Why a fractured Taliban is endangering the U.S. mission in Afghanistan

By Shawn Snow

The conflict in Afghanistan is entering a new, even more chaotic chapter. On Monday, the six U.S. service members were killed in an apparent suicide attack in Bagram province. Meanwhile, the Islamic State has a growing presence in the country. And a dangerous power struggle has emerged within the Taliban.

Early this month, rumors of the demise of the Taliban Supreme Leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, sent shockwaves through the region. Mansour was supposedly injured in a shooting between rival factions of Taliban at a meeting in Quetta, Pakistan, dampening the prospect of peace talks between the central government in Kabul and the Taliban.

A supposed audio message from Mansour was distributed days later, an attempt to allay concerns among Taliban supporters of Mansour. But the rumor of his death or injury continues to precipitate among key members of the Afghan government, including chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who on December 7, reiterated that the Taliban leader was indeed injured in a shootout.

Whatever the truth, the Taliban is becoming more fractured, which could lead it to become more violent and unstable—right as the Obama administration is trying to adjust its course in the planned withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John F. Campbell, stated before a Senate hearing in October that the United States needs a new plan for Afghanistan, and he stressed that the political and strategic dynamics within the country have changed within the last year, including the rise of ISIS and the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar that halted peace talks this summer. A recent US government report found the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated from June 2015 through November 2015.

And things are likely to remain messy while competing factions of the Taliban continue fighting with one another over Omar’s rightful successor. It is believed that since the death of the reclusive leader, Mullah Omar, the Taliban has divided into three main factions between Mullah Mansour, the former deputy to Mullah Omar; Mullah Mohammad Rassoul Noorzai, a battlefield commander in Zabul province; and Maulavi Abdul Jalil, former deputy foreign minister of the Taliban.

Once hailed as the answer to Afghanistan’s divisive ethnic landscape, and the chaotic period that proceeded the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban are no longer viewed as a monolithic entity capable of uniting Afghans under a religious identity. The discovery of Mullah Omar’s death in 2013, the mythologized Robin Hood of Afghanistan, has ended the Taliban’s identity as Afghanistan’s unifying entity.

Fractured movements tend to prolong conflicts. This is evident with contemporary conflicts around the globe from Yemen, Syria, and Libya. Competing interests and fights over financing and access to resources cause fractured groups to fight amongst each other, increasing paranoia and anxiety over the other groups’ motives and capabilities. Meanwhile, the groups continue fighting the government, a situation that’s become increasingly evident in Afghanistan. 

Recent claims of clashes in Nangahar, Zabul, and Helmand provinces between Mansour’s forces and Rassoul’s have reportedly resulted in the deathof a prominent battlefield commander loyal to Rassoul, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah. Large numbers of villagers have fled from Herat province as internal fighting between commanders loyal to Rassoul and Mansour continues unabated.

The internal infighting, coupled with the central government’s desire to reach a peace settlement will likely make competition between the Taliban factions more violent. Attempts to seize large population centers, such as the temporary fall of Kunduz, or daring attacks on major installations like the recent siege on Kandahar airfield, may become more frequent, as competing groups look to gain supporters and consolidate power before a possible peace settlement.

The White House is slowly adapting to these rapid changes in the region. With the visit of the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the PakistaniArmy chief, General Raheel Sharif, in October and November of this year, the Obama administration is underscoring the importance of regional cooperation and the role Pakistan will play in creating peace in the region. For the upcoming fighting season the U.S. government will need to maintain its steady assistance militarily to Afghan forces, while at the same time pressuring the Pakistani government to support reconciliation between moderate Taliban forces still connected to Islamabad and the Kabul based government.

The implications for the Pentagon are far reaching. Signs of increased Special Forces operations in southern Helmand province may indicate that the White House and Pentagon are willing to go beyond the stated mission of “train, advise, and assist” to thwart Taliban advances. A loss of Helmand province would provide the Taliban with a strategic foothold in the south, access to opium for financing operations, and would provide a strong bargaining chip for anti-government forces in any peace negotiations.

An increased combat role by U.S. forces may provide a well needed morale boost to the fledgling Afghan security forces that witnessed record casualtiesthis fighting season, and buy time for the Afghan Air Force to rebuild and field its new close-air support platform, the A-29 Super Turcano, this coming spring. A stronger and more active combat role in Afghanistan could convince potential Taliban defectors and splinter groups to support the central government.

A stronger and more active combat role in Afghanistan could convince potential Taliban defectors and splinter groups to support the central government. But at least as important is understanding who is fighting whom within the Taliban. Only when those conflicts subside will there be some semblance of peace in the region.

NATO reports six foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Six US soldiers have been killed in an attack near Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. Just hours later, three rockets reportedly struck a Kabul area, one of the missiles landing near the US embassy.

The soldiers were on patrol when a suicide bomber on a motorbike laden with explosives rammed into them, NATO confirmed on Monday,

A US official confirmed that all six casualties were American soldiers, adding that two more American troops were wounded.

The soldiers were patrolling in Bagram, the largest US base left in the country, some 40 km (25 miles) north of the Afghani capital.

News agency AP said it had received an email with information that the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Helmand on razor's edge

Also on Monday, the Reuters news agency reported that three missiles hit a government district in Kabul, with one of them landing near the US Embassy entrance on Masoud Square.

No details were immediately available on casualties or damage, the report said, citing police sources.

The latest incident comes only days after a siege near the Spanish embassy left two Spaniards and at least four Afghan police dead.

The Taliban have boosted their attacks along with the intense clashes between Taliban and government security forces in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

The clashes have accounted for the deaths of at least 90 government troops as Taliban fighters appear to be on the verge of taking control of the province.

http://www.dw.com/en/nato-reports-six-foreign-soldiers-killed-in-afghanistan/a-18932482

Pakistan - Punjab government’s pint-sized Christmas grant not enough for Punjab’s swollen Christian population

Punjab government’s petite Christmas grant just not enough for province’s swollen Christian population.

According to details, as Christmas 2015 inches close, Punjab government announced a Christmas grant of 30 million Rupees. The provincial government has sanctioned this grant to be distributed to the Christian community in Punjab. However, this announcement has met with strong criticism from Christians as the claim that Punjab’s Christian population has enlarged since 1998 to a great extent. Seeing that Punjab government still considers’ the stats of 1998 census valid and has apportioned a petite grant, Christians are reacting strongly claiming that only a few Christians will be benefited by this grant.

According to the official notification, this pay-out will be made according to the census of 1998. In this regard, the Finance Department has issued a summary of this year’s Christmas grant. The Finance Department’s summary states that a total of 5,000 Rupees will be given 6,000 Christian families across Punjab. After this announcement, the Christian community of Punjab has expressed strong resentment over the fact that the provincial government had allocated a meagre amount for them.

While speaking in this regard, Riaz Anjum- Chairman of Pakistan Christian Movement (PCM) said that a small amount of Rs 5,000 per family is simply insufficient if you bear in mind that there has been a significant rise in inflation levels in the last few years.

Riaz Anjum further stated that the disbursement of amount according to the census of 1998 is “severe injustice to the Christian community and a violation of their rights.” He said that the Punjab government was intentionally not airing the actual figures pertaining to current Christian population in Punjab. He further alleges that Punjab government is doing so out of fear that Punjab’s Christian community would begin seeking its due rights.

Additionally, Shunila Ruth from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Member of Punjab Assembly on the minority seat said that 5,000 Rupees per family is not enough the amount should be increased to at least 10,000 Rupees per family. She added that there have been instances that the amount announced for Christmas; was actually disbursed around Easter. What is more, the about 400 deserving Christian families in Lahore did not receive the money of the announced grant.

PTI’s Asif Sohail Khokhar, who recently got elected from Youhanabad said that the Christian population of Youhanabad alone was over 200,000. “The government’s claim that there were only 350,000 Christians in the whole city is ridiculous. The government must ensure to disburse the amount before Christmas.”

- See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/punjab-governments-pint-sized-christmas-grant-not-enough-for-punjabs-swollen-christian-population/#sthash.0Pc9wQKP.dpuf

Pakistan - ASSISTANTS OF TERROR: HOW WOMEN RAISE FUNDS FOR DA’ISH IN KARACHI

It all started with a request. Short and simple. “Aap se darkhwast hai [We’re making a request to you]”. And that was enough. It was a code, used by Islamic State-inspired militants to raise funds for their activities in the metropolitan city.

The women’s wing of the Middle Eastern terror outfit was mainly responsible for generating funds. Once the money had been collected, the women would give it to the male members of the group, who then passed it on to their head honchos. Another code came into play when the middle man came to receive the money. “Amanat de do [Please return the keepsake],” he would say. These words were enough.

Women’s role

The women’s wing usually met at The Faith Academy school. “They [women] sent darkhwasts [requests] to well-off women, seeking donations for IS by using the name of the school,” explained an official of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). “After collecting the money, they used to hand it over to the male wing of the outfit,” he added. “Then Adil Butt, the recently-arrested CEO of the College of Accounting and Management Sciences (CAMS) used to hand over the funds to a person, identified as Omar, alias Jalal Chandio, who used the code word ‘Amanat de do’.”

On Friday, CTD in-charge Raja Omar Khattab uncovered a group of women tasked by the militant group to arrange for marriages of their operatives and also raise funds for their activities. Though there are around a dozen women in this group, six of them were particularly active in collecting funds from different parts of the city. Three of them are accused of abetting the Safoora bus carnage in May, 2015.

One of them is the wife of Omar alias Jalal Chandio, a key suspect of the Safoora attack, while another is the spouse of Adil Butt. The latter was arrested on December 2 from his residence in the Defence Housing Authority for his alleged role in the assault.

Arrests likely

CTD officials are likely to arrest the wife of Safoora attack mastermind Saad Aziz and other women affiliated with the IS-inspired group operating in the metropolis. “We were delaying the arrests because they are women,” said a CTD official. “But now the stage has come to arrest them. The women will be detained at the CTD’s detention centre where women police will be deployed round the clock.”

Officials claim the women’s wing is being operated by the families, particularly the wives of the suspects arrested in connection with the Safoora carnage and other terrorist attacks in Karachi.

Aziz’s wife and mother-in-law are key suspects in the case. So are the wives of retired PIA engineer Khalid Yousuf Bari, who was also arrested for his involvement in the attack, and Mufti Tauseef, who is an absconder in the case. Bari’s wife, along with the wife of Mufti Tauseef, and some other women are operating a strong network, said the official. But the key role lies with Bari’s wife.

“Bari’s wife has a vital role in generating funds and brainwashing well-off women to garner support for IS. She also organised Aziz’s wedding,” said an official. Forensic experts are examining the laptops, cell phones and other valuables to get more evidence.

“Bari’s wife also used to run an organisation – Idara al Zakra Academy – comprising around 20 women who used to generate funds in the names of donations, zakat and khairat for the terror outfit,” explained CTD in-charge Raja Omar Khattab. “Their other responsibility is to recruit women into the organisation through sermons and videos about IS by distributing USBs,” he added.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/20216-assistants-of-terror-how-women-raise-funds-for-da-ish-in-karachi

Pakistan - Balochistan - Educational Emergency: Poor State of Schools in Nok Kundi

Hassan Baloch

Schools at Nok Kundi are in a poor condition and the classrooms in some schools can collapse anytime. This was revealed by a group of journalists who visited three different schools in Nok Kundi on Monday.

Staff reporter of Balochistan Point was also a part of the delegation.

Balochistan is under an educational emergency since January 2014 and government has spent huge amount of resources on the promotion of the campaign.

High school of Nok Kundi, which was established 10 years ago, has vacancies of four general, one science and one computer teacher. It was also revealed that the classrooms of the school are in poor state and can collapse anytime.

Middle school of Nok Kundi has total strength of 270 and there are no sufficient classrooms for students.

“Our students have no choice but to study in open sky without any furniture,” said Mohi-ud-Din Notezai who is the headmaster of the school. He added that the formal notification of the school is still awaited.

Primary School of Killi Mengal Abad has strength of 105 and there is only one appointed teacher. The school premise doesn’t have any boundary wall and it’s a cause of inconvenience for students, journalist’s delegation learnt.

Residents of Nok Kundi, while talking to journalists, have urged Chief Secretary and Provincial Ombudsman to take steps to solve the problems of all three schools.

Pakistan - Gas crisis worsens in Punjab

With an increased demand for natural gas amid dipping temperatures, the gas crisis is worsening in Punjab and Islamabad as low pressure, coupled with unscheduled loadshedding, has forced citizens in many urban areas to use firewood.

