Pakistan News And Discussion-12

Naresh · (This post was last modified: 09-01-2007, 08:20 PM by Naresh.)

Karachi bridge collapse leaves six people dead, several injured

KARACHI : A bridge of Northern Bypass at Paracha Chowk in Shershah area of the metropolis, which was opened by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on 6 August 2007, collapsed here Saturday, killing at least six people, injuring several others while trapping an unknown number of people under the debris.

"Four people have died and over a dozen were wounded in the collapse," southern port city police official Khalid Hameed said, adding that several vehicles were trapped in the debris.

However, a person trapped in the debris of the bridge was miraculously rescued. According to Geo News correspondent two dead bodies and three wounded persons have been brought to Civil Hospital Karachi, while four injured have been transferred to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and one inured was shifted to Murhsid hospital.

Rescuers were trying to clear the wreckage to retrieve injured and survivors amid fears the death toll could rise, they said.

Witnesses said a portion of the bridge known as Northern Bypass fell with a huge bang while traffic was on it.

"It created such a huge sound that we thought it was an earthquake," Zahid Khan, a resident of the area said.

Karachi City Nazim Mustapha Kamal said the authorities were investigating the cause of the blast. The bridge was built by the state-run National Highway Authority.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz phoned Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad to seek details of Karachi bridge collapse, which has left at least four people dead, several injured and an unknown number of people have been trapped in the debris.

The Prime Minister directed Ishrat to take no stone unturned in the relief and rescue activities to help the victims. The injured people should be provided with proper medical care, he directed.

Shaukat Aziz also directed PM Inspection Committee to probe into the incident to ascertain the cause.

Chief minister Sindh Dr. Ghulam Arbab Rahim has expressed deep concern over the tragic incident of the collapse of a part of the northern by-pass bridge in Shershah and said that the persons involved cannot be pardoned.

He said that an impartial investigation of the incident would be made.

Comments : A New Bridge which was inaugurated by Mush the Tush Two Months ago - obviously constructed with Pakistani Cement - has collapsed with two months of use.

India has decided to Import cement from Pakistan - one of the main suppliers is Lucky Cement owned by Laard Nazir the Pakjabi who supports the Khalistani and Pakistani Cross Border Terrorist Organizations.

Let us see the result of using Pakistani Cement in Indian Constructions!

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

09-01-2007, 08:26 PM

QUOTEComments : A New Bridge which was inaugurated by Mush the Tush Two Months ago - obviously constructed with Pakistani Cement - has collapsed with two months of use.

India has decided to Import cement from Pakistan - one of the main suppliers is Lucky Cement owned by Laard Nazir the Pakjabi who supports the Khalistani and Pakistani Cross Border Terrorist Organizations.

Let us see the result of using Pakistani Cement in Indian Constructions!
It is less 25 days old. Collapse could be because of multiple reason, poor design, structural fault, poor material(iron, cement etc).
Just shows pakistan is far behind in engneering. They need foreigners to do any job for them, they are good in reproduction or terrorism. <!--emo& Big Grin

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Naresh · 09-01-2007, 09:00 PM

QUOTE(Mudy @ Sep 1 2007, 08:26 PM)<div class='quotetop'>QUOTEComments : A New Bridge which was inaugurated by Mush the Tush Two Months ago - obviously constructed with Pakistani Cement - has collapsed with two months of use.

India has decided to Import cement from Pakistan - one of the main suppliers is Lucky Cement owned by Laard Nazir the Pakjabi who supports the Khalistani and Pakistani Cross Border Terrorist Organizations.

Let us see the result of using Pakistani Cement in Indian Constructions!
It is less 25 days old. Collapse could be because of multiple reason, poor design, structural fault, poor material(iron, cement etc).
Just shows pakistan is far behind in engneering. They need foreigners to do any job for them, they are good in reproduction or terrorism. <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />
[right][snapback]72722[/snapback][/right]
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Mudy Ji :

Sorry! Mistook took place!

As usual you are right and the Bridge is only Twenty Five Days Old.

You said Pakistan is far behid in engineering

What!! Engineering?

No such Infidel and Kufr thing exists in the Terrorist Wahaabi Islamic Republic of Pakistan!!!

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 09-01-2007, 09:09 PM

[center]Bridge design had a fault which was rectified : Shamim Siddiqui[/center]

KARACHI : Federal minister for communications Shamim Siddiqui said that a fault was found in the design of the Northern Bypass bridge during its construction and it was allowed to complete the construction of the bridge after the satisfactory rectification of the fault.

