Pakistan/Terrorism: Roadside bomb blast kills 10 in Kurram agency

According to Pakistani Government’s sources, 10 people were killed and four others wounded in the explosion of a roadside bomb in the village of Palaseen, in the Kurram tribal region on Thursday.

Reportedly, the remote-controlled bomb was detonated while a passenger van was passing by.

Meanwhile, it was reported that a powerful blast had been heard near the residence of the provincial finance minister in Quetta.

According to police sources, no casualties have been reported so far in this incident.

Pakistan/Terrorism: British journalist freed after held captive by terrorist group in North-west

The British High Commission in Islamabad confirmed that the British journalist, Asad Qureshi, has been released. Qureshi was abducted in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan along with two former Pakistani intelligence officers in March.

The terrorists group that was behind the kidnapping is calling itself the Asian Tigers and they abducted the journalist while he was travelling in the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan. One of the Pakistani intelligence officers in the group kidnapped was found in ditch shot dead shortly after the abduction.

Qureshi had been working for an independent production company on a documentary commissioned by Channel 4 on militancy.

Pakistan/Terrorism: At least 22 killed in car-bomb blast in Kohat

Media reported on Wednesday that a major car-bomb attack was carried at a police residential complex in the town of Kohat, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Tuesday evening, killing at least 22 people and injuring some 85 others.

Reportedly, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle through the gates of the compound where over 100 police officers and their families were residing.

According to police sources, the powerful blast was caused by an approximate quantity of 300 kilograms of explosives and caused dozens of houses to collapse. 

No terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but it is worth mentioning that this latest incident came hours after Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) issued a statement, threatening to carry out more suicide attacks on government officials and security forces.

Pakistan/Terrorism: The TTP claim responsibility for the Lakki Marwat suicide blast

Media reported on Tuesday that the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists had claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that had been carried at a police station in Lakki Marwat earlier on Monday in which 19 people had been killed and tens of others injured.

Reportedly, the TTP spokesman Ihsan Ullah Ihsan also warned in the statement that the US forces as well as the Pakistani law enforcement agencies were “enemies of the Taleban”.

Meanwhile, it was reported that five terrorists had been killed in the village of Khar Qamar in North Waziristan on Monday.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Al least 19 people killed in car-bomb blast at police station

Media reported on Monday that at least 19 people, including nine police officers and two children, were killed and 34 others were wounded after a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a police station in the town of Lakki Marwat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

According to local police sources, the building of the police post was completely destroyed in the explosion, while a part of the nearby hospital was also damaged. 

No responsibility for the attack has been claimed up to this moment, but it is worth mentioning that the respective town is located not far away from the tribal areas known to be a stronghold of the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) and other Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups.

As a reminder, this latest attack comes days after some 90 people lost their lives in a wave of suicide bombings that targeted religious processions of the Shi’ite minority in the cities of Lahore and Quetta last week.

Pakistan/Terrorism: 44 people killed in suicide attacks in Quetta

Media reported on Friday that 44 people were killed and at least 78 others were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the south-eastern city of Quetta. 

Reportedy, the attack targeted a Shi’ite rally marking the Youm-al-Quds.

This comes two days after three blasts targeting as well Shi’ite religious procession claimed the life of at least 33 people in Lahore and left at least 170 others injured.

United States/Pakistan/ Terrorism: U.S. charges Pakistani Taliban leader in CIA attack

International Media reported on Thursday that the leader of the Pakistani Taleban terrorist group, Hakimullah Mehsud, was charged by the U.S. government on Wednesday for involvement in a December suicide bombing that killed seven Americans at a remote CIA operating base in Afghanistan.

Mehsud was thought to have been killed by a U.S. drone strike in January, but he resurfaced in May in videos in which he vowed to attack U.S. cities. The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. government would offer a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Mehsud or his second-in-command.