In several cities, women came on the roads and streets holding kitchen utensils toprotests. And the situation isn’t different in Quetta where it is a yearly routine for the locals to brave the extreme cold without gas to fire their heaters.

The citizens resorted to protest for expressing their anger in various cities of Punjab including Lahore where different areas - Iqbal Town, Baghbanpura, Harbanspura, Faisal Town, Shahdarah and others - are experiencing low gas pressure and loadshedding. Sources say gas pressure is normal in the posh localities only, while citizens, especially women, protested against the government.

They said that gas shortage had badly disturbed daily routine as they were neither able to cook food nor had hot water amid cold weather.Protests were also reported from Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Nankana, Sheikhupura, Gojra and other towns and cities. In Sargodha, around 60 percent areas are without gas supply.

The gas shortage affected consumers as they threatened to besiege the gas office in Lahore. The gas loadshedding also affected the higher authorities of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL). During the past week, gas supply remained almost suspended to the houses of SNGPL higher officials. In this regard, the Lahore region GM Mehmood Zia was taken to task for non-supply of gas to the houses of the higher authorities. Various attempts were made to contact Mehmood Zia for his version, but he was not available.

Gas shortage has also started affecting various parts of Karachi, including Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Garden and old city areas.

The Sui Southern Gas Company said that pressure could not be increased on gas pipelines as these lines were very old and had rusted. The company said that more pressure could cause leakages in the pipelines.

On the other hand, power loadshedding also continued in Lahore even on Sunday, the weekly holiday. Owing to annual closure of canals, production of hydel power has decreased to a large extent. Now, besides other cities and towns of Punjab, Lahore is also experiencing night-time loadshedding for long hours. Currently, big cities in Punjab are facing 10 hours of power loadshedding and the rural areas facing up to 14 hours of outages.

Pakistan - Looking back: Number of out of school children unchanged, says report

By Ammar Sheikh

The number of children out of school across the Punjab province did not decrease between 2014 and 2015, according to a survey by Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). The survey found that 15 per cent of children remained out of the education system.

The survey, taken in all 36 districts, covered 21,512 households in 1,079 villages. It collected information on 59,179 children. The survey was conducted for children between the ages of three and 16 years. Of these, 50,686 children were tested for language and arithmetic competencies.

According to the findings of the survey, 15 per cent of children were reported out-of-school. The survey report said 8 per cent had never been enrolled and 7 per cent had dropped out.

The survey found that of the remaining 85 per cent children, 65 per cent were enrolled at public schools, 35 per cent of children at private institutions. Boys outnumber girls at public schools with 60 per cent enrolment. In private schools, the student body comprised of 58 per cent boys and 42 per cent girls.

The ASER survey found that the rate of enrolment decreased compared to last year. The survey showed that 53 per cent of all school-aged children were enrolled in schools, compared to 55 per cent in 2014. As many as 47 per cent children between the age group of three to five years were not enrolled in any pre-school programme or a school.

The survey also looked at learning outcomes. The report said learning levels had improved. This year, 30 per cent of the students of grade three could not write a grade two story in Urdu compared to 37 per cent in 2014.

The ASER report said that 73 per cent students of class three could not read a story in Urdu, which was similar to 73 per cent in the previous year. The report said that 29 per cent students of class one could not read letters in Urdu compared to 31 per cent in 2014.

English language learning showed some improvement. Nearly 40 per cent students of class five could not read sentences of class two, compared to 43 per cent in the previous year.

Out of the surveyed children, 32 per cent children enrolled in class one could not read capital letters, as compared to 34 per cent in 2014.

The report said 41 per cent students of grade five could not perform two-digit division compared to 49 per cent in 2014.

Children enrolled in private schools were found to be performing better than those in public schools. The survey found that 76 per cent children enrolled in grade five of a private school were able to read a story in Urdu compared to 67 per cent of class five children enrolled in government schools.

English learning levels of private schools were also found to be better than in public schools. The survey found that 67 per cent of class five children in private schools could read sentences, whereas only 57 per cent children of government schools children could read the same.

Boys outperformed girls in literacy and numeracy skills.

