Even Where Pakistani Law Exists, Taliban Find a Porous Border

The thick brown sack that a man named Abdulmalek carried over his shoulder on a recent afternoon might have contained anything: weapons, drugs or explosives. But crossing back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan was no problem, he said. Afghan border guards never search him, even though he passes through this bustling crossing four or five times a week. “What searching?” said Mr. Abdulmalek, a 34-year-old clothing store owner who like many Afghans has only one name. “There is no searching.” Other Afghans say they can easily enter Pakistan by bribing guards on either side of the border with the equivalent of less than a dollar, or by paying taxi drivers a similarly token amount to drive them across. The guards do not ask those in the taxi for identification or search the trunk. The way the Taliban use Pakistan’s tribal areas to launch cross-border attacks inside Afghanistan is perhaps the most contentious issue between Pakistan and the United States. But the problem is hardly contained to Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas. Gaping holes in security checks along the border also remain at heavily trafficked crossings, like this one, in Baluchistan Province, where, American officials say, the Taliban’s leaders have taken refuge, out of reach of American and NATO forces. The Chaman crossing — marked on the Pakistani side by the three-story Friendship Gate — should presumably be among the most secure in the country: it is the sole crossing between Kandahar, the birthplace of the Afghan Taliban, and Baluchistan, which is, according to American officials, home to Taliban commanders who control many Afghan fighters. But Taliban fighters — anyone, really — can cross and smuggle weapons and drugs, underscoring the challenge to the American war effort in Afghanistan, for which the border presents a much firmer barrier, as Pakistan does not allow NATO or American military forces to cross. The result is that Taliban fighters and smugglers control much of the rugged 1,500-mile frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, creating a fluid battle space for the insurgents as the Taliban conduct an increasingly coordinated fight in both countries. Pakistani and Afghan officials blame one another for the lack of border security and the threats it poses, typical of the distrust and lack of coordination between the governments. American and NATO forces are faulted as well. “The Afghans are indeed of no real help there, but neither are the NATO or U.S. troops,” a senior Western intelligence official said. Pakistani commanders complain that the United States and other NATO governments have given them almost none of the equipment needed to improve security or prevent Taliban fighters from crossing easily.

Australia manage clean-sweep across all three formats against Pakistan

Australia beat Pakistan by 2 run Australia 127/10 (Hussey 40*, Gul 3-20 Pakistan 125/9 (K Akmal 64, Tait 3-13) Australia beat Pakistan in the only T20 game by 2 runs. The last game of the tour game was played at Melbourne. Pakistan bowled wonderfully well and restricted the Australians to 128 runs. Omer Gul took 3 while Shoiab Malik took 2 wickets. Pakistan openers could not provide a solid start. Only Kamran Akmal was prominent with the bat scoring 64. The remaining batsmans just threw their wickets. Pakistan has not managed a single win on the tour to Australia. Pakistan lost 3 Test matches, 5 One day matches and one T20 match.

Karachi bomb blasts leave many dead

Two suspected bomb blasts in the Pakistani city of Karachi, apparently targeting Shia Muslims marking a religious ceremony, have killed at least 20 people. A bomb-laden motorcycle first exploded on a main road in the city as a bus carrying Shia worshippers passed on Friday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 40 others. The second blast went off outside the hospital where the wounded were being taken, reportedly killing another eight people, witnesses said. "An explosion occurred at the Jinnah hospital near the emergency ward, where the bodies and injured were being taken," Dr Mushtaq Ahmad said. "I heard a large blast. People are running all over the place. Casualties are feared." Shias in Pakistan are marking Arbaeen - the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed in a seventh century battle in Karbala. The violence in Karachi echoed similar attacks in Iraq against Shia Muslims gathered in Karbala to mark the occasion. It was not clear if either attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. "A bomb was planted on the motorcyle and it hit the bus," Waseem Ahmad, the city police chief, said. "We cannot determine in one and a half hours whether it was a suicide blast or not. We are examining the site. We are collecting the evidence. We are taking witness statements and then we will say something concrete."

