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‘Islamic State’ claims deadly Pakistan church bombing

December 17, 2017 By administrator

Suicide bombers have attacked a Methodist church in Quetta, Pakistan, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 30 others. The “Islamic State” jihadi group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Islamic State” (IS) militants stormed a Methodist church filled with Christian worshipers in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday morning, killing and wounding several others.

Pakistani authorities said that among the eight dead, two were women. Several of the wounded were also reported to be in serious condition.

Read more: Pakistan: One step forward, two steps back

Police said the attack could have been much worse had they not successfully shot and killed one of the attackers before they could detonate the bomb. However, the second assailant managed to reach the entrance to the church where he blew himself up.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: church bombing, islamic state, Pakistan

Pakistan submits to Turkey’s ‘authoritarian demands’ on Turkish cleric Gulen Schools

November 16, 2016 By administrator

the-two-evilsAuthorities have ordered teachers with alleged links to Turkish cleric Gulen to leave the country as Turkey’s President Erdogan visits Pakistan. Experts say the move is aimed at appeasing Ankara.

Turkish teachers and their families in Pakistan were given a three-day notice by authorities to leave the country, PakTurk International Schools and Colleges said in a statement on Tuesday.

“PakTurk International Schools and Colleges are deeply concerned over the abrupt decision of the government requiring the Turkish teachers, management and their family members…to leave the country within three days,” the school said.

It added that the staff were asked to leave because of “non-approval of their requests for extension of visa.”

The PakTurk Foundation said the schools would continue operating across Pakistan despite the expulsion of Turkish teachers.

In July, Turkey asked Pakistan to crack down on institutions run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara believes was behind the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sadik Babur Girgin, Turkey’s ambassador to Islamabad, had explicitly asked Pakistani officials to shut down such organizations in their country.

There are 28 institutions in Pakistan administered by Gulen’s PakTurk Foundation, which is also planning to open a university in the country. Operating there for decades, the Gulen movement’s supporters also have business stakes in Pakistan.

“We have called on all friendly countries to prevent activities of this (Gulen’s) group,” Girgin said at a media briefing on July 23 in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. He noted that Turkey was in close contact with Pakistani authorities, adding, “We have had good cooperation with Pakistan in every field.”

Pakistan’s English-language Dawn newspaper, citing sources, said Ankara wants Islamabad to transfer the schools’ management to an international non-governmental organization with links to Erdogan’s administration. This claim has not been verified.

Opposition to Erdogan’s visit

Erdogan is due to arrive in Pakistan later on Wednesday, November 16, and will address the Islamic country’s parliament on Thursday.

Before his departure from Ankara, Erdogan praised Pakistan’s actions against Gulen-linked organizations.

“Pakistan’s decision to have people linked to FETO leave the country by November 20 is very pleasing,” Erdogan said, referring to what his government calls the Gulenist Terror Organization (FETO).

“Just like Turkey, Pakistan is carrying out a relentless fight against terror. Turkey supports Pakistan’s battle until the end,” the Turkish president added.

Sattar Khan, DW’s Islamabad correspondent, says the students of the PakTurk school network and the staff of the institutions administered by the organization have vowed to protest the government’s move against them.

“There are many Turkish people living in Pakistan. Are they all Gulen followers?” an official of the PakTurk school network told DW on condition of anonymity. “We have a staff of around 1,500 people in Pakistan, and more than 8,000 students are studying in our 22 campuses across the country.”

Cricketer-turned-parliamentarian Imran Khan also indicated that his opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party would oppose the closure of PakTurk schools. Sources claim that Khan has stakes in the PakTurk foundation. Earlier he said his party’s lawmakers would boycott Erdogan’s speech in parliament, but on Tuesday media reports suggested that Khan was ready to revise his decision on request from the Turkish ambassador in Pakistan.

Some analysts also say that Khan is opposed to the Turkish government because of Erdogan’s close ties with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. At a time when Sharif is under immense pressure due to his alleged links with offshore companies, Khan considers Erdogan’s Islamabad visit as an endorsement of PM Sharif’s government.

Pakistan’s proponents of secularism are angry about Ankara’s demands to crack down on Gulen institutions. They are also opposed to PM Sharif’s close ties with President Erdogan, whom they consider an “authoritarian ruler.”

