Rangers recover arms from mosque in Karachi

The operation was launched in Baldia Town on a tip-off. The Rangers found the arms hidden in the lawn of the mosque and an attached house.

Earlier, police cordoned off a residential building near Jama Cloth and arrested over 100 suspects during house-to-house search. A suspect, Babu alias Bakri, has reportedly been taken into custody. The crackdown was launched in Sector A-III nd Sector B-III. The cache comprises klashnikovs, repeaters, pistols and thousands of cartridges.

On the other hand, Rangers conducted raids in different areas of Landhi and arrested several suspects. According to sources, these operations have been carried out after the information provided by intelligence agencies.

Syria comes under global reproach for crackdown

BEIRUT: Syria’s president held talks with neighboring Turkey’s foreign minister Tuesday as the regime faced a chorus of global reproach, with envoys from India, Brazil and South Africa also heading to Damascus to press for an end to the violent crackdown on a five-month-old uprising.

The visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was significant because Turkey until recently had close ties to Damascus. But Ankara has become increasingly critical of its neighbor over the bloodshed.

Turkey’s state-run news agency confirmed that Assad was meeting Davutoglu, but there were no details.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner lauded the visit and said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken to Davutoglu.

“They did talk about the situation in Syria, you know, and we believe it’s another opportunity to send yet another strong message to Assad that this crackdown on peaceful protesters cannot stand,” Toner said Monday.

India’s U.N. Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri said his country’s representative is scheduled to arrive in Damascus on Tuesday and will join representatives from Brazil and South Africa for a meeting with Syria’s foreign minister to appeal for an end to the crackdown and to promote democratic reforms.

The Syrian regime has shown no signs of scaling back its crackdown despite Damascus’ increasing diplomatic isolation. Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain and Kuwait in the Gulf, recalled their ambassadors this week.

In an editorial published Tuesday, the Al Baath newspaper of Syria’s ruling Baath party said the regime was hopeful that Turkey and the Gulf Arab nations will “quickly correct their stands.”

The latest wave of bloodshed started a week ago, on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, when tanks and snipers laid siege to Hama, a city in central Syria that had largely freed itself from government control earlier this year.

Residents were left cowering in their homes, too terrified to peek through the windows. The city is haunted by memories of the regime’s tactics: In 1982, Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez, ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement there, sealing off the city in an assault that killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people.

Since the start of Ramadan, more than 300 people have been killed in cities including Hama and Deir el-Zour, an oil-rich but largely impoverished region known for its well-armed clans and tribes whose ties extend across eastern Syria and into Iraq.

Syria has blocked nearly all outside witnesses to the carnage by banning foreign media and restricting local coverage that strays from the party line, which states the regime is fighting thugs and religious extremists who are acting out a foreign conspiracy.

More than 1,700 people have been killed since March, according to activists and human rights groups.

On Monday, Assad replaced his defense minister with the army chief of staff, saying Gen. Ali Habib was being removed from his post because of health problems.

But some analysts said the general was unhappy with the crackdown. AGENCIES

India govt faces yoga protest crackdown outcry

NEW DEHLI: India’s government faced new protests on Monday after it ordered police to crush a peaceful anti-corruption demonstration at the weekend led by a famous yoga guru.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), emboldened by an opportunity to revive its flagging fortunes, started a demonstration attended by its leading figures amid an outcry over the raid on Sunday morning.

Local television channels broadcast new footage of police using batons on supporters of television yoga star Swami Baba Ramdev, who was on hunger strike with thousands of followers in New Delhi to protest against corruption.

“Our agitation against the crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s supporters will continue until the government admits their mistake. They will have to pay for this,” BJP president Nitin Gadkari told reporters in the capital on Monday.

Other hardline Hindu nationalist groups also rounded on the government, saying the crackdown on Ramdev, a devout Hindu and spiritual leader, was an insult to the religion.

“By insulting Baba Ramdev they have insulted all the Hindu gurus and saints,” the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) said in statement on Sunday.

Anger about corruption is high in India after a series of scandals involving the government and the ruling Congress party, notably a $39-billion telecom scam that saw a minister arrested.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had initially attempted to negotiate with the eccentric saffron-robed Ramdev, with a succession of ministers sent to talk with him about his proposals to end corruption.

Some commentators said the sudden adoption of hardline tactics could give the guru’s movement oxygen amid signs the political opposition and other civil society activists were coalescing behind him.

“The operation was successful, but it extracted a political price,” The Economic Times said in a report on Monday.

Political analyst Ashis Nandy was quoted by The Times of India as saying that the government “panicked unnecessarily.”

“The protest would have fizzled out,” he said.

Ramdev, who flew back to his ashram in the northern town of Haridwar, resumed his hunger strike on Monday and vowed to build his campaign into a national movement to challenge the government.

“People from all walks of life are disgusted, they are hating the federal government,” he said in an address to his followers. AGENCIES

“All the political parties, representatives from the civil society are supporting us, they are giving us strength at every level,” he said, adding “the government is trying to terrorise us but their tactics will not work.”