The Pakistani Taleban are described by Daniel Benjamin, ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism at the U.S. state department, as “a part of the most  dangerous terrorists threats the United States faces”.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Military raid in tribal north-west kills 45

International Media reported on Wednesday that Pakistani jet strikes killed 45 people in the Khyber Tribal District. Officials claimed they had been pounding targets in the Tirah Valley from which suicide attacks were being prepared.

Three strikes on Tuesday night destroyed rebel hideouts and vehicles which were being prepared for suicide attacks in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, according to officials. Rehan Khattak, a senior government official in Khyber, said that six civilians, including women and children, were killed in one of the strikes.

Pakistan has stepped up strikes near the Afghan border in recent months.

Pakistan/ Terrorism: Official death toll in Pakistan blasts rise to 18

Latest reports from International Media say that the death toll from three bomb attacks in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday has reached at least 18.

Sajjad Bhutta, a senior Lahore district administration official, confirmed that the total number of killed have increased to 18 and 100 persons are estimated to be injured.

The series of attacks were perpetrated in Lahore during Shi’ite processions that commemorate imam Yaum-e-Ali.

Pakistan/Security: Son-in-law of a senior Pakistani General kidnapped in Lahore

Media reported on Friday that multiple teams of police and security forces have been mobilized in the city of Lahore and its surroundings in the Punjab province, following the kidnapping of the son-in-law of Tariq Majid, a senior Pakistani General.

According to the statements of Rana Sanaullah, Minister of Justice in the Punjab province, the man had been abducted by a group between six and eight men on Wednesday night.

 Reportedly, the abductors have not yet made any contact.

Pakistan/Terrorism: At least seven killed in a bomb explosion in Kurram agency

Sources of the Pakistani Government announced that at least seven people were killed when a bomb exploded at a meeting of tribal elders (jirga) in the Kurram agency, near the border with Afghanistan, on Monday.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but it is worth mentioning that Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) have waged a bombing campaign across the northwest region and in the Pakistani heartland in the past.

Pakistan/Security: A new wave of political violence shatters Karachi

Media reported that Obaidullah Yousufzai, a local leader of Awami National Party (ANP) had been killed close to the airport in Karachi on Thursday and that at least 13 people were later gunned down in apparent revenge attacks.

Provincial government spokesman Jamil Soomro stated that the targeted killings occurred in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Banaras, Orangi Town, Korangi and Qasba Colony and that over ten vehicles were also set on fire.

As a reminder, around 80 people have been killed in the city in the last month in violence between rival political and ethnic groups.

Uzbekistan/Pakistan/Terrorism: Al-Qaeda-linked IMU leader confirmed dead

The Uzbek-language website Furqun of the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has announced on Monday the death of their leader, Tahir Yuldashev, referring to him as “Shaheed”, which is a term used by Islamist groups to describe martyrs who are killed in combat.

It is worth mentioning that Yuldashev was first reported to have been killed on August 27, 2009 during an air strike carried by the US forces in Kanigoram, a town in South Waziristan, Pakistan, when eight Taleban and Uzbek fighters were also reported dead. However, controversy concerning his death soon emerged given the contradictory statements of a Pakistani Taleban leader, Pakistan’s Intelligence Services and a man who identified himself as Yuldashev’s bodyguard.

Yuldashev took command of the IMU – closely allied with Al-Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) - in November 2001 as the group has been carrying operations at the Afgan-Pakistani border after being hounded by Uzbek Intelligence.

Pakistan/Insurgency: At least 16 people killed in two separate attacks in the Balochistan province

Media reported that at least 16 people, including five security personnel, had been killed in two separate attacks in the south-western province of Balochistan on Saturday.

In a first attack, passengers were pulled out of a bus heading to the city of Lahore. According to witnesses, after National Identification Cards were checked, residents of the Punjab province were allegedly lined up and their captors opened fire on them. Meanwhile, Baluch residents were spared and sent on their way.

In a separate incident that occurred several hours later, gunmen shot a group of laborers in the provincial capital Quetta.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far, but authorities blame them on Baluch rebels, who have been fighting security forces since 2000 and are demanding the complete autonomy of their province.

Pakistan/Civil Unrest: Extra troops patrol Karachi after violence death toll reaches 62

Local Media reported on Wednesday that additional security forces have been deployed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi after 13 more people were killed in recent political and ethnic violence.

Karachi Police Chief Waseem Ahmed announced that four people were shot dead in one incident on Tuesday night, while six to seven trucks parked under a bridge were also burnt.

Later on Wednesday, unknown people set fire to several mobile phone shops in a main market in the city and separately in Hyderabad, gunmen opened fire on a train heading for the eastern city of Lahore, injuring the driver.

It is worth mentioning that according to the latest police and official reports, at least 62 people have now been killed since politician Raza Haider was gunned down on Monday night.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Five killed in Peshawar suicide attack

Local Media reported that at least five persons, including a Commander of the paramilitary forces, were killed and 15 others were wounded in a suicide blast that took place at the usually crowded Deens Chowk commercial spot in the Pakistani northern city of Peshawar on Wednesday.

According to Police Official Qutrat Ullah Khan, the suicide bomber targeted the vehicle of Sifwat Ghayur - the head of the Frontier Constabulary - as Ghayur was leaving office, killing him and four guards. The explosion also injured seven other people and damaged at least three vehicles.

No group has claimed responsibility for the arrack so far.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Clashes in Karachi kill at least 35

Pakistani Police stated on Tuesday that at least 35 people have been killed and 90 others wounded in clashes in Karachi and in different parts of Hyderabad, following the killing of a legislator of the ruling Muthaida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday.

Reportedly, more than two dozen vehicles, shops, teashops and carts parked on roadsides were set ablaze by rampaging mobs to protest against the MP's assassination.

Raza Haider, member of the MQM and a partner in the Sindh provincial ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party, was gunned down along with his bodyguard by gunmen on motorcycles on Monday.

According to the police, Haider's killing was carried out by a banned sectarian organization, though further details were not made public.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Eight dead in suicide attack near minister's residence

Pakistani Police stated that at least eight people have been killed and 20 others wounded when a suspected suicide bomber detonated near the residence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Information Minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, in Pabbi on Monday.

Reportedly, the explosion came two days after a suspected terrorist shot dead the son of Iftikhar Hussain.

According to the police, the explosives strapped on to the suicide bomber weighted between eight to 10 kilograms. The provincial minister was not at his residence at the time of the blast, but eyewitnesses said four of his relatives were also injured in the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, police believe the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP)  was behind the attack as Iftikhar Hussain has repeatedly spoken out against the terrorist group.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Taleban commander killed in Bajur

Pakistani Government Officials announced that the local Taleban Commander Irshad Khan and his aide were killed when a bomb they were constructing in the terrorist chief's home in the Bajur tribal region, north-western Pakistan, exploded on Thursday.

According to officials, the blast also wounded several members of the commander’s family.

Reportedly, Khan was behind several attacks on troops in the region and had contacts with top Taleban leaders in nearby North and South Waziristan.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistani Security Forces killed at least 40 terrorists and wounded 30 others in a clash in Dabori Ali Khel area in Upper Orakzai. The forces lost three personnel in the clash, while other six officials were injured.

Pakistan/Terrorism: Five terrorists perish in Mardan suicide attack

Local Media reported that five suspected terrorists have been killed during a failed bid to target recruits at a paramilitary training centre in northwest Mardan town of Pakistan on Tuesday.

Reportedly, the assault occurred in the town about 45 km northeast of the main city of Peshawar, when some five terrorists attacked the training facility of the paramilitary Punjab Regiment.

According to Police Officials, the attackers refused to stop for a check at the entrance to the paramilitary training centre, prompting the guards to open fire. The assailants wore suicide jackets that detonated when they were shot at, wounding four soldiers.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that 42 terrorists have been killed and 15 others injured when Paskistani fighter jets pounded suspected terrorists positions in Orakzai and Kurram Agency on Monday.