Viewing Single Post From: UPDATED NEWS

Viewing Single Post From: UPDATED NEWS
waqarabro	Jun 17 2008, 08:22 PM
Swash-buckling Posts: 337 Group: Members Member #553 Joined: October 21, 2007	4 killed in blast outside DIK Shia mosque * Police says timed device used in explosion DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A bomb blast inside a Shia mosque killed at least four people and wounded two others on Monday, police said. Local police officer Asghar told Daily Times over the telephone that the bomb went off inside Imambargah Hazrat Ali in Mohallah Roshan Chirgah as worshippers were coming out of the mosque after offering evening prayers. Timed device: District police chief Abdul Ghaffar Qaiserani told AFP that it was a time-controlled device as police found a number of battery cells from the rubble, which indicated the bomb, planted near the main entrance, was on a timer. Qaiserani declined to say if it was a sectarian attack, but similar bombings and gun attacks have taken place between the supporters of Shia and Sunni extremist groups active in Dera Ismail Khan, which borders the Tribal Areas. No one claimed responsibility for the attack. The blast shattered the mosque’s front wall and damaged its dome. A crater was also caused near the front wall, AFP reported. Twisted fans hung from the ceiling inside the mosque and prayer mats were scattered across the bloodstained floor. The police cordoned off the area as people sifted debris looking for survivors. Witnesses said that nearby markets were shut down immediately after the incident to curb possible protests. Last month, gunmen opened fire on a car, killing four Shias in Dera Ismail Khan. Hours later, a Sunni Muslim was shot dead elsewhere in the city. agencies Benazir attack suspect freed KARACHI: The police have freed a key suspect in a suicide bombing that killed around 150 people at last year’s homecoming rally for former premier Benazir Bhutto, an official said on Monday. Prisons Inspector General (IG) Yameen Khan told AFP Qari Saifullah Akhtar was released on June 8. Benazir accused Qari Saifullah Akhtar in her book Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West, of plotting against her. “We released him on Friday after the expiry of his detention period,” the IG said. Akhtar’s lawyer Hashmat Habib said he was freed because of a lack of evidence. “He is a free person. There is no case against him anywhere in Pakistan,” Habib said, adding that the authorities had “facilitated” his return to Lahore. Akhtar was arrested in February 2008 in Lahore soon after the book was published. A court in Karachi released him on bail after police said they had no evidence against him, but he was re-arrested in late March under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. He met Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden several times in Afghanistan, security officials said. The attorney admitted that Akhtar used to command a guerrilla group that fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, but said his client had renounced militancy, denying that Akhtar had anything to do with the Karachi attack, AP reported. Akhtar was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in August 2004 and later extradited to Pakistan, where he was released under unclear circumstances. Benazir was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack in Rawalpindi two months after the attack on her Karachi rally. agencies ‘Subsidies on up to 200 power units not to be withdrawn’ ISLAMABAD: The government will not withdraw subsidies on electricity up to 200 units to provide relief to the poor people, Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said on Monday. Talking to journalists here, the minister said only the privileged class using over 200 electricity units will share the burden while the deprived segment will be given subsidy. He said the country is facing severe power crisis and the government is taking short, medium and long-term measures to combat load shedding. He said load shedding hours would be reduced within a few days as additional power of 1,500 MW has been added in the system due to efforts made by the government. The minister added that an additional power generation has been achieved through system optimisation. Ashraf said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had approved an amount to bear the expenditure of oil supply to thermal power plants. He said a major chunk of the export-oriented industry has been exempted from load shedding while power supply is also being increased in other sectors. In order to boost the agriculture sector, 10 hours of continuous power supply was being provided at night to achieve maximum production while the textile industry was also being provided 100 percent supply of power, he said. Power-looms are also being provided continues spells of power to increase productivity as this export-oriented industry is a major contributor to the country’s foreign exchange reservoirs, he said.
	Click Here for contact

UPDATED NEWS · Education