At least 71 people were injured in the police raid on Ramdev’s camp on Sunday, with one man suffering a fractured skull while a woman sustained serious spinal injuries that are likely to leave her paralysed, a medical source told AFP.

India’s Supreme Court also weighed in on Monday, asking the police and home ministry to explain their decisions over the weekend.

Ramdev’s main request is that Singh’s administration forcibly repatriate so-called “black money”, cash in foreign bank accounts suspected of being used for bribes or other illegal transactions.

The bearded yoga teacher and healer also wants the death penalty for corrupt officials and has called for large-denomination notes to be withdrawn because they are used in illicit transactions.

Police said he did not have permission to hold such a large protest in New Delhi numbering at least 50,000 people, while the government accused him of reneging on a deal to call off his demonstration.

Using the platform of his daily appearances on the country’s top religious channel Aastha TV, Ramdev has increasingly entered politics, challenging the government on corruption, gay sex and modern medicine.

His current campaign is against corruption, but also rails against Indians sending their children overseas for education, foreign technology, Western medicine, industrially produced food and the use of English in India.

Now Google, Skype under fire in India

NEW DELHI: After BlackBerry won a reprieve, Google and Skype stepped into the firing line Tuesday as India’s security agencies widened their crackdown on online communications firms.

India’s BlackBerry users heaved a sigh of relief late Monday after the government gave the smartphone’s Canadian manufacturer a two-month window to provide a permanent solution to avert a ban on its messaging services.

Security forces in India, battling insurgencies ranging from Kashmir in the northwest to the far-flung northeast, are insisting that telecoms groups give them the capability to monitor their data.

Skype, the Internet phone service, and Google, which has a new phone feature built into its Gmail email service, are set to be next to receive an ultimatum from the spies in New Delhi.

“The notices to these entities will be issued beginning Tuesday and all of them

Curfew extended across 23 Thai provinces

BANGKOK: A curfew was extended to cover 23 Thai provinces as well as Bangkok on Wednesday night after a deadly army crackdown on an anti-government rally sparked rioting and arson in the capital.

Thailand”s Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) said in a statement it had “imposed the curfew in 23 more provinces from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am”.

The extension mainly covered the protesters” heartland in the north and northeast of the kingdom, which has a total of 76 provinces.

Anyone violating the curfew would be jailed for two years maximum or fined 40,000 baht (1,200 dollars) or both, but a government spokesman earlier said those who needed to travel should carry passports or ID and tickets.

Earlier, General Prawit Wongsuwon told a foreign news agency the curfew would be imposed in Bangkok and checkpoints would be set up across the city.

“We are waiting until the people go back home, then we will deal with rogue protesters,” he said.

Two killed in Thai protest

BANGKOK: Thai soldiers with armored vehicles stormed into a fortified anti-government encampment Wednesday in central Bangkok, breaking through bamboo barricades and killing at least two protesters in a crackdown after weeks of clashes that have killed dozens.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn went on national television four hours after the crackdown began to announce it was under way, speaking first in Thai and then in English.

“The operations will continue throughout the day,”” Panitan said. “We would like to reassure the citizens of Bangkok that the operations are designed to make sure we stabilize the area.””

The army action came after weeks of defiance by the protesters who are seeking to oust the government of Prime Minister AbhisitVejjajiva.

Thai protest leaders surrender, call end to sit-in

BANGKOK: Two key leaders of Thailand”s Red Shirt protesters have surrendered to authorities after a deadly army assault on their fortified encampment. They have been led away by police in central Bangkok.

However, grenades exploded nearby as the leaders announced their decision. Red Shirt leaders told followers they are formally ending their sit-in to prevent more deaths.

An army assault on their heavily barricaded protest encampment in central Bangkok killed at two protesters and an Italian photographer.

As the protest leaders announced the surrender, grenades directed at the troops exploded. One journalist was injured. Angry protesters also tried to set fire to a shopping mall and drove away journalists who tried to film them.

At least five dead as Thai protests end

BANGKOK: At least five people, including an Italian journalist, were killed Wednesday during an army crackdown on an anti-government protest site in Bangkok, police and a hospital said.

Earlier, Reds leaders had tearfully announced the end of their protest movement in front of a large crowd of emotional supporters, including many women and children.

“I know that you are suffering. Some of us are speechless. But we want to stop any more deaths here,” said Jatuporn Prompan. “I know that if the military comes here many of you will sacrifice your lives and we cannot stand to see that.”

“We are ending the protests here,” said Nattawut from the main protest stage. “I know this is unacceptable to some of you and some of you do not want to hear but we cannot stand against this cruelty.” “We will exchange our freedom with your safety. We have tried our best.”

Troops Kill 4 Militants In South Waziristan

TrendPK.com Troops Kill 4 Militants In South Waziristan : Security forces killed at least four suspected militants, including three Foreigners, and arrested another 27 during a Crackdown at a hospital in South Waziristan.
The dead Foreigners include two Arabs and a Bangladeshi.
According to officials, security forces attacked the Hafiz Hospital in Wana, which [...]