Hundreds of Christian homes torched by mob in Pakistan

Hundreds of people in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore attacked a Christian neighborhood Saturday and set fire to homes after hearing accusations that a Christian man had committed blasphemy against Islam’s prophet, officials said.

Over 3,000 Muslim protesters turned violent over derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed allegedly made by Sawan Masih, a 28-year-old Christian, three days earlier, police official Multan Khan said.

Blasphemy has acquired a hair-trigger sensitivity across Pakistan in recent years, with an alarming increase in mob violence.

The incident started Friday when a young Muslim man accused a Christian man of committing blasphemy by making offensive comments about the prophet, according to Multan Khan, a senior police officer in Lahore.

“Police arrested Masih, a sanitary worker, on Friday night while the incident actually happened on Wednesday evening,” Khan told AFP.

He said that the arrest was made when Masih’s barber friend Shahid Imran complained that he had made blasphemous remarks about Prophet Mohammed, adding that Christians had fled the area on Friday evening, fearing a backlash.

A rescue operation official Ahmad Raza said, by evening, about 178 houses, 18 shops and 2 churches had been damaged by fire.

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - 09 Mar 2013, 10:54 pm

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British girl kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan

English: Location of Lahore, in Punjab. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- A British girl of Pakistani origin was kidnapped in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, said local police on Sunday night.

Police sources said that the kidnapped was a 20-year-old girl named Aisha Ali. She came to Lahore to attend a wedding ceremony and was kidnapped at the Liberty Market area in the city.

The abductee came to Lahore a couple of days ago after she stayed with her relatives in Kashmir, said police.

However, the police failed to mention when the kidnapping happened. The police have filed a report about the case. Other details about the incident are not immediately available.

Sunday's report about the kidnapped British girl is the fourth of its kind in the country since this year. In January this year, three cases about kidnapping foreigners were reported in the country.

On January 5, a British national of Yemeni origin working for International Committee of the Red Cross Pakistan was kidnapped by Pakistan Taliban and his body was later found in the city on April 29.

On January 20, a German aged 70 and an Italian aged 24 were abducted in Pakistan's central city of Multan. They were working for a NGO for the help of the flood-affected people in Punjab province. There is no news about their whereabouts now.

Two days after, a Kenyan working for an international charity organization "Care International" was kidnapped in the country's southern Sindh province while he was helping the flood-hit people there. His whereabouts is also not known until now.

Foreigners in Pakistan are often targeted by kidnappers for ransom. Few of the abductees can survive after being kidnapped.

from XINHUA
English.news.cn   2012-09-10 03:08:10

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3 policemen killed in attack in NW Pakistan

A damaged police van is seen at the attack site in northwest Pakistan's Hangu on Aug. 23, 2012. At least three policemen were killed and several others injured when unknown gunmen opened fire at a police vehicle in Pakistan's northwest town of Hangu on Thursday morning, reported local Urdu TV channel Dunya. (Xinhua/Stringer)

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least three policemen were killed and several others injured when unknown gunmen opened fired at a police vehicle in Pakistan's northwest town of Hangu on Thursday morning, reported local Urdu TV channel Dunya.

The incident took place at about 10:00 a.m. local time when unknown gunmen ambushed a police vehicle on a routine patrol in the Kotki area of Hangu, a town located some 200 kilometers southwest of the country's capital Islamabad.

District Commission Officer of Hangu has confirmed the attack.

At least two policemen were also injured in the attack, said the report.

Other details about the attack are not immediately available.

Over the last few months, Pakistani Taliban have launched a series of attacks on army, security forces and police.

On July 9, Taliban militants launched an attack on an army camp in the country's eastern province of Punjab, killing seven people, including six troopers and one policeman.

A few days later, on July 12, they stormed a hostel where jail policemen from the country's northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were put up for training in Lahore, capital city of Punjab, killing nine policemen and wounding three others.

On August 16, Taliban launched a pre-dawn suicide attack on an airbase in the country's northwest area of Kamra, in which all the nine attackers and two security personnel were killed and one military cargo plane was slightly damaged by the rocket-propelled grenades fired by the militants from outside the base.

Local observers believe that with the pass of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims which ended on Aug. 19, militants may launch more terror attacks.

from XINHUA
2012-08-23 13:26:02

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Punjabi Taliban commander killed in police encounter

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Punjab Police have reportedly killed the head of the Punjabi Taliban, an offshoot of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), during an operation in a suburb of Multan.

The alleged terrorist Abdul Ghaffar, who belonged to Qari Mati-ur-Rehman and Aslam Yasin groups of TTP, was involved in the attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team in Lahore, reports The Nation.

The Central Police Office termed the operation an extraordinary achievement.

Police officer Aamir Zulifqar Khan said Ghaffar was also wanted in two bank robbery cases.

A statement issued by the police headquarters stated that the police "successfully thwarted a possible terror attempt by shooting down the militant of TTP during an armed encounter in Multan". (ANI)

from ANI
Thursday 2nd August, 2012

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Gunmen kill seven in attack on Pakistan military camp

English: Location of Lahore, in Punjab. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on a military encampment in eastern Pakistan on Monday, killing six soldiers and a policeman, the military said in a statement.

"A small rescue party had camped on the bank of (a) river to search for the body of a drowned/missing pilot," the statement said.

"Today, early morning, a few unknown assailants opened fire on the rescue party, which resulted in the shahadat (martyrdom) of six security forces personnnel."

The gunmen fled the scene after the shooting.

The attack took place near the town of Wazirabad, about 100 km (60 miles) north of the eastern city of Lahore, capital of the central Punjab province.

Such attacks are more common in northwest Pakistan, home to several militant groups, including the Taliban, but rare in Punjab. Some extremist groups are based in the southern part of the province, but are not known to attack security forces.

Pakistani security officials said they had started an investigation. No group had claimed responsibility.

"There are criminal groups active in the area, they could be involved. Or it could be militants, which could be a serious development," a senior Pakistani security official told Reuters. "We are not ruling anything out."

(Reporting by Qasim Nauman; Writing by Rebecca Conway; Editing by Ron Popeski)

from Reuters
ISLAMABAD | Mon Jul 9, 2012 8:20am BST

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2 killed, 27 injured following blast in eastern Lahore city

Map of Pakistan (Photo credit: Omer Wazir)

According to Pakistani security officials, at least 2 people were killed and 27 others were injured following a bomb explosion in the eastern city of Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Tuesday.

The officials further added the incident took place after a bomb went off at the main railway station Lahore city.

A senior Pakistani police official Aslam Tareen said, the explosion took place after a bag full of explosives went off near one of the counters at the railway station. He also said around 6-8 kilograms of explosives were packed inside the bag.

He also added security officials have launched probes to find out how the bag was taken to the railway station despite tight security and several scanners.

In the meantime a health official said at least 5 individual who were injured following the explosion are in a critical health condition.

This comes at least 13 people were killed and more than 50 others were injured after a teenager suicide bomber below himsself near a religious procession of Shi’ite Muslims in this city at the beginning of 2011.

No group has so far claimed responsibility behind today’s explosion.

from KHAAMA

photos from Khalid Khan: yfrog.com/ob66540797j 

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