US assassination drone strikes kill 16 in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani protesters shout slogans while burning a US flag during a demonstration in Multan against the US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belt, May 25, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/04/244514/us-terror-drones-kill-in-nw-pakistan/

As many as 16 people have been killed and four others injured in an airstrike carried out by US assassination drones on the northwestern Pakistan tribal area of North Waziristan.

Early Monday morning, the unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a residential building and a vehicle in the Mir Ali area, 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border , killing 16 people and injuring four more.

The Monday airstrike is the third attack in the area over the past three days, during which time a total of 30 people were killed in the raids.

Four drones were reportedly hovering over the tribal belt after the attacks.

More than 150 people have died in 20 drone attacks in Pakistan's northwest tribal region since the beginning of this year.

Despite the Pakistani government’s repeated calls on Washington to end the drone attacks, the US has increased the non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes

Waziristan and other tribal regions in northwestern Pakistan have been frequently targeted by US drones over the past few years.

Washington has been using its pilotless drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia and claims that it is targeting militants, but civilians are the main victims in the attacks.

Figures show that the American drone strikes killed at least 212 people in Yemen and Pakistan in the month of May.

The aerial attacks were initiated by former US President George W. Bush but have been escalated under President Barack Obama.

NATO withdraws Afghanistan staff after US advisers killed

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/228625.html

NATO on Saturday pulled all its staff out of Afghan government ministries after two U.S. military advisers were shot dead in the interior ministry, as anti-U.S. protests raged for a fifth day.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was in revenge for the burning of Qur'ans at a U.S.-run military base - an incident that forced U.S. President Barack Obama to apologize to the Afghan people. Thejakartaglobe

HIGHLIGHTS

"For obvious force protection reasons, I have also taken immediate measures to recall all other ISAF personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul," said U.S. General John Allen, commander of NATO's international security assistance force. news24.co

The two advisers, including a lieutenant colonel and a major, were shot in the back of the head, according to Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information. Huffington Post

U.S. officials said the assailant - who has not been identified by name or nationality - remained at large and a manhunt was underway. Huffington Post

Britain said its embassy was also temporarily withdrawing all civilian mentors and advisers from Afghan government institutions in Kabul. Thejakartaglobe

The latest deaths come hard on the heels of the killing of two American troops on Thursday when an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on them at their base in eastern Nangarhar province as demonstrators approached. Thejakartaglobe

US presses Pakistan to allow intelligence bases near Iran

Satellite photo of Iran-Pakistan border

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227892.html

An Indian newspaper says the United States is putting pressure on Pakistan to allow Washington to establish espionage bases in the country’s Balochistan province to gather intelligence on Iran.

According to a report published by The Times of India on Monday, the US Congress has been discussing a resolution to recognize the right of Baloch people to self-determination as a means of putting pressure on Islamabad to give in to the US demands.

The move elicited angry reactions from Pakistan’s top leaders including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who described it as an attack on the country's sovereignty.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, also said though the resolution was an isolated move by a few individuals, it "is contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and international law.”

“The outburst in America for Balochistan…is part of the move [by the US] to set up intelligence bases close to the Iranian border,” an unnamed Pakistani official was quoted by the paper as saying.

The official indicated that the Congressional hearing and resolution were nothing but "pressure tactics."

"They [Americans] want to use our soil against Iran, which we can never allow," he added.

Meanwhile, two officials from Pakistan’s security agencies and one from diplomatic circles confirmed to the daily that the American diplomats and military leaders had requested permission for their agents to operate near the Iranian border in Balochistan.

The revelation came a few days after the US House of Representatives blamed Pakistani security agencies for the abductions and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan.

This is not the first time that the United States has made efforts to spy on Iran.

On May 30, 2011, the members of a CIA espionage and sabotage network were arrested by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

On November 24, Iran announced the arrest of a dozen other CIA spies, who were found to have been on a mission to sabotage the country's nuclear facilities and other important compounds.

Another CIA espionage network with 12 members was busted in Iran and Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah.

On December 4, Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft when flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border.

Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone had been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the United State's intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

UK to deploy second Prince to frontline

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225793.html

In a bid to fulfill the constitutional role of the British monarchy, Tory-led government will deploy yet another member of royal family, Prince Harry, to the frontline in Afghanistan as an Apache attack helicopter pilot.

The Prince, the third in line to the throne, will be deployed to Afghanistan warzone towards the end of 2012, following a Ministry of Defense announcement that Harry, known as Captain Wales, would fly the aircraft to fight Taliban.

The latest development comes as the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, was sent to the Malvinas Islands for a six-week deployment as a search and rescue pilot while tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed islands have heightened.

Royal sources claimed that Harry was looking forward to “doing his duty” after finishing a demanding 18-month training program and will join an operational unit in Afghanistan, where he was sent four years ago to stay 14 weeks, but ended up his duty 10 weeks into the tour after reportedly failing in military operations.

Analysts criticize MoD’s plan to send Harry again to Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter, which can fire different types of rockets such as laser-guided Hellfire missiles and has a 30mm cannon for close-quarters fighting.

Analysts believe that the deployment of the royal brothers to the frontlines while the monarchy is celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee year, show that the royal family is seeking to increase its constitutional role in the country.

Anti-monarchy activists also condemned the costly deployments of the second and third in line to the throne and blamed the government for being “anti-democratic” as it put the monarchy’s controversial policies into practice.

The question on the minds of the critics now is that if 27-year-old Prince is ready enough to represent a role for Britain, while his regular evenings at London nightclubs made him unsure on his feet.

Congress OKs drone flights in US airspace

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225756.html

US Congress has passed a bill requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to open the country’s airspace to thousands of drone aircraft within four years, Press TV reports.

According to the plan, which is part of a $63 billion funding package for the FAA, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will fly beyond solely military airspace and begin to flood domestic US airspace by 2015.

The legislation requires the FAA to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to US airspace by September 30, 2015.

The FAA has predicted that 30,000 drones could be in US skies by 2020. The bill is the result of an enormous lobbying effort from Washington insiders and the defense industry.

Even though the legislation restricts the use of the drones over populated areas, civil liberties groups are concerned the door into a sacred Constitutional tenant will be opened even wider.

“There are serious policy questions on the horizon about privacy and surveillance, by both government agencies and commercial entities,” said Steven Aftergood of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.

However, many members of Congress who signed the bill don’t see expanded drone use as a problem. They believe the growth of the drone industry will create more jobs for their constituents.

Pakistan leaders spurn pro-NATO move

Activists of Pakistan Defense Council gather during a rally in the city of Multan on January 29, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/223828.html

Pakistani religious and political leaders say they will not let Islamabad reopen Pakistan's crossings to NATO's supply trucks, closed after the US forces with the alliance conducted a deadly attack against the country.

The leaders made the announcement on Sunday during a massive anti-US demonstration arranged by the Defense of Pakistan Council, which is an alliance of 40 religious and political parties, in the city of Multan, about 400 kilometers southwest of the capital Islamabad.

Attending the demonstration, thousands of people from different religious and political groups condemned Washington's policies and its non-UN-sanctioned drone strikes on Pakistan's tribal region.

Islamabad stopped the supply convoys destined for the 130,000-strong US-led force deployed in Afghanistan in response to NATO airstrikes on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

According to reports, Pakistan's parliament is likely to approve reopening of the supply routes to NATO on the condition that the Western military alliance pays heavy tariffs.

Speaking during the rally, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest religious political party, said that any resolution submitted in parliament favoring the reopening of the routes would be a step to the detriment of the country.

In a reference to the clandestine activities of the CIA and Israel's spy agency, Mossad, in Pakistan, Munawar Hassan said that international spy agencies were involved in terrorist incidents in the country.

He also stated it was time that Islamabad detached itself from Washington and its harmful policies for the region.

The head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami, another large religious political party in Pakistan, told the participants in the rally that if “the US, Israel, India or NATO forces” attacked Pakistan's border again, members of his party would retaliate against them with full force.

A leader of a religious movement warned the government that if it decided to reopen the routes, his group's members would block the passageways themselves.

Former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Hameed Gul, also said that renewed flow of the supplies to the US-led forces would expose Pakistan to potential dangers.

Pakistani parliament backs PM Gilani

Pakistani officials and media members gather outside the Parliament House building during a joint session, Islamabad, Pakistan, January 13, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221479.html

Pakistan's parliament has passed a resolution in support of the government shortly after the country's Supreme Court issued a contempt of court notice against the prime minister.

The Pakistani parliament on Monday night voted with majority for the resolution to endorse the government of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for its efforts to "strengthen democracy" amidst the country's worst legal and political crisis in over a decade.

Lawmakers of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), boycotted the proceedings.

"This House endorses and supports the efforts made by the political leadership for the strengthening democracy and reposes full confidence and trust in them," the resolution said.

The vote came after Pakistan's Supreme Court issued a contempt order against Gilani for not complying with orders related to the reopening of corruption cases.

Gilani was asked to appear in person at the court due to the government's refusal to reopen graft cases against top officials including President Asif Ali Zardari.

Gilani praised the lawmakers for passing the resolution and said that he would appear in the Supreme Court on January 19.

The Supreme Court has demanded that the government ask Swiss officials to reopen old corruption cases against the president.

The government and the ruling party, however, say Zardari has immunity from prosecution as long as he remains in office.

Zardari is also under pressure due to an investigation into who was behind efforts to ask for US help to avert an army coup in Pakistan, in May 2011.