The Islamic country’s activists believe Erdogan is using the failed coup to impose his totalitarian rule in Turkey. They say Ankara is cracking down on dissidents, secular and Kurdish activists and journalists, and has introduced controversial terror laws – something, they say, is a bad example for Turkey’s ally Pakistan.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Erdogan, Gulen, Pakistan, Schools

Turkish-Backed Schools In Pakistan Face Potential Closure

August 4, 2016 By administrator

Gulen schoolsThe blowback from a failed coup attempt in Turkey last month has reached all the way to Pakistan. The Turkish government is asking the South Asian country to close Institutions linked to Fethullah Gulen, the man they claim was behind the coup. Parents and students of about two dozen schools are worried about what may happen to them. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports from Islamabad.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Gulen, Pakistan, Schools, Turkish-Backed

Pakistan mourns park attack on Lahore Christians

March 28, 2016 By administrator

Lahore-BlastPeople in Pakistan are mourning the deaths of more than 70 people including 29 children in a suicide attack in a Lahore park, the BBC reports.

The regional government announced three days of mourning, with one day declared in other parts of Pakistan.

Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it carried out the attack and targeted Christians celebrating Easter.

At least 300 people were injured, with officials saying they expected the death toll to rise.

The area was more crowded than usual, as Lahore’s minority Christians had gathered to celebrate Easter at a funfair in the park.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited some of the injured in hospital and has met security officials to plan a response.

Muslims also died in the attack. At least one funeral was held on Monday.

There were scenes of anguish as parents searched for children amid the debris.

Meanwhile Facebook has apologised after a programme glitch resulted in users around the world being sent a notification to let friends know they were safe after the attack, meant only for subscribers in the Lahore area.

Facebook had been criticised for deploying the Safety Check application more readily if Westerners were the likely victims.

The government of Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital, declared a state of emergency in the city and three days of mourning.

Schools and markets in the province were closed on Monday.

Military spokesman Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted: “We must bring the killers of our innocent brothers, sisters and children to justice and will never allow these savage inhumans to over-run our life and liberty.”

Lahore is one of Pakistan’s most liberal and wealthy cities. It is Mr Sharif’s political powerbase and has seen relatively few terror attacks in recent years.

A spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said the group wanted to send a message to Mr Sharif that they “have entered Lahore”, and threatened further attacks.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway group from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. It has carried out several other attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent months.

The explosion, believed to have been carried out by one suicide bomber, hit the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in the early evening, a short distance from the children’s playground.

Officials said the device had been packed with ball bearings.

Police chief Haider Ashraf said the park had been a soft target for the militants, saying that while Pakistan is “in a warlike situation” there had been no specific alert issued for the park.

Pakistan has suffered regular incidents of Taliban-related violence, sectarian strife and criminal gang activity.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Lahore Christians, mourns, Pakistan

Russia: ISIS plans to extend its state from Pakistan to Portugal

January 27, 2016 By administrator

Russian-Foreign-Minister-Sergei-LavrovBy Abdelhak Mamoun,

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned, that ISIS plans to extend its state from Pakistan to Portugal.

Lavrov said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The world is facing an imminent danger because of the plans of ISIS to extend its Caliphate state from Pakistan to Portugal,” adding that, “The danger is not only threatening the regional security, but the global security as well.

Meanwhile, Lavrov denied allegations reported by some media outlets that Moscow made an offer for the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regarding his resignation.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ISIS, Pakistan, Portugal

Pakistan library named ‘Bin Laden’

April 19, 2014 By administrator

An Islamic seminary for women in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has renamed its library after Osama Bin Laden, the former al-Qaeda chief, the BBC reported.

Library named bin ladenThe Jamia Hafsa Madrassa is linked to the Red Mosque, known for its alleged links with militants.

A paper sign on one of the doors proclaims Bin Laden a “Shahid” (martyr). Bin Laden was killed in a raid by US commandos in 2011.

Pakistani troops raided the mosque in 2007. Dozens died later in clashes.

The BBC’s Shumaila Jaffrey in Islamabad says there are no chairs or any table in the library – just two computers on the floor.

The library is in a huge complex in the heart of Islamabad, part of which is still being built.

A spokesman for the madrassa said the new name was a tribute to Bin Laden, who was “a hero.”

The chief cleric there is Maulana Abdul Aziz. He warned that “if the government makes madrassas and mosques its target then Sharia (Islamic law) allows us to retaliate – if anyone will be harsh with us, they should not expect flowers in return.”

He also uses the library as his office. It has about 2,000 books – all of them related to Islam.

There are books about Sharia, Jihad and interpretations of the Koran in Arabic, Urdu and English.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bin Laden, Pakistan

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