Among the tested children, 56 per cent boys and 54 per cent girls could read sentences in Urdu. The survey found that 57 per cent boys could read words in English, while 55 per cent of girls could do the same. Similarly, 54 per cent boys were able to perform subtraction, whereas only 51 per cent girls could do the same exercise.

The survey found 28 per cent teachers at government schools had completed graduation, compared to the 37 per cent at private schools.

It showed that 80 per cent government high schools had computer labs and 85 per cent had libraries. In comparison, 26 per cent private high schools had computer labs and 53 per cent had libraries.

Pakistan - FATA's Christians 'snubbed' at president's annual Christmas dinner

By Iftikhar Firdous

In a first in over a decade, Christians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will not be able to attend the annual Christmas dinner at the President House scheduled for today (Monday).

The tightly knit, small Christian community in the tribal areas has been silently protesting against the decision of the President House for not sending invitations with some even contacting government officials over the apparent snub but to no avail.

Wilson Wazir, who was appointed as one of the first minority Maliks (tribal elder) earlier in June this year, told The Express Tribune that it was for the first time in more than a decade that the Christians from Fata were not invited for the official dinner.

“It gives the community a feeling of being outcasts. I have attended 12 Christmas dinners over the years but this time we have been left out,” he lamented.

At least two other elders from the community also claimed they had not been invited for the event. When they asked for the official reason, they were told that they had not been given security clearance.

When contacted, an official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony told The Express Tribune that the security clearance of Fata’s Christians had not been received from the concerned departments. “We could not send them invitations without official approbation,” the official said requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak.

“I am uncertain as to why we are being alienated without any reason” said Wilson Wazir, holder of Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the third highest civil award, which was awarded to him in March this year in recognition of his services for minorities.

Wazir appealed to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi to intervene and help the community to feel more at home.

Around 15 to 20 invitations are sent every year to Christians living in Fata to attend the Christmas dinner in Islamabad. There are an estimated 15,000 Christians in Fata, majority of which have been living there for centuries. Their churches are mostly located inside the political compounds, structures from the colonial era.

This year, after a struggle of decades, minorities were finally offered equal status as the rest of the tribesmen. The decision was partially aimed at addressing the grievances of non-Muslims in the area who had been subjected to constant fear by various militant outfits and at times threatened to migrate to other areas.

Mystery remains over existence of Islamic State in Pakistan

After months of denying the existence of the Islamic State militant group in Pakistan, federal authorities seem to have finally accepted that the Middle Eastern terrorist outfit is gaining a foothold in the country.

According to a list of militant outfits proscribed by the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Islamic State– also known by its Arabic acronym of Da’ish – was banned in July. The list was shared by the country’s security czar in the parliament last week.

Considering the official stance, the government has banned the militant group without the group’s presence in the country. The list shows the outfit was proscribed on July 15, making it the only one to have been banned in the aftermath of the Army Public School Peshawar massacre of December last year.

The last group to be banned was the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz on March 15, 2013. The Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaatud Dawa happens to be under observation since December 1, 2005. So has the government is finally acknowledged the presence of the militant outfit by banning it? “This is contradictory to the previous statements of the government that IS does not exist in Pakistan or it is not operating in Pakistan,” said Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, former ambassador to the US and former head of Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. “The government issues contradictory statements all the time. There is nothing new here.”

He said it is not necessary the militant group had been operating in the country and the government may just be echoing the narrative of the US. “This is a straight-forward regional, sectarian fight with one of the richest countries supporting all the Sunni extremists and then Iran, on the other hand, supporting the others,” Ashraf said.

“This is their fight and it has reached Pakistan and we follow what we are told whether it’s consistent or not,” he said. Maintaining its official stance, the Foreign Office has repeatedly stated that the Islamic State has no footprint in the country, despite reports that some local militant groups have already aligned themselves with the terrorist group, which has established a self-styled caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Pakistan - Death toll due to diphtheria reaches 31 in Punjab

Death toll of children due to break out of diphtheria has reached 31 in Punjab as two more kids passed away in two days in Children Hospital Lahore. Medical experts said the issue could be solved given that the federal government increases facility of immunization.

Sources said the disease of diphtheria was increasing despite provision of medicines which was resulting in more deaths.

The recent victims were two little girls, Nimra, eight, and Asia, 12, residents of Lahore, who were under treatment for four days.

