles at different markets in the city, a day after a policeman opened fire wounding four people on Saturday. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse crowds. The clashes escalated after retailers stepped up their efforts to seek the release of 46 traders arrested since Thursday.

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Thursday, June 29, 2000-Vol. 6, No. 181

PAKISTAN

U.S. Turns Up Heat In Pursuit Of Bin Laden; Russians Want Taliban Gone Altogether

The United States has recently increased pressure on both the Taliban and Pakistan to expel terrorism suspect Usama bin Laden from Afghanistan. Diplomatic sources say that last month, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering, met senior officials of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia during his two-day visit to Islamabad and urged them to expel bin Laden without delay. According to Western diplomatic sources, the U.S. has also increased pressure on Pakistan to use its influence for bin Laden's extradition. Officials at Pakistan's ministry for foreign affairs acknowledge Pickering was "very hard and open on this issue."

The United States has apparently asked Pakistan to take two immediate steps which they hope will force bin Laden's extradition: stop fuel supplies to Afghanistan and deny transit to Afghan exports and imports. A land-locked country, Afghanistan has always depended on Pakistan for its external trade. Kabul uses Pakistan's Karachi port for all its freight traffic. The Afghan dependence on Pakistani fuel is almost total.

The Pakistanis are not sure how effective such sanctions could be. Diplomatic observers in Islamabad say that the U.S. is facing a lot of pressure from Moscow. The Russians blame Pakistan and the United States for creating "the Taliban menace and want them to undo it."

According to a Western diplomat, the Russians have apparently asked the United States to use its influence to dismantle the Taliban movement altogether rather than confining its efforts to bin Laden's expulsion. They believe that the removal of the Taliban government will automatically resolve the issue. A new government in Kabul, the Russians argue, will not be as hospitable to bin Laden and other terrorists as the Taliban appear to be.

The Russians blame Pakistan for supplying arms and ammunition to the Taliban, besides food, fuel and transit facilities. The Russians argue ff Pakistan withdrew these facilities, the Taliban government could collapse within days.

Pakistani officials acknowledge that the U.S. may soon endorse the Russian policy against Taliban if the bin Laden issue is not resolved. Moscow has threatened direct military action against the Taliban if they do not stop supporting the Chechens and other Russian rebels.

22 June 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Kills One In Rawalpindi

Police said one person was killed and nine others were wounded, five seriously, when a bomb exploded at a crowded bus station in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Wednesday. An IED, described as "low intensity," exploded in a waiting room in the city's busy Pirwadhi bus station at 1545 hours local time. Rawalpindi is located adjacent to the capital Islamabad. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast and police said they had no information about who had planted the device...

24 May 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Pakistan Preparing For Nuclear Test?

U.S. officials said on Tuesday that the Pakistanis appear to be making some preparations toward conducting a nuclear test but has not reached the final stages and a detonation did not appear imminent. Pakistan's nuclear arch-rival India did not appear to be making similar preparations for a test. the unnamed defense official said that the United States was watching the activity in Pakistan very closely.

Another unnamed U.S. official said activity in Pakistan suggested preparations for a nuclear test had been going on for several weeks, but appeared to have tapered off recently, and it was unclear whether the country's leadership had made a decision to go through with a test...

19 May 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Authorities Search For Bin Laden's Travel Agent

Authorities in Pakistan are said to be searching for a travel agent who provides fake passports to supporters of terrorism-suspect Usama bin Laden. 

A senior Pakistani security official identified the suspect as only "Abdullah" and said he operates from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Immigration officials in the southern port city of Karachi learned about "Abdullah" on 15 May when they arrested an Afghan national, Shabbir Alam, who was deported from Turkey for traveling on a fake Afghan passport.

An examination of Alam's passport (OR-683121, issued on 28 March 2000), revealed it was one of 3,000 stolen recently from the Afghan immigration department in that country's capital, Kabul. Pakistani police received a written report from the Afghan consul general in Karachi, Maulavi Rahmatullah Kamzada, about the theft. They were told to keep a lookout for those traveling on the passports. Alam told his interrogators he had bought his passport from "Abdullah," a travel agent in Peshawar...

