Pakistan:
Miami Herald: A roadside bomb has killed seven members of an anti-Taliban militia in Orakzai Agency. “…the men were on their way to a meeting to discuss strategy to counter the Pakistani Taliban.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban have killed many such militiamen in the past.
Earlier on Thursday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a police station elsewhere in northwest Pakistan that wounded one officer.”
Fox News: Five suicide bombers have attacked a police station in Bannu. “Nisar Tanoli says three of the bombers detonated their explosive vests while the police shot dead the other two attackers.
Tanoli says a police officer was wounded during Thursday’s attack in Bannu city. Tanoli is the police chief in Bannu.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan has claimed responsibility for the attack.”
Press TV: Hundreds of Pakistani tribesmen have staged an anti-US demonstration in Islamabad protesting US drone attacks. “The rally took place on Wednesday where protesters chanted slogans against the US. Reports say that a similar protest was also held in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday.
This comes after at least five people were killed and many others wounded in an attack carried out by a US assassination drone in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan on February 6.
Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants crossing the border with Afghanistan, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.”
Afghanistan:
Washington Post: The US withdrawal from Afghanistan will raise the risk of civilian construction projects in the country. “John F. Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, told the House Oversight Committee that civilians monitoring these projects are allowed to work only within a ‘safe zone, or bubble’ limited to areas within about a 20-minute helicopter flight to a facility that can provide emergency medical care.
As our U.S. troops continue to withdraw, the amount of territory in Afghanistan that falls outside of the bubble will increase,” Sopko said. ‘Accordingly, the amount of programs and number of projects that can be monitored and overseen by U.S. personnel will decrease.’”
Khaama Press: The Taliban are insisting that NATO completely withdraw its troops post-2014. “According to a statement released by Taliban group, ‘The western governments should by now have realized they must salvage themselves from the protracted and pointless war in Afghanistan which truly has brought down tragedies and disasters on America and other arrogant countries.’
The source further added, ‘Thousands of their soldiers were killed, maimed and mentally disabled; billions of dollars was spent; economies of involved invading countries faced decline; its own people were reduced to beggary and other such ills…’
‘Now the time has come for the American president Obama and other head of states of invading countries to understand the realities of this futile war and instead of tactical efforts, troop reductions and gradual withdrawals, focus on the conditions, calls and needs of its own people and immediately extract all its troops from our country’ Taliban said following the statement.”
India:
Daily News and Analysis: Suspected Maoists have killed a journalist yesterday for allegedly being a police informer.
“Suspected Maoists killed a journalist whose body was found on Wednesday morning, by slitting his throat alleging him to be a police informer in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, the police said. Police also suspect the involvement of some villagers in the incident as the 45-year-old journalist Nemi Chand Jain had an argument with some people of the area a few days ago.”
The Times of India: Following the killing of a teacher suspected to be a police informer by Maoists in the village of Pathpani, the village’s inhabitants have asked to be relocated, fearing the Maoist rebels.
“Maoists had killed Dunguripali primary school teacher Chaitanya Majhi (32), accusing him of being a police informer, and thrown his body in Pathpani forest. After the incident about 250 villagers deserted the village fearing more attacks by Maoists. They are now staying in their relatives’ homes in three neighbouring villages of Kutpali, Ghabra and Kandhpada. They are determined not to return to the village again, sources said.
‘We fear for our lives as the village periphery area has become a Maoist den and we don’t have faith in the security forces. We have urged the chief minister and the local administration to shift us to some other location, away from Maoist influence so that we can live without fear,’ said Hiradhar Majhi, a villager.”
Bangladesh:
Bangladesh News 24 Hours: Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami are converging in Dhaka from around Bangladesh as clashes occurred in parts of the city, according to local police.
“…The Jamaat-e-Islami are mobilising activists in Dhaka to foment trouble, police said on Wednesday. This follows the mayhem unleashed by Jamaat supporters in parts of the capital on Tuesday.
Police on Wednesday nabbed 34 people from Sadarghat launch terminal at around 5:30am on suspicion of linked to the Jamaat and its student affiliate, Islami Chhatra Shibir. Several other Shibir activists were nabbed from Motijheel, said Motijheel Police Station officials.”
Nepal:
Himalayan Times: The Federal Democratic Front-Nepal (FDF-N) accused the incumbent government of trying to push the country towards brink of disaster.
Sending a memorandum through Chief District Officer (CDO) the party demanded the incumbent government-led by UCPN-M to bail the country out from the political and constitutional imbroglio by forming the Constitution Assembly (CA) legislative parliament.
The party said that there is no alternative to protests to topple the present government as they were trying to push the country towards uncertainty by not addressing the rights of the marginalized groups.
Sri Lanka:
Himal Mag: Tisaranee Gunasekara: Post-war trauma and a militarised peace have created a violent society in Sri Lanka, with children the worst affected.
Having experienced one long war and two insurgencies, Sri Lanka is no stranger to violence. But until a few years ago, violent crimes targeting children were relatively rare in this wounded land.
Is Sri Lanka’s plague of anti-child violence rooted in the country’s bloody past? Did the triumphant and lionised warriors of the Fourth Eelam War bring back with them the bacillus of violent mores? What happens when a society is exposed to a military culture and is injected with concomitant military values, as Sri Lanka has been?
Children are not the only ones suffering. In post-war Sri Lanka, violence is everywhere. It is the method of choice to resolve a conflict, fulfil a desire, deal with an opponent, enrich oneself, cure an ‘occult’ illness, or just vent out. Rape is also proliferating.
During the course of the Fourth Eelam War, Sri Lanka’s southern society had come to accept torture, rape and murder as legitimate weapons of war. This sanctification of the abhorrent has also helped create today’s hothouse climate for violent crimes.
Colombo Page: Sri Lankan authorities today released the final two Jaffna University students who were arrested and rehabilitated, on the orders of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and handed them over to their parents.
The Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) of police arrested four students over the issue of observing the LTTE’s Heroes Day on November 27 to commemorate the dead fighters of the banned terrorist organization.