Spokesperson health department said medicines had been provided to all the government hospitals and soon the disease would be controlled.

http://aaj.tv/2015/12/death-toll-due-to-diphtheria-reaches-31-in-punjab/

PPP workers and Jiyalas will donate blood across the country on 8th martyrdom anniversary of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party has announced that PPP workers and Jiyalas will donate blood across the country on 8th martyrdom anniversary of former Prime Minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Sunday, December 27. The blood donations collected from all over the country will be given for the injured soldiers of the armed forces in war against terrorism and patient welfare societies.
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will donate blood at Naudero House, in Larkana district along with other central and provincial leaders.
Bilawal Bhutto will address a huge public meeting at Garhi Khuda Bux on martyrdom anniversary of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Central leaders of PPP will also address on the occasion.
Party leaders, workers and masses from all over the country will attend the public meeting.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/ppp-workers-and-jiyalas-will-donate-blood-across-the-country-on-8th-martyrdom-anniversary-of-shaheed-mohtarma-benazir-bhutto/

Pakistan - #PPP terms Dar’s statement a mockery to the nation

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senators Dr Karim Khawaja, Ajiz Dhamra and Engineer Gyan Chand while terming the statement of federal finance minister Ishaq Dar on PIA as ridiculous said it was a joke the federal minister has made with the nation and the country.
In a statement issued from the PPP Media Cell Sindh, they said if Dar believes he is correct then what he would say about a Presidential Ordinance on privatisation of PIA and about a recent statement from the President of Pakistan in which he had said that since Pakistan has borrowed money from the IMF so conditions of the IMF should also be accepted and implemented.
They said selling 26 percent of shares of the PIA is tantamount to mortgaging this national strategic institution to private contractors. It is same as was seen from privatisation of Karachi Electric, which consequences have affected the people and the country.
They said the federal government has to withdraw the Presidential Ordinance and the protest being started by the employees of the PIA would be fully supported by the PPP. The PPP would resist all attempts to privatise the PIA. Ishaq Dar should stop deceiving the nation.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/ppp-terms-dars-statement-a-mockery-to-the-nation/

Pakistan - OPPOSITION PARTIES DISCUSS FORMATION OF A GRAND ALLIANCE AGAINST PUNJAB GOVT

https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com

In Punjab an opposition coalition is in the offing as Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q), Jamat e Islami and independent Punjab Assembly have discussed the formation of a grand alliance against Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) government.

The PPP Punjab President Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo has said the opposition parties in the Punjab Assembly, as well as independent members had decided to form a grand alliance against the government.

In a statement issued from the PPP Punjab secretariat, Mian Manzoor Wattoo has revealed that efforts are underway to form a grand political alliance in Punjab to protest against the government’s anti-people policies.

“The grand alliance would include the PTI, the PML-Q, the JI and all other independent members in the Punjab Assembly and the talks for the grand alliance are underway on fast track” he added.

He maintained that the alliance would fully register their protest inside and outside the Punjab assembly, adding that the PMLN government has miserably failed to provide relief to commoner, and its unjust and anti-people policies forced political parties to form a grand opposition alliance in the Punjab Assembly.

Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo has also said the government was not paying attention to the needs of the citizens, and the government’s cruel tax policy, growing corruption in the Punjab’s departments/offices, political intemperance, energy crises and failure to maintain law and order situation had forced to make a grand alliance. He lambasted the government and stated that people were continuously protesting against the government policies, but it was not ready to change its course. He declared that the PPP would not leave the people of Punjab alone and would stand by them and defend their rights.

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Britain: Saudi Arabia’s silent partner in Yemen’s civil war

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• By Iona Craig 

British missiles and jets made and sold to the Saudis are part of a war that the Government wants us to overlook.

If you were told that British fighter jets and British bombs were involved in a Middle Eastern war which has left thousands of civilians dead, you could be forgiven for assuming this referred to Iraq, or perhaps the more recent UK aerial campaign extended to Syria. 

What is less likely to spring to mind is another, forgotten conflict in the region – a war sponsored by the UK that is rarely talked about. For the past nine months, British-supplied planes and British-made missiles have been part of near-daily air raids in Yemen carried out by a nine-country, Saudi Arabian-led coalition. 