06 May 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN: At least two people were killed and six others were wounded when three blasts rocked Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Friday. Police sources said all the three blasts were aimed at police buildings in the city. One person was killed and four others were wounded by a bomb planted in a motorcycle parked outside the office of a senior district police officer in eastern Karachi. Two other bombs went off in the central Nazimabad area and Shahrah-e-Faisal area, in which two women were injured. On Thursday, two police buildings were attacked and on Wednesday one police station was attacked in a similar manner, causing no loss of life.

20 Apr 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Goes Off Outside Religious Party HQ Near Lahore

According to police, there were no reports of injuries or damage when a bomb exploded Thursday outside the headquarters of Pakistan's right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami religious party. The explosion happened in Mansura, ten miles south of Lahore. No one took responsibility for the bombing, and police refused to speculate.

Two Wounded By Bomb Blasts In Quetta

Police said on Wednesday that two bomb explosions wounded two people in Quetta. The bombs were planted in military camp, one near a tree and the other 800 yards away. Both were timed devices and went off within ten minutes of each other late on Tuesday night. Two people were injured in the first blast. Police are calling the incident "an act of terrorism."

18 Apr 2000 -  From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bin Laden Reportedly Goes On Recruiting Drive

Reports coming out of Pakistan indicate that master terrorist Usama bin Laden is doing some heavy recruiting to build his supply of minions. According to a by-lined Associated Press article by Kathy Gannon yesterday, posters are said to be going up throughout northwestern Pakistan that ask for Muslim youths to join a holy war to the death against the United States. In another message circulating in Pakistan, the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, vowed Afghanistan would never revoke the refuge given bin Laden.

Bin Laden's posters circulating in Pakistan's deeply conservative Northwest Frontier Province depicts burning U.S., Indian and Israeli flags and a cocked Kalashnikov rifle ready to fire. The translated recruiting message reads in part: "The youth should contact us as soon as possible. Territorial boundaries have no importance in our eyes. All the land belongs to God."

Bin Laden's message also says: "Our jihad will continue until America is expelled from Saudi Arabia and other countries of the world. It is our responsibility to free the world from their [U.S.] control. The non-Muslim world should know it well that a Muslim is always ready to die in the name of God. I am not afraid of America. I will continue my work. No one can stop me..."

17 Apr 2000 -  From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Wounds Six In Rawalpindi

Police said that six people, including three children, were wounded by a bomb blast in a park in Rawalpindi late on Sunday evening. The blast happened on the day that is observed every year to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed who was killed with his entire family about 1,400 years ago. Although both majority Sunni and the minority Shi'ite sects of the Muslims commemorate the 7th century martyrdom of Hussain, the occasion often leads to violent clashes between them. The government deployed thousands of troops in major Pakistani cities and towns to prevent violence. The government had deployed 60,000 troops in the central Punjab province alone, where tension was higher than in other places...

13 Apr 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Government Increases Security Ahead Of Weekend Shi'ite Anniversary

In an effort to prevent further bloodshed ahead of a key Shi'ite weekend anniversary, Pakistan on Thursday increased security around the country. Police said security was beefed up across Pakistan to prevent a repeat of Tuesday's incident in which gunmen using hand grenades and automatic weapons killed 14 Shi'ite Moslems at a rural mosque, some 75 miles south of Islamabad.

A senior police official in the capital Islamabad said: "We have intensified the deployment of police and raised a special armed unit to combat terrorism." He said police would also carry out random vehicle checks ahead of the weekend anniversary of Muharram, when Shi'ites mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the prophet Mohammad, more than 13 centuries ago. Police reportedly had been deployed outside all the Shi'ite prayer halls and Sunni mosques.

Four Bin Laden Associates Detained?

A London-based Islamist pressure group said on Wednesday that Pakistan has arrested four men on suspicion of having links with Islamic militant Usama bin Laden. Yasser el-Serri, who runs the Islamic Observation Center, said the men were detained in Peshawar last month ahead of the visit to Pakistan by POTUS. Serri said one of the men was an Egyptian-born Dane who obtained a Danish passport after being granted political asylum. The others detained were an Algerian, an Afghan and a Pakistani. The Pakistani government would not confirm the arrest of the four men.

