Pakistan

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Pakistan Says It's Close to Swat Victory

(Newser) - Pakistan’s defense secretary says the army will crush Taliban militants in the Swat Valley within days, the BBC reports. Just "5% to 10% of the job" is left, Syed Athar Ali told an Asian forum, though an army spokesman declined to give an actual timeline. Meanwhile, 40 rebels...

Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City
 Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City 
May 30, 2009 9:50 AM CDT

Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City

(Newser) - Pakistan's military has regained control of the main town in the Swat Valley, raising hopes that at least some of the 2 million refugees from the region may be able to return home, reports Reuters. Battles on the outskirts remain, but the military said today it has ousted the Taliban...

Taliban Warns Pakistan of Major Attacks

Tells residents to flee after blasts in two more cities kill 11

(Newser) - The Taliban claimed responsibility for bombings in two more Pakistani cities today that killed at least 11 and promised that more attacks were on the way, the New York Times reports. The group also took credit for yesterday's bombing in Lahore that killed 26, calling the new wave of assaults...

US Plans Giant New Embassy in Pakistan

$1B project planned to boost US diplomats in region

(Newser) - The US is planning to invest $1 billion in building a bigger diplomatic presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including a huge new embassy in Islamabad, McClatchy reports. The Obama administration is seeking $736 million from Congress for the embassy and permanent housing for American officials in Pakistan’s capital—further...

30 Killed in Lahore Bomb Blast
 30 Killed in Lahore Bomb Blast 
May 27, 2009 2:09 AM CDT

30 Killed in Lahore Bomb Blast

(Newser) - At least 30 people were killed today when a bomb flattened the main police station in the Pakistan city of Lahore, reports the BBC. Some 100 were injured in the attack that began as gunmen opened fire and hurled grenades before a vehicle packed with explosives hurtled through a barricade...

Pakistan High Court Lifts Ban on Sharif

Two-time ex-PM will be allowed to contest elections

(Newser) - The Pakistani Supreme Court has lifted a ban on opposition leader Nawaz Sharif that prevented him from running for election, clearing the way for the popular politician to vie for a third term as prime minister. Sharif had been blocked from public office because of a criminal conviction in 2000...

Pakistan Claims Key Square in Swat City

(Newser) - Pakistan says it has claimed a crucial part of the Swat Valley’s largest city from the Taliban, the New York Times reports. Ten Taliban fighters and six Pakistani soldiers died fighting over Mingora’s Green Square, known as “Slaughter Square” for its reputation as a beheaded-body dumping ground...

US Lets Allies Detain, Grill Terror Suspects

Program could lead to prisoner abuse, bad intel, critics say

(Newser) - The Obama administration is stepping up its reliance on foreign allies to capture, interrogate, and detain mid-level terror suspects seized outside of Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. In the last 10 months, Middle Eastern governments have handled the cases of about six al-Qaeda operatives. “It’s...

Pakistani Town Beats Back Taliban

Locals raid militant invaders as army gains in Swat

(Newser) - Armed residents of a town in the troubled Swat Valley fought off Taliban forces yesterday,  the latest sign that locals are helping the Pakistan army beat back militants, reports the Wall Street Journal. Several Taliban fighters were captured when hundreds of residents stormed out of the mountain town of ...

Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK
Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK
investigation
May 21, 2009 8:47 AM CDT

Fraud Colleges Admit Terror Suspects to UK

Alleged al-Qaeda members enrolled in ring of fake schools

(Newser) - Thousands of young Pakistanis have entered Britain by applying for visas to study at sham colleges that issue fake diplomas and attendance records, the Times of London reports. Ten of the 12 men arrested last month when police busted an alleged al-Qaeda plot were enrolled at a bogus college; other...

Clinton Aims to Save Pakistan With Text Donations

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton is hoping text messages can save Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The Secretary of State is asking Americans to text “swat” to 20222 to make a $5 donation to help refugees from the fighting there, Foreign Policy reports. The money would go to a UN agency, which provides...

Clinton to Announce Aid for Pakistan Refugees

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton will detail plans for US humanitarian aid to Pakistan later today, as part of the administration's new strategy for countering the appeal of Taliban militants in the nuclear-armed country. An administration official said the aid package would amount to about $100 million to help Pakistani refugees who have...

McChrystal Call Shows Obama's Long Game: Sullivan

(Newser) - With liberals and anti-war activists growing increasingly restive over recent Obama decisions, Andrew Sullivan takes a hard look at the choice of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal—a man with links to prisoner abuse, Camp Nama, and the Tillman debacle—to lead the war in Afghanistan. It looks like the latest...

US Frets as Pakistan Rapidly Expands Nukes

Weapons program complicates Obama's Af-Pak strategy

(Newser) - Pakistan is rapidly building its nuclear arsenal even as it struggles to fight a growing insurgency, reports the New York Times. While Washington remains concerned about the security of Pakistan's 80 to 100 existing weapons, the country is producing uranium and on its way to manufacturing bomb-grade plutonium. US legislators...

Pakistan: 1000 Taliban Dead in Swat Offensive

Move could signal a shift to bloody urban battles

(Newser) - Pakistani security forces fought Taliban militants in the northwest's Swat Valley and entered two Taliban-held towns there, the army said today, foreshadowing what could become bloody urban battles. A top government official said the offensive had already killed more than 1000 Taliban fighters, while a group of pro-government religious leaders...

Taliban Shave Beards to Elude Pakistani Troops

Fighters get desperate as army routs militants in Swat stronghold

(Newser) - Frantic Taliban fighters are shaving their notoriously full beards and hair as they flee the Swat valley to escape Pakistan’s military, which says it’s making inroads against the militants, Reuters reports. The military is asking civilians to expose Taliban fighters, but nearly 1 million residents have already escaped....

US Offers Pakistan Key Control of Predator Missions

Joint US-Pakistan project seeks to bolster Pakistani government against Taliban

(Newser) - The US military has been flying armed Predator drones over Pakistan and has offered the Pakistani military significant control over the targets and missions, the Los Angeles Times reports. The program—separate from the CIA's drone missions, which Pakistan accuses of violating its sovereignty—began in recent weeks and is...

Ground Troops Reach Taliban HQ: Pakistan

Refugee crisis mounts as fighting ramps up

(Newser) - Pakistani soldiers descended on a Taliban stronghold in Swat Valley today to “search and destroy,” a military spokesman tells Reuters. Ground troops were also moving toward the remote northwest region as the military ramps up its offensive against insurgents there. Officials say 751 of the vastly outnumbered militants...

New Reactors Could Boost Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal

US hasn't fought massive project amid national turmoil

(Newser) - Pakistan is building two of the largest plutonium-producing reactors in the developing world—facilities that experts say could bolster the nuclear arsenal of a country fraught with turmoil. The US hasn’t publicly condemned the project, MSNBC reports, even though it makes Pakistan “the only country rapidly building up...

Pakistan PM Claims 700 Taliban Killed

Army has already killed 700 militants: minister

(Newser) - With more than a million of its citizens fleeing violence within its borders, Pakistan's prime minister said today the army has killed more than 700 militants in the last two weeks, in an operation in which "the very existence of the country was at stake.” Syed Yousaf Raza...

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