In this conveniently hidden campaign, thousands have died. Bombardments by the Saudi coalition accounted for 60 per cent of the 4,493 civilian casualties in the first seven months of this year. Saudi Arabia waded into what began as a domestic political power struggle between the country’s incumbent president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and his predecessor of 33 years’ standing, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The marginalised, predominantly Shia Houthi militiamen, viewed as an Iranian proxy by the Sunni kingdom, joined forces with Saleh’s loyalists in the military to seize swathes of territory over the past 18 months, eventually forcing Hadi into self-imposed exile in Riyadh earlier this year.

A month after the aerial intervention began in March, the Saudis boasted that the coalition had dropped at least 1,000 bombs in up to 125 strikes a day. With Britain as the number one supplier of major weapons to the Saudi kingdom last year, and scores of British-made fighter jets currently being flown by the Saudi royal air force, along with British technical support, UK involvement is irrefutable. For anyone that has been on the ground in Yemen since the conflict began, it is obvious that civilians are bearing the brunt of the conflict.

Over five months spent in Yemen since the civil war began, I have witnessed numerous air strikes and visited the sites of scores more bombings across the country. The mounds of rubble I clambered over in recent months include the remnants of schools, hospitals, markets, food stores, civilian homes and public buses. 

Many of these were “double-tap” strikes, where first responders were attacked as they tried to rescue the victims of an initial bombing. The evidence I collected from witnesses and survivors clearly indicated that civilians are, at best, being indiscriminately killed and, in some cases, targeted. Despite a strong likelihood that British weapons are being used – Britain exported more than 1,000 bombs to Saudi in the first six months of 2015 – to target civilians and civilian infrastructure, the UK government refuses to recognise its complicity in clear breaches of international humanitarian law. 

While our government appears more than happy to sell our collective morality along with bombs and fighter jets to the Saudi kingdom, we should not be. We are playing a significant role. The Foreign Office insists that it has “assurances” from the Saudi-led coalition that its bombing campaign is adhering to international law. These are of little comfort to now orphaned four-year-old Rashid Othman. I saw his father’s ashen body wedged underneath the bus he was travelling in to find food after it was hit by at least two air strikes in the sands of Lahij province. At least 30 passengers died. There were no conceivable military targets in the vicinity. 

Similarly, the Saudis assured me – after I had spoken to half a dozen witnesses about the double-tap strike – that the coalition was not responsible for the death of at least 50 civilians killed at a goat market in July, even though no one else is carrying out air strikes in Yemen. Equally, they say they had nothing to do with the bombing in October of a Médecins sans Frontières hospital. 

Saudi promises are one thing. But, last week, a group of eminent lawyers determined that British arms sales to Saudi are unlawful and called for an immediate halt. The Government invites us to admire the £98m in overseas aid for Yemen in the current financial year. It is small change compared with the £1.7bn worth of UK export licences to Saudi in the first six months of 2015. 

David Cameron’s compulsion to keep supporting Saudi’s war can, in addition to the arms trade benefits, be put down to a previous warning given by the Saudi royals. After the aborted Serious Fraud Office probe into alleged corruption surrounding the British-Saudi Al-Yamamah arms deal in 2006, it emerged that the Saudis had threatened to stop passing on intelligence about potential terrorist threats if the investigation continued. Perhaps we should also ask what the Government’s exchange rate is for British lives saved to Yemeni civilians, thousands of whom are already dead. 

But this Saudi threat raises another contradiction. The main, and arguably only, beneficiaries of the current war are al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the country’s fledgling Islamic State offshoot, who have flourished as a result of the conflict. And, as long as it continues, it will only fuel their rise.

On top of all this, UN agencies have warned of mass famine, brought on by the blockade of Yemen’s sea and air ports imposed by the Saudi coalition, which is preventing vital food, fuel and medical supplies from entering the country. Aid agencies say Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is now the worst in the world, with more than 21 million people in need of some form of humanitarian aid. The combined threats of air strikes, a ground war and famine are likely to contribute to the already overwhelming European migrant crisis. 

More than 2.3 million Yemenis have been internally displaced by the war, many forcibly by the bombings, while more than 160,000 people have arrived in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Sudan to escape the conflict. The majority took the treacherous journey by boat across the Bab-el-Mandeb strait that separates Yemen from the Horn of Africa. 

