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‘Taliban is planning to financially weaken Pak’
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ASIANAGE on 09 October, 2008 04:12:58
 
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