07 Apr 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Two Bombs Wound 17 People

Police said 17 people were wounded, six of them critically, when two bombs exploded in a market and at a bus stop on Friday. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. The first bomb was placed in a small hotel in the heart of a bazaar in the city of Rawalpindi, near Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. It caused minor damage to the building and wounded four people, none of them  seriously. 

Police were searching for a man who left the hotel shortly before dawn for questioning about the explosion. A second bomb exploded in a market in the heart of Lahore, 235 miles to the southeast. Police were quoted as saying that they were investigating the possibility of "sabotage by neighboring India" in the bombing.

PAKISTAN:  02:10CDT - 06 Apr 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

Former Prime Minister Found Guilty of "Terrorism"

Former Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has been sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of hijacking and terrorism. Sharif was deposed in a coup on 12 Oct 99 by military leader General Pervez Musharraf, following Sharif's firing of the general. Few other details were immediately available...

01 Apr 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

U.S. State Department Warns Of Kidnapping Plot In Or Around Karachi

The U.S. Department of State said on Friday that the United States has received intelligence information that someone might attempt to kidnap a U.S. citizen in or near the Pakistani city of Karachi within the next six days. In a Public Announcement, the DoS said: "The United States Embassy in Islamabad has information regarding a possible kidnapping of an American in or around Karachi between March 31 and April 6. Although the information is not confirmed, it is prudent for all Americans to review their security practices, particularly being aware of their surroundings and varying their travel times and routes." The statement gave no other details of the threat but previous warnings to Americans in Pakistan linked security threats to Islamic militants in neighboring Afghanistan.

INDIA:

Ten Killed In Various Incidents Around Kashmir

Police said on Friday that ten people, including three Indian soldiers and five separatist guerrillas, were killed in shootouts in Kashmir. Two Indian soldiers, two separatist guerrillas and a civilian were killed in fierce fighting around the village of Shaiepora, near the border with Pakistan, on Thursday night. Five more people died in separate shooting incidents in other parts of the troubled Himalayan region.

On Friday, suspected militants opened fire outside a Muslim shrine where thousands of worshipers were gathered, killing one person and wounding three others. The attack happened in the Kashmiri town of Kreeri, located north of Srinagar. The assailants escaped after killing a former militant identified as Bashir Ahmed Chopan, who police say had been helping the government with its counterinsurgency operations.

30 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

U.S. Department Of State Issues Public Announcement

On 29 March, the U.S. State Department issued the following Public Announcement in regards to Pakistan: "The Pakistani Urdu press on March 24 and 27 reported that a group has threatened to 'shoot U.S. citizens on sight in Waziristan Agency.' While the Embassy has no additional information on this threat, it is prudent at this time to remind all American citizens that the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad continues to restrict official travel to the tribal areas of Pakistan's northwest frontier province. As always, the Embassy continues to urge all American citizens resident in, or traveling through Pakistan, to take appropriate steps to maintain their security awareness..."

INDIA:

Kashmiri Militants Threaten Suicide Attacks If Air Strikes Continue

In a threat to avenge air strikes by the Indian air force on guerrilla hide-outs in Kashmir, militants warned on Thursday that if the strikes continue, they will conduct suicide attacks. Abu Osama ( a likely pseudonym), a spokesman for the militant Lashkar-e-Toiba group said: "We have decided to intensify suicide attacks against Indian security forces all over Kashmir. Our activists will also increase other attacks to answer the air strikes on militants by India." Last week, Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter gunships opened fire on militant positions in the mountains of the southern Kashmir district of Doda killing at least three rebels...

28 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Blast At Pak/Afghan Border Kills Seven

Police said that seven people were killed and 12 others were wounded by a powerful bomb blast on the Pakistan side of a border crossing with Afghanistan on Tuesday. A bomb exploded in a small grocery shop in Torkhum, a historic border point for travellers between Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing five children and two adults. At least 12 people were also wounded by the explosion at about 08:30 hours local time (03:30GMT). The crossing is about 30 miles west of Peshawar. Police said there was no claim of responsibility.

