At least four militants killed near Malakand-Bajaur border

Security forces display a wide range of arms and ammunition during a news conference at Fort Slope in Bara, a town located in Pakistan's Khyber Agency about 15 km southwest of Peshawar. – Reuters


PESHAWAR: Security forces on Sunday killed at least four militants at Kalangi area located along the Malakand-Bajaur border.

According to security officials, the militants were trying to enter into Malakand from Bajaur when the security forces intercepted them at Kalangi check post.
The militants opened fire at the security forces, which led to a gun battle during which the militants were killed.

Security forces recovered a rocket launcher, four small machine guns, sixteen magazines and six grenades.

The security forces last night also killed eight militants in Buner and recovered a heavy amount of arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, at least six suspects have also been arrested during a search operation in Lakki Marwat.

Malik orders tight security for Chief Justice

Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry in Islamabad. – APP (File Photo)

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has appointed the Rangers to provide security for the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry. Malik also also suspended a Deputy Superintendent of police and a traffic inspector.

The suspensions came after details of a comprehensive inquiry into a road accident involving the Chief Justice's convoy were revelaed. The inquiry was ordered by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Official sources said that the interior minister said that negligence of the Chief Justice's security will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Rehman Malik also directed the Inspector General of police to take whatever measures are necessaty to ensure that the CJ has fool-proof security.

Explosion in Peshawar; DSP escapes unhurt

No casualties were reported and ambulances and a bomb disposal squad rushed to the site soon after the blast. — Photo by AP

PESHAWAR: A DSP escaped unhurt in an explosion in Peshawar’s Afridiabad area on Saturday.

Meanwhile, authorities also arrested a suspected militant commander named Zahidur Rehman from the Peshawar airport while he was trying to escape to Dubai

Police said a remote-controlled bomb planted on the roadside went off as the police mobile drove by. The explosion partially damaged the vehicle of DSP Gulbahar Khan.

No casualties were reported and ambulances and a bomb disposal squad rushed to the site soon after the blast.

According to DSP Bomb Disposal Squad, Tanveer Khan, 700 grams of explosives were used in the blast. Three suspects were also arrested from the scene.

Afridiabad is a sensitive area where a radio transmission centre and JUI-F's NWFP secretariat is located. Police said this was the second such attack in the area in the past two days.

The camera and the chimera

I took this picture at Karachi’s Nautanki Mela. It shows a peep show in which the star attraction is half-woman and half-animal. People pay money to see this beautiful yet beastly chimera. Of course, it is pure artistry – a young girl is positioned just so to create the illusion of a half-woman. For me, this image captures the fine line between fantasy and the exploitation of the female gender.’ – Stephan Andrew/ White Star

Do you think this image is beautiful or exploitative? Have you ever attended a peep show in Pakistan? What’s the most fantastical creature you’ve ever seen?

The following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

Iran seeks diplomatic fix for Iraq border dispute

World oil prices rose on Friday on the report about the commandeered well at Fakka oilfield in Maysan province, Iraq. Border disputes between the two countries continue to rankle more than two decades after they ended an eight-year war in which an estimated 1 million people died. –AP/ File photo

BAGHDAD: Tehran wants to solve by diplomatic means a dispute with Baghdad over accusations that Iranian troops seized an oil well inside Iraq, a spokesman at the Iranian embassy said on Saturday.

Iran's ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi-Qomi met Iraqi government officials to discuss Baghdad's charges of an incursion by 11 Iranian soldiers who had taken over the well in a disputed border area, the spokesman said.

However, the ambassador reiterated Iran's denial of the Iraqi charges at the meeting on Friday.

The ambassador had told the Iraqi side that a joint committee including oil and military officials from both countries was responsible for settling such problems.

‘We will resolve this issue in a diplomatic fashion,’ the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

World oil prices rose on Friday on the report about the commandeered well at Fakka oilfield in Maysan province. Border disputes between the two countries continue to rankle more than two decades after they ended an eight-year war in which an estimated 1 million people died.

Iraqi officials declined comment on Saturday about whether they believed the Iranian troops were still inside Iraq.

Fakka is a modest oilfield by Iraqi standards, currently producing around 10,000 barrels per day.

But development of the field is part of Iraq's plan to more than quadruple the nation's production capacity to 12 million barrels per day in six or seven years, turning it into a leading world energy producer.

The Oil Ministry offered a contract to develop Fakka and nearby fields in an auction in June, its first since Saddam Hussein was overthrown, but foreign firms declined Baghdad's terms.

Iraqi officials held an emergency security meeting on Friday evening, accusing Iran of a ‘violation of Iraqi sovereignty’ and demanding immediate withdrawal.

At the same time, the Iraqi government sought to avoid lasting damage to its complex, delicate relationship with Iran, a fellow Shia Muslim majority nation and regional power that has long opposed the US military presence in Iraq.

The US military has declined comment on the Fakka report.

Iraqi oil officials said Iranian soldiers had temporarily occupied the oil well in a remote desert area several times over the past year, calling it a deliberate provocation.

US welcomes more Spanish troops to Afghanistan

Spain’s 1,068 troops currently in Afghanistan are located in the west of the country. –Photo by Reuters

WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday welcomed Spain’s announcement that it was sending some 500 extra soldiers and trainers to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, AFP reports

Spain’s fresh contribution ‘demonstrates the firm resolve of allies and partners to seize this moment of opportunity and advance our shared mission in Afghanistan toward success,’ said National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer.

Spain’s 1,068 troops currently in Afghanistan are located in the west of the country.

‘The United States looks forward to continuing its close consultations with Spain and other allies and partners in the weeks and months ahead,’ Hammer said.

The commitment comes in addition to the nearly 7,000 additional troops that US allies and partners announced at Nato meetings in early December, Hammer said.

US President Barack Obama has pledged an extra 30,000 US troops to bolster the 71,000 already in Afghanistan fighting a Taliban-led insurgency that has become more virulent and deadly over the past year.

Troubled Indian family commits suicide in Dubai

Dubai has been hard-hit by the global financial crisis, and also faces serious debt troubles.

DUBAI: Three members of an Indian family in Dubai committed suicide due to financial troubles in a pact initiated by a fourth who survived his suicide attempt, the Gulf News newspaper reported on Saturday.
‘The husband confessed to us that he is the one who initiated the suicide pact. Forensic examinations confirm that it is a suicide,’ the newspaper quoted Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim al-Mansouri, director of the general department of criminal investigation in the Dubai police, as saying.

On Wednesday, the man, 40, his 38-year-old-wife, her 22-year-old son and her 20-year-old sister hanged themselves from ceiling fans in their flat in the Karama area of Dubai, the newspaper said.

The man told police his rope slipped off the fan, saving his life, while the other three died, it added.

The family left a letter that said ‘financial difficulties’ motivated them to commit suicide, the newspaper cited police as saying.

The husband owned a textile shop located in the same building in which his family died.

Dubai has been hard-hit by the global financial crisis, and also faces serious debt troubles.