Islamabad, May 15 (IANS) Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari covertly met a top US military commander during his visit to Washington earlier this month, a media report Friday said, adding that Pakistan’s embassy in the US had neither confirmed nor denied the event.
Zardari’s US visit “had its covert sides, as some of its facades seemed hidden even from his own advisers and assistants. Generally such covert meetings are between counterparts - civilian or military officials of the two countries - but knowledgeable sources are wondering about” the president’s meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the US Central Command, The News said.
Islamabad, May 15 (IANS) No time frame has been laid down for the military operations against the Taliban in Pakistan’s restive northwest, the defence minister has said, while the junior interior minister said it would be completed in a month.
“The army is clearing the areas gradually and no time frame could be given in this regard,” Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar told the APP news agency.
Islamabad, May 15 (DPA) The Pakistani Army said Friday it had killed 55 Taliban militants while three soldiers died in fresh fighting in the northwestern district of Swat.
“Fifty-five miscreants have been killed in various areas of Swat during the last 24 hours while 3 security forces personnel died and 11 others were injured,” the army said.
Washington, May 15 (ANI): The United States has said that disrupting, dismantling and defeating Al Qaeda and their safe havens in Pakistan, and preventing their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan is top priority on its foreign policy.
Islamabad, May 15 (ANI): Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed fear that the Pakistan Government may fail to win the “hearts and minds of people†despite winning the military war against the Taliban in the Swat Valley.
“I assure you that the army will win the war against the militants. But if we win militarily and lose publicly that will be very unfortunate,†the Daily Times quoted Gilani, as saying.
Gilani assured the National Assembly that the Pakistan Army will win the war against the Taliban, but urged the political leadership to back government efforts to win the hearts and minds of the people of the violence-hit areas.
“We are fighting two wars. One is against the militants in the field, and the second is to win the hearts and minds of the people,†he said.
Speaking on his government’s plans to rehabilitate half a billion of internally displaced people, Gilani said the displacement was unprecedented in the country’s history, “and we will tackle this problem with unprecedented sense of sacrificeâ€.
Islamabad, May 15 (DPA) A fresh flood of refugees poured out of Pakistan’s Swat valley Friday as authorities temporarily relaxed a curfew ahead of a looming ground onslaught against the Taliban.
The UN refugee agency said more than 834,000 civilians had been registered since May 2, adding to another 555,000 civilians who fled escalating violence last year.
Islamabad, May 15 (ANI): The Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan has been registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest militarized territorial dispute in the world.
Washington, May 14 (DPA) The US House of Representatives signed off Thursday on more than $95 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House voted 368-60 to approve the $97-billion spending bill, which includes money to help Pakistan fight militants. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has urged quick pass of the measure, warning that war funding could begin drying up by July.
Peshawar, May 14 (ANI): Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province Minister for Information, Iftikhar Hussain, on Thursday said normalcy has restored in different parts of Buner up to Dagar area where, he added, the security forces have regained complete control.
Islamabad, May 14 (ANI): The Pakistan Army on Thursday claimed gunning down at least 60 more Taliban operatives in the Lower Dir region of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).