25 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Two Dead In Incidents In Karachi

A shooting and a bomb blast left at least two people dead in Karachi on Saturday. Two policemen were on a motorbike in the southern district of the city near the mausoleum of the country's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, when they were shot by gunmen in a car.

At least one person was wounded when a small explosive device exploded in an area popular with the minority non-Moslem Parsi community. Motives for the attacks were not known. Bombings are fairly common in Karachi and are usually blamed by the government on Indian agents.

Tight Security In Islamabad For POTUS

Tight security was evident as POTUS arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Saturday. The U.S. president was expected to stay in Pakistan for only five hours. Soldiers stood guard on most street corners, army helicopters flew overhead and jeeps with mounted machine guns patrolled the streets of the capital.

Along the motorcade route, soldiers searched the grass with dogs sniffing for explosives. Troops roamed with hand-held mine detectors. An estimated 5,000 soldiers and thousands of police were deployed in the security operation.

POTUS, of course, does not venture anywhere abroad without heavy protection but security in his South Asian travels has been described extraordinary. A major reason for that is terrorism, a topic on his agenda to Pakistan and an elevated concern  throughout his travels on the subcontinent. Instead of the president's jet with "United States" in large letters on its side, POTUS reportedly took an unmarked plane from Bombay to Islamabad.

24 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Security For POTUS Visit To Islamabad To Be Tight

The motorcade of POTUS will be given the tightest security ever provided for a visiting foreign leader on Saturday when he is driven from a military airport in Islamabad to Pakistan's President House. The drive is about 15 miles and army teams on Friday were checking the route with metal detectors.

Local officials said that flights arriving and taking off at the adjacent civilian airport will be cancelled or delayed around the time of the visit and large parts of the capital will be brought under a virtual curfew. The U.S. president is scheduled to spend several hours in Islamabad at the end of his South Asia trip. The Pakistani military has reportedly taken over responsibility for security arrangements from the police...

16 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Pakistani Militant Groups Say POTUS Has Nothing To Fear

U.S. officials are said to be pressuring Pakistan's army rulers for a crackdown on militant Islamic groups ahead of next week's visit by POTUS, but senior Pakistani officials have resisted, saying the militants pose no danger to the U.S. president. Instead, the Pakistani leadership has ordered the militants not to make provocative statements or threats against the United States or rival India. Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said the groups have also been ordered not to organize rallies or weapons displays. He said: "We have told them they should behave and not make irresponsible and baseless statements."

Some senior Pakistani officials say they are bewildered by what they maintain is the obsession in the United States and the West with the militant groups and the "unfair portrayal of Pakistan as the aggressor in Kashmir."

While the militants may not like the United States, they say POTUS has nothing to fear during his 25 March visit to Pakistan. Abu Abdullah of Harakat-ul-Jehadi, another militant Islamic group fighting in Kashmir, said: "Islam says that we must give maximum respect to our guest. Since he is coming as a guest we will do him no harm."  

U.S. security officials and counter-terrorist analysts say that the bottom-line question that remains of immediate concern, as President Clinton visits the region, is whether or not the militants can really be believed... 

14 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Sniffer Dogs To Search Out Explosives During POTUS Visit

Security personnel in Pakistan are already scouring the capital of Islamabad, where POTUS is set to make a brief stopover on 25 March after a five-day visit to India. Security will be using specially trained dogs to sniff out any possible bombs in streets or crowded markets. Using dogs to detect bombs, while common in other countries, is a new in Pakistan even though bomb attacks and other explosions are frequent occurrences. Pakistani security personnel have three pairs of foreign-trained sniffer dogs. The dogs being used are reportedly Labradors and German Shepherds.

10 Mar 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN: A lawyer for Pakistan's deposed prime minister was shot and killed on Friday inside his office. Officials said that Iqbal Raad, one of the lawyers defending former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a hijacking case, was killed along with two other people by unidentified gunmen. It was not immediately clear whether there was any connection between the shooting and Sharif's trial. Prosecution and defense lawyers were to begin their closing arguments on Monday. The ousted prime minister faces charges of hijacking, terrorism, attempted murder and kidnapping. All carry either the death penalty or life in prison.

