The political and military leadership met at the presidency on Friday night and discussed the issues of regional security and relations with the United States. The meeting jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was attended by Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. President Zardari has also called a meeting of coalition partners on Saturday to exchange views with them on proposals to normalize Pakistan-US relations and the issue of reopening of Nato supply lines. The parties in the ruling coalition had discussed the matter at a meeting held at the presidency on Wednesday. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), officers of Pakistan Army and NATO met in an area on the Pakistan-Afghan border on Friday. Gen Kayani briefed the meeting at the presidency on matters discussed at the meeting with Nato officials. Dawn.
Two more militants died in the custody of security forces in Swat district, official sources said on Friday. The sources said that the militants, Sher Ali and Rahimzada, died due to cardiac arrest in the custody of the security forces in the internment centre at Paitham in Swat.The bodies were handed over to the families for burial. The News.
The activists of different religious parties under the banner of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) Friday staged protest against the increasing number of the US drone attacks and possible reopening of the NATO supply routes. Led by chairman of the council Maulana Samiul Haq, provincial president of Jamaat-e-Islami Prof Mohammad Ibraheem Khan, general secretary Shabbir Ahmad Khan, Atiq Chohan of Jamaatud Dawa, Ismail Darvesh of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and others, the protesters started marching from Ashraf Road and reached the Kabuli Chowk where the procession turned into a public gathering. Addressing the protesters, the speakers said they would continue protests against the drone attacks till the end of US intervention in the region. The News.
Security forces and a tribal lashkar repulsed a Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan attack on a check post in Upper Dir from Afghan province of Kunar, killing six attackers and injuring many, official sources said on Thursday night. However, TTP, Swat, denied that militants had suffered any casualty. According to sources, the militants, who had taken shelter in Kunar province after the military operation in the Malakand division, attacked the Bin Darra checkpost in Brawal area with rockets and heavy weapons. They said security forces and lashkar volunteers countered the attack and inflicted casualties on attackers. This was the first attack in 2012 after the army`s deployment in the border areas of Upper Dir. Dawn.
Kukikhel tribal elders and activists of different political parties in Khyber Agency have demanded of the government to recognise the displaced Kukikhel families as internally displaced persons (IDPs) and provide emergency assistance for them, as more families reach Jamrud from Tirah valley on Friday. Though officials claimed that around 900 families had moved out of Tirah during last one week, local sources put the number of such families at 1,500. Local sources said that the entire population of Sra Vela, Ghakhi, Bagh, Ochay Ounay, Bharrai, Purrhi, Puk Darra, Maniyakhel and Daman-i-Koh had moved out of their areas. They said that two dozen families had opted to stay back at Toor Darra in Abdalkhel locality of Tirah and a similar number of people had gone to Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, while the rest about 1,500 families had relocated to Jamrud and temporarily residing with their relatives. Dawn.
Tahir Amin, Sharafat Ali Chaudhry
