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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
N. Korea Test-Fires 2 Short-Range Missiles
Sarkozy to open new French base during Abu Dhabi visit
Gates Says Taliban Have Momentum in Afghanistan
Troops take over Maalam Jabba
The army claimed on Monday that security forces had captured Maalam Jabba, a stronghold of militants, after heavy clashes.It said troops were facing ‘stiff resistance’ to wrest the control of Swat from the Taliban.According to AFP, Military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas warned it could take up to 10 days to regain control of Mingora, as the punishing assault across three rugged northwest districts entered a fifth week.‘It may take seven to 10 days to clear Mingora of militants,’ he told AFP.‘The operation may be a little slow to avoid civilian casualties, damage and destruction to property. There are also improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in Mingora, and we have to clear these IEDs as well.’According to the ISPR, Maalam Jabba, on the main line of communication between Swat and Mansehra, was being used by militants as a training centre and logistic base. Four militants were killed and six security personnel injured in the fighting. Eight terrorists were arrested.The ISPR said that troops were now trying to secure Kabbal where militants had training facilities and terrorists fleeing Mingora were gathering there.The areas of Aligrama, Guljaba, Fizaghat and a swathe up to Watakai have been secured.Two militants were killed and six soldiers injured in clashes in these areas. An armoured personnel carrier (APC) and a large quantity of arms and ammunition were seized and several improvised explosive devices defused.Troops resumed operation in Peochar valley on Monday. Two militants were killed and five captured. ‘Miscreants are on the run from the valley,’ the ISPR said.Security forces took control of Qambar village and Qambar ridge and cleared six tunnels. An area up to Grid Station, Amankot and T-Junction in Saidu Khawar and Udigram were cleared of militants. Three militants were arrested.
Iran's Ahmadinejad dismisses nuclear talks with other nations
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Pakistan, Iran finally sign gas pipeline accord
After fourteen years of delayed negotiations over the Iran–Pakistan–India (IPI) gas pipeline project, Pakistan and Iran have finally signed the initial agreement in Tehran on Sunday.The project, termed as the peace pipeline by officials from both countries, has been signed by President Zardari and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran on the sidelines of the tripartite summit on Afghanistan security in Tehran.However, talking to the Iranian official news agency IRNA the Iran’s Oil Ministry had said that negotiations on the ‘Peace Pipeline’ project were still underway between Iranian and the Pakistani delegations, which would allow Iran’s gas to be exported to Pakistan.The Pakistani delegation negotiating the project was led by the advisor to the prime Minister on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain, who is accompanied by petroleum ministry officials and a technical team headed the managing director Inter State gas Systems (ISGC), Syed Hasan Nawab.The ISGS is a semiautonomous body looking after Pakistani interests in the international gas pipeline projects to import gas from Iran and Turkmenistan. The federal cabinet had earlier agreed to allow the import of one billion cubic feet of gas at the rate of 80 per cent of the price of crude oil.
Markets rattled by N Korea test
Indian riots after Vienna killing
Battles raging on in Mingora, six militants dead
Pakistani troops remained locked in battles with Taliban militants in the northwest Monday, as the military warned it could take up to 10 days to wrest back control of Swat valley's capital.Ground forces are fighting street-by-street with Taliban fighters in Mingora, the business and administrative hub of the scenic Swat region which has been ripped apart by a two-year insurgency by the extremists.‘It may take seven to 10 days to clear Mingora town of militants,’ military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.‘The operation may be a little slow to avoid civilian casualties, damage and destruction to property. There are also improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in Mingora, and we have to clear these IEDs as well.’Security forces have said a number of key squares and intersections in Mingora are now under their control, as the more than four-week-long offensive against the Taliban in the northwest enters a crucial phase.A military official who did not want to be named said that six militants died overnight in Kabal town about 20 kilometres west of Mingora.‘They were trying to plant a bomb outside a mosque but it exploded on them,’ the official told AFP. ‘The dead bodies of six armed militants are still lying near the mosque.’He said Pakistan's security forces were still battling on the streets of Mingora, which has seen Taliban fighters armed with guns and rocket launchers patrol the streets in the past weeks, according to residents who fled.‘Militants are retreating from different fronts but we are still receiving fire from some pockets of resistance,’ the official said.Another security official said: ‘Militants are on the run, their dead bodies are lying in streets.’Although the military has bases inside Mingora, the town has been under effective Taliban control for weeks.Helicopter gunships also shelled militant hideouts in Peochar and Malam Jabba — mountainous areas northwest of Mingora which are Taliban bastions.