25 Feb 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

INDIA/PAKISTAN/KASHMIR:

Indians Say They Foil Militant Intrusion In Kashmir

The Indian military claimed on Thursday that its border troops foiled a major attempt by Pakistan to push armed militants into Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday night, killing four "Pakistani intruders." The four intruders were killed in the Ramgarh sector of Jammu region in an exchange of fire with Indian border troops after their attempt to sneak into Indian territory was exposed. The Indian troops suffered no casualties.

In three other separate cases, Indian security forces killed five militants in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, an Indian Border Security Force inspector and a Special Police officer were killed in Badgam district of central Kashmir and Sopore area of Baramulla in two separate militant attacks.

PAKISTAN: Pakistan on Friday accused Indian soldiers of crossing a cease-fire line in the disputed region of Kashmir and killing at least 12 people. A Pakistani army spokesman said that Indian troops crossed the U.N.-monitored Line of Control around midnight and killed 12 people, including five women and four children, and injured five others in the village of Jandrood, 185 miles south of the state capital Muzaffarabad. 

22 Feb 2000 - http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

More Shelling Along Kashmiri Line Of Control Reported

Local officials said that at least three people were killed when Indian troops shelled villages on the Pakistan side of the disputed Kashmir region on Monday. The Indians reportedly fired about 150 artillery and mortar shells on six villages in Neelum valley northeast of Muzaffarabad, killing a 10-year-old boy and a man. Another man was killed by shelling on a village in Bhimber district in the southeast of Pakistani Kashmir. The deaths raise to nine the toll from Pakistan-reported Indian shelling in the area since Friday. Pakistani troops retaliated against Monday's firing by shelling Indian positions across the military Line of Control (LOC) dividing the region but there was no information about any Indian casualties.

17 Feb 2000 - http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

INDIA/PAKISTAN:

Indian-Pakistani Forces Clash On LOC

In an incident in which at least four Indian soldiers were killed, both India and Pakistan blamed each other for the Wednesday night clash on the Kashmir border. Pakistan said its troops had repulsed an Indian attack on one of its forward posts, inflicting "heavy casualties." There was no word of any Pakistani casualties.

India said the soldiers were killed when a routine patrol party came under heavy fire from across the Line of Control in the Mendhar sector. Mendhar is located about 115 miles north of Jammu. Indian and Pakistani troops often clash along the 450-mile Line of Control.

Elsewhere, suspected separatist guerrillas shot and killed three Indian security force personnel in the heart of Jammu and Srinagar on Wednesday...

05 Feb 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Train Bombing Kills 4, 40 Wounded

Hyderabad, Pakistan - Officials are saying that a bomb went off in a passenger train, only a few minutes after it pulled out of Hyderabad station. Four people were reported killed and more than 40 others wounded in the blast. At least one train car was badly damaged and police reportedly had "crowd control problems" at the scene following the initial detonation. Warning shots were reportedly fired to disperse crowds who had gathered. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the incident, but Pakistani authorities routinely blame such incidents on foes from India. Tensions between India and Pakistan continue at a high level.

30 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

India Blamed For Rocket Attack

A government official said that two people were killed and three others were wounded when rockets fired from across the border in India slammed into a border village in Pakistan on Saturday. The rocket attack on Daholo Wali was initially believed to have been caused by a bomb like the ones that hit the southern city of Karachi on Friday. But officials now say rockets came from neighboring India. Indian troops in the area have fired heavy mortars and waged regular gun battles across the border. Several other rockets have landed without exploding. India and Pakistan have both increasingly been blaming each other for border incidents in the Kashmir area in recent days. 

29 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

INDIA:

Kashmir State Minister Calls For War Against Pakistan

Jammu and Kashmir State Minister Farooq Abdullah told a news conference on Friday that India should declare war against arch-foe Pakistan to end a ten-year rebellion in the region. Abdullah said: "I think India should muster courage and declare a war against Pakistan. Let it be one way or the other, because our people have suffered a lot now." Abdullah said India must accept that his state faced a "proxy war," a term India uses for its charge that Islamabad sponsors separatist guerrillas in the bitterly disputed Himalayan territory.

