US special forces set up office at FC headquarters

The American special forces set up their office at the Frontier Corps headquarters in Peshawar and also wanted to set up offices in GHQ and Balochistan, claims a cable issued by WikiLeaks.

In her cable to the State Department in May 2009, former US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson wrote that the United States had created intelligence fusion cells on the request of Pakistan at the Frontier Corps headquarters where the US special forces were working with both Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps.

In April 2009, Anne Patterson wrote that the US cooperated with Pakistan military which had then launched an operation against insurgents in Lower Dir.

The US ambassador wrote that despite the blue-prints of a joint strategy, the Pakistan Army suspended a joint operation with US on April 29, 2009.

In October 2009, the ambassador wrote that Pakistan had been rejecting the deployment of the US troops in Pakistan, but now it had change its policy and the move would support US operations against terrorists.

Pakistan orders inquiry into killing of five Chechens

QUETTA: A Pakistan provincial government on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the killing by security forces of five Chechens, including three women, after media said they had been unarmed.

The group was killed this week, with authorities saying they were al-Qaeda-linked suicide bombers.

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks in Pakistan after the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in the northwestern town of Abbottabad on May 2. Last week, 80 people were killed in twin suicide bombings at a paramilitary academy in the northwestern town of Charsadda.

On Tuesday, the paramilitary Frontier Corps and police gunned down five Chechens near a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, saying explosives were strapped to their bodies and they were attempting to attack government forces.

But the media raised doubts over statements by security forces, with television footage showing a wounded woman waving her hand in the air before her death.

The daily Dawn on Thursday quoted witnesses as saying that the suspects were unarmed, had put up no resistance to the security forces and appeared to be about to surrender.

“The chief minister has ordered an inquiry after media reports raised doubts about the whole incident,” a provincial government spokesman told Reuters, referring to the head of the province.

Two officials of a bomb disposal squad which searched the bodies after the shooting told Reuters that they found no explosives strapped to the bodies of the Chechens.

“They were unarmed and had no suicide jackets or explosives with them,” one of the officials said.

“Five valid and two expired Russian passports were found in a ladies’ handbag lying with the bodies,” the second official said.

A witness earlier this week said the five had got out of a vehicle and were chased by police before they were shot.

Pakistan’s commitment to fighting militancy has come under intense scrutiny after discovery of the al Qaeda chief near a military academy in the military town not far away from Islamabad.

Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afgfhan border has been described as a global hub for militants, including Arabs and Chechens inspired by Al Qaeda.

A decade after federal forces drove separatists out of power in Chechnya in the second of two wars, the North Caucasus are plagued by near-daily violence, where rebels want to carve out a separate Islamic state with Sharia law. While Chechnya now rests on a shaky peace, neighbouring regions are at the heart of a growing Islamist insurgency.

Five blasts rock Turbat airport

Staff Report

TURBAT: Five back-to-back blasts have rocked Turbat airport, Trend Pk reported Wednesday.

Paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) personnel reached the scene and cordoned off the entire area.

Fire was opened at FC personnel from a house, which is reportedly owned by Baloch leader Ayub Khan Gachki.

According to reports, insurgents are present in the house which has been surrounded by paramilitary troops.

There are no immediate reports of casualties. Trend Pk

Orakzai Agency: 6 FC men martyred in bomb blast

As many as six Frontier Corps personnel have been killed in a roadside bomb blast in Orakzai Agency on Friday, security officials said.
The two officials said the blast hit the FC’s vehicle in the Yakh Kandao area of Orakzai.
Forces have launched a search operation in the area.Orakzai has been the focus of a Pakistani military offensive against the Taliban.

Roadside bomb kills six troops in Hangu

Staff Report

HANGU: A roadside bomb blast killed a lieutenant colonel and five soldiers in Hangu district on Friday.

Three more Frontier Corps paramilitary troops were injured in the bombing which took place near Yakh Kandao village in Hangu.

According to FC sources, the paramilitary troops were on patrol when they were hit by a remote-controlled bomb.

The injured were shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Kohat.

Following the attack, troops surrounded the area and started to hunt for suspected militants holed up in the mountainous region. SAMAA

Orakzai Agency: 6 FC men killed in bomb blast

As many as six Frontier Corps personnel have been killed in a roadside bomb blast in Orakzai Agency on Friday, security officials said.
The two officials said the blast hit the FC’s vehicle in the Yakh Kandao area of Orakzai.
Forces have launched a search operation in the area.Orakzai has been the focus of a Pakistani military offensive against the Taliban.

Lahore court extends remand of Hamesh Khan

LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday extended the judicial remand of Hamesh Khan, a prime accused in the Bank of Punjab scam case, for a further 11 days.

Khan’s counsel pleaded the court to order provision of better facilities in jail for its client.

The counsel said Hamesh Khan was sharing a small cell along with five dangerous inmates in Jail Camp and requested the court to declare the Chamba House a sub-jail.

However, the court turned down the plea and advised the lawyer to approach an appropriate forum for this issue.

Meanwhile, the court allowed the BoP accused to meet his family before adjourning the hearing till September 3. SAMAA

Bomb attack on FC convoy, 7 hurt

Staff Report

KHYBER AGENCY: Seven personnel were injured in a bomb attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) convoy near a market in District Bara of the Khyber Agency, sources said on Monday.

According to sources, the bomb attack occurred when the FC convoy was passing through ILM Gadar Road near a market in District Baral; as a result, seven FC personnel were injured. The FC vehicle was also damaged in the attack.

Secrutiy forces have cordoned off the area after the incident. SAMAA

FC sets up two relief camps

Staff Report

DERA MURAD JAMALI: The Frontier Corps, Balochistan, has set up two relief camps in flood-ravaged Dera Murad Jamali, headquarter of Naseerabad District in Balochistan.

More than 350 flood victims will be able to get food and medical facilities in these camps.

The flood has caused massive destruction in Balochistan, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. A large number of the flood victims have moved to Quetta and other parts of the province.

A flood victim living in one of the camps told SAMAA that the FC was providing proper food and drinking water to the victims. – SAMAA

FC vehicle ambushed in Quetta; 8 men hurt

QUETTA: At least eight Frontier Corps (FC) men have been injured in a hand-grenade attack carried out by unidentified miscreants, when they were on a security vehicle near Sariab Road in Quetta on Sunday morning, Geo news reported.

Rescue efforts have been kicked off as eight officials have been reportedly rendered wounded while two among them have been declared critical in condition.

According to reports reaching here, the terrorists were riding motorcycle when they hurled a hand-grenade on a vehicle of law enforcement agency, injuring eight FC personnel as a result, law enforcement sources confirmed to media.

Agencies have cordoned off the blast scene with rescue efforts getting underway.

Fire tenders have also arrived on blast scene as fire erupted after attack is fiercely raging by the time, witnesses told media.

Injured FC men have been admitted to hospital but no loss of life was reported.

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