The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat Appointing Mullah Fazallulah as the chief of of TTP was a very calculated move by Taliban to convey the message to Pakistan that they are not going to negotiate. It is time that Pakistan has a clear policy with respect to Taliban, Afghanistan & India. It is now very clear that intelligence agencies like RAW , NDS & CIA are all now working together to undermine Pakistan & keep it unstable in the medium to long term. Indian establishment has been successful in keeping Pakistan busy in Waziristan & other parts of FATA and keep their attention away from Kashmir . Also, India is waging a dirty war in Baluchistan against the Pakistani state & its civilians. Indian intelligence is waging a proxy war in Waziristan & Balochistan by funding the terrorist groups like that of Mullah Fazallulah who is known as the butcher of Swat . On one hand, India talks about resolving the Kashmir issue & on the other, they are backstabbing Pakista...

By Sikander Hayat Today America has attacked Pakistan again showing all the arrogance of an evil empire . Breaking every international law in the process and treating an ally like an enemy. It would be more palatable if America declares Pakistan an enemy and then kill us. We would than know who to fight against.The Taliban or the so called allies. Imran Khan has been saying this from the day one and now the popular public opinion is agreeing with him that our true enemies are the American government and not the Afghans. America is trying to forge an alliance which has all the enemies of Pakistan in it ranging from India and present puppet government of Afghanistan . Now openly killing Pakistani officers and soldiers in cold blood is basically telling Pakistanis to fuck off and may be this is time for our leaders to wake up from their deep sleep and tell the Americans to  stay in Afghanistan if they can on their own. This alliance must not go no any longer and must en...

By Sikander Hayat There are unconfirmed reports that Hakimullah Mehsud, who is the leader of the Pakistani Taliban and got the leadership after the death of Baitullah Mehsud, has been killed in a drone attack. His organisation has denied these reports but there are strong indications that he is actually dead. US have been hunting actively after the attack on CIA base in Afghanistan in which a Jordanian Al Qaida operative killed 7 CIA men in a suicide attack. Few days later Hakimullah Mehsud appeared in a video with the alleged bomber and took responsibility for the attack. From that day it was a matter of time before Americans would kill him and today they might have achieved their purpose. Reports are still unconfirmed but if they are confirmed then there will be a need for a new TTP (Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan) leader. It will be interesting to see how Pakistani Taliban responds to this strike at their heart. RELATED POSTS 1. Baitullah Mehsud Is An Indian Agent 2. Distinction Betwee...

By Sikander Hayat 7th National Finance Commission Award has been signed into agreement today in the port city of Gwadar, Baluchistan. Punjab and Federal Government have given up some of their share to meet the needs of Baluchistan and NWFP. This is a historic occasion for Pakistan because it is first time that all federating units have reached consensus without any major disagreements. A new formula has been devised to distribute resources among the centre and the federating units. Under the award population will be given 82 per cent weightage, poverty 10.3 per cent, revenue collection five per cent (2.5 per cent revenue generation, 2.5 per cent revenue collection) and area 2.7 per cent. Under the new NFC Award, the federation met the demand of the provincial governments for a greater share in national resources. The provincial share of the divisible pool would increase from 47.5 per cent to 56 per cent in the first year of NFC and 57.5 per cent in the remaining years of the Award. Un...

By Sikander Hayat Peshawar has been targeted again by the terrorists killing five innocent people and injuring many others. Twenty seven people are injured. The blast occurred in busy Mall Road, home to government offices, banks and private companies. According to the bomb disposal squad, about eight to 10kg of explosives were used in the attack. The attack came two days after a teenage suicide bomber attacked a Pakistan journalists' club in Peshawar, killing three people in an unprecedented assault on the media.

A senior government official said that the government and party leaders gave the military full backing on Friday, vowing to weed out militants and restore the writ of the state. "The ground operation has begun," said Tariq Hayat Khan, the secretary of Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal regions. The army has said about 28,000 soldiers are in place to take on an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban. About 500 commandos arrived in the region on Friday, security officials said. The army has stepped up its air and artillery attacks in recent days to soften up the militants' defences while civilians have been fleeing. The militants have launched a series of brazen attacks in the past 12 days, striking at the United Nations, the army headquarters, police and the general public, killing more than 150 people and apparently trying to stave off the army assault. The head of the army, General Ashfaq Kayani briefed government and party leaders on Friday and they all agreed that the mi...

By Sikander Hayat Pakhtunkhwa government has request federal government of Pakistan to link the Eid days in Pakistan with Saudi Arabia. This move has been made to stop the confusion which occurs every year in Pakistan about the actual day of Eid where sometimes it is common to witness Eid on two or three different days in some parts of the country. I believe that it is a very good suggestion and must be discussed further as after all we do talk about Ummah a lot and what better way to have this claim established fully in the conscience of Pakistani nation than by starting every Islamic month with Saudi Arabia. But straight away the rebuttal came from the so called saviours of Islam who slammed this move as un-Islamic and tried to put it down swiftly. My suggestion to these people is that un-Islamic is their behaviour to divide Muslims by giving them different dates to celebrate Eid and to keep letting this happen in future will be a great disservice to Islam in Pakistan and not the o...

