DAWN/The News International, KARACHI
20 April 2003, Sunday, 18 Safar 1424
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Violence erupts at various educational institutions; dozens injured
Muttahida slams attacks on APMSO workers
16 killed in tribal clashes
Electricity tower blown up in Shabqader
US military helicopter was struck by ground fire; 3 US soldiers injured
US envoy warns Pakistan on Afghan stability
India concerned over resurgence
Violence erupts at various educational institutions; dozens injured
KARACHI: Violence erupted in different educational institutes of the city when two rival groups of students clashed each other resulting in injuries to scores of students of both the groups on Saturday, police and hospital sources said. Police sources said students of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) and the Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT) clashed each other in Federal Urdu Arts College, Urdu Science College, Jinnah College, City College, Saifee Polytechnic Institute, Premier College, University of Karachi, NED University, Government Commerce College, Government College for Men, Nazimabad, and some other institutes. Sources said the students of both the parties armed with sticks and batons attacked their rival activists, causing injuries to a number of students belonging to both the sides. Police sources said that many students of respective parties were also arrested and confined in different police stations. Majority of the clashes occurred in the colleges situated in the jurisdiction of North Nazimabad and Liaqatabad Towns where students had gone to collect their admit cards for the intermediate examination scheduled to be held on April 24. Police sources said that the clashes started simultaneously in many colleges of the defunct district central. However, one of the worst clashes occurred in the University of Karachi where dozens of IJT activists reportedly attacked students of APMSO, who were sitting in the Arts Lobby. The clash spread in the whole campus and the personnel of the Pakistan Rangers, deployed in the University, closed the main gate of the varsity. The students who suffered injuries in the clashes were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for treatment. Medico-legal sources said some 14 injured were examined at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital while at the JPMC some 19 injured were treated. However, the APMSO and the IJT through their press statements claimed that some 24 and 28 activists of theirs suffered injuries respectively. Talking to The News the DIG Operations Tariq Jameel said: "We have detained about 70 students of both the groups." He said that no case was registered so far as the offence was non-cognisable owing to the fact that the almost all injured suffered minor injuries. The names of injured belonging to APMSO were Khurram, Afroz, Iqbal, Kashif, Moin, Fahad Afridi, Arsalan, Waqas, Kamran, Osman, Ali, Saqib Fatmi, Saud, Imran, Atiqur Rehman, Ali Murtaza, Jawad, Hamza, Danish, Faizan, Shakir, Atif, Faraz and Rehan. The injured affiliated with the IJT were Adil Talha, Kashif Raza, Maroof, Rafiq, Kamal, Sanaullah, Malik Naseer, Khalil Ahmed, Arsalan, Irfan, Nadim, Obaid, Nadim, Waqar, Farhan, Saad, Kamal Ali, Azam, Khizar, Arif, Ehtram, Nadir, Muhammad Khalid, Tariq, Kamran, Kamal Mustafa, Nadim and Waqar. Till our filing of this report, the negotiations between the representatives of both the parties were continued at the office of DIG Tariq Jameel. In a late night development an agreement was signed between the two parties. It was resolved that the educational peace in the metropolis should remain intact and dialogues must be continued to maintain law and order. This was unanimously resolved by the representatives of All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) and Islami Jamiat-e-Talba during an hour-long meeting held at the office of DIG Operations, Tariq Jameel. The detained activists of both parties were released after the successful dialogues between the two students' outfits. In-charge APMSO Central Ad-hoc Committee MPA Faisal Subzwari, MPA Moin Khan and MNA Haider Rizvi represented APMSO while MMA's MPAs Nasarullah Shajee, Younus Barai and Secretary
General IJT Shoaib represented the IJT.
Muttahida slams attacks on APMSO workers
KARACHI: The Coordination Committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has slammed the armed attacks carried out by the students' wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami on the workers of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO). In a statement issued here on Saturday, the committee also condemned the incident in which armed terrorists attacked the member of Sindh assembly, Dr Abdul Aziz Bantwa, who reached the Urdu Arts College after getting the news of clash between the two parties. The committee demanded of President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali to take stern action against those elements who were destroying the educational peace of the metropolis. Meanwhile, addressing a press conference the in-charge of central ad-hoc committee of the APMSO and MPA Faisal Subzwari said that for the last few days the activists of the Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT) had been attacking the workers of the APMSO in different educational institutions of the city and on Saturday they did the same thing. He was of the view that the incidents occurred on Saturday reflected the thinking of some people who wanted to make city's educational institutes, particularly University of Karachi, 'no-go areas' for other students. He pointed out that in Karachi University, the law enforcement agency became a party against the APMSO and they beat innocent workers of the party. He observed that this trend indicated that a group in this agency, by doing such activity, wanted to make the government and its allied parties unsuccesful. However, Subzwari said: "We want to clear one thing that we want to continue and strengthen the democratic procedure." MPA Moin Khan and MNA Haider Rizvi were also present at the press conference.
