AFGHANISTAN
1.In order to sabotage elections in 16 districts of Balochistan, where BLA, BLF, BRA and UBA have their presence, Afghan Intelligence Agency, NDS, has established a command-centre with the help of India and the US to distribute anti-national and threatening literature; it has already shifted a large cache of weapons and funds to Balochistan. In spite of the warning given by sensitive agencies, the Balochistan Election Commission didn’t provide security to EC staff. In fact, two weeks ago, a major intelligence agency had warned of which terrorist outfits will sabotage election activities and in which areas. This was not taken seriously. It seems that in the future, there would be bloodshed on a large scale. There were plans of smuggling IEDs and weapons in large quantities into Balochistan. The death of Abdul Haq Baloch in Khuzdar was a setback to militants since Baloch was working as a master in the preparation of IEDs for Lashkar-e-Balochistan and BLA. (Ummat)
INDIA
1. $ 4.42 million worth of sugar was exported to India in the past 3 months from Pakistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
2. Ausaf commending India’s tax recovery mechanism, asked Pakistan government to emulate the example and boost tax recovery rate. (Ausaf Edit, 13 March)
3 .JI activists have burnt 47 temples and 700 houses of Hindus over the past two week in protest against punishments and executions of JI leaders in Bangladesh.. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
UNITED STATES- Taliban
1.According to an American intelligence report, Taliban leaders were still hiding in Pakistan and continued to be a threat to the international community. The report states that Taliban had been eradicated only from some areas of Afghanistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
DEFENCE
1.PM Ashraf ordered the discussions on Gwadar and Iran gas project at a ministerial level, instead of discussing them in the Cabinet Committee for Defence. Sources said that the military leadership wanted to discuss the arrangements of handing over of Gwadar Port to China under this committee. Sources said the military leadership thinks that these two projects were crucial for regional security and hence, the military leadership should be taken into confidence. (Khabrain)
2. COAS Gen. Kayani met the Governor of Riyadh Prince Khalid Bin Bandar and discussed bilateral issues. He also met Interior Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz and Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar Bin Sultan. During his umra, Kayani was visited by many Pakistani nationals who expressed concern over the situation in Pakistan. Kayani assured them that Pakistan’s defence was strong. (Jasarat, Ummat)
3.American Ambassador Richard Olson met Lt. Gen. Khalid Rabbani of the 11th Corps Command and Inspector Gen. of FC Major Gen. Ghayur Mahmood. He conveyed America’s intereste in long-lasting relations with Pakistan. (Ummat)
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
1. Federal Interior Minister Rahman Malik stated that LeJ had become powerful and that if no action was taken against it, it will create problems. (Jang)
2. Central Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith Chief Senator Sajid Mir said that the punishment for blasphemy was death but only the judiciary had the right to take a decision. He added that a public awareness movement should be started to stop people from taking undue advantage of the blasphemy law. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
3. Sunni Tehrik leader Mohammad Shah Ghori demanded from those negotiating with Taliban to take account of the 40,000 Muslims killed by Taliban. He said that federal and provincial institutions had completely failed in controlling terrorists. (Daily Hazara News)
4. In his article, Maulana Fazlur Rahman throws light on why the APC held on February 28th decided to from grand jirga to hold dialogues with Taliban. Rahman writes that the military operation in tribal areas was not effective due to the topography of FATA which supports guerrilla warfare. He writes that FATA and adjacent border areas in Afghanistan were a good shelter for militants as they are easily able to cross to the other side, in case of a military operation. Rahman writes that after 2014, these areas will expand for militants. He draws attention to the fact that before any military activity in FATA, Pakistan should remember that 30,000 American troops could not threaten Taliban’s technical and operational ability. Hence, when talks with Afghan Taliban were okay, then dialogue with Pakistan Taliban should also be in order. (Jang)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Speaking in Jeddah, chief of Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rashid has stated that there was no money for the Army to show its efficiency. He said that he did not see elections taking place on time due to lack of conformity between the government and the opposition over caretaker PM; hence, the issue may go to EC causing delay. He added that a suicide attacker will be an important element in the elections. (Jang)