By Sikander Hayat Taliban are defeated in Swat and must now be defeated in Waziristan as well. Death of Baitullah Mehsud has started a rot that will eventually finish the Pakistani Taliban as we know it. Pakistan government must plan now to be vigilant against the regrouping of the Taliban in Waziristan and increase efforts to bring FATA in the national fold and eventually give it a provincial status. Here are few of the articles which discuss the future scenarios for FATA: 1. Fata priorities By I.A. Rehman 2. Review Descent Into Chaos Ahmed Rashid 3.Pakistan & The Provinces – The Question of Provincial Autonomy & Its Impact On Pakistan’s Future Prosperity 4.Provincial status for Fata demanded

RAWALPINDI: The US will establish Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) in NWFP, FATA and some parts of Balochistan for rapid industrial growth and creation of employment opportunities in these underdeveloped and war-affected areas. US Embassy Political and Economic Officer Darren McKinnon stated this during his visit to Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on Wednesday, accompanied by US Embassy Commercial Expert Naheed Aslam. According to a press release, he said the legislation regarding establishment of ROZs was underway and would be approved by the American Congress very soon. “The most important feature of these industrial zones is that entire production made in a ROZ will be exported duty-free to USA,” he said. To read the full article visit here .

It's gang up on Pakistan time.The US Secretary of State, Mrs Clinton, has declared it "poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world" and now Gordon Brown has joined the party, flying to Kabul and Islamabad to show that he too regards the two neighbours as one region and making that the centrepiece of his so-called "new" Afghan policy in the Commons yesterday. There was, he claimed, a "chain of terror" stretching from the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan to the capitals of the world. If this reminds you of the language of the Raj, when the North-West Frontier obsessed our administrators and took up a disproportionate part of our military resources, so it should. Just as the British failed to control the area in Victorian times, so we are back in the same exercise again, only this time we're demanding that the Pakistanis act as the redcoats bringing order to the wild tribal lands. Now leave aside th...

DAGGAR: A major military operation was launched against Taliban militants in Buner district Tuesday, DawnNews reports. The operation aims to eliminate militants who had faked their exit from the area, Director-General ISPR Athar Abbas told DawnNews, adding that the operation in Lower Dir has been completed. The operation in Buner was launched at 04:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Abbas said. He said that militants in the area had refused to heed the government's warnings and had been kidnapping young boys for recruitment into the Taliban's ranks. Both the Frontier Corps and regular army forces are taking part in the operation, Abbas added. Read the full story here.

By Sikander Hayat It seems that beginning of end for Taliban in Malakand area is in sight. Pakistan army has started a military operation against the Taliban in Dir at the request of local government of Pakhtunkhwa after a FC convoy was attacked by the terrorists. A soldier and five terrorists including a key Taliban commander Maulvi Shahid has been killed as well. Frontier Corps has entered the Taliban hide out of laal Qila and heavy fighting has been reported.Gunship helicopters have also been deployed in the ongoing operation.

WASHINGTON: Two days of continuous congressional hearings on the Obama administration’s foreign policy brought a rare concession from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who acknowledged that the United States too had a share in creating the problem that plagues Pakistan today. In an appearance before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, Mrs Clinton explained how the militancy in Pakistan was linked to the US-backed proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. ‘We can point fingers at the Pakistanis. I did some yesterday frankly. And it’s merited because we are wondering why they just don’t go out there and deal with these people,’ said Mrs Clinton while referring to an earlier hearing in which she said that Pakistan posed a ‘mortal threat’ to the world. ‘But the problems we face now to some extent we have to take responsibility for, having contributed to it. We also have a history of kind of moving in and out of Pakistan,’ she said. Read the rest of the...

By Osman Samiuddin It really didn't matter that Pakistan chased down their target tonight with all the assurance of a one-legged man roller-skating in quicksand with his hands tied behind his back. It only mattered that they chased them down at all, even if at one stage it seemed Misbah-ul-Haq was bent upon wresting his countryman's hold on the longest international innings of all time. Pakistan are not used to playing against Australia and they are certainly not used to winning against them; this was only a second win in their last 12 ODIs (over nearly seven years) against them. Though not many in this team are scarred by that kind of record, they batted as if that history was firmly on their mind. If this was a weakened, transitional Australia, it was Australia nonetheless and Pakistan can happily point to an absent middle-order bearded wonder and an equally absent lanky fast bowling genius. Read the rest of the story here .

Shahid Afridi has taken six wickets against Australia in Dubai giving Pakistan a good chance to win against Australia in the first one dayer. 168 was the score that Australia were able to muster aganst a blazing spell of spin bowling by Pakistan.

BUNER: Taliban militants from Swat took control of Buner on Tuesday and started patrolling bazaars, villages and towns in the district. The militants, who had sneaked into Gokand valley of Buner on April 4, were reported to have been on a looting spree for the past five days. They have robbed government and NGO offices of vehicles, computers, printers, generators, edible oil containers, and food and nutrition packets. Sources said that leading political figures, businessmen, NGO officials and Khawaneen, who had played a role in setting up a Lashkar to stop the Taliban from entering Buner, had been forced to move to other areas. The Taliban have extended their control to almost all tehsils of the district and law-enforcement personnel remained confined to police stations and camps. The Taliban, equipped with advanced weapons, were reported to be advancing towards border areas of Swabi, Malakand and Mardan, the hometown of NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti. Read the whole story h...