News Story: One killed, 17 injured in suicide attack in SW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and 17 others were injured when a suicide bomber hit a security forces vehicle in Pakistan's southwestern city of Chaman in Balochistan province on Monday evening, local Urdu channel Geo TV reported.

According to the reports, the attack took place at about 6:35 p.m. local time when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest near a security forces vehicle in Chaman, a city located on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing one citizen on the spot and leaving 17 others injured.

The vehicle was on its way to the "Friendship Gate," a crossing point at Pak-Afghan border, when it came under the attack, said a senior official of a paramilitary force, adding that security personnel were among the injured people.

Rescue teams and law enforcement agencies rushed to the site immediately after the blast and shifted the body and injured to a hospital.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Pakistan receives Indian note in case of spy

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has received written pleadings from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), submitted by India in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national sentenced to death on charges of spying, the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement Friday that the note is under consideration by a team of lawyers and experts, led by the Attorney General of Pakistan.

"The position of the Government of Pakistan, especially highlighting the acts of espionage, terrorism and sabotage committed by Commander Jadhav in Pakistan, which resulted in the loss of many precious and innocent lives of Pakistanis, would soon be submitted at the International Court of Justice," the statement said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Former Al-Qaida Operatives Launch New Militant Group in Pakistan

Noor Zahid, Fazal Aziz

WASHINGTON, KARACHI — A new al-Qaida-inspired militant group, which has recently emerged in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi claims to act as a platform for militants who have grown disaffected with the Islamic State militant group (IS) in the country.

The group, Ansar al-Sharia Pakistan, was reportedly formed by two former al-Qaida members who had severed ties with the organization in early 2017. Since then, the group has been involved in several attacks in Karachi, according to Pakistani counterterrorism authorities.

“The Ansar al-Sharia group started killings in Karachi since the beginning of this year and claimed responsibility for killing an army officer on Faisal Highway [in Karachi],” Major General Mohammad Saeed, the head of Rangers paramilitary security force in Karachi, told local media. He added the group has been focusing attacks on “the police only.”

The group was allegedly created to operate as a platform for militants who have parted ways with IS in the country, it said in an online statement. It claimed to be active in several parts of the country.

News Report: Attack on Security Forces' Convoy in Pakistan Kills 3 Soldiers

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Unknown gunmen in southwestern Pakistan ambushed a security forces' convoy, killing at least three soldiers and injuring three others Monday.

Local authorities said the convoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps was returning from a counterinsurgency operation when it was attacked in the remote Panjgur district of Baluchistan province.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the deadly assault.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has "strongly" condemned the attack and "expressed grief over loss of precious lives of [Frontier Corps] officials," his office said in a statement.

News Story: 3 troops killed, 3 injured in SW Pakistan attack

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least three security personnel were killed and three others were injured as a convoy of paramilitary troops came under attack in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province on Monday night, local Urdu media reported.

Some unknown militants opened fire at the convoy of the paramilitary troops when it was passing by Washuk area in the province, Dunya News reported.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: 10 militants killed in southwestern Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 militants were killed after security forces launched an armed offensive in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan Province, local media reported Friday.

Paramilitary troops Frontier Corps conducted the operation in Harnai area of the province on Thursday, the reports said, adding that the militants were killed after a furious exchange of fire between security forces and the insurgents.

Three hideouts were destroyed in the operation that was launched on an intelligence tip-off regarding presence of suspected elements in the area.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Pakistan - Trump's Afghan Policy 'Hostile and Threatening'

Ayesha Tanzeem

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution Wednesday strongly denouncing President Donald Trump’s new policy on Afghanistan and calling his and General John Nicholson’s statements on Pakistan “hostile and threatening.”

President Trump had some of the harshest words for Pakistan when he announced his new policy on Afghanistan and South Asia on August 21.

“We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists we are fighting,” he said in a speech.

Soon after, in an interview with an Afghan TV channel, the top U.S. military commander in Kabul, General Nicholson said the U.S. is "aware of the presence" of Taliban leaders in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, and that they should not "sleep in peace."

News Story: Suspects arrested, heavy ammunition recovered in SW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Several suspects were arrested and a heavy cache of arms and ammunition were recovered by Pakistani security forces during last four days in an ongoing operation in different areas in the country's southwest province of Balochistan, local media reported on Saturday.