Talking with Geo News, he said that the bridge structure of 4,000 metric tons collapsed and there is no machinery available anywhere in the world to lift such huge debris.

The federal minister said that the incident of the bridge collapse is very tragic in which precious human lives were lost.

He said that the efforts are being made to complete the rescue operation in two to three hours.

Shamim Siddiqui said that the contractor, consultant and advisory department are involved in the construction of the bridge. Any one of them is responsible.

He said that after the direction from prime minister Shaukat Aziz, a committee is being formed for investigating the incident of the bridge collapse.

He said that city nazim Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal is present on the spot and he is supervising the situation.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 09-01-2007, 10:19 PM

[center]Bhutto says talks with Pakistan's Musharraf stalled <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /> [/center]

QUOTELONDON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Saturday talks on a power sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf had stalled but she would return to Pakistan within weeks even without agreement.

"No understanding has been arrived at," she told a crowded news conference in London about her negotiations with Musharraf that would see him quit as army chief and stand for re-election as president, and Bhutto return to become prime minister.

She said talks between her party and envoys sent by Musharraf had been 80 percent successful "but matters appear to have stalled following resistance by members of the ruling party."

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Shambhu · (This post was last modified: 09-02-2007, 05:27 AM by Shambhu.)

The BFFBBT (Brave freedom fighter Ban Ban Taliban) have taken 100 pakisoldiers hostage..heard on CNN just now...is this live news??

Praise be...

Added later:

...nah, the little goatlings have been found safe.. <!--emo& Sad

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updated 2 days ago
Army: Pakistani paramilitary forces found safe
The approximately 100 Pakistani paramilitary forces who were reported missing Thursday in the region of South Waziristan have been found and are safe, an army spokesman said.

09-02-2007, 08:08 AM

just 10 ... <!--emo& Sad

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10 Mohmand Rifles soldiers go missing QUOTELAHORE: Ten Mohmand Rifles troops, including a major, went missing in Qandharou region of Mohmand Agency on Saturday while on their way back from agency headquarters in Ghala Nai, Geo News reported.

Also, the more than 100 âtrappedâ security personnel near Ladah, South Waziristan, have not reached their base yet as a tribal jirga continued talks on Saturday with the

Naresh · 09-02-2007, 03:43 PM

KARACHI BRIDGE COLLAPSE : Read all about it

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

09-03-2007, 11:28 AM

So bridge was constructed by Army. Other than securing border and catching terrorist, army is involved in every business.
Good for India.

09-03-2007, 11:31 AM

Bhutto announces Pakistan return
Story Highlights
Self-exiled former Pakistan PM Bhutto vows to return "very soon"
Bhutto says power-sharing talks with President Musharraf "at a standstill"
Bhutto demands that Musharraf, who seized power in 1999, resign from the army

09-04-2007, 11:30 AM

Powerful twin blasts kill 29 in Rawalpindi QUOTEIslamabad, Sept 04: Islamabad, Sept 04: Bombs ripped through a bus and a market in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Tuesday, killing 29 people including 10 Pakistani Atomic Energy Commission employees. The attacks happened minutes apart in sensitive military areas of the city, which is near the capital Islamabad.

The first explosion occurred in a bus ferrying Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission employees to work in the city`s busy Qasim bazaar, police said. 

Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said 17 people were killed in the blast which occurred at around 7.30 am and turned the white-coloured bus into a mangled heap of metal.

The second bomb planted on a motorbike went off 15 minutes later at the bustling r a bazaar killing at lest 12 people.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. "It is terrorism because innocent people were killed in both blasts," Arshad said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either bombing.

But a series of deadly attacks have rocked Pakistan since the military`s storming of the hardline Lal Masjid in Islamabad in July.

More than 100 people were killed in the siege and storming of the pro-Taliban mosque. 
Lal Masjid or freedom fighter or Pathan fauji?

09-04-2007, 11:37 AM

Blasts hit Pakistan garrison town QUOTEThe first explosion went off on a bus carrying defence employees in the garrison town near Islamabad.

Shortly afterwards, a motorcycle bomb exploded in a market. At least 66 people were wounded in the attacks.

Naresh · 09-05-2007, 01:28 AM

[center]Fresh PPP-govt talks achieve breakthrough[/center]

ISLAMABAD : Negotiators trying to thrash out a power-sharing deal between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and self-exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto in fresh talks achieved a breakthrough on Tuesday, the PPP sources said.