The request for US help is said to have been made by former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, with support from Zardari. However, both Haqqani and Zardari have denied the accusations.

The government has been trying to avoid the escalating tensions with the military and the judiciary.

Pakistan court finds Gilani in contempt

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221341.html

Pakistan's Supreme Court has issued a contempt order against the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for not complying with orders related to the re-opening of corruption cases.

"The Supreme Court has issued a contempt of court notice to the prime minister for not complying with its orders," Judge Nasir-ul-Mulk said on Monday.

He added that Gilani should appear in person at the court on January 19 due to his refusal to reopen corruption cases against the president and over eight-thousand other people.

The judge said the court met to debate how to proceed on graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari.

"We are left with no option but to issue a show cause notice to the prime minister of Pakistan (for him to explain) as to why he shall not be proceeded against for contempt of this court," Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq said.

The Supreme Court has demanded that the government ask Swiss officials to reopen old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

This is while, the government and the ruling party say Zardari has immunity from prosecution as long as he remains in office.

Zardari is also under pressure due to an investigation into who was behind efforts to ask for US help to avert an army coup in Pakistan, in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.

The request for US help is said to have been made by former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, with support from Zardari. However, both Haqqani and Zardari have denied the accusations.

Pakistan says reviewing ties with US

Pakistani women staged an anti-US protest rally in Karachi on December 20, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219112.html

A Pakistani parliamentary committee is reviewing the country's relations with the United States after recent tensions between the two countries.

A senior government official said on Tuesday that the committee is reviewing the state of ties with the US and the kind of relationship that Pakistan should have with Washington in future.

"The relationship in future will be transparent and there will be new terms of engagement with the US in counterterrorism," the unnamed official said.

Washington-Islamabad relations entered a new phase after US-led airstrikes killed at least 24 Pakistani troops and injured dozens of others in northwest Pakistan in November. The raid prompted several anti-US demonstrations in Pakistani cities.

The Pakistani government has shut vital supply routes for US-led foreign soldiers in Afghanistan following the attack.

NATO has expressed hope for a quick reopening of the border, arguing that the blockade is damaging the economies of both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The US claims that the drone strikes target militants, although casualty figures indicate that the aerial bombings have led to the loss of hundreds of Pakistani civilian lives.

The country has lost more than 35,000 people in militant attacks and bomb explosions since 2007, according to independent estimates.

Millions more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy across the country.

Pakistan judiciary probes memo scandal

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218555.html

Pakistan's Supreme Court says it has established a commission to investigate a secret memo scandal seeking to curb the power of the military.

The Supreme Court appointed a three-judge panel on Friday to look into a controversial memo allegedly drafted by Pakistan's civilian leadership asking for the US help to rein in the nation's powerful military.

The Supreme Court probe, to be led by the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court, comes against the backdrop of government opposition to a court investigation since the parliament is already looking into the matter.

Islamabad has described such a probe as unnecessary, arguing that its opponents on the Supreme Court, in the military and in the political opposition are using the scandal to try to overthrow the country's leadership.

The current political scandal focuses on a controversial memo allegedly sent to the United States in May asking for help in stopping an alleged coup plot by the army.

The plot is said to have been crafted by Pakistan's former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, with support from the country's President Asif Ali Zardari. However, both Haqqani and Zardari have denied the accusations.

Pakistan's military has staged a series of coups and ruled the country for most of its 64-year history.

Pakistan to sustain NATO convoy ban

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani speaks during a news conference in Kabul on April 16, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215169.html

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that Islamabad will continue its blocking of NATO convoys supplying goods to US-led foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Gilani also refused, in a BBC interview published Sunday, to rule out the closing of Pakistan's airspace to all US flights.

The US military and other NATO member countries with fighting forces in Afghanistan rely heavily on the Pakistani supply route into the landlocked country, even more so now than previously with Taliban attacks on the rise.

Pakistan decided to halt the supply convoys destined for US-led foreign soldiers occupying Afghanistan in response to deadly US-led NATO airstrikes on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

During the interview, the Pakistani prime minister also dismissed reports claiming that the country's ailing President Asif Ali Zardari has suffered a stroke and that the army planned to oust him.

However, he went on to add that Zardari will remain in a Dubai hospital in the United Arab Emirates for two more weeks.

According to some reports, the 56-year-old president last week suffered a temporary ischemic attack, which can produce stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage to the brain.

“Zardari was making a rapid improvement,” Gilani emphasized.

'Pakistan to down intruding US drones'

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215014.html

Amid escalating tensions between the United States and Pakistan, Islamabad has warned that it will shoot down any American assassination drone intruding its airspace, a senior Pakistani official says.

"Any object entering into our airspace, including US drones, will be treated as hostile and be shot down," a senior Pakistani military official told NBC News.

