| Eight US soldiers killed in Afghan blasts Posted: 27 May 2011 01:01 AM PDT 
KABUL: Eight soldiers killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan were Americans, the Pentagon confirmed, in one of the worst single incidents in recent months. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said the soldiers were killed by two successive blasts on Thursday in the same location in Shorabak district in Kandahar province. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban, and fighting there in the coming months is likely to prove a key test of foreign forces' ability to hold ground in the south taken from insurgents last year after a troop surge. Local border police commander Tafseer Khan Khogyani said the attack, which also killed two Afghan policemen, took place as coalition and Afghan forces were on patrol about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Pakistan border. "As they approached a container, explosives that had been placed inside went off, causing a huge explosion," he said. Kandahar border police chief General Abdul Razeq said that the container was used as an ammunition store by Taliban fighters smuggling weapons across the border from Pakistan. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast, which was initially announced by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The bombing brings to 199 the number of foreign troops who have been killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent website iCasualties.org. Of those, 148 were from the United States. The total international force death toll for last year was 711. The blast caused ISAF's highest death toll in a single incident since April 27, when nine Americans -- eight troops and a contractor -- were killed by an Afghan officer who opened fire at a Kabul military training centre. It also brought the death toll of foreign troops in a single day to nine -- earlier Thursday, a NATO helicopter crashed in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan, killing one. There are around 130,000 ISAF service personnel in the war- torn country, around 90,000 of whom are from the United States. Much of Afghanistan's worst fighting takes place in the south of the country, particularly in the provinces of Kandahar and Helmand which border Pakistani areas where insurgents have hideouts. While international forces insist they have been taking the fight to insurgents throughout the winter, the Taliban announced the start of their spring fighting season at the end of April. The commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, US General David Petraeus, warned in a memo released Saturday that they could face tough times ahead. "It is likely that our enemies will pursue high-profile attacks this summer in an attempt to demonstrate continued capability," he said. This should be expected because of the "progress" made in "important areas" since last year, he added. There has been a rash of insurgent attacks against forces loyal to President Hamid Karzai's government in recent days, including a suicide attack on a Kabul military hospital Saturday which killed six medical students. It is nearly 10 years since US-led forces invaded Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks to topple the Taliban, who had been harbouring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden -- killed by US forces in Pakistan this month. |
| Obama nominates new defence, CIA chiefs Posted: 27 May 2011 01:00 AM PDT 
WASHINGTON: US president Barack Obama has formally nominated Leon Panetta as his new secretary of defence and David Petraeus, who commands the international force in Afghanistan, as Panetta's successor at the CIA. Obama had first said he planned to nominate Panetta and Petraeus on April 28, just days before US commandos entered Pakistan and shot and killed Al- Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. The US Senate must confirm both men, but neither is expected to encounter any serious opposition there. The White House hopes that Panetta, whose mission would include cutting spending at the Defence Department, would be able to move into the job on June 30, the day current Defence chief Robert Gates is set to leave. Petraeus will continue to lead the international force in Afghanistan until his successor, General John Allen, takes over in September. Petraeus will retire from the military before moving to the CIA. The United States began troop withdrawals from Afghanistan this year, making good on a promise by Obama to reduce US troop levels there, although it is not clear how soon or how many additional troops will leave. A new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is the president's top military adviser, is also expected to be nominated next month. General Martin Dempsey, the current Army chief of staff, is considered Obama's likely choice to replace Admiral Michael Mullen, according to Pentagon officials. |
| Car bomb destroys CID police station, 11 killed Posted: 26 May 2011 09:08 AM PDT 
Peshawar—Once again making mockery of the tight security arrangements the saboteurs hit the CID Police station in the red zone here Wednesday killing as many as nine people, all most all the men in uniform, and seriously wounding around 35 others. Hardly three days back, the terrorists managed to play havoc in PNS Mehran Karachi. According to details, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive laden vehicle in to the CID Police Station on main university road of Peshawar which resulted in collapse of the double storeyed fortified building of the station at around 4.40 in the morning. The heavily guarded building was situated in the red zone with the school of paratroopers adjacent to the destroyed structure while the American consulate and some military installations fell within a few hundred meters. A main MP check post is situated a few yards away from the site of the blast. 