2. In his column, Irfan Siddiqui suggests that instead of locking horns with political parties, the Election Commission should adopt a more patient and wise strategy to bring in a good government. (Jang)
3. In his column, Irshad Mehmood refers to PML-N’s declaration that if it came to power, it will scrap the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project. Mehmood says PML-N has also commented against handing over Gwadar Port to China. He says that this shows PML-N has gained support from the international establishment. By promising the formation of Bahawalpur, Hazara and Saraiki provinces in its election manifesto, PML-N had proved that it is not against new provinces. PML-N has also given indications of making a separate tribal province and Shahbaz Sharif has enticed the young generation with laptop education and job promises. (Roznama Duniya)
4. Daily Hazara News says that PTI has emerged as the most powerful and popular party, according to political observers. PTI’s intra-party elections gave it an image of an organized and strong party. Edit says that even though, groupism is still visible overall, the party’s image had improved. Edit is of the opinion that if PTI played its cards well in the coming elections, it could emerge as a major player in KP. The ruling Awami National Party and PPP seem to have weakened compared to last election. Edit comments that despite accepting Musharraf cadre, the position of PML-N seemed bad whereas JUI and Aftab Sherpao’s Quami Watan Party seem to better placed. (Daily Hazara News Edit)
ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1.Awami Awaz says that the Fishermen’s Forum has set a good precedent by taking the protests against Kalabagh to Punjab. Edit says till now, Punjab had not been given sufficient feedback on the Kalabagh Dam, which has been generating misunderstandings between Sindh and Punjab for a long time. It says that despite 3 provinces being against the dam, vested elements in Punjab were not ready to give it up. It says that protests like the Fishermen’s Forum protests were the need of the hour. Edit says that the government and other politicians should not consider projects that were against people’s interests such as Kalabagh. It also urges the government to withdraw other anti-Sindh projects for larger interests. (Awami Awaz)
BALOCHISTAN
1. Quetta Police have arrested11 boys who were allegedly working as bombers for the banned United Baloch Army. ( all dailies)
2. Banned terrorist outfit Baloch Republican Army has taken responsibility for the recent attacks on security forces. Its spokesperson Sarbaz Baloch informed the media that Baloch activists had blocked the Bolan highway on Monday night. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
3. Roznama Duniya in its edit notes that BLA killed Quetta District Election Commission official in order to delay the elections in Balochistan and says that similar situation is seen in other parts of Pakistan, with only one difference, While BLA openly acknowledges its actions, the other anti-democratic elements are not coming out into open. (Roznama Duniya Edit)
POK/ G-B NEWS
1. JI AJK leader Abdul Rashid Turabi met Turkish Envoy Mustafa Babar and discussed the Kashmir issue. Turabi demanded that India should provide Kashmiris with the right of taking a decision about their future, based on the UN resolution. The Turkish Envoy said that Turkey was well aware about regional issues. (Daily Dharti)
terrorism, Urdu newspapers of pakistan, Pak-US relations, Pak dailies, Extremism, POK news, Gilgit -Baltistan news,
2. Speaking in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, Mirza Hussain said that as per the Self-Governance Ordinance 2009, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan were not Pakistanis and until Gilgit-Baltistan was included in Pakistan’s Constitution as the fifth province, they could not be called Pakistanis. (Baad-e-Shimal)
3. A consensus could not be achieved amongst the member of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly over imposition of tax on non-custom paid vehicles; the decision has been left to the Cabinet. (Baad-e-Shimal)
4. Baad-e-Shimal welcoming the tabling of Protection of Women’s Bill in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly says that it should be adopted without much ado since the National Assembly had approved a similar law. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)