The intelligence based search and hunt operation in the province is part of the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.

Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad was launched by the Pakistani army in support of local law enforcement agencies to de-weaponize the society and to eliminate the hidden terrorist sleeper cells across the country on Feb. 22 this year after a series of lethal terrorist attacks.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: 15 Killed in Quetta Blast in Pakistan

A bomb exploded near a crowded market in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Saturday night, killing at least 15 people, officials said.

In addition, at least 40 people were wounded, officials said.

"We can now confirm that 15 people have died in the explosion today. At least 40 others are wounded," Balochistan home minister Sarfraz Bugti told Geo news.

The report stated that hospital sources reported however that 17 people had been killed in the attack.

"(It was) an attempt to mar Independence Day festivities. Our resolve won't succumb to any challenge," said Major-General Asif Ghafoor, from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).  

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Four militants killed as military launches operation in southwestern Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least four militants were killed and a soldier was injured when the Pakistani army lunched an operation in the country's southwest Balochistan province on Sunday.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the mouthpiece of Pakistani army, said in a statement that the forces conducted the armed offensive in Kohlu and Dera Bugti areas of the province.

The troops also destroyed several hideouts of the militants during the operation.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: 4 Policemen Killed in Terrorist Attack in Southwest Pakistan

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Four policemen were shot and killed Thursday in southwest Pakistan by a group of Islamic militants.

A spokesman for the Baluchistan provincial government says the policemen were on a routine patrol in the capital city, Quetta,when the gunmen intercepted their vehicle and sprayed it with bullets before fleeing the scene. The dead officers included police Superintendent Mubarak Shah.

A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban calling itself Jamaatul Ahrar has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The United Nations earlier this week designated Jamaatul Ahrar a global terrorist organization, saying the group operates out of neighboring Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province.

The attack was the second this week in Baluchistan targeting senior police officials.

A suicide bomber riding a motorbike on Monday blew himself up near a police vehicle in the town of Chaman, near the Afghan border, killing the district police chief and two others. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack.

This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.

News Story: 2 killed, 12 injured as suicide blast hits police vehicle in SW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, July 10 (Xinhua) -- At least two people, including a senior police officer, were killed and 12 others injured when a suicide blast hit a police vehicle in Pakistan's southwest district of Chaman on Monday morning, reported local media.

Local Urdu TV Channel 24 News said the suicide blast took place at about 11:30 a.m. local time when a police vehicle was passing by in the downtown area of Chaman, a district along the Pak-Afghan border in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

Assistant Commissioner of Chaman confirmed that the blast was of suicide nature and District Police Officer Sajid Khan was the target.

Sajid Khan and one of his bodyguards were killed and five policemen were injured in the attack, he said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Beijing Downplays Possibility of Pakistani Naval Base

Chinese officials have dismissed predictions that the People’s Liberation Army Navy will build a new base in Pakistan as Saudi Arabian and American influence in the region deteriorates.

Discussions about a Chinese base in Pakistan are "pure guesswork," Defense Ministry Spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday.

Sputnik has reported that Pakistan is actively seeking an increased Chinese presence in Pakistan to balance the strength of India. "We need an equalizer against India. Previously it was the US and Saudi Arabia. Now it’s China," a Pakistani diplomat told NBC, according to a June 19 report.

In May, the US Defense Department issued a report stating, "China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan."

News Story: Pakistan deploys 15,000-strong force for Chinese security

Pakistan has deployed a 15,000-strong military force to protect Chinese nationals working on energy and infrastructure projects in the country, the president said Sunday, after the abduction of a Chinese couple raised safety concerns.

President Mamnoon Hussain told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Islamabad that the protection of Chinese citizens working in Pakistan was the "top priority" of the government, according to a statement issued by the presidency.

Beijing is investing around $50 billion in its South Asian neighbour as part of a plan unveiled in 2015 to link its far-western Xinjiang region to Gwadar port in Balochistan with a series of infrastructure, power and transport upgrades.

But fears over safety arose last month when two Chinese workers were abducted in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Balochistan province, which is at the heart of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project but racked by separatist and Islamist insurgencies.

Read the full story at SpaceWar

News Report: Will Downing of Tehran Drone Hurt Pakistan-Iran Relations Further?

Madeeha Anwar
Mehdi Jedinia

Pakistan's claim this week that it shot down an Iranian drone that had crossed into its airspace is heating up tensions already on the rise over cross-border skirmishes and diplomatic rifts over alleged militancy, analysts say.

"This is an unfortunate situation as it will only increase the mistrust which already exists between Pakistan and Iran," Zubair Iqbal, an analyst at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told VOA.

Both sides of the porous 900-kilometer (560-mile) Pakistan-Iran border have long been rife with drug smugglers, separatists and militant movements. The drone apparently went down Tuesday in violence-racked Balochistan, Pakistan's southwestern province, where insurgents and nationalists are active in launching attacks against government interests and neighboring countries.

"The drone was hit by the Pakistan Air Force as it was unidentified and flying around 3-4 kilometers inside Pakistani territory," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

News Story: Pakistan shoots down Iranian spy aircraft - FM

ISLAMABAD, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan said Wednesday that it has shot down an Iranian spy aircraft after it had entered the country's airspace in southwestern Balochistan province.

Section of the local media has earlier reported that Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder fighter jet shot down the Iranian unmanned aircraft in Balochistan's Panjgur area on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed the incident in a statement and said Iran has been informed.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Islamabad Eyes New Chinese Naval Base in Pakistan as US, Saudi Influence Wanes

Chinese Navy Warships on Patrol (File Photo)

Pakistan is renewing a 2011 call to the People’s Liberation Army Navy to construct and operate a naval base on its coast, according to a Pakistani diplomat.

Islamabad needs an “equalizer” against India, the emissary noted in comments published at the Asia Times. “Previously, it was the US and Saudi Arabia… Now, it’s China,” he said.

A recent report prepared by the Pentagon signals Washington is growing concerned with the activities of the world’s largest army and burgeoning naval fleet. The US Defense Department anticipates that diplomatic chatter may materialize in the form of an actual base, perhaps in Gwadar Port in Balochistan, a trading hub Beijing seeks to develop with investment as part of the One Belt initiative.

Jiwani and Ormara are also said to be potential sites for a new navy base. 

News Story: 2 naval personnel killed in SW Pakistan terrorist attack

ISLAMABAD, June 20 (Xinhua) -- At least two personnel working for Pakistani navy were killed and four others injured when some unknown militants sprayed bullets at their vehicle in the countrys southwest Gwadar district on Monday, local Urdu media reported.

Dawn News said that the militants ambushed the troopsvehicle in a market area of Jiwani city of Gawadar, a district located in the countrys southwest Balochistan province.

Police said that four assailants coming on two motorbikes attacked the forcesvehicle and fled the scene.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Pakistani Official Confirms Captive Chinese Nationals Are Dead

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — Islamic State has released a video showing the bloodied body of a captive Chinese national the terrorist group claimed to have killed along with his female partner in southwestern Pakistan.

A provincial government official confirmed to VOA that the man who seems to be taking his last breaths in the video is one of the two Chinese kidnapped last month from Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he said that authorities have not yet found the bodies of the Chinese nationals, and he would like to abstain from making any official assertions on the fate of the two foreigners.

China briefed by Pakistan

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing Friday that Beijing has been told by Islamabad the two abductees are probably dead.

"Pakistan's relevant side has provided China with some information and said these two kidnapped Chinese citizens have likely already been murdered. We are gravely concerned about this," she said.

Chunying added that Beijing is in contact with the Pakistani side and trying to learn more about and verify the situation by all means.

Islamic State’s global media outlet, the Amaq News Agency, announced Thursday the group had executed the two captives in Mastung, a district about 50 kilometers south of Quetta.

News Story: IS claims killing two Chinese in southwest Pakistan

Click Image to Enlarge

The Islamic State group on Thursday claimed the killing of two Chinese citizens who were kidnapped last month by armed gunmen in southwestern Pakistan's restive Balochistan province.

The jihadist group made the claim in a brief Arabic message carried by the group's Amaq news agency. There was no immediate confirmation from Chinese or Pakistan officials.

Hours earlier, Pakistan's army issued a statement saying its forces conducted an operation against the IS group earlier this month, killing up to 15 militants from the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi who were in communication with IS about establishing a base in Balochistan.

The two Chinese workers were abducted in Quetta, where the pair had been studying Urdu at a language centre, according to a Chinese envoy in the country.

China's foreign ministry said it was working to "verify relevant information through various channels, including working with Pakistani authorities".

Read the full story at SpaceWar