At a meeting in Dubai they focused on Musharraf's powers over the Pakistani parliament and on forthcoming presidential and general elections, Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

Talks held in London last week between the two-time prime minister and military ruler Musharraf's aides ended in deadlock, with Bhutto saying that she would fly home ahead of general elections due by early next year.

âDiscussions were held on some unresolved issues relating to the powers of the president and parliament and to arrangements on the holding of elections," Babar said.

"There was some progress on holding free and fair elections," Babar added. "The dialogue will continue."

Efforts to formulate a deal stalled after the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Party opposed Bhutto's demands that Musharraf should quit as army chief before being re-elected for another five-year term as president.

Bhutto said he should also cede his powers to dissolve parliament, allow premiers to serve a third term and give an *amnesty to herself and other politicians covering her two terms in power between 1989 and 1996*.

Babar said he believed that the talks would resume on Wednesday or a day later in the Gulf emirate.

Bhutto held secret talks with Musharraf in Abu Dhabi in July. She said on Saturday that she would end her self-imposed exile over corruption charges and announce the date of her return on September 14.

* : This will ensure that Nawaz Sherif will be playing Soccer as Left Out! and BB hopes will not return to Pakistan.

Well Done - Daughter of Haridas and Grand Daughter of Lakhi Bai!

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 09-05-2007, 03:17 AM

[center]THIRTY ONE[/center]

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

09-05-2007, 03:55 AM

QUOTE(Naresh @ Sep 5 2007, 03:17 AM)[center]THIRTY ONE[/center]

[right][snapback]72794[/snapback][/right]

Looks like Taliban roasted its handlers. <!--emo& Big Grin

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<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Shambhu · 09-05-2007, 05:09 AM

31 more!! This is getting ludicrous. I implore, beseech, impleech and beplore Pakistan to act as a mature democracy and take a sincere look at the root causes of this pindigenous freedom movement. 700,000,000 Pakistani troops are getting raped in the disputed region of Pakistan. Pakistan has to obey the wishes of the people, hold a plebiscite, so that everyone can self-determine him or herself with a certain amount of determination. (O Pakistan, my little child full of Pure Green Snot, ask yourSelf: what happens when a Nation full of Detergents starts Mining its borders? That is Self-Determination. And you know that the queen Self-Determinator, Ms Bhutto, had said the pak words: "Ah'll be baak")....

09-06-2007, 05:09 AM

Exiled ex-PM plans return to Pakistan QUOTEISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will go back to Pakistan next week and 250 of his supporters have been arrested in anticipation of their exiled leader's return, his party said Wednesday. 

Now, we can see real movie from Pakistan. Starring -Sharif, Bhutto, Mushy and new Groom (Appointed by Uncle).
Lets start muisc <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/stereo.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='stereo.gif' />

09-06-2007, 05:26 AM

Centre's advice: Deploy Muslims in Muslim areasQUOTENew Delhi: The Congress-led UPA government on Wednesday played the biggest Muslim card so far.

In a clear indication that it needs a large share of the Muslim vote in case of a mid-term poll, the Government is now asking states to deploy more Muslim policemen, teachers and health workers in Muslim dominated areas. This is particularly in context where there is great deal of public hearing.

So, an election-bound coalition is perhaps preparing for the inevitable by putting Sachar Panel recommendations on a fast track.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has written a letter to all state governments and union territories that there should be more Muslim policemen, teachers and health workers.

âThis is not unprecedented. Even during Indira Gandhi's time such letters were written to chief ministers however itâs another thing that they were not followed,â Member Secretary of the Sachar Commission, Abu Saleh Sharif said

09-07-2007, 01:50 AM

Ominous portents in Pakistan

09-07-2007, 02:19 AM

unable to locate url, came via email.
QUOTEPakistan crisis 'hits army morale'
By Ahmed Rashid, Lahore
Protests against Gen Musharraf
'There is widespread public anger against the army'
Ahmed Rashid, guest journalist and writer on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, reflects on mounting political drama and militancy in Pakistan.

Pakistan's worst ever political crisis that has divided the nation also appears to be having a dramatic impact on the morale of Pakistani troops on the Afghan-Pakistan border who are engaged in the "war on terror" and fighting the Taleban.

Talebanisation along Pakistan's border regions has escalated even more rapidly since the political crisis began.

As people flee their villages to escape armed extremists, the state has been unable to protect the population and is rapidly losing credibility and authority.

