Achakzai blames Quetta carnage on intelligence failure

ISLAMABAD: Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai was in the limelight once again when he blamed failure of the intelligence agencies for the deadly blast in Quetta's Civil Hospital which claimed over 70 lives.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday, Achakzai said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should use the Quetta blast as a test case and give the civilian and military intelligence agencies a timeframe.  

"If our agencies can find even a needle in murky waters, why can't they catch these terrorists roaming freely?" he asked.

"The Quetta blast is the result of failure of our agencies," the politician said.

He said that the terrorist attack was an attack on all of Pakistan, adding that Pakistan would not fight any other country's proxy wars.

Achakzai emphasised that unbiased operation against terrorism is necessary and said that the Armed forces, courts and the government will have to renew their commitment to deal with terrorist elements.

He also called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to convene a joint session of the Parliament to discuss the country's internal and external policies and challenges.

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Achakzai blames Quetta carnage on intelligence failure

ISLAMABAD: Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai was in the limelight once again when he blamed failure of the intelligence agencies for the deadly blast in Quetta's Civil Hospital which claimed over 70 lives.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday, Achakzai said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should use the Quetta blast as a test case and give the civilian and military intelligence agencies a timeframe.  

"If our agencies can find even a needle in murky waters, why can't they catch these terrorists roaming freely?" he asked.

"The Quetta blast is the result of failure of our agencies," the politician said.

He said that the terrorist attack was an attack on all of Pakistan, adding that Pakistan would not fight any other country's proxy wars.

Achakzai emphasised that unbiased operation against terrorism is necessary and said that the Armed forces, courts and the government will have to renew their commitment to deal with terrorist elements.

He also called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to convene a joint session of the Parliament to discuss the country's internal and external policies and challenges.

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PM urges better coordination between LEAs to fight terrorism

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday called for seamless coordination between law enforcement agencies and the federal and provincial government to achieve optimum results against extremism and terrorism.

Sharif was chairing a meeting at the PM house to review the internal security situation and review the implementation of National Action Plan, a day after a deadly suicide bombing at a hospital in Quetta killed over 70 and left more a hundred people injured.

During the meeting, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and National Security Advisor Lt-Gen (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua briefed the prime minister on how terrorist organisations were attacking soft targets.

According to a statement from the PM House, the meeting discussed at length the internal security situation of the country and different aspects of the National Action Plan.

The meeting observed that, after achieving successful results from operation Zarb-e-Azb in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), terrorists have now shifted their targets from state institutions merely out of desperation.

"We are in a state of war with an ideology that wants to change our way of life," said PM Nawaz Sharif.

He said the government was committed to take all necessary steps to ensure that the blood spilled in the carnage in Quetta does not go to waste.

He emphasised seamless coordination between law enforcement agencies as well as among the provincial governments and the federal government to achieve optimum results within a short period of time.

The prime minister expressed his resolve to secure Pakistan from terrorism and extremism.

He said the country had embarked upon the right track and would enable every citizen to reap the benefits of a secure, stable, and prosperous Pakistan.

"Terrorists believed they could sow seeds of disharmony and disunity in the nation. The nation is united and supports the government to stay on the course of completely eliminating terrorists from Pakistani society," he said.

Sharif decided to call for a broader meeting on Wednesday for detailed discussions on NAP.

The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Sartaj Aziz, Tariq Fatemi, and other senior government officials.

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Death toll from Quetta blast reaches 74 as four more lose battle for life

QUETTA: Death toll from the Quetta attack reached 74 as four more people succumbed to their wounds on Tuesday.

Earlier today. 27 injured of the Quetta Attack were brought to a Pakistan Air Force base in Karachi in a C130 aircraft.

They have been admitted at a private hospital at Stadium Road for further medical treatment. According to hospital sources six of the victims are in critical condition.

At least 74 people were killed and as many as 112 people injured when a powerful explosion ripped through Quetta’s Civil Hospital on Monday.

The explosion took place when Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Kasi's body was being brought to the emergency department. He was gunned down at Mano Jan Road earlier today. Former Balochistan Bar President Baz Muhammad Kakar was injured in the attack. He later succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

A team to probe the incident has been formed presided by SSP Investigation Quetta. According to DIG Manzoor Sarwar the team will be assisted by the investigation unit. He added that he has directed the provincial government to form a joint investigation report.

Initial investigation of the incident suggests it was a suicide bombing where eight kilogram of explosives were used.