The British government may choose to stay silent and ignore the evidence against it, even when raised by lawyers. We, too, may wish to claim ignorance, but Yemenis will not. As long as the UK keeps sponsoring Saudi’s war, civilians are going to continue to die from bombs, bullets and a blockade, doing so in the full knowledge that we are supporting their suffering. If we fail to ask the Government questions about British involvement, our inertia makes all of us complicit.

Is Turkey the next Pakistan?

Turkey is like Pakistan in one respect; what Pakistan was to the Taliban, Turkey is to Daesh and Al Nusra, Ahrar al Sham – all these various umbrella organisations which have got this very ultra-Wahhabi theology. Turkey is the safe area for these groups, just as Pakistan was a safe area for the Mujahideen groups in Afghanistan even after the Russians left.

But the difference between Turkey and Pakistan is this: in Turkey, the military has been secular, and it is unfortunately the political establishment that is contra-secular. In Pakistan, the political establishment was largely secular and the military, beginning with Zia Ul-Haq, converted it into a Wahhabi kind of orientation.

Now unfortunately, you have a very curious example of the European Union and the United States. They back the Wahhabi military in Pakistan against the civilian establishment. I remember when Asif Zardari was President of Pakistan, his party controlled the legislature, he wanted to downsize the power of the military. Hillary Clinton and the entire United States establishment came on the side of the military in weakening Zardari, weakening the PPP. And now it is coming on the side of the military again and it is weakening Nawaz Sharif vis-à-vis Raheel Sharif. So they are supporting the Wahhabi military against a more moderate political establishment.

In Turkey, it is the European Union that is responsible for the death of secularism, because the European Union connived with Erdogan in destroying the Turkish military’s independence and autonomy. The guarantor of secularism in Turkey, the guarantor of ensuring that Turkey would not go the Wahhabi way, was the Turkish military. And the European Union was an accomplice in destroying the Turkish military’s autonomy, as the European Union and the United States have been accomplices in destroying the primacy of the civilian establishment in Pakistan vis-à-vis the military.

So now what is happening- they are paying the price for it.

The attack on Saddam Hussain, it opened the door for Iran. Libya opened the door for Al Qaeda to enter into Europe.  I said from the start that this is what is going to happen. Syria- it is going to be much worse. Should, for example, the declared goal of these individuals about changing the Assad regime and removing it with the so-called patchwork work, then Damascus is going to become a complete area, an arena of mass murder. It’s going to become a hub, like Raqqa, of extremism1. And the problems are going to become much worse.

Some years ago, I gave up trying to understand the logic of the policy of the Atlantic Alliance. Because this policy is so fatal to its own interests. I don’t understand why they are still walking hand-in-hand with Wahhabism, why they are still participating in these sectarian conflicts? A country I am extremely respectful of is Israel. [But] They got involved in 1982 in supporting the Maronite groups against the Shi’a. And now the only country where Shi’a terror is active is Israel. Today NATO is supporting the Wahhabis. I’m not talking about the Sunnis, the Sunnis are different from Wahhabis. The Wahhabis are being supported by NATO against the Shi’as.

So what is likely if is this continue? Shi’a terror is going to spread across Europe and also the United States1. So you have Wahhabi terror and Shi’a terror. You’ll have a two-front war on this kind of theological terror. So why they are making this mistake, I do not know.

The root of the problem is the flawed policy of the Atlantic Alliance. And this flawed policy has to change. One, they have to pull back their proxies- whether it is Turkey, whether it is Saudi Arabia, whether it is Qatar.1 Two, they have to go into the roots of funding. For example, the weapons and money that ISIS has got, the weapons and money that Ahrar al-Sham has got, the weapons and money of Al Nusra- it’s easy to track them! Track the source- where did it come from? Send those people to jail! Frankly the key funders, in Saudi Arabia, in Turkey, in Qatar, of these organisations should be sent to Guantanamo Bay. Don’t shut down Guantanamo Bay, send the funders there, because these people are a thousand times more toxic than the actual so-called fighters. The ones who fund terror are the real ultra terrorists.

This region is going into a bottomless pit and the reason for that is the deeply flawed policy of the Atlantic Alliance.