ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 30, 2008
Pakistan Airstrike Kills 40 Taliban
Fighter Jets Bomb Taliban Hide-Outs In Troubled Northwest Region
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Supporters of a Pakistani Islamic group Jamiat Ullama-e-Islam hold a rally against military operation in tribal areas and demanding to improve country's law and order sitiation, Aug. 29, 2008 in Chaman, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Shah Khalid)
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Fast Facts Pakistan Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Interactive Crosshairs: Taliban America's fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Separately, five others died when an explosion ripped through a house near the Afghan border, local officials said. Claims that it was a missile strike could not immediately be confirmed.
Pakistan's five-month-old civilian government has been plagued by violence and political instability since Pervez Musharraf was forced to resign as president two weeks ago, adding to the many challenges ahead in the Muslim nation of 160 million people.
The economy is sinking, power outages are common, there are food shortages, and many drivers cannot afford to fill up their tanks.
But with a string of suicide bombings, including one that left 67 dead near the capital, Islamabad, tackling extremism is a priority.
Leaders initially offered to hold peace talks with insurgents - something Musharraf also briefly tried before his ouster - but have since resorted to what some are calling all-out war.
Army spokesman Maj. Nasir Ali said at least 40 Taliban were killed Friday when fighter jets pounded militants in Swat Valley, which was a popular tourist destination not long ago.
A cache of ammunition exploded when it was hit in one of the strikes, he said, adding that ground troops were advancing into the region Saturday to root out other militant fighters.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said eight of his men, including a local commander, were killed.
The violence followed news that Asif Ali Zardari, who seems poised to be voted Pakistan's next president in a Sept. 6 election by lawmakers, had moved into a tightly guarded government compound because of security fears.
His late wife, Benazir Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister and an outspoken critic of Islamic extremism, was assassinated in a Dec. 27 gun-and-bomb attack during a campaign rally.
Officials say that fighting in Swat and Bajur, a rumored hide-out of Osama bin Laden, have left nearly 500 militants dead in August alone. There are no separate statistics for civilians, but witnesses say dozens have died.
More than 200,000 others have been forced to flee their homes, most of them women and children, and are now living in desperate conditions in sweltering, mosquito-infested relief camps.
Human rights groups expressed concern Saturday about the rising violence.
Locals "insist there is no targeted operation against militants, rather it is a haphazard armed invasion on the people of Swat," Asma Jahangir, chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, wrote in a letter to the prime minister.
"They have given numerous examples where militants could have been apprehended or attacks on civilians could have been averted had the security forces acted with diligence," she wrote.
In other violence Saturday, a blast ripped through a home in Wana, a main town in the South Wazirtistan tribal region, killing at least five militants, said Afzal Khan, a local official, who had no further details.
Army spokesman Major Murad Khan was also aware of the explosion, but could not confirm claims by two local intelligence officials that it was caused by a missile. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The Taliban, meanwhile, have threatened to intensify a campaign of suicide bombings unless military operations in the northwest cease. They have carried out three strikes in recent days, the deadliest on one of the country's largest weapons factories.
At least 67 people were killed in those twin suicide bombings and more than 100 others wounded, almost all civilians.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- LOOK WHO IS TARGETING CIVILIANS!!!
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Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp
But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.
"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.
Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.
The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Nancy_Naive at 10:32 PM : Aug 30, 2008
PROVE IT,,, - Reply to this comment
- Show me the difference between the terrorist and whomever they wish to remove from the country. there is no difference, both insist on being the ruling power. The Taliban insist on being the only power in the land. Not even their God should exceed their power. Read their Quar''an then review their actions.
- Reply to this comment
- The Afghan refugees use Pakistan as a haven. During the Soviet Russian invasion in 1980, many of the same citizens evacuated Afghanistan to flee from deadly combat operations.
Pakistan has been in a terrible disadvantage, because while they know the cause for the thousands of refugees, they also have a minority of their population that is allied with Pakistan and against the USA in Afghanistan.
The political system of Pakistan has alliances to several different factions with religious division, who oppose each other. They have their "problematic evagelical" extremists who oppose their "pro-litariates"....just like we do. They have their violent clashes, just like we do, with evangelicals, who bomb abortion clinics here.
Most of their religious-social problems eat away their most valuable resources and diminish their attraction somewhat for economic investment.
Most of their political leaders straddle a wire like a bird and are constrained with intense needs to always decide with a balanced intention.
Their hardline evagelicals that they call Taliban are a problem because of their Al Queida affiliations, just like evangelicals are engaged in covert missionary work upsetting foreign countries with organized opposition to pro-literacy initatives. - Reply to this comment
- Their weakness is that people shun them. Why can''t these people be given opportunities and shown the light? Dropping bombs on them is impersonal, too bad they didn''t show them Ford Models on Youtube and take them to church.
- Reply to this comment
- Anything to keep the foreign aid money coming, even mock attacks on the taliban. Bring us bin laden''s head and we might believe you''re serious.
- Reply to this comment
- Bin Laden said, "The common people are expendable. Waziristan is meant for Al Qada". Osama wants Taliban killed in sheer numbers. His only priority is producing tar heroin. Bin Laden''s isomizers consume freshly harvested poppies immediately brought in from the farms. The concentrated-narcotic is purchased by Addicts to feed their intense cravings for the drug. Osama has made so much money that he can buy influence in Islamabad for political favors.
- Reply to this comment
- Providing aid and comfort to the enemy? If so, you get what you deserve.
- Reply to this comment
- ummmm,,, are these a civilians too,,,
BOY 12 BEHEADS PRISONER IN ALQAEDA VIDEO,,,
Boy, 12, Beheads Man In Al Qaeda Video
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Taliban Video Shows Young Boy Beheading Prisoner
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Pictured: The dramatic moment a 15-year-old Iraqi suicide bomber gave herself up
In the footage, she denies trying to stage a suicide attack, and appears dazed, even drugged. She gave her first name as Rania and said she was born in 1993.
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- Posted by ToolMangler at 10:08 PM : Aug 30, 2008
please tell us,,, what religion did muhamad ali baba practice before he tried to convert to judaism,,, - Reply to this comment
- Every person killed will be proved to be civilian. No Taliban has ever been killed by the ''infdels''.......Not!
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- FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM IS THE PROBLEM,,,
DEMONIC-RAT HUSSEIN IS NOT THE SOLUTION,,,
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- Now ,that i think,if only ,i was upon the seen ,really we find pleasure in terminating the above.
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- Drop a bomb on the evil ,fools,hurry.
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