PAKISTAN:

Two People Killed By Bomb In Eastern Pakistan

A government official said that two people were killed and three others were wounded when a powerful bomb exploded in eastern Pakistan on Saturday. The bomb ripped through a bicycle repair shop in Dahalo Wali, a mile from Pakistan's border with India. A Pakistani soldier was among those wounded. Officials are blaming neighboring India for the blast, though no one took responsibility and there was no indication of any evidence to implicate India. Daholo Wali is slightly south of the Kashmir border. For three days Indian and Pakistani soldiers stationed at the Kashmiri border have exchanged heavy gunfire.

28 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

FOCUS ON INDIA/PAKISTAN:

Bombs Explode In Karachi

Karachi, Pakistan: A wide range of reports indicated that anywhere between two to six people were killed in separate bomb blasts in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Friday. At least two fatalities occurred at a mosque in northeast Karachi on the holiest day of the Moslem week, when a device placed under a prayer mat exploded. The blast also wounded 23 other people. The explosion occurred in the suburban Sohrab Goth area a little over an hour after a similar blast wounded at least three people outside a court building in the south of the city. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The governor of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, immediately blamed an unspecified "enemy state" for the first bombing in the parking area of a building housing several local courts of law. Sources close to Pakistan's military alleged that the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency was responsible for the blasts.

Rhetoric Heats Up In India/Pakistan Conflict

Chief minister Farooq Abdullah, of the Jammu and Kashmir state, said on Friday the time had come for India to declare war on Pakistan. Abdullah said, "I think India should muster courage and declare a war against Pakistan." Abdullah's comments came at a press conference a few hours after two bombings had struck Karachi (see above) and a number of people had been killed or injured. Abdullah also reiterated charges that Pakistan supported Islamic rebel groups, who have been repeatedly engaged by Indian troops in the troubled Kashmir region.

U.S. Expresses Concern That Pakistani Government May Be Assisting Terrorists

The U.S. State Department warned Pakistan on Thursday that it could be branded a sponsor of terrorism -- making it ineligible for virtually all U.S. aid -- if it gave direct support to a terrorist group that operates in Kashmir. Earlier this week, the U.S. said there was no evidence Pakistan supported the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in December. However, State Department spokesman James Rubin said at the time the hijackers may have been linked to a terrorist group that operates in Kashmir. The group, known as Harkat ul-Mujahedeen, was placed on the DoS list of terrorist organizations in 1997 when it was called Harkat ul-Ansar. Rubin said there has long been concern that agencies of the Pakistani government provided "general support" to a number of groups operating in the territory disputed by India and Pakistan.

26 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

U.S. Presses Pakistan On Terrorists; Terrorists Make Their Own Threats

The U.S. State Department says it has no evidence that the Pakistani government was involved in the Indian airliner hijacking that ended in southern Afghanistan on 31 December, but one of the groups linked to the hijacking is headquartered in Pakistan.

Washington has asked Pakistan to close down the group known as Harakat-ul-Mujahdeen. But Pakistan has not agreed to any specific action, rebuffing requests made during a visit to the region by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth. Inderfurth said, specifically naming Harkat ul-Mujahedeen: "We hope that the government of Pakistan will take steps against such extremist groups which carry out acts of violence inside Pakistan, as well as in the region."

A spokesman for a sister organization, Harkat ul-Jehad, warned of violence if Pakistan tried to close the group's offices in Pakistan. Abu Mahmood Ashraf said: "We will not hesitate to take any action, and believe me there will be a free-for-all here in Pakistan. It will be anarchy..."

25 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN/KASHMIR/UNITED STATES:

U.S. Believes Pakistani-Backed Terrorist Group
Was Responsible For Indian Jetliner Hijacking

Citing unidentified intelligence officials, the New York Times was reporting on Tuesday that the United States believes that a terrorist group supported by the Pakistani military was responsible for the hijacking of an Indian Airlines jet last month. The assessment puts Pakistan at risk of being placed on Washington's list of nations that support terrorism.