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Death toll from Quetta blast reaches 74 as four more lose battle for life

QUETTA: Death toll from the Quetta attack reached 74 as four more people succumbed to their wounds on Tuesday.

Earlier today. 27 injured of the Quetta Attack were brought to a Pakistan Air Force base in Karachi in a C130 aircraft.

They have been admitted at a private hospital at Stadium Road for further medical treatment. According to hospital sources six of the victims are in critical condition.

At least 74 people were killed and as many as 112 people injured when a powerful explosion ripped through Quetta?s Civil Hospital on Monday.

The explosion took place when Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Kasi's body was being brought to the emergency department. He was gunned down at Mano Jan Road earlier today. Former Balochistan Bar President Baz Muhammad Kakar was injured in the attack. He later succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

A team to probe the incident has been formed presided by SSP Investigation Quetta. According to DIG Manzoor Sarwar the team will be assisted by the investigation unit. He added that he has directed the provincial government to form a joint investigation report.

Initial investigation of the incident suggests it was a suicide bombing where eight kilogram of explosives were used.

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Mysterious group in Rawalpindi stabs women after dark

RAWALPINDI: Fear grips the city as police continue to search for a group that has been out stabbing women after dark.

The group has attacked 32 women in the city since February, of whom one died while others were injured.

All of the attacks took place in the remits of Morgah police station, which include Kot Kalian and Rabia Bungalows.

In the latest attack, the group reportedly wielding a knife stabbed a nurse to death and injured two others on Sunday night.  

The perpetrators have wounded several women in the vicinity and police are already on a hunt for them, officials say.

What has residents as well as authorities perplexed is the fact that the attackers make no demands and do not discriminate. They have been targeting women irrespective of age, attire and appearance.

Around 25 women were injured with a knife-like object in the first three weeks of February this year.

Six months later, four women were attacked last week. On Sunday night, three women were attacked of whom nurse Anum Naz succumbed to her wounds. 

The renewed attacks and the nurse?s death have once again spread terror in the city.

Malik Kausar, SHO Morgah police station, said that three suspects were caught earlier and even now policemen clad in civil clothes are outside.

One victim, named Salma, said her family no longer lets her go outside. ?I can?t go to work anymore. These attackers can stab any woman in the stomach, legs, or anywhere.?

Another resident, Mrs Khursheed, said: ?These attacks are only increasing with time here. Women going anywhere alone are attacked with a dagger. Some were even stabbed thrice. We need the government to protect us.?

Residents demand that Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar take notice of the matter and catch the attackers so they can go about their routine without fear.

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Nagasaki marks 71st atomic bombing anniversary

TOKYO: The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Tuesday marked 71 years since its destruction by a US atomic bomb, with its mayor lauding a visit by US President Barack Obama to Hiroshima earlier this year.

A bell tolled as thousands of people, including ageing survivors and relatives of victims, observed a minute´s silence at 11:02 am (0202 GMT), the exact moment of the blast.

Some 74,000 people died in the initial explosion, while thousands of others perished months or years later from radiation sickness.

The attack came three days after the US dropped the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which ultimately killed 140,000 people.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue lauded Obama's landmark May visit to Hiroshima -- the first ever by a sitting US president.

"Knowing the facts becomes the starting point for thinking about a future free of nuclear weapons," Taue said, calling on other world leaders to visit his city.

Local officials and those who survived the bombing called for strict adherence to Japan's post-war tradition of pacifism and were critical of the Japanese government.

"The government of Japan, while advocating nuclear weapons abolition, still relies on nuclear deterrence," the mayor said, calling it a "contradictory state of affairs".

Toyokazu Ihara, 80, who survived the Nagasaki bombing, used his address to call for abolition of nuclear weapons and world peace.

"Nagasaki must be the last," he said, concluding his Japanese remarks with an English sentence intended for global citizens.

Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui on Saturday marked the commemoration of the bombing of his city, also citing Obama's visit.

He said the visit was proof the US President shared his city's view of the "absolute evil" of nuclear weapons. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in his address in Nagasaki, called on world leaders to honour the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"We must not allow a repeat of the horrible experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that happened 71 years ago," Abe said.

Abe has moved to extend the scope of Japan's military and deepen the nation's alliance with Washington in the face of threats from China´s expanding military strength and unpredictable North Korea.

North Korea last week test fired a ballistic missile that landed in waters off Japan's coast for the first time.

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