The development came following the US-led NATO's strikes on two military border posts in the northwest of Pakistan on November 26, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Islamabad has closed the border crossings in Pakistan that the Western military alliance uses to transfer fuel and other supplies for the US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan also called on the United States to vacate the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan province. Pakistani forces took control of the base on Saturday after most of the US military personnel left.

On Friday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani warned the US and NATO that any future cross-border attack would be met with a "detrimental response".

"The democratic government [of Pakistan] would not allow a similar attack on the country's sovereignty and any attempt in future will definitely meet the detrimental response," Gilani said

Pakistanis slam NATO cross-border raid

Sunni Tehreek activists set fire to the portraits of US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as they shout slogans during a demonstration in Karachi, Pakistan, on December 1, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213338.html

Thousands of people in Pakistan have held rallies to protest against a recent NATO cross-border airstrike in the country's northwest that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers, Press TV reports.

Demonstrators took to the streets in the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Sheikhupura on Thursday, and strongly condemned the NATO attack in the tribal Mohmand Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

They also called upon the Pakistani government to immediately end the alliance with the US in the so-called war on terrorism.

Protesters set fire to the portraits of US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as they shouted slogans during a demonstration in Karachi.

Lawyers dressed in black suits staged a rally in Lahore, 275 kilometers (170 miles) southeast of the capital Islamabad, and chanted anti-US slogans.

NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military border posts in northwest Pakistan on November 26, killing 24 Pakistani troops.

Enraged by the attack, Pakistan closed the border crossings that the Western military alliance used to transfer fuel and other supplies for foreign forces into landlocked Afghanistan. It also called on the United States to vacate Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan Province.

The US military reportedly uses the remote desert outpost as a hub to launch assassination drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas. Pakistan had previously told the United States to leave the controversial airbase in June.

Furthermore, Pakistan announced it would not participate in an international conference on Afghanistan in Germany next week in a show of anger over the deadly NATO strike.

Meanwhile, Islamabad government warned on Thursday that it could withdraw its support for the US-led war on terrorism if Pakistan's sovereignty is violated again.

“Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier's blood,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told a Senate committee on foreign affairs.

“Pakistan's role in the war on terror must not be overlooked,” she noted.

Pakistan to show NATO zero tolerance

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar (R) looks on as the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses a joint press conference in Islamabad on October 21, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213304.html

Pakistan has said that it would no longer tolerate the spilling of the blood of its citizens at the hands of the US-led forces, who violate its sovereignty.

"Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier's blood," Pakistani daily The News reported on Thursday, quoting Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar as telling lawmakers in Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

Pakistan would discontinue its support for the US-led war in Afghanistan if its sovereignty was violated again, she added.

On November 26, US-led NATO helicopters and fighter jets carried out airstrikes on two military checkpoints in the northwest of Pakistan, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers and wounding dozens of others.

The attack has fueled the anti-American sentiment among the Pakistani people and prompted a harshly-toned condemnation from the country's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Khar said there would be no compromise on the country's national interests.

The minister added that Islamabad's recent retaliatory decision to order the US to vacate Pakistan's Shamsi airbase in the northwestern province of Balochistan was final.

On Wednesday, a senior Pakistani Army official said the attack had been a deliberate act of blatant aggression.

"Detailed information of the posts was already with ISAF (the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force), including map references, and it was impossible that they did not know these to be our posts," said Major General Ashfaq Nadeem, Army's Director General of Military Operations.

Thousands have marched in all major Pakistani cities, including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Charsada, Nowshera, and Rawalpindi to condemn the strikes.

US unapologetic over Pakistan strikes

White House spokesman Jay Carney gestures during a daily briefing at the White House in Washington on Thursday, November 10, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/213319.html

The United States has refused to apologize to Pakistan for the recent airstrikes by the US-led forces that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Thursday in Washington that the US had already offered condolences, but insisted Washington would withhold an apology, the White House reported on its website.

Carney added that Washington had launched an investigation through the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) to find out exactly what transpired, but “there was obviously no apology and there was an expression of condolences.”

On November 26, US-led NATO helicopters and fighter jets carried out airstrikes on two military checkpoints in the northwest of Pakistan, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers and wounding dozens of others.

The attack has fueled the anti-American sentiment among the Pakistani people and prompted a harshly-toned condemnation from the country's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

According to reports, the US State Department lobbied President Barack Obama to address the Pakistani nation on the matter through a formal statement of regret, but the idea was strongly opposed by the Pentagon.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has warned that Islamabad would no longer tolerate the spilling of the blood of its citizens at the hands of the US-led forces.

"Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier's blood," she stated.

Pakistan would discontinue its support for the US-led war in Afghanistan if its sovereignty was violated again, Khar added.