The new military leader of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, was asked in a meeting with three U.S. officials in Islamabad last week to ban the group, Harkat ul-Mujahedeen, but the request was rebuffed. U.S. officials said they received information that Harkat ul-Mujahedeen was responsible for the hijacking after it became clearer who made arrangements for the escape of the hijackers. Harkat ul-Mujahedeen is the new name for Harkat ul-Ansar, a radical Kashmiri nationalist group, which was put on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist groups in 1997. After being put on the list, the group promptly changed its name...

Later in the day, the story was later denied by President Clinton, who said that there was no clear link between Pakistan and the hijacking of the AirIndia plane...  

18 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Eight Killed And 31 Wounded By Bomb Blast In Karachi

Officials said that eight people were killed and 31 others were wounded when a bomb exploded in a congested neighborhood in Karachi on Monday. The explosion, believed to be a time bomb hidden in a fruit cart, destroyed three shops. No one took immediate responsibility for the blast and police said they had no suspects. A bomb expert at the scene said that two pounds of explosive material was used in the device. He said it was detonated by a timer. The explosion occurred near a bus stop, where dozens of people had gathered to commute home for the evening.

17 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Diplomatic Incident Between India And Pakistan

An Indian Embassy official said that Pakistani authorities on Monday released an Indian High Commission employee they had arrested on Sunday night and accused of carrying a "remote control explosive device." The man who works as a clerk at the high commission was released early on Monday morning after being kept in "illegal detention" at a local police station.

Pakistani police said the employee was arrested while he was allegedly carrying a remote control explosive device and a sum of money in a taxi. The Indian Embassy said the employee was subjected to "ill-treatment and mental torture" at the police station and that a strong protest had been lodged with the Pakistani government.

06 Jan 2000 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

WARNING: Freed Militant Threatens India And U.S.

Accompanied by a group of men dressed in combat fatigues and carrying AK-47 rifles, Maulana Masood Azhar, one of three Kashmiri militants freed as part of a deal to end the recent Indian Airlines hijacking, publicly called on his followers Wednesday to "destroy India and the United States." Azhar gave a impassioned speech to an estimated 10,000 followers, who gathered in front of a central Karachi mosque. 

Azhar said, vowing to liberate the embattled Kashmir region from Indian rule, is quoted by the Associated Press as saying: "I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed America and India." The crowd reportedly responded by screaming, "God is Great!" and "Death to India, Death to the United States." Azhar told the crowd, many of them members of his militant group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen: "I have come back and I will not rest in peace until Kashmir is liberated."

Azhar, his head wrapped in a checkered scarf, said the five hijackers were all Indian Kashmiris. He said they had returned to Kashmir. He added: "They are preparing for their next assault." He did not elaborate...

Bomb Wounds 27 People In Busy Market

Police said that 27 people were wounded by a bomb that was hidden under a bench in a tea shop in southern Sindh province on Wednesday. The bomb went off in a crowded market in Hyderabad, some 108 miles north of the port city of Karachi. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and few other details were immediately available...

18 Dec 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Bomb Blast Kills Two In Kashmir

Police said that two people were killed and five others were wounded by a bomb blast in the eastern Pakistani border town of Sialkot on Saturday. It was the second such attack in the country in two days. The bomb planted on a bicycle exploded at 1115 hours local time (0615 GMT) in a commercial area in the center of Sialkot, the Punjab province town about three miles from the border with the Indian-ruled part of the disputed Kashmir region. There was no claim of responsibility for the blast...

21 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

New Sharif Group Claims Responsibility For Bombing?

In a statement faxed to Pakistani newspapers, an alleged organization of militant supporters of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif claimed responsibility Sunday for a bomb explosion that killed six people in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. The group, calling itself the Al-Nawaz group, said it had triggered the bomb to protest the military coup that ousted Sharif on 12 October.

The powerful bomb ripped through a crowded market in the old quarter of Lahore, Sharif's hometown, on Saturday. Two children were among the dead. Another 18 people were wounded. The statement from the group said: "We will continue such activities till the reinstatement of our leader's government." The Al-Nawaz group said it is composed of Sharif "loyalists" who are struggling to save the former prime minister's life.

