Pakistan:
CNN: Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the leader of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has offered support for victims of the US Super-storm Sandy. “‘We offer our unconditional support and help for the victims’ of the storm, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said in a statement late Tuesday. “If U.S. government allows, we will send our doctors, relief and rescue experts, food and medicine on humanitarian grounds.’
The proposal may seem a little surprising in light of the U.S authorities’ announcement in April that they would pay $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who is accused by India of masterminding the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai that killed 166 people — an allegation he denies.”
Kashmir Watch: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has denied that it is responsible for the attack on Malala Yousafzai. “Slamming the media for bringing the Malala attack in the spotlight, Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan (TTP)chief Hakimullah Mehsud has said a ‘minor incident’ has been played up to hatch a ‘poisonous’ plot against the Taliban.
In a four-minute audio message sent to BBC, Mehsud said: ‘A minor incident has been played up to cook up a plot against extremists.’”
Analysis: Mak Lodhi writing for The News: An Army operation in North Waziristan to clear out militants would be too risky to carry out. “‘North Waziristan is infested with extremists of all shades and hues, of nationalities, even that of the US,’ [Army Officers posted in North Wazirstan] disclosed.’“We live in a barricaded camp and when we move out for the construction of a road we go well-equipped and under the cover of armoured vehicles. We wear a different uniform, not the regular pigmented army fatigue. It indicates to militants that we are involved in road construction under the Frontier Works Organisation and we are not regular army troops,’ they said.”
Afghanistan:
Al Jazeera: A roadside bomb has killed at least eight people in southern Afghanistan. “‘Eight of our civilian compatriots, seven women and a man, were killed today when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban terrorists,’ a statement issued by the ministry read.
Another woman and a man were wounded in the attack, which occurred in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province.
The Kabul government has blamed the Taliban for the improvised explosive device, IED, but no group has claimed responsibility yet.”
India:
Voice of America: India’s newly-appointed Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid of the UPA, has stated that he will focus on improving relations with Pakistan and China. Coming from “an illustrious Muslim family”, he has acted as a junior minister in the Ministry in the 1990s and believes that India has, according to the report, “more common ground with Pakistan than ever before”. l
The Daily Excelsior: The Government has decided to deploy 10,000 police reservists to Naxal-afflicted states. The Central Reserve Police Force, the “mainstay for anti-Maoist operations”, is withdrawing units from Jammu and Kashmir, redeploying to states including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
