Keeping in view the internal and external reaction following the Taliban murder attempt on Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan Government is likely to go for all-out military operation against the Haqqani network in North Waziristan (NWA). Political analysts believe that the attack on Malala is not a simple act to punish the girl for raising her voice for peace and education rather it will pave way for a military operation in Waziristan that Pakistan was resisting over the months. The Frontier Post.
Doctors successfully operated upon Malala Yousufzai on Wednesday and extracted a bullet from her shoulder. However, they said she was still in a critical condition. “We have extracted the bullet. She has a head injury and remains critical,” Dr Tariq Hashim, a neurologist on the medical board constituted by the government, told Dawn by phone. He declined to say anything further, saying he had been asked by the authorities not to speak on the issue. Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old campaigner for girls’ education, was shot and wounded by the Taliban in Mingora on Tuesday. A two-sentence statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations — the publicity wing of the military — didn’t say much except that Malala was examined by the medical board. Dawn, The News, Daily Times.
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani here on Wednesday visited the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) to enquire after the health of the injured Malala Yousafzai and termed the attack on her a “heinous act of terrorism”. General Kayani said the terrorists won’t succeed in imposing their ideology and the nation would not bow before them. Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, provincial Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Corps Commander Peshawar Lieutenant General Khalid Rabbani, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan along with his party leaders and representatives of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and other dignitaries also visited the CMH and prayed for the early recovery of Malala Yousafzai. The News.
US President Barack Obama sees the shooting of a 14-year-old Pakistani girl who protested against the Taliban as tragic and barbaric and has offered air ambulance services, his spokesman said on Wednesday. “I know that the president found the news reprehensible and disgusting and tragic,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said, adding that US forces were ready to offer transport and treatment to Malala Yousafzai. “Directing violence at children is barbaric, it’s cowardly and our hearts go out to her and the others who were wounded as well as their families.” Mr Carney said the US military had agreed to provide air ambulance services and medical treatment to Ms Malala if it became necessary. Our Correspondent adds from Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Wednesday that the Taliban attack on Malala Yousufzai was a call of action for those working for women’s rights. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post.
Five people were killed when a US drone fired missiles on a house in Mirali on Wednesday, only three days after PTI chief Imran Khan had led a peace march to the region against such attacks. Local people said the unmanned US aircraft fired four missiles on the house in the village of Harmoz, about 35km from Miramshah, before dawn. Five people were killed and the house was destroyed. Soon after the attack, local people rushed to the house and retrieved the bodies. Dawn, The News, Daily Times.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated a new commander, Marine Gen Joseph Dunford, for Afghanistan to oversee his plans for withdrawing all American and Nato combat troops from that country by 2014. The present commander of the International Security Assistances Forces, Gen Allen will replace Admiral Jim Stavridis in the spring. Gen Dunford, the new Isaf commander, is currently the assistant Marine commandant. Dawn.
US-based Pakistani educationists are setting up a fund to help Malala Yousufzai who may need treatment outside Pakistan to recover from a wound caused by a Taliban bullet. “Let us all donate money so she can get the best care in the world, gets well and once again resists the forces of darkness,” proposed Mohsin Masood, dean of student affairs at Monmouth College, Illinois. “We can collectively defeat the evil. I will try to find out where to send money for her treatment,” he said. “I will be happy to pitch in,” responded Sameer Malhotra, a Monmouth alumnus of Indian origin. Dawn.
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has said that PTI will hold a protest demonstration against the US drone attacks in front of the United Nations in New York on Oct 26. Talking to media persons after visiting the CMH to enquire after the health of Malala Yousafzai here on Wednesday, he said that drone attacks and military operations had been producing more militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and announced that PTI would gather peace activists from around the world to register protest at the UN. He also condemned those who attacked Malala Yousafzai and said that military operation in Swat had proved a failure and army campaigns in Fata should be stopped. Malala is a beacon of hope for our younger generation, he said and prayed for her early recovery. Dawn.
A government primary school was blown up by unidentified militants at Usmanabad area of Akora Khattak early Wednesday. Official sources said substantial damage was caused to the building and added that the watchman was not present in the school at the time of blast. Soon after the incident, police and bomb disposal squad were rushed to the site. The bomb disposal squad declared that 4 to 6 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast. Dawn, The News.
A mortar on Wednesday hit a home in the Akkakhel area of Bara tehsil, wounding two children. The mortar, fired from an unidentified location, hit the house of a tribesman identified as Abdul Latif at Gud Malang (lame beggar) in the Akkakhel area. As a result of the attack two children were injured and two rooms were damaged, local sources said. It is to be recalled that majority of the Bara-based residents have vacated the area fearing blind shelling. staff report Daily Times.
FRC Report
Parrachinar: Family members of 36-years old Shahid Hussains who is suffering from a mysterious disease appealed to the government while seeking help for his treatment, FRC Field reporter learnt.
According to details, family members of Shahid Hussain, belonging to ‘Malana’ village of Parrachinaar, appealed to the government to provide help in saving the life of their beloved Shahid who is suffering from some unknown Kidney disease and presently admitted in critical conditions in Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi.
Shahid is the sixth person of his family who has been suffering from the same disease that has already claimed lives of his five family members.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHRY
