‘Taliban is planning to financially weaken Pak’

BY Our Pakistan Correspondent

Islamabad

Oct. 9: Pakistan military and intelligence officials told Parliament on Thursday that Taliban militants are planning to economically weaken Pakistan. Parliament’s in-camera session continued for the second day and held discussions over the issue of militancy and terrorism in the country and Pakistan’s role in the war on terror.

"Taliban militants wa-nts to weaken our economy," a parliamentarian who attended the session told this newspaper.

Attorney-general Latif Khosa told reporters that the session could continue for nine more days. "There is a possibility that the legislators will start debate on the briefing next week."

In the opening of session on Wednesday the military informed the parliamentarians that militancy in the shape of the Taliban has become a real threat and the militants have adopted tactics to economically weaken Pakistan. They were also told that some foreign hands are involved where Pakistan strategic installations, especially in Balochistan province, are being targeted with the sole aim to destabilise the national economy.

Director general military operations Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujja Pasha, who has now been appointed as the ISI chief, briefed the in-camera joint session of the Parliament.

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21 militants killed in south Afghan

By FISNIK ABRASHI

Kabul

Oct. 9: US-led coalition troops killed 21 militants in two separate clashes in southern Afghanistan, while insurgents killed 10 civilians in the same area, the US military said on Thursday.

Coalition troops on a security patrol on Wednesday in the Shaheed Hasas district of Uruzgan province repelled an ambush by insurgents, killing 12 militants, the US military said in a statement. There were no coalition casualties.

The statement said fire from militants in the area killed 10 civilians and wounded three women and six children. "All of the injured were medically evacuated to a coalition hospital where they are being treated for their injuries," the statement said.

Uruzgan’s provincial governor, Asadullah Hamdam, could only confirm that six civilians were wounded when an insurgent rocket missed a coalition convoy and hit a nearby village. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were related, and there was no independent confirmation of the coalition account because of the remoteness of the area.

In neighbouring Helmand province on Wednesday, coalition troops called in an airstrike after a group of militants attacked their convoy, the US military said in separate statement. Nine militants were killed and there were no coalition casualties, it said. —AP