300 kilogram of explosive material was used in the blast. It was heard in almost all of the Peshawar with number of adjacent buildings sustaining damages. Roughly, there were more than forty security personnels present in the building and all were trapped under tons of rubbles making it hard for the rescue teams to effectively carry out the rescue activities. Scores of ambulances and vehicles of the security forces reached site of the explosion and started shifting the victims to the nearby Khyber teaching hospital while number of seriously injured troops were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital, Hayat Abad Medical Complex and even CMH. Emergency was declared in all the major hospitals of the city. The heavy contingents of security forces which had immediately cordoned off the area, were not letting any body including Media and top government functionaries get closed to the site of the blast. There were also reports of gunshots sooner after the explosion. The heavy structure of the fortress like building was razed to ground, a large number of security personals were trapped under the debris especially in the basement of the building. The rescue teams were finding it hard to retrieve the victims from the rubbles, Army engineer corps team along with cranes was called in for help. While one policeman succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, as many as eight dead bodies were retrieved from the rubble after hectic efforts of almost 12 hours. However, the rescue operation continued till the filing of this report as few people and a couple of dead bodies, the rescuers believe, were still buried under the tons of rubbles. A big majority of those killed and injured have been recognized as the security personnel. The main Jamrod road was blocked for all kind of traffic and only one side of the road was opened for vehicular traffics after many hours. The IG police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other police high ups said they had some information about a possible attack on the CID police station though they would never confess there was a security failure which resulted in loss of innocent lives. "It was a Shehzore pick up laden with an explosive material weighing between 250 to 300 kilogram, which was rammed into the main gate of the CID police station causing the huge building structure to collapse with in no time", a senior police officer said. The official sources confirmed death of nine people with the doctor describing the condition of few wounded persons as precarious. President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday strongly condemned the suicide bomb blast at a police checkpost in Peshawar that killed innocent lives. The President expressed his condolences with the families of those who lost their lives in the terrorist act. He said the government and people are determined to defeat terrorism and such gruesome acts cannot deter the resolve of the nation which remains united to defeat terrorists. President Zardari asked the law enforcement agencies to take more measures to protect people from incidents of terrorism. |
| Rana wanted top Pakistan military honours for 26/11 attackers Posted: 26 May 2011 09:05 AM PDT 
Headley said that Rana had told him that nine of the ten Mumbai attackers who died should be given Pak's highest military award, Nishan- e-Haider. (AP Photo) CHICAGO: Apparently gloating over the mayhem the Pakistani attackers were creating in Mumbai, Tahawwur Rana, a co- accused had proposed that nine of the ten LeT militants who carried out the carnage should be decorated with Pakistan's highest military award, Nishan-e- Haider. This was stated by David Headley, another prime accused in the Mumbai case in his testimony before the Chicago district court on the third day of the trial of his childhood friend, Rana, a Pakistani Canadian. Headley said that Rana had told him that nine of the ten Mumbai attackers who died should be given Nishan-e-Haider. The sole exception being Ajmal Kasab, who had been captured by Indian security forces. Rana, Headley said had also praised Sajid Mir, his Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT) handler for the attack on the Chhahbad House calling him Khalid bin Walid, one of the greatest Generals in Islamic history. Nishan-e-Haider, is Pakistan's highest military decoration given to personnel, regardless of rank, for extraordinary bravery in combat. |
| Concern over delay in community healthcare Posted: 26 May 2011 08:27 AM PDT 
Dhaka, Feb 22 (bdnews24.com) – The government programme to provide healthcare at village level has run into trouble because of the delay in recruiting community healthcare providers. State minister for health Mozibur Rahman Fakir on Tuesday expressed concern at the inordinate delay in the recruitment process. Speaking at a workshop in the capital on finalising training manual for healthcare providers, he said "Written exams were conducted two months back, yet no results." The process could be delayed further as it would take a long time to hold viva for such a large number of candidates, he added. Some 13,500 community healthcare providers are to be recruited to run community clinics across the country, one for every 6,000 people. "It's our (ruling Awami League) election pledge, so we should complete the process as soon as possible to ensure healthcare at the rural level," said the junior minister. The last Awami League government had also started setting up community clinics in 1998, but the BNP-led alliance government scrapped the project. Soon after assuming power, the present government revived the initiative under a project titled "Revitalisation of Community Healthcare Initiatives in Bangladesh". Project director Makhduma Nargis said they were trying to complete the process fast, so that healthcare providers received training soon after their recruitment. "Trainings of all community healthcare providers will be completed within three months after their recruitment," she said without mentioning when the results of written exams would be announced. "There is no alternative to making community clinics functional to provide door-to- door healthcare for the common people," health minister AFM Ruhal Haque said at the function. He said community clinics would be a one stop centre for the rural people. "Maternal as well as child health must be prioritised along with emergency care at the community clinics," he said, adding that the handbook will work as a reference book for the healthcare providers. "Civil surgeons will monitor their activities like other health staff in their districts," the minister said, adding that they (civil surgeons) will get transports to carry out the job. Health secretary Humayun Kabir also stressed on training for the healthcare providers. "There is no alternative other than training to offer quality healthcare." Director general for health Khandaker Md Shefayetullah suggested specific and short handbook for the healthcare providers at community clinics. He said community clinics would help to lessen the number of patients at tertiary level hospitals. It would also work as a reference centre, he said. Currently, over 10,000 community clinics are operating across Bangladesh in limited scale. Construction of some 1,200 clinics is in progress while some 1,576 community clinics will be built in 2011-2012, it was learnt. |
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