|
|
|
|
|
Mass rally in Moscow piles pressure on Putin
Syrians rally for Assad
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A Taliban suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a paramilitary camp in northwest Pakistan today killing at least nine troopers and injuring 17 others, the second attack in as many days aimed at avenging a militant commander’s killing in a US drone strike. Security officials stand near the rubble of a paramilitary building levelled by a suicide bomb attack in Bannu on Saturday. — Reuters
‘Pak military hid Osama in
Abbottabad’
Pakistani military had harboured Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden with the knowledge of former president Gen Pervez Musharraf, former army chief Gen Ziauddin Butt has said. Over 100 killed in Nigeria
Prince Philip undergoes heart surgery
|
|
Mass rally in Moscow piles pressure on Putin
Moscow, December 24 The demonstration in Moscow was as massive as the one two weeks, the largest show of discontent the nation has seen since the 1991 Soviet collapse, although rallies in other cities in the far east and Siberia earlier today drew much smaller crowds. Rally participants gathered on a broad avenue about 2.5 km from the Kremlin on a snowy day. A stage at one side of the 700-metre avenue featured placards reading "Russia Will be Free" and "This Election is a Farce". Recent protests in Moscow and other cities have dented Putin's authority as he seeks to reclaim the presidency in next March's vote. The Kremlin has responded by promising a set of political reforms that would liberalise election rules. Meanwhile, former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev has demanded a re-run of Russia's disputed parliamentary polls which was narrowly won by the ruling party of Prime Minister Vladmir Putin. Gorbachev said a demand to hold new elections "remained," more than two weeks after the December 4 poll which saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party just retain its parliamentary majority amid widespread allegations of fraud.
— AP
|
|
Beirut, December 24 The United Nations expressed grave concern over the bombings, which marked an ominous escalation in the violence that has rocked the Arab nation for the past nine months, claiming at least 5,000 lives. Syria said Al-Qaida terrorists were behind the attacks. There has been no claim of responsibility. Opposition members said they suspected the Assad government carried out the bombings itself, to prove to the world it is facing a ruthless insurgency by armed Islamic fundamentalists. In Cairo, Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi said he would go to Damascus on Saturday to assume his role as head of an Arab League monitoring mission which is intended to fan out over the country and verify an armistice. The first batch of about 50 monitors is expected to travel to Syria on Monday. Assad opponents say the mission will only be used as a foil to gain time while government security forces advance their drive to smother the revolt.
— Reuters
|
|
9 Pak troopers killed in Taliban suicide attack Islamabad, December 24 The bomber attacked an office of the Frontier Corps in Bannu city of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The single-storey building and several nearby shops were severely damaged by the powerful explosion. Five troopers were killed instantly and four more bodies were later found in the rubble, officials told the media. The 17 injured security personnel were taken to a military hospital in Bannu, where officials said several troopers were in critical condition. Sources said nearly 300 paramilitary troopers were living in the camp, which had several residential barracks. The camp is a base for Frontier Corps personnel deployed in nearby North Waziristan tribal region, considered a safe haven for Taliban and Al-Qaida elements. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would continue targeting security forces. “We claim responsibility for the attack’ which was carried out to avenge the killing of Taliban commander Taj Gul in a US drone strike in South Waziristan last month,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said. “Our attacks will continue against the security forces.” Footage on television showed most parts of the camp were razed to the ground. Security personnel dug through the rubble of the office with their hands as they searched for bodies and the injured.
— PTI
|
|
|
‘Pak military hid Osama in Abbottabad’ Washington, December 24 An article on the Jamestown Foundation website, which cited Butt, said that despite denials, evidence is emerging that "elements within the Pakistani military harboured Osama with the knowledge of Musharraf and Kayani". Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is the current army chief. Ziauddin Butt, a former army chief, told a conference on Pakistani-US ties in October 2011 that according to his knowledge then director general of Intelligence Bureau, Brig Ijaz Shah (retd), had "kept Osama bin Laden in an Intelligence Bureau safe house in Abbottabad". Osama bin Laden was gunned down May 2 by US commandos who mounted a daring operation using stealth helicopters. The retired General said in the same address that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had helped the CIA to track Osama down and kill him. The report said that stunning revelation was unreported for some time as some intelligence officers had asked journalists not to publish Butt's remarks. The report said Butt told the daily Dawn December 11 that he fully believed that "(Brigadier) Ijaz Shah had kept this man (bin Laden in the Abbottabad compound) with the full knowledge of Musharraf..." Butt added, "Ijaz Shah was an all-powerful official in the government of General Musharraf". To a query on whether the present army chief knew about it, Butt said yes, but later added: “(General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani) may have known — I do not know — he might not have known.”
— PTI
|
|
|
Over 100 killed in Nigeria
Abuja, December 24 The country's chief of army staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika said the attacks started on Thursday by militants of the radical Boko Haram sect that wants to impose Sharia law in the region. According to him, four soldiers were also killed but the radicals were dislodged from their key stronghold in Damaturu which is also the capital of Gombe state. The fighting later spread to nearby cities of Potiskum and the capital of Borno state Maiduguri. The militants threw explosives and a firefight ensued with the military. Panicked residents fled for safety in Damaturu. Different security sources gave varied casualty figures, and eyewitnesses said the number of dead could surpass 100, and the dead included civilians who died after being hit by stray bullets. Police commissioner in Yobe state, Lawan Tanko said 15 members of Boko Haram, a civilian and seven police officers died, but added that the figure was provisional. — PTI
|
|
|
Prince Philip undergoes heart surgery
The Duke of Edinburgh was taken to Papworth Cardiothoracic Hospital in Cambridge from Sandringham, the Queen's sprawling estate in Norfolk where the royal family traditionally spends its Christmas break, for "precautionary tests" last night after suffering chest pain. The Buckingham Palace said that Prince Philip had a "good night" sleep but was scheduled to remain under observation "for a short period" at the hospital. A "minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting" was successfully performed on him, after which he was described to be in "good spirits" but remains under observation at the hospital, the Palace said. Following tests at the hospital, Prince Philip was "found to have a blocked coronary artery which caused his chest pain," it said. He was later visited by Queen Elizabeth and by their sons Edward and Andrew, and daughter, Anne. After they left, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived.
— PTI
|
|
Russia test-fires two N-missiles
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
London, December 24