Moreover, the army's insistence that a pro-Taleban Islamic party once again be part of any future government that may emerge after expected general elections will only lead to a further lessening of state control, an increase in the pace of Talebanisation and further divisions in the nation.

'Terrorism Central'
The surrender of an estimated 280 soldiers, including a colonel and nine other officers, on 30 August in South Waziristan to just a few score Taleban fighters who blocked their supply convoy on the road to the main town of Wana shocked the nation.

People have lost faith in the political system and in the army's attempts to concoct a new one.

The Pakistani Taleban, ostensibly belonging to the group led by Baitullah Mahsud, persuaded the troops to surrender without firing a single shot. The group comprised more than a dozen mid-ranking officers, including a colonel.

The militants then split the soldiers into groups and took them into the high mountains as hostages - much as the Afghan Taleban did six weeks earlier near Ghazni to a group of 23 South Koreans who were subsequently freed.

A jirga of tribal elders who met the Pakistani Taleban for two days returned empty handed. The Taleban demanded the release of 10 of their prisoners held by the government and insisted upon all troops leaving the Federally-Administered Tribal Area or Fata, which comprises the seven tribal agencies.

After the hostage-taking, the government arrested 100 Mahsud tribesmen - but was quickly forced to free them in order to appease the militants.

The army attempted to cover up the disaster by making conflicting statements, none of which appeared logical and all of which were contradicted by the militants and local tribal elders.

The government has banned all journalists from the region since 2004 so real information is sparse.

Pakistani soldier searching man in North Waziristan Pakistani soldiers have been kidnapped in the border region In case anyone doubted the militants' intentions, 10 Frontier Corps paramilitary soldiers and a major were kidnapped in Fata's Mohmand agency on 1 September, while two deadly suicide bombings killed several soldiers in Bajaur agency on the same day.

After a US intelligence estimate in mid-July that South and North Waziristan had become Terrorism Central and were the headquarters for al-Qaeda and the Taleban, President Pervez Musharraf sent 20,000 troops into the region breaking a ceasefire and a troop withdrawal treaty agreement the army had signed with the Pakistani Taleban in 2005.

Widespread anger
The Pakistani Taleban are now demanding the army returns to the status quo.

But that is impossible with the Americans breathing down Gen Musharraf's neck and threatening to attack al-Qaeda hideouts in Fata if the army does not move first. However, that is looking increasingly difficult.

Many of the army and Frontier Corp personnel serving in Fata are Pashtuns, the ethnic group that lives on both sides of the border and from which the Taleban in both countries originate. Pakistani Pashtun soldiers are now loathe to fire upon their fellow Pashtuns.

The last time the army attacked Fata in 2004 more than 700 soldiers were killed and dozens of Pashtun soldiers and Frontier Corp men deserted, while some army helicopter pilots refused to bomb their own fellow citizens. As a result, Gen Musharraf was forced to do a deal with the militants that took the troops out of Fata - much to the chagrin of the American forces based in Afghanistan.

This time the situation is much more serious.

Apart from the Taleban there is widespread public anger against the army which could make the loss of morale amongst the troops much more serious. People have lost faith in the political system and in the army's attempts to concoct a new one.

Map
In such a political vacuum it is only natural that extremism should grow and the Pakistani Taleban face only a modicum of resistance from the military.

Gen Musharraf has failed to convince the general public that the struggle against extremism is not just President Bush's war, but a struggle that all fair-minded Pakistanis must wage.

In the meantime, the army is insisting that Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who leads the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), be part of any future government, whether it is led by Benazir Bhutto or the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.

The JUI has been the mainstay for the revival of the Taleban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

With supervision from Pakistan's intelligence services, thousands of JUI-run madrassas in Balochistan and North West Frontier Province have provided shelter to tens of thousands of extremists from both sides of the border.

Wider tragedy
As long as the JUI is a part of any future Pakistani government it is impossible to imagine how that government will be able to move against the Taleban.

Thus, by insisting that the JUI does become part of a future government, the army appears to be directly boosting the fortunes of the Afghan Taleban, even as Pakistani Taleban kidnap or kill Pakistani troops.

This is only part of a wider tragedy that is a result of eight years of military rule when Gen Musharraf appeared to be running with the hares and hunting with the hounds - following a deeply contradictory policy course that has now caught up with him and helped plunge the country into its present chaos.

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist based in Lahore. He is the author of three books including Taliban and, most recently, Jihad. He has covered Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia for the past 25 years and also writes for the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Daily Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal.

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