20 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN: 

Six Killed and 20 Wounded in Pakistan Bomb Blast

Police said that six people were killed and 20 others were wounded when a powerful bomb exploded at a congested market in the provincial capital of Lahore. No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion in the old quarter of Punjab's ancient capital. Police have refused to speculate about who may have planted the device. The bomb was hidden in a shopping bag that was left outside a small shop...

14 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

AFGHANISTAN:

Sanctions Being Imposed On Taliban

The United Nations ignored last-minute pleas from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban army and imposed sanctions on Sunday to demand the arrest of master terrorist Usama bin Laden. Within two hours of the sanctions taking effect, thousands of protesters swarmed into Kabul's rocket-ruined streets burning U.S. flags and shouting "Death to America!" The United States has no embassy in Kabul, but protesters reached the former embassy building and pelted the giant black gate with rocks and stones. Demonstrators also attacked the U.N. World Food Program office with rocks and stones.

The former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency says that United Nations sanctions being imposed on Afghanistan on Sunday could rebound against the United States. Retired army Lieutenant-General Hameed Gul also said the sanctions would put extra pressure on Pakistan because Islamabad would be caught between U.S. demands and its traditional support for Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

Gul said: "Because I think there is no far-sightedness in this policy, it is not going to work. It is eventually going to bring humiliation to the United States because once the sanctions fail to work -- the Taliban do not buckle -- then it is going to boomerang on them..."

13 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Update On Investigation Of Attacks In Islamabad

Officials said that explosives experts examined crude, homemade rocket launchers on Friday, searching for clues to the identity of whoever fired rockets at the U.S. Embassy, a U.N. building and an American cultural center, among other targets. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday's coordinated attack against six separate targets hit by rockets within a span of two minutes.

The rockets missed their apparent targets and caused no major damage, but two charred vehicles found near the embassy and the American center contained rocket launchers and explosives. The attackers apparently destroyed the cars before fleeing.

Pakistan has set up a special investigation group led by the head of the secret service, General Mahmood Hassan. The United States says it has not ruled out any suspects, including the Taliban religious army. The United Nations has said it will impose sanctions against Afghanistan on Sunday, if the Taliban does not turn master terrorist Usama bin Laden over for trial.

A terrorist, who said he conducts weapons training for bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, warned on Friday that a special commando unit had been created to take revenge if the U.N. sanctions are imposed...

12 Nov 99 - From: http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

PAKISTAN:

Feature Article:

U.S. And U.N. Facilities In Islamabad Attacked

According to police, four explosions struck Pakistan's capital Islamabad near U.S. and United Nations offices on Friday. Authorities said they also seized a burned-out vehicle with a twin-barrel rocket launcher near the U.S. Embassy. The blasts came two days before U.N. sanctions backed by the Untied States were to go into effect against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban for not surrendering terrorism suspect Usama bin Laden.

The imminent sanctions have already caused protests in Afghanistan, where the U.N. office in Kandahar was stoned during a demonstration by 50,000 people on Wednesday. The sanctions ordered by the U.N. Security Council are to go into affect on Sunday unless the Taliban hand over bin Laden, wanted in the United States on charges of master- minding bomb attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998 which killed more than 200 people.

Police said there were so far reports of only one injury, a guard near one of the sites that was attacked. Other reports said that up to six people were hurt. Police said they did not know who was behind the attacks and no one had claimed responsibility. One blast was near a U.S. government office and the others were close to United Nations buildings and a U.N. vehicle. The explosions appeared to be coordinated and all hit within a two-minute span and within several miles of each other in the downtown area.

The burned-out vehicle that was seized by police was near a car parked about 100 yards away from the USIS center in the busy commercial Blue Area district of Islamabad. It was not known if the rockets in the vehicle were targeted at the U.S. Embassy, which was not hit by anything. Witnesses said a U.N. vehicle was hit by a rocket near the World Food Program office. There were also blasts in cars near the SaudiPak Tower, which houses many U.N. agencies, and near a Pakistani government building close to U.N. offices.

ERRI analysts said that it would appear that Afghanistan's Omar will not turn over Bin Laden, and they are concerned that additional attacks will be forthcoming after U.N. sanctions are imposed on Afghanistan this weekend...

Nine Wounded By Bomb Blast On Bus

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