RIYADH: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Islamist movement’s most active branch, has released an English-language magazine advising would-be militants on how to torch parked cars and cause traffic accidents. The magazine, released on militant websites, also warns France to pull back from Mali and lists 11 public figures in the West, including author Salman Rushdie, who it says are “wanted dead or alive for crimes against Islam”. AQAP, based in the impoverished, lawless state of Yemen, has previously plotted to bring down international airliners and is seen by Western governments as a danger to oil-producing Gulf states and major crude shipment routes. In a section entitled “open source Jihad”, the magazine gives tips on how to set fire to parked cars, including advice such as “don’t get petrol on yourself”, and suggests spilling oil on road bends to cause crashes. The News.
RAWALPINDI: You may have heard about the old Pashtun tradition of sorting out things the Jirga way But perhaps, it was a new phenomenon for the residents of the garrison city to see their authorities using the forum of tribal council to campaign for polio vaccination. On Saturday, on the request of Unicef, the Rawalpindi administration organised the Jirga at a local hotel to allay fears of the Pashtun community about the polio campaigns. In front of a gathering of people from Pirwadhai, Hazara Colony, Dhoke Hassu, Dhoke Mangtal, Dhoke Ratta, Safdarabad, Jala and Sari Kala, the officials responded to questions mostly about United States` link to the vaccination drives. Dawn.
PESHAWAR/SWABI: Journalists in Peshawar held a protest demonstration against the murder of Qalat Press Club president Mehmood Afridi and demanded of the government to arrest the accused involved in the case. While speaking on the occasion office-bearers of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ), Peshawar Press Club (PPC) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) condemned the cold-blooded murder of an innocent journalist and demanded judicial inquiry into the case. Dawn, The Nation.
LANDI KOTAL: A minor boy was killed when jetfighters bombed militant hideouts in Tirah valley while two security men and a local volunteer were injured in a roadside blast in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Saturday. Sources said that the house of Essa Khan was hit when fighter planes targeted hideouts of militants in Khujal Khel area of Tirah. A five-yearold nephew of Essa Khan was killed and another minor girl was injured in the bombing, they said.
In Sheen Qamar area of Bara, two security men and a Zakhakhel volunteer were critically injured when their vehicle was targeted by aroadside improvised explosive device. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Pakistani Taliban have threatened to bomb a mobile phone market here for the `shameless` selling of video clips, ring tones and accessories, officials said on Saturday. Some 60 shopkeepers received letters in the post ordering them to burn the offending stock, including memory cards and speakers for MP3 players, and stick to selling only mobile phones and essential accessories. DVD and CD shops have in the past been bombed by militants who deemed the businesses `un-Islamic`. In one of the letters militants wrote: `Do not compel us to send a bomber… stop this shameless business in one week and burn the shameful stuff. Just sell mobile phones, batteries and chargers. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post, The Nation.
PESHAWAR: In the post9/11 scenario, we see a dwindling trend of art, heritage and music as militancy has adversely affected every sphere of our life. Artists and singers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata have been threatened and kidnapped with some being forced to quit the profession. During the last decade, Pashto music has lost artists and singers of high repute, some have preferred to seek political asylum abroad. Many are living a miserable life, receiving threats from militants has become a routine matter with them.Banr in Swat and Dabgari in Peshawar were the two main music streets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that worked as learning nurseries, where artists and singers used to transfer the art to their younger generations. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Continuing the unabated wave of terrorism in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a total 47 blasts reported in the month of February 2013 alone killing 91 persons and injuring 161 others. According to the data compiled by TheNation, the first deadly blast of February 02 occurred in Tehsil Sarai Norang of Lakki Marwat in which 36 people were killed and 11 others were injured. After this incident on February 8 another blast occurred in Orakzi Agency in Kalya area, which leaving 16 dead and injuring 26. On February 10 a blast occurred near CD shops in Neshtar Abad area of Peshawar resulted injuring of four persons besides damaging four shops in the market. On the same day the shrine of Akhun Saleq baba was blew up by unknown armed persons, however, no casualties were reported. The Nation.
TIMERGARA: The three-day Dir Snow Sports festival organised by the Pak army at the scenic Shahi ground at the PakistanAfghanistan border concluded on Saturday. A large number of people, including sportsmen, journalists and youth, attended the concluding ceremony. The operational commander Brig Zaheer Malik distributed shields and trophies among the winner teams and players. The visitors also enjoyed paragliding skills of various individuals on the occasion. The concluding ceremony had been postponed by the organisers on Feb 28 due to torrential rains and heavy snowfall at Shahi. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: The Emergency Operational and Security Guidelines issued by the government for polio vaccination after the killing of 15 people in Karachi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has ended the role of Unicef in social mobilisation campaigns, officials claimed. The Unicef, which is supporting the government in polio eradication in the country, had signed a contract with the government of Pakistan and CHIP Training and Consulting (private) Limited under which the former had pledged Rs230 million to create demand for oral polio vaccine (OPV) in the 33 `high risk` districts of the country. Since last year, the Unicef had created Communication Network (COMNet) by recruiting 1,072 communication officers at the district and union council level on lucrative salaries, but the security guidelines had ended their role. Dawn.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHARY