Month/Date
|
Incidents
|
January 7
|
Police arrested five suspected
terrorists from Sargodha. The suspected terrorists belonging to
a defunct group were arrested from the Darima area along with
suicide jackets and explosives. During investigation, they reportedly
confessed that they were involved in the suicide attack at Police
Lines and the Air Force bus, and have also confessed that Chaudhry
Shujaat Hussain had been on their hit list.
|
January 10
|
At least 24 people, including
17 policemen, were killed and 80 others injured in a suicide bomb
blast outside the Lahore High Court, minutes before the arrival
of an anti-government lawyers’ procession. The blast ripped through
GPO Chowk in front of the Lahore High Court as the suicide bomber
walked up to the about 60 riot police – who had gathered there
ahead of a protest by lawyers against President Pervez Musharraf’s
government – and blew himself up. About 200 lawyers were inside
the High Court at the time of the blast, and others were marching
from a nearby district court.
Army troops have been deployed
in 22 districts of Punjab to protect people and vital installations
during Muharram in view of the security alarm raised by
the suicide bombing. The Rangers will protect important installations
like airports, railway stations, Pakistan Television and radio
offices, Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Governor’s House and civil
secretariat. The overall law and order would be the responsibility
of police and troops would stand by at designated places and could
be called in for assistance in case of an emergency at one-hour
notice, said Home Secretary Khusrao Pervaiz Khan.
|
January 14
|
Police in the Faisalabad city
arrested 36 suspected terrorists in a search operation following
reports of the presence of suicide bombers in the city. Meanwhile,
caretaker Interior minister Lt General (r) Hamid Nawaz Khan said
that security agencies arrested eight suspected terrorists from
Sargodha and Mianwali. The five men held in Sargodha were involved
in a bomb blast. He said 37 kg explosives had been seized from
one group and 30 kg from the other. Suspects held in Faisalabad
reportedly include people from the tribal areas. Several Afghans
were also detained, but released after they proved their identity.
|
January 15
|
The police foiled a bid of suicide
attacks at the residences of regional police officer (RPO) and
district police officer (DPO) on University Road beside attacks
on the life of religious leaders and politicians on January 13-night
and arrested six potential suicide bombers in Sargodha. RPO Hamid
Mukhtar Gondal and DPO Waseem Ahmad Sial stated that five suicide
bombers riding on motorbikes were on their way to attack their
residences when police arrested them. Later, the suspects reportedly
led the police to seize 30 kilogram’s of explosives with detonators,
pressure cooker bombs, promo cards, batteries with circuits, wireless
remote control panels, gas cylinder bombs and motorbikes and other
lethal weapons.
|
January 16
|
The Chakwal police said that they
had arrested a suicide bomber and seized eight kilograms of explosive
material and other bomb devices from him. Chakwal District Police
Officer Maqsood Khan told a press conference that police raided
a house in the Thoha Mehram Khan village and arrested Abdul Ghafoor,
a 23-year-militant with links to the banned LeJ and HuM.
|
January 17
|
Police in the Mianwali district
claimed to have foiled a terrorism bid when it arrested three
‘potential car bombers’ when their car had an accident on the
Bannu-Mianwali Road on December 21, 2007. The ‘potential bombers’
later revealed to the police that former federal minister Sumaira
Malik belonging to the adjacent Khushab district was their target;
and had they not been struck in the accident, she would have been
targeted the next day in a suicide attack. The three militants
were identified as Wasif Ali Shah of Bannu in the NWFP, Niaz Bahadur
and Abdul Rahman from Miranshah in North Waziristan. During interrogation,
they revealed that they belonged to terrorist groups, headed by
Faqiro and Darpa, who were working under the supervision of Maulana
Said Khan, the superintendent of Fazal Qadar seminary in Miranshah’s
main bazaar. Said Khan is further linked to Baitullah Mehsud,
leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Regional Police Officer
Hamid Mukhtar Gondal stated that the militants revealed that one
Ghulam Nabi was spearheading all suicide attacks in the Punjab
province.
Terrorists targeted the Pakistan
Aeronautical Complex at Kamra, firing four rockets at short intervals.
One of rockets landed on the roof of the senior non-commissioned
officers’ mess and two others hit airmen’s residences inside the
Mirage Rebuilt Factory. The fourth rocket exploded in a field
near the Qutba village, close to the Kamra Cantonment. However,
no casualty was reported. This is reportedly the second incident
of terrorism targeting the Kamra cantonment in a little more than
a month.
|
January 18
|
11 suicide bombers have entered
Rawalpindi and Islamabad to hit their targets during the month
of Muharram, intelligence agencies have claimed.
|
January 19
|
A blast outside the house of PML-N
Balochistan President Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir partially damaged
his house in Loralai in Lahore. However, no casualties were reported.
|
January 24
|
Security agencies arrested six suspected terrorists
from Rawalpindi and seized explosive-laden jackets and ammunition
from them.
|
February 4
|
At least 10 people were killed
and about 10 others sustained injuries when unidentified assailants
carried out an explosion targeting a bus carrying security force
personnel near the headquarters of Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi
in Punjab Province. The explosion occurred at 7.15am (PST) outside
the gate of the army's National Logistics Cell in R.A. Bazar,
a high security area as it is located very close to the General
Headquarters. The blast completely destroyed the bus, several
cars and motorcycles, eyewitnesses said. No group has so far claimed
responsibility for the attack.
Punjab Home Secretary Khusro Pervaiz
Khan said that security agencies had arrested three alleged would-be
suicide bombers and seized suicide jackets and explosives from
their possession. He told a private television channel that the
arrested "suicide bombers" had disclosed that four more suicide
bombers had entered southern Punjab and Lahore to target politicians.
|
February 10
|
The security agencies arrested
40 people suspected to be activists of banned militant groups.
The Ghaziabad police arrested 30 men from a rented house near
Muhammadpura railway crossing. Separately, police raided the RA
Bazaar and arrested seven suspects. The arrested belonged to the
banned Sunni group LeJ and were allegedly involved in the Rawalpindi
blast. During another raid in Saddar Bazaar, police arrested three
members of the LeJ. The Mughalpura Superintendent of Police, P.
Sajjad Manj, said Rustam Ali, who was a member of the proscribed
SSP, owned the house. However, he escaped the raid. Two Kalashnikovs,
three 222s, a shotgun and rifles were seized from them.
|
February 14
|
Two alleged terrorists, Wahab
and Abdullah, were arrested from Sargodha along with two kilograms
of explosive material and a Kalashnikov. Two of their associates,
identified as Hafiz Saeed Ghani and Fahd Mithu, were reported
to have managed to escape.
|
February 19
|
In the Punjab province, the Pakistan
Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) won 101 seats out of 280, while
the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and independent candidates got
78 and 35 seats, respectively. The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid
(PML-Q) got 66 seats.
|
February 25
|
A suicide bomber killed eight
people, including the Pakistan Army’s surgeon general, in Rawalpindi
- the highest-ranking military official killed since the country
joined the US-led war on terror. Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig,
surgeon general and Director-General of the army’s Medical Services,
died after a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up next to a
military convoy on a busy road in Rawalpindi. Five civilians were
also killed, while 25 others were injured, an army statement said.
|
February 25
|
Security force personnel arrested a militant connected
to the October 18, 2007, assassination attempt on slain former
premier Benazir Bhutto. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told AFP
that Benazir Bhutto had accused Qari Saifullah Akhtar of plotting
against her in her posthumously published memoirs. A close ally
of Taliban chief Mullah Omar, Saifullah was arrested along with
his three sons from an under-construction mosque in Ferozwala.
|
February 26
|
Police in Lahore arrested four members of the
banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) from Nawankot
bus stand in the Kotwali area and seized from them explosives
and weapons. The accused confessed, during preliminary interrogation,
that they had planned sabotage activities including bomb blasts
in Lahore, besides assassination of key political and religious
personalities and senior police officials. The arrested militants
were identified as Muhammad Asif Ali alias Hasan Moosa, Abdur
Rahman, Mureed Ahmad and Fahad Munir. Police officials said that
Munir was the nephew of LeJ leader Riaz Basra.
|
February 27
|
Police in Jhang said that they had arrested three
terror suspects carrying two suicide jackets and chemicals in
Shorkot on February 26-night. Jhang District Police Officer Amjad
Javed stated that the terrorists, identified as Ghulam Shabir,
Muhammad Amin and Muhammad Ramazan, were arrested from Mir Wala
Bridge and were attempting to target prominent politicians. The
three men were suspected to be members of the outlawed Sunni militant
group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), APP reported local police officer
Pervez Tareen Sardar as having said.
|
March 3
|
Police arrested around 15 suspected terrorists
from various areas of Rawalpindi. Special police teams are reported
to have searched a total of 866 houses in the Shah Khalid Colony,
Ghareebabad, Rehmatabad and Shah Faisal Colony areas and subsequently
arrested 15 suspects.
|
March 4
|
Eight persons were killed and
24 others sustained injuries when two suicide bombers blew themselves
up in the parking area of the Pakistan Navy War College in Lahore.
The incident occurred at around 1:10 pm (PST) when classes in
the Pakistan Navy War College were in progress. Eyewitnesses and
police officials said five Navy officials and two suicide bombers
died on the spot while one Navy official succumbed to injuries
at a hospital.
|
March 5
|
Police in Lahore have arrested
at least 13 persons in connection with the March 4-suicide attack
on the Naval War College.
|
March 6
|
Police in Lahore arrested three
suspected suicide bombers of a defunct militant outfit who were
planning attacks on prominent personalities. They also recovered
50-kilogram explosive material, four suicide jackets, two bottles
of explosive chemical and a bundle of electric detonators from
their possession. Capital City Police Officer Malik Muhammad Iqbal
told a news conference that the police had information that three
bombers were coming to Lahore from the FATA with explosive material.
The police subsequently raided the Shafiqabad area and arrested
the three bombers identified as Abdul Majid Rashid alias Wali
Hasan of Rahimyar Khan, Qamar Saleem of Gujranwala and Nadeem
Shehzad alias Qari of Kot Radha Kishan. However, their group identity
was not disclosed.
|
March 11
|
At least 30 people were killed
and more than 200 sustained injuries in suicide blasts at the
FIA headquarters and an advertising agency office in Lahore. The
first attack was carried out at the FIA regional headquarters
on Temple Road, severely damaging the eight-storey establishment
and adjacent buildings. The building also housed the offices of
a special US-trained unit created to counter terrorism. The second
attack was carried out on Bungalow No 83/F in Model Town – the
office of an advertising agency. Two children and a gardener died
in the bombing and about 12 people were injured. The advertising
agency is located near Bilawal House, office of the Pakistan People’s
Party. Police said around 50kg and 30kg of explosives had been
used in the two attacks.
Sources said police arrested 27
suspects from Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha and Okara. 15 of them
were detained during raids in the Awan Town, Shahdara, Misri Shah
and Bilal Gunj in Lahore. Police also seized a large quantity
of explosives in the raids.
|
March 12
|
Police arrested more than 50 suspects
in province-wide raids in connection with the suicide attacks
in Lahore on March 11, and were investigating whether al Qaeda
was behind the attacks. Police sources said the suspects, most
of them from banned militant groups, were arrested from Lahore,
Faisalabad, Okara, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur. Deputy Inspector
General (Investigations) Tasadaq Hussain said plastic explosive
C4 was used in the attacks.
|
March 13
|
A meeting of security agencies
named al Qaeda and pro-Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud as the
prime suspects in the twin suicide attacks in Lahore on March
11. Sources privy to the meeting said representatives of intelligence
agencies, the Federal Investigation Agency, Punjab Police and
the Crime Investigation Department said Lahore was being targeted
because it housed the regional headquarters of various security
agencies. Investigators said at the meeting that Lahore was not
a new target as intelligence had arrested 48 suspects including
seven would-be suicide bombers from the provincial capital and
seized 640 kilograms of explosives before Muharram.
The Punjab Police arrested 15
more suspects in connection with the bombings. Police also conducted
several raids in southern Punjab.
|
March 14
|
Police in the Chakwal city arrested
four persons on charges of their alleged links with the banned
LeT.
|
March 25
|
The Mianwali district police arrested
a suspected would-be suicide bomber, identified as Ahmad, near
Dara Tang. A diary containing vital information, 20 CDs and material
related to bomb were recovered from his possession. The diary
reportedly contained information about Taliban activity and addresses
of Taliban militants and the CDs had footages of some successful
operations conducted by the militants. Dara Tang check post is
the entry point from the NWFP, some 80km from Mianwali city.
|
March 27
|
A joint team of intelligence agencies
and Lahore Police arrested two alleged terrorists for facilitating
the suicide bombings at GPO and the Pakistan Naval War College.
Police said that they had seized a "huge quantity of explosives",
including suicide vests, detonators, and ball bearings, from the
suspected terrorists’ possession. Capital City Police Officer
Malik Muhammad Iqbal and Deputy Inspector General of Police Tassaduq
Hussain told a press conference that Muhammad Shahzad and Nadim
Hussain were members of the South Waziristan-based militant organisation
Tanzeem Jihad Islami.
|
April 11
|
Police in the Sialkot district
have arrested three terror suspects, who they said were planning
to carry out suicide bombings. The police said the suspects had
confessed they had links with Taliban and al Qaeda. Sialkot District
Police Officer Muhammad Amin Owais told the channel that the detained
men had tried to abduct a Shia cleric from Allama Iqbal Chowk
when a police squad stopped them. Two of them were from Karachi,
he said, and one from Quetta. Police officials also said that
the suspects had abducted children in the past and sent them to
Afghanistan "for brain-washing".
|
April 15
|
The intelligence agencies and
district police have arrested two militants having links with
the Taliban in Afghanistan from the Sialkot city. Addressing a
press conference, district police officer (DPO) Capt Muhammad
Ameen said that they had arrested Muaz Umer of Quetta and Asim
Khan of North Nazimabad in Karachi from Sialkot city a few days
ago when they were escaping after abducting a local Shia cleric,
Zeeshan alias Shani Shah. The DPO claimed that the duo had also
confessed to their involvement in terrorism against Pakistan army
in Wana and Hilmand.
|
June 2
|
A suspected suicide bomber blew
up his car outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, killing at
least eight persons and injuring 30 others. The Danish Foreign
minister said a Pakistani cleaner employed at the embassy and
a Danish citizen of Pakistani origin had died and three other
local employees were hurt, but the embassy’s four Danish staffers
were unharmed. There was no claim of responsibility for the blast,
but officials said it was likely linked to anger over blasphemous
caricatures, which were recently reprinted by Danish newspapers.
The explosion, which occurred
at around 1.05pm, damaged the main gate of the embassy and the
front of the building. It also left a six-foot deep crater in
the road. Windows were also broken in the nearby home of the Indian
High Commissioner. Anjum Masood, a manager for the UN-funded group
Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment, said dozens of its
100 employees were wounded, mostly by flying glass. Inspector
General of Police, Syed Asghar Raza Gardezi, said that it was
a suicide attack. Police sources said the car bore a red number
plate used only by diplomatic corps, saying this had allowed the
vehicle to bypass the police picket set up near the embassy. Interior
Secretary Kamal Shah told reporters that initial investigations
had revealed the amount of explosives used was in excess of 15
kilograms.
|
June 6
|
Police in Rawalpindi foiled a
major terror plot, seizing explosives-packed vehicles and arresting
four suspected terrorists. Police sources said that the police
had seized 1000-kilograms of explosives along with bullets, ball
bearings, metal scraps and broken pieces of mirror, adding, religious
literature was also seized from the suspected terrorists. They
said that the terrorists had been captured after a massive sweep
of the city was launched on intelligence reports that three explosives-packed
vehicles had entered the city to target sensitive locations. Security
forces placed Rawalpindi and Islamabad on red alert following
the discovery of the explosives. City Police Officer Rao Muhammad
Iqbal said: "It’s true that the city police have arrested
four suspected terrorists and seized three explosives-packed vehicles
from them. An investigation is underway, although it’s premature
to presume anything at this stage." He appealed to people
to contact the police as soon as they saw any suspected vehicle
or person. According to the sources, preliminary investigations
have revealed that the suspected terrorists confessed that they
were planning to target the President’s Camp Office and offices
of several law-enforcement agencies.
Adviser to Prime Minister, Rehman
Malik, claimed that at least six people, including three would-be
suicide bombers, had been arrested in Islamabad. He said that
preliminary interrogations had been completed, APP reported.
|
June 7
|
A bomb explosion occurred in the
Sadaat Colony of Multan. Gulgasht Deputy Superintendent of Police
(DSP), Muhammad Ashraf, said that a youth, identified as Rauf
Yousuf, was making a bomb when it exploded. Yousaf was injured
in the blast although he later escaped, the DSP added. Additional
Senior Superintendent of Police, Fayaz Khan Sunbal, told reporters
that Yousaf had links with a banned outfit. He said no arrests
had been made, but that Yousaf’s uncle, Muharram Khan, and his
brother, Abdul Rauf, were being questioned. Police sources said
Yousaf had plans to target the lawyers’ proposed long march, starting
on June 10, adding that they had also obtained useful information
from Yousaf’s personal computer. Muharram Khan told Online that
Yousaf had been a member of a banned outfit, but "he has
come back now and is preparing for his FSc examination".
Six persons were arrested for
a terror plot that was foiled when authorities seized three vehicles
carrying more than 2,200 pounds of explosives near Islamabad.
Crime Investigation Agency chief Rana Muhammad Shahid said the
arrested persons were all Pakistani nationals and their targets
included President Pervez Musharraf’s Camp Office in Rawalpindi.
|
June 17
|
Law-enforcement agencies arrested
14 terror suspects from Lahore and Rawalpindi and seized more
than 330-kilogrammes of explosives from them.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior
Affairs, Rehman Malik, said that six would-be suicide bombers
were arrested during the lawyers’ long march last week and security
agencies recovered 45-kilogrammes of explosives from them.
|
June 20
|
Security agencies arrested three
potential suicide bombers from Rawalpindi and seized suicide jackets
from their possession. The police also arrested a man for threatening
the former with suicide attacks by mail and phone. It said sensitive
documents were recovered from the possession of the arrested persons.
|
July 3
|
Security agencies arrested five
suspected Lashkar-e-Islam militants in Lahore for allegedly plotting
suicide attacks. The suspects were arrested from an apartment
at Akbar Chowk. Suicide-bomb jackets, explosives, weapons and
two vans were seized during the raid.
|
July 6
|
20 persons, including 15 policemen,
were killed and more than 40 persons sustained injuries in a suicide
attack near the Melody Market area of capital Islamabad. The suicide
bomber targeted policemen deployed at a rally observing the first
year anniversary of an army raid on the Lal Masjid (Red mosque)
in Islamabad.
|
July 9 |
The Lahore Police arrested
four alleged terrorists with links to banned militant groups. Intelligence
sources told Daily Times that the police had also seized
a large quantity of explosives from the accused. |
July 14
|
Security agencies arrested a top
al Qaeda operative along with his two accomplices in Multan. Tanzanian
national Muhammad Al Misri, Anwar Muawiya and Muhammad Shahid
were arrested from a shutdown ‘Neel Wali Factory’ located on the
Abdali Road. Unnamed officials said that Al Misri is closely linked
with al Qaeda’s top hierarchy and is also suspected to be behind
the series of suicide attacks in Pakistan following the crackdown
on the Lal Masjid (Red mosque). Anwar, a resident of Abbotabad,
belongs to the banned Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the
sources said, adding Shahid, another LeJ activist, is a local
of Multan.
|
July 15
|
Lahore Police arrested three alleged
would-be suicide bombers and claimed to have foiled a major terrorist
attack on the city. The alleged bombers had intended to target
important public buildings and foreign installations and the Chuhng
Investigation Centre. Sources added that a week earlier, troops
had arrested a group of militants from the country’s Northern
Areas. During interrogation, the militants revealed their accomplices’
hideouts. Following the information, police raided a house in
Farkhabad on July 15 and arrested Qari Muhammad Basit, Mullah
Mir and an unidentified accomplice. Police also seized huge quantities
of explosive material, ball bearings, detonators, remote controls
and two jackets from the arrested men. Maps of some important
buildings in the city were also found.
|
July 30
|
The Tehreek-e-Islami Taliban Pakistan
(TITP) has distributed a 15-days notice to several "un-Islamic"
businesses in the Kot Addu city of Muzaffargarh district to shut
down or face dire consequences. The TTIP wrote threatening letters
to owners of CDs shops, Internet cafes and cable service providers
urging them to close down their activities. Similarly, the group
warned that women must wear the hijab (veil) to ensure
their safety.
|
August 8
|
The Lahore Police claimed to have
arrested eight suspected terrorists involved in last year’s Sargodha
Police Lines and PAF bus attacks. Capital City Police Officer
Pervaiz Rathore informed a press conference that a police team
arrested eight members of a banned outfit involved in the terrorist
attacks. The suspects have been identified as Muhammad Mohsin
alias Amir Hamza, Dilshad Ali, Saifullah, Babar Usman, Nasrullah,
Zahid Iqbal, Muhammad Usman and Muhammad Shahid. Explosives, 10
grenades, two rocket launchers, two Kalashnikovs and other weapons
were recovered from them.
|
August 11
|
Members of the Punjab Assembly
passed a resolution against President Pervez Musharraf asking
him to get a vote of confidence. 321 members of the total 369
are reported to have voted in favour of the resolution while only
25 opposed it. Twenty-three members abstained. The two-point resolution
containing a four-point charge sheet demanded President Musharraf
to either take a vote of confidence from his electoral college
or resign in accordance with Article 44(3) of the Constitution
of Pakistan. The resolution said that in case Musharraf failed
to do so, the members would call upon and urge parliament to give
notice of impeachment in accordance with Article 47 of the Constitution.
|
August 13
|
A suicide blast in Lahore killed
at least nine persons and injured more than 35, targeting policemen
standing guard on the eve of the Independence Day. The attack
took place at the busy Dubai Chowk in the Allama Iqbal Town area
at about 11:34pm, as citizens poured into the streets before midnight
to celebrate the 61st anniversary of Pakistan’s independence,
which falls on August 14. Among the dead were two policemen and
a woman. Witnesses said a young man with a beard blew himself
up near a police van that arrived at the Dubai Chowk traffic signal.
Intelligence sources linked the blast to the "recent arrests
from Jhang", referring to the detention of members of banned
militant groups.
|
August 21
|
Two suicide bombers blew themselves
up at the gates of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) in the
high security cantonment town of Wah, around 30 kilometers from
capital Islamabad, killing at least 70 persons in what was described
as the deadliest attack on a military installation in the country’s
history. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility
for the attack. The POF at Wah is a cluster of about 20 industrial
units producing artillery, tank and anti-aircraft ammunition for
the Pakistani armed forces. It employs around 25,000 to 30,000
workers.
|
August 24
|
Taliban militants blew up 24 video
shops with three bombs in a shopping plaza in Attock. While no
was killed in the blasts four persons sustained injuries. According
to eyewitnesses, the blasts demolished the shops at ground floor
of the plaza and broke window panes of adjacent buildings. The
video shops owners in the area said that they were receiving threats
from Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) to close their business and threatened
with serious consequences.
The TTP has sent letters to barbers
in the city, asking them either not to shave beards or close their
business to avoid serious consequences. These letters said shaving
the beards was un-Islamic and threatened them with dire consequences
if they violated the advice.
|
August 26
|
Eight persons were killed and
more than 20 sustained injuries in a bomb blast at a roadside
restaurant in the Model Town area on the outskirts of capital
Islamabad. About 3.5 kilograms of explosives were used in the
device planted at the eatery situated in the Hummark area, officials
from the Bomb Disposal Squad told Geo News. Most of the
victims were reportedly labourers and drivers.
|
September 3
|
Unidentified gunmen fired shots
at Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s motorcade in a high
security zone on the Islamabad Highway. Rawalpindi City Police
Officer Rao Muhammad Iqbal said the motorcade was on its way to
the airport to pick the prime minister. "The [prime minister’s]
car was going towards the airport when it was fired upon from
a small hill… Two bullets hit the driver’s window." "The prime
minister and his staff were not in the car," Interior Secretary
Syed Kamal Shah said. A statement by the Prime Minister’s House
said two of a number of sniper shots fired on the prime minister’s
vehicle hit the window on the driver’s side. "However, because
of the robust and comprehensive security measures, the prime minister
and all the members of his motorcade remained unharmed," the statement
said. Police said more than 20 suspects had been arrested and
were being questioned.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. Talking to Reuters,
a TTP spokesman said Prime Minister Gilani was attacked because
he was responsible for the ongoing offensives against militants
in the northwest of Pakistan. "We will continue such attacks on
Government officials and installations," said Muslim Khan, the
Taliban spokesman in Swat.
|
September 19
|
Security was put on high alert
across Punjab following reports that four would-be suicide bombers
had entered the province, The alleged suicide bombers, aged between
14 and 20, could wreak havoc on a large scale before Eid. The
bombers are aiming for law-enforcement personnel and sensitive
installations in Punjab.
|
September 20
|
A suicide bomber detonated a truck
packed with explosives at the Marriott Hotel in capital Islamabad,
killing at least 60 people. At least 200 people, including a Pakistan
Peoples Party legislator, were injured in the explosion, which
ruptured a gas pipeline and triggered a huge blaze. A US national
was killed and several foreigners were injured Malik. Police arrested
a 14-year-old suspect outside the hotel.
|
September 21
|
The Czech ambassador and his Vietnamese
partner were among the 53 persons killed in the suicide attack
in Islamabad. The United States Defense Department said two American
soldiers assigned to the US embassy were also killed in the blast.
Meanwhile, a Danish intelligence official was missing. A US official
at the Guantanamo naval base told Reuters, "The attack certainly
bears all the hallmarks of... Al Qaeda or its associates."
|
September 22
|
A group calling itself Fedayeen-i-Islam
claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on the Marriott
hotel in Islamabad. According to TV channels, a spokesman for
the group told Al Arabiya TV in Islamabad on phone about its involvement
in September 20 bomb blast. It could not be ascertained if the
group had any link with al Qaeda or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP).
An unnamed senior government official
told that intelligence departments were investigating the call
received by Al Arabiya. "We have not heard the name of the
organisation but we are trying to locate its network," he
said. Responding to a question, he said it had been confirmed
that the call was made from within the country, but not from Islamabad.
|
September 23
|
Police are searching for two explosives-laden
trucks in the federal capital, Islamabad. The intelligence agencies
had informed the police that three trucks loaded with explosives
had entered the federal capital. One of them targeted the Marriott
Hotel on September 20, while whereabouts of the other two are
not known. The sources said the ‘missing’ trucks were still present
in the city, adding that a risk of strikes by them had forced
the police to put the security on high alert, increase personnel
deployment near important buildings, erect pickets on key roads
and begin intensive patrolling across Islamabad. Vehicles, especially
trucks, were being searched by the police at the pickets, the
sources said, adding the police were keeping a close watch on
hotels and guesthouses.
|
September 24
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Security agencies arrested two
suspects in the Marriott Hotel bombing from Adda Mureedwala, a
town located on Samandri Road near Faisalabad. One of the arrested
men reportedly runs a public call office (PCO), while the other
is a member of a banned religious organisation and wanted by the
police. The arrested member of the banned outfit had allegedly
congratulated Qari Zafar, a prime suspect in the blast.
The police had arrested 15 people
from Rawalpindi. They were pointed out by Mursaleen, a close aide
of al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was arrested from
Gujranwala on September 21-night.
A Pakistani intelligence agency
had warned that Islamabad faced the threat of more attacks and
the terrorists could now use small vehicles for the attacks. The
group involved in the Marriott attack could now use small vehicles.
The police arrested three men
and seized two explosive-laden trucks in the Sara-e-Alamgir area
of Jehlum. It said the trucks were headed for Lahore from Rawalpindi
and carried equipment used to manufacture fireworks.
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September 25
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All airports were placed on red
alert after a telephone caller warned of a suicide bomb threat
to Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto airport.
A hoax call about the presence
of a bomb on a Karachi-bound Pakistan International Airlines flight
created panic among security personnel and passengers at Allama
Iqbal Airport in Lahore
The police are looking for two
‘suicide bombers’ who reportedly drove around Rawalpindi in a
rented car and then disappeared near Faizabad on September 25-morning.
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September 26
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A powerful bomb explosion on a
railway track derailed a passenger train in Hasilpur near Bahawalpur
in Punjab, killing at least six people, including three children
and a woman. The explosion badly damaged two carriages of the
train and also injured at least 15 people. A bomb was planted
on the track, which exploded when the train reached there (Bahawalpur).
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September 28
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Unidentified militants abducted
a Polish engineer near Attock in Punjab, shooting dead his two
drivers and a security guard during the abduction. The engineer’s
employer company said he was ambushed when he and his colleagues
were traveling to oil plants in the northeast of Islamabad to
carry out some tests.
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September 30
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Five suspected terrorists belonging
to the LeJ were arrested from a hotel at Gujranwala in Punjab.
One of arrested suspects Qari Ilyas alias Abu Bakar, carrying
a head money of PKR 2 00000, was convicted in the 1995 assassination
attempt on former premier Nawaz Sharif. The Lahore High Court
later released him on an appeal.
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October 6
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A suicide bomber blew himself
up in a crowd of people at the house of Rashid Akbar Niwani, a
Shia Member of National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N), in Bhakkar, 260-km southwest of Islamabad in Punjab,
killing 25 people and wounding 60 others, including Niwani.
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October 7
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Three remote-controlled bombs
went off one after the other in three juice shops in the Garhi
Shahu area of Lahore in Punjab injuring seven including two children
and a woman. The first bomb went off in the Chhino Juice Corner
near the Garhi Shahu Chowk, injuring two waiters, aged 12 and
14. Rescue officials said shopkeepers were asked to shut down
and evacuate the area. Fifteen minutes later, the second explosion
occurred in the Rehman Juice Corner, which had been closed. The
third bomb exploded after another 15 minutes in the Dasco Juice
Corner, injuring passers-by. Lahore District Co-ordination Officer
Sajjad Bhutta told AFP the bombs appeared designed to ‘spread
panic and fear’ rather kill. Reports said the targeted juice shops
were frequented by young unmarried couples and had received threats.
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October 9
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A suspected suicide car bombing
destroyed part of an Anti-Terror Squad building and wounded at
least six policemen in the heavily guarded Police Lines area in
Islamabad. Security officials found a letter from the TTP at the
explosion site, signed by its commander Waliur Rehman on a Jaish-e-Islami
letter pad. Written in Pashto language, the letter seeks permission
from an undisclosed authority to launch an attack on the Anti-Terror
Squad saying the plan of action had been finalised.
The police at the Islamabad airport
detained a bearded man wearing a burqa (veil), who was apparently
a suicide attacker trying to board a plane when a female security
official notified the Airport Security Force.
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October 10
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The Bomb Disposal Squad recovered
and defused a hand grenade at the residence of Rashid Akbar Niwani,
a Shia Member of National Assembly (MNA) from the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz party, at Darya Khan under Bhakkar district in Punjab.
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November 17
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Security agencies arrested two
suspected terrorists and seized a suicide bombing jacket, weapons,
foreign currency and a map of Lahore from them. According to intelligence
sources, an investigation team from Rawalpindi raided a flat in
the Kot Lakhpat Police Station precincts and held the two men
— Hafiz Irfan Ullah Mehsud, a close relative of Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud and Qari Ameer Gull, a resident
of Afghanistan. The team had been looking for a suspected TTP
militant who had come to Lahore to meet a prisoner in the Kot
Lakhpat Central Jail when it came to know that the two suspects
were living in a Kot Lakhpat house, the sources said.
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November 19
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Motorcycle borne gunmen shot dead
a retired major general of the Pakistan Army and his driver in
the outskirts of national capital Islamabad. Major General Ameer
Faisal Alvi from the Special Services Group (SSG) had retired
more than two years ago.
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November 22
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At least three people, including
a teenager, were injured in a series of three explosions near
the Alhamra Cultural Complex in Lahore, where the international
World Performing Arts Festival was in progress. Police said at
least one of the explosions at 10:02pm (PST) might be of a timed
device planted in the cafeteria in the basement of the adjacent
Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture. Rescuers said police
and officials were trying to locate the bombing site when another
explosion occurred less than 15 minutes later, injuring two workers.
Another 15 minutes later, a third explosion took place outside
the Alhamra Cultural Complex gate, injuring a 13-year-old boy.
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November 24
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Intelligence agencies have warned
of a suicide attack at the Karachi airport as well as ministries
in Islamabad during the current month. The Interior Ministry,
after receiving information from intelligence agencies, has informed
security agencies that November would be crucial and terrorists
have planned to carry out suicide attacks at the Jinnah International
Airport in Karachi, and also at the offices of various ministries
in Islamabad. However, no further detail about the modus operandi
of the terrorists was disclosed in the intelligence information
conveyed to the Interior Ministry. A source said that terrorists
have planned to strike in prominent cities in retaliation to the
ongoing operation in the FATA and have dispatched suicide bombers
to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
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December 4
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Jama’at-ud-Da’awa officials denied
any links with the banned terrorist group LeT at a press briefing
at their centre in Muridke, 30km from Lahore. Abdullah Muntazir,
deputy spokesman for the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa, said at the 75-acre
complex that they wanted to refute ‘propaganda’ against them and
clear their names in front of the national and international press.
Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman of the group, said that although the
group offered its philosophical support to militants in Kashmir,
they condemned the Mumbai attacks. He added that neither the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa
nor the LeT were involved in the attacks. On the status of the
group’s leader, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, Muntazir stated that the
government of Pakistan was "not yet so weak that it would hand
over its own citizens to India."
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December 8
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The SFs are reported to have intercepted
a car just outside Rawalpindi and arrested a suspected LeT militant.
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December 11
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Police sealed Qudsia Mosque, the
headquarters of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa in Chauburji Chowk, and 18 other
offices throughout Punjab province. Five offices were sealed in
Sialkot. 25 members of the organisation, including Ameer Hamza,
Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, Maulana Naseer Hamza, Saifullah Mansoor,
Da’awa’s director of public relations, Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed,
and Rajanpur District president Talib Rehman, were detained. A
large number of publications of the organisation were reportedly
seized. Hafiz Saeed was detained at his Johar Town residence under
the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. "Police have encircled
the house of Hafiz Saeed and told him he cannot leave his home.
They have told him that the detention order will be formally issued
shortly," his spokesman Abdullah Montazir said. A Police official
said detention orders had also been issued by the Punjab home
department and raids were being conducted to arrest Yahya Mujahid,
Abu Umer a number of other prominent members. Sources said that
an office of the organisation on Chamberlain Road, in Gawalmandi,
had been sealed a few days ago. Six members of the organisation
were arrested from its main relief camp on the Karakoram Highway,
near Ghazikot Township, on December 10. In Rawalpindi, Police
sealed the group’s local office on Circular Road.
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December 12
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Islamabad Police sealed three
offices of the JuD. One was near Masjid Quba in the I-8 Markaz
and another in Street 35 in G-6/4, Chief Commissioner Kamran Lashari
said. However, no arrests were made. Officials said the group
had abandoned its G-6 office before the Police raid. Later in
the day, Police sealed another office located on Korri Road near
Shahzad Town, and arrested six suspected operatives.
In Rawalpindi, security agencies
sealed five offices in Satellite Town, Kashmari Bazaar, Benazir
Bhutto Road, Pindora and Tench Bhatta. Police sources said no
arrests were made from these locations.
In Lahore, divisional superintendents
of Police took surety bonds from the JuD operatives. Multan Police
sealed a Jama’at-ud-Da’awa office at Rasheedabad Chowk, and a
school and a dispensary on Tareen Road in a midnight operation.
Police also sealed the group’s offices in south Punjab cities
of Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Arifwala, Bahawalnagar,
Khanewal, and arrested one operative each from Arifwala and Rajanpur.
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December 21
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A large quantity of arms seized
by the SFs during the military operation at Lal Masjid in Islamabad
and stored in the Aabpara Police station’s heavily guarded armoury,
is missing and was reported as ‘stolen’. Adviser to the Prime
Minister on Interior Rehman Malik has reportedly suspended the
Senior Superintendent of Police Ahmad Latif and Superintendent
of Police Shahzad Asif and ordered registration of a case against
Inspector Naeem Iqbal and 14 other Police personnel on charges
of criminal breach of trust, theft and burglary. All the accused
have been suspended and arrested. The arms included assault rifles,
rocket launchers, anti-tank mines, grenades and a large quantity
of bullets, which were seized by the SFs during the Lal Masjid
operation which ended on July 11, 2008. According to Police, the
stolen arms include 47 small machine-guns, three light machine-guns,
several AK-47 rifles, rocket launchers and hand grenades, seven
rockets and 2,800 bullets.
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December 24
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A woman, identified as Farzana
Bibi, was killed and five other people injured as a mini-truck
packed with explosives blew up in GOR-II area of Lahore. The windows
of nearby houses were shattered, while several walls collapsed.
A transformer also exploded. Superintendent of Police Umar Virk
said a mini-cabin with about 10-kilogrmas of explosives blew up
on the road. The target of the Lahore blast was likely a police
officer who had headed an operation that led to the death of a
leader of LeJ in 2002, and lived nearby.
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December 25
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Security agencies foiled a plot
to cause widespread destruction in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and
recovered a huge quantity of explosive material with numerous
detonating devices from a terrorist hideout in Karal near Islamabad.
However, Police failed to arrest the three miscreants who managed
to escape during the raid. Later, the Police detained 10 people
for interrogation and registered a case under the Explosives Act.
According to Police sources, over 650 kilograms of explosive material,
including 520 detonating devices (12 packs of two different kinds),
357 bricks of the Aemolite explosives, 20 bags of gun powder and
three bags of sulphur powder, were recovered. Meanwhile, Superintendent
of Police (East Zone), Saqib Sultan, who addressed a press conference
at the Karal Police station, said that the masterminds who escaped
were identified as Bacha Saeed Khan, Farid Khan and Musa Khan.
A previously-unknown pro-Taliban
group, Ansar Wa Mohajir, has claimed responsibility for the December
24-bomb blast in Lahore and the earlier rocket attacks on Dera
Ismail Khan. Toofan Wazir, identifying himself as a commander
and spokesman of the group, telephoned from somewhere in North
Waziristan to claim responsibility for the two attacks. He threatened
more attacks against the Security Forces and Government installations
to avenge the two recent US missile strikes in North Waziristan
in which several militants belonging to Punjab province were killed.
According to Toofan Wazir, the US drones fired the missiles at
Pakistani targets with the agreement and co-operation of the Government
of Pakistan. He said revenge would be taken from both the Americans
and the Pakistan Government. In Pakistan, he warned, suicide bombings
would be carried out and bombs would be planted and exploded at
important Government installations.
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December 26
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The companies ferrying military
hardware and other goods to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan
have started shifting their logistic terminals to Punjab province
after the recent series of attacks in Peshawar and prevailing
insecurity in the region. Private parties transporting supplies
for the US and NATO forces from Karachi to Kabul and Bagram airbase
via Torkham border town since 2003 have rented plots at Tarnol
and Burhan towns in the Attock district of Punjab across river
Kabul for establishing terminals and parking facilities.
The Punjab Government has appointed
administrators in 10 selected schools of the banned outfit JuD
after intelligence agencies reported that these institutions were
promoting extremism. As many as 26 educational institutions of
the JuD are operating in various parts of the province but the
Government has appointed administrators in only 10 selected schools.
Sources revealed that following a ban imposed on the JuD, intelligence
agencies informed the Government that 10 JuD educational institutions
in various parts of Punjab were promoting extremism. "Special
lectures promoting Jihad are delivered to students, especially
at the time of assembly," sources quoting intelligence reports
said.
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