Google, NSA talk defense partnership

Google is finalizing an agreement with the National Security Agency to help the search giant ward off cyberattacks, according to the Washington Post. The electronic surveillance organization is expected to help analyze a cyberattack on Google that the company said originated in China, so that the company can better defend itself against future attacks, the newspaper reported Wednesday. The arrangement is reportedly being designed to allow the two groups to share information without violating Google's privacy policies or laws governing online communications. Google declined to comment on the report, and the NSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google disclosed in January that e-mail accounts belonging to human rights activists in China had been compromised and said the attacks originated in China. The company said it discovered the attacks in mid-December. And while it did not specifically implicate the Chinese government, Google said it may withdraw from doing business in China. China's government responded by reiterating that companies doing business in that country must respect and adhere to its laws and later issued statements denying any state involvement in the cyberattacks, as well as defending its Internet censorship. China also warned of strained U.S.-China relations after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton formally denounced Internet censorship in a speech.

Pakistan stages Kashmir rallies

Political parties and religious groups across Pakistan are holding rallies in support of the separatist movement in Kashmir. And in his first public speech since release from house arrest, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is set to address one 'Kashmir Solidarity' rally in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Friday. Jamaat-ud-Dawa has been accused of being a political front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba network - the group blamed by India for the 2008 attacks on Mumbai in which gunmen killed more than 160 people. Saeed denies involvement and was released in June by a Lahore court which found insufficient evidence for his continued detention. "It is an attempt to try and muster support within Pakistan and to try and capitalise on the anti-American sentiment that is growing in this particular part of the world. "It will be an opportunity for Saeed to be able to rally the people behind him, and of course on the self-determination of the Kashmiri people," he said. Indian troops sealed off neighbourhoods in Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, on Friday and arrested dozens of activists to block planned protests over the death of a Muslim boy. The 14-year-old child was struck by a teargas shell fired by police on Sunday during a separatist demonstration. His death has sparked days of angry protests against Indian rule over the region. More than 150 protesters and policemen have been injured in clashes. Kashmiri separatists have been holding regular rallies, which often turn violent, since 2008. More than 60 protesters have died in  the protests since then, most of them as a result of police firing.

Bomb blast in Karachi

At least 15 people were killed and over 70 other people were injured when a powerful explosion occurred in a public vehicle plying on Sharah-e-Faisal of Karachi, media reported Friday. According to News, the blast occurred in a mini bus near Nursery stop towards FTC. The injured riding a mini bus coming from Malir, include children and women. Police and other rescue workers have arrived on the spot. The road leading to Saddar has been blocked and the blast site has been cordoned off. According to correspondent, the blast occurred near a furniture market situated near the Sharah-e-Faisal. The correspondent said at least 50 people were injured in the blast, who have been shifted to Jinnah Hospital. Various injured are in critical state. Also a body has been moved from the scene. All the casualties have been moved from the blast scene. According to eyewitnesses, a motorcyclist hit the ill-fated vehicle to cause the mishap. 

Toyota safety woes deepen

Toyota has said it is investigating possible braking problems in its luxury Lexus hybrid, the latest in a series of safety issues that have dented the Japanese car giant's reputation for making reliable cars. Friday's move comes as US safety regulators begin a formal probe into possible brake problems with the company's flagship hybrid model, the Prius, which has the same braking system as the Lexus. A Toyota spokesman said on Friday that the company had not received any complaints over the Lexus HS250h model, which went on sale in Japan in July and in North America in September, but was looking to "ensure safety for our customers". Toyota, already reeling from massive global recalls of eight million vehicles over faulty accelerator pedals and floor mats, has been criticised for being too slow in responding to customers' safety complaints.

Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan takes on Hindu extremists over cricket

The biggest star in Bollywood is under attack from an extremist Hindu party with a history of violence for expressing support for cricketers from Pakistan, India’s arch rival. Shahrukh Khan, a Muslim actor, reignited a diplomatic spat last week when he lamented that no Pakistani player had been bought by the clubs competing in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), the wealthiest cricket tournament. Yesterday Shiv Sena, an extremist group that has long been a source of anti-Pakistan rhetoric, threatened to attack cinemas that screen Khan’s film, My Name Is Khan, when it is released on Friday. The Mumbai-based party warned Khan not to return to his home in India’s commercial capital unless he retracted his pro-Pakistan remarks, which he refused to do.“What did I say that was wrong? All I said was that I wanted people to come to my country,” Khan, who co-owns the Kolkata Knight Riders, an IPL side, said. The row has highlighted the damage to cricket in Pakistan after militant attacks, including one on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore last year. None of the 11 Pakistani players up for auction last month to compete in the IPL was bought by the eight Indian regional teams that compete in the Twenty20 competition, despite Pakistan being the world champions in the 20-over form of the game. IPL team bosses claimed privately to have been worried that the players would be excluded by the Indian authorities. They were not allowed to play in last year’s IPL, which was moved to South Africa after the Mumbai attacks carried out by the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Indian Government denied that Pakistani players would have been denied visas this time.

U.S. Believes Pakistani Taliban Leader Is Dead

U.S. counterterrorism officials believe Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is dead following a missile attack last month, a senior intelligence official said Wednesday in the strongest signal that Washington has offered about the militant's fate. Neither Pakistan nor the U.S. has officially confirmed the death of Mehsud, who commands an Al Qaeda-allied movement that is blamed for scores of suicide bombings and is suspected in a deadly attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan late last year. Mehsud's death would be the latest successful strike against suspected terrorists by the U.S. and its allies. The U.S. has recently stepped up attacks from unmanned aircraft in Pakistan, and a closer collaboration with Yemen has led to recent airstrikes there. President Barack Obama highlighted the increasing success of such attacks in his State of the Union address last week. The U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, said the conclusion that Mehsud is dead represents the best collective information of U.S. intelligence agencies. Since the attack, authorities have said they were growing increasingly confident Mehsud was dead. The official would not say what evidence the U.S. had gathered.

India invites Pakistan for talks

India has offered to resume bilateral talks with Pakistan for the first time since the 2008 attacks on the city of Mumbai that New Delhi blames on armed fighters based on Pakistani soil. A senior Indian official said on Thursday that the Indian foreign secretary had invited her Pakistani counterpart to New Delhi. "The meeting may take place later this month," the official said. "Counterterrorism will be raised, as well as other issues that will contribute to creating an atmosphere of peace and stability between the two countries." Pakistan welcomed the offer, but said it sought clarification on the contents of the proposed talks before giving a formal answer. "There are now signals emanating from India that they are willing to talk bilaterally," Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Pakistani foreign minister, told the Reuters news agency. "We welcome this ... if it leads to resumption of the composite dialogue." India halted peace talks between the two countries after co-ordinated attacks at several Mumbai locations in November 2008 left 166 people dead.

US verdict sparks Pakistan protests

Thousands of Pakistanis have staged rallies against the conviction of a Pakistani scientist found guilty of trying to kill American servicemen in Afghanistan.Protests were held on Thursday in several cities in Pakistan, where many believe that Aafia Siddiqui is innocent. The neuroscientist, branded "Lady Qaeda" by some in the US press, disappeared for five years before her arrest in Afghanistan in 2008. She was convicted in a New York court on Wednesday. Siddiqui, who was arrested in 2008, was accused of grabbing a US serviceman's rifle and opening fire on her American interrogators, who returned fire. While none of the US agents or personnel were injured, Siddiqui was shot in the incident. Siddiqui's relatives condemned the verdict, with Fauzia Siddiqui, her sister, saying the verdict had "rejuvenated" the family. "And we're proud to be related to her," she said, speaking from the Pakistani city of Karachi. "America's justice system, the establishment, the war on terror, the fraud of the war on terror, all of those things have shown their own ugly faces." The AFP news agency quoted Ismat Siddiqui, Aafia's mother, who lives in Karachi, as saying the family had been braced for the verdict but would continue to work for her release. "I did not expect anything better from an American court. We were ready for the shock and will continue our struggle to get her released," she was quoted as saying.