16 killed in tribal clashes
SUKKUR: Sixteen people, including five children were killed and several others injured in four different tribal clashes in upper Sindh and Balochistan areas on Saturday. Seven members of a family, including five children, of the Domki tribe were killed by unidentified armed men at midnight between Friday and Saturday in Dera Murad Jamali, the border area of Sindh and Balochistan. Four people were killed in village Budho near Chak, District Shikarpur, in a clash between tribesmen of Maher and Jatoi tribes. In an another incident of tribal clash, two people were killed near Pir Jo Goth, district Khairpur, while two more people were gunned down in village Nabhera Abad, district Shikarpur, when the two groups of Atrani Jatoi clashed on a piece of agriculture land. Reports from Dera Murad Jamali said 10 armed men entered the house of Nawab Khan Domki and opened indiscriminate firing on the inmates, killing seven people. The villagers termed the attack a result of an old enmity. The authorities in the Dera said the incident took place in B area, while the Levies, which control the B area, claimed that the incident took place in A area. When this correspondent tried to contact the DCO and the DPO of the Dera and Levies officials by telephone, no body was available for their comments. A report from village Budho near Chak, some 20 KM away from Sukkur, said that a dozen of Jatoi tribesmen kidnapped Muharram Ali Maher son of Abdul Rahman Mahar, who was working in agriculture field of Maula Bukhsh Maher in village Budho, and fled toward Kacha area. On information, a group of Maher tribesmen chased the kidnappers and engaged them in an encounter in which Muharram Ali Mahar, Gulsher Jatoi, Soomar Jatoi and Mohammed Hassan Jatoi were killed on the spot. The names of the injured people could not be ascertained immediately. They have been sent to Taluka Hospital Lakhi Ghulam Shah and Civil Hospital Sukkur. The DPO Shikarpur Abdul Khaliq Shaikh along with heavy police force reached the site of incident and was to reconcile the both the warring tribes. The third incident took place in village Nabhera in the jurisdiction of Abad Police Station, where two groups of Atrani Jatoi, who were at daggers drawn over a piece of agriculture land, clashed on Saturday. Both the groups freely used automatic weapons, in which Sodho Atrani Jatoi, Hashim Atrani Jatoi, Gul Mohammed Atrani and an unidentified person were killed on the spot. Imdad Atrani Jatoi and Babul Atrani Jatoi were seriously injured in the clash and shifted to Shikarpur Hospital. Mukesh Ropeta adds from Jacobabad: Unknown armed men attacked the house of Nawab Khan Talani in village Muhammad Siddiq Bungulzai, near Dera Murad Jamali, killed seven members of his family and escaped. The deceased were identified as Ali Murad Talani, 60, his wife Jatial Khatoon, and five children of Nawab Khan, Rajab, 10, Sabzal, 15, Khawar Khatoon, 4, Zawar Khatoon, 6, Mumtaz 8, and another child whose name could not be immediately known. There was no clue to the attackers nor was any case registered till filling if this report as it was not immediately clear whether the site of the incident was in the A area or the B area. Muhammad Ejaz Khan adds from Quetta: MPA Bukhtiar Ahmed Domki blamed Bugti tribesmen for the killing in Dera Murad Jamali. He said that the cause of the carnage was an old enmity between Bugti and Domki tribes. The deceased included a five-month-old girl Zehra, he said, adding that that two members of the family, Saleem Domki and Sawali Khan were injured. The police said armed men barged threw the bodies of the deceased outside the house and torched the house. The police said that they had registered the case against unknown attackers, belonging to Bugti tribe. A two-year-old dispute between Bugti and Domki tribes has claimed 40 lives so far. Imtiaz Hussain adds from Khairpur: Twenty-five armed men of Narajo tribe attacked village Ghulam Muhammad and fired rockets and Klashnikov bursts on the people, harvesting wheat. As a result Pathan son of Juma Khan Jagirani and Bhai Khan son of Muhammad Esa Jagirani were killed on the spot, while Ghulam Bashir alias Bashan and Bakhal Ali Janwri were injured and shifted to the Civil Hospital in critical condition. After the incident, the Jagirani tribesmen came out of their houses with heavy weapons to avenge the attack. However, the police reached the spot and took measures to prevent any retaliatory action. However, later in the day one Ghulam Akbar Narejo was killed apparently in the counter attack. Further details are awaited. The Narejo tribesmen are at odds with Jagiranis over missing of two of their women. District Nazim Nafisa Shah and the district police officer had recently been recently holding meetings with the elite of both the tribes to settle their feud through a Jirga.
Electricity tower blown up in Shabqader
PESHAWAR: Some unknown people at Shabqadar in Charsadda district blew up an electricity tower of 66 KVA on Friday night, disconnecting power supply to the adjacent Mohmand Agency. This was stated by Chief Executive Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) Brig Tahir Saeed Malik while addressing an emergency press conference here in the Wapda House on Saturday. He said that it was the fifth incident in the Pesco jurisdiction and the third one in the same area since he had taken over the charge of the company. The area is believed to be a de facto tribal belt. It is during the previous regime that some 27 villages near Shabqadar
were merged into the settled area and the government established a police station to maintain its writ. The chief executive also referred to the problem arising out of the disputed nature of the area and sought the government's attention for its amicable settlement. He asked the government to clarify as to how the company should deal with the area, either it should consider it as a tribal area or a settled one. He said the area has remained a bone of contention for the Pesco as it received grave financial losses as a result of attack on its installation. In each case the Pesco has lodged FIRs but due to the police's non-cooperation non of the accused has been taken to task, he added. The chief executive said the company has brought the matter into the notice of the provincial government but no progress has been made in this connection.
US military helicopter was struck by ground fire; 3 US soldiers injured
QUETTA, April 19: Three American soldiers were injured when a United States military helicopter was struck by ground fire while on a reconnaissance flight in Balochistan on Friday, security officials told AFP.
The incident occurred in the Loti mountains, 450km south of here on Friday evening, they said.
The helicopter returned to Shahbaz air base at Jacobabad. A number of Pakistani military personnel were also aboard the helicopter, but none was hurt.-AFP
Three rockets fired
QUETTA, April 19: At least three rockets were fired from Jandaran mountains on Kohlu and militiamen retaliated with RPG shells on Thursday, but no loss was reported.
Sources in Kohlu confirmed on Friday that two rockets landed near the college in the district headquarters and one fell in a nearby village.
They said the Maiwand rifles, a wing of the Frontier Corps, retaliated with four RPG shells and the assailants escaped.
US envoy warns Pakistan on Afghan stability
KABUL: The US special representative to Afghanistan warned Pakistan on Saturday after talks on border clashes that anything that undermined the Afghan government's stability was a challenge to US interests. Zalmay Khalilzad said that Washington wanted good relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the consolidation of the US- backed government of President Hamid Karzai was in Pakistan's interests. He was speaking here after talks with Pakistani officials in Islamabad. "Success of the new Afghanistan's stability is in America's interests and any effort that undermines that stability, that threatens it, is a challenge to America's interests," he said. Afghan officials say recent guerrilla attacks by remnants of the former Taliban regime have been mounted from Pakistani territory, and hundreds of Pakistani militiamen have crossed the border. They have also accused Pakistani forces of involvement in an attack in the Pakistani border town of Chaman last Sunday, which killed a cousin of an Afghan provincial governor. "We want problems to be resolved in a friendly cooperative atmosphere and America is willing to play a constructive role in resolving any disagreements or disputes or misunderstandings that may exist between the two countries," Khalilzad said. Asked how serious he felt the incursions were, he told reporters: "This is not helpful, this is not good. If there are forces...that are here from the other side, they ought to go out." He said that Islamabad's foreign ministry had stressed it wanted the Karzai government to succeed and would not allow its territory to be used against any other country. Khalilzad hoped that the dispute could be resolved before a state visit to Islamabad next week by Karzai, at which border security is expected to top the Afghans' agenda. An Afghan commander said that the fire was exchanged over the Afghan-Pakistani frontier on Thursday as forces from both sides faced off after about 800 Pakistani militiamen occupied a border village in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost, a region where Taliban remnants have been active. Khalilzad said that there had been an increase in anti-government activity in Afghanistan that appeared to be the result of opponents trying to take advantage of the distraction of the Iraq war.
India concerned over resurgence
NEW DELHI: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday that he was concerned at the re-emergence of "Taliban-inspired terrorism" in Afghanistan. "... As a neighbour and friend of Afghanistan, we are greatly concerned at the re-emergence of Taliban-inspired and ISI-backed terrorism in parts of Afghanistan," he said. Sinha said that the Taliban were involved in the killing of a foreign national working for the International Committee of Red Cross as well as two US soldiers in the country. He also added that a large number of Taliban followers were recently apprehended after they entered the country with arms, ammunition and publicity literature against the Afghan government. "A memorandum was also submitted on April 14 on behalf of people of Kandahar, calling upon Pakistan to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, and to stop supplying bombs and explosives to terrorists," he added. Sinha said that the international campaign on terrorism should not condone terrorism in some countries, while choosing to punish others. "Those connected to the heinous acts of September 11, had inter-linkages in terms of collaborators, funding, indoctrination and training in places including our neighbourhood," he said. "State agencies and groups directly sponsored by our western neighbour are also known to have provided safe haven and logistical support to fleeing al-Qaeda and Taliban elements," Sinha added. New Delhi has been supporting the present Afghanistan government with not only funds, but also helping the development of its health sector, education, civil aviation, transport, and agriculture industry. Sinha added that the international community was increasingly aware of India's concerns on cross-border infiltration, but said that this did not mean that the US would start intervening in its affairs with Pakistan. He said that India had deliberately followed a "middle path" in its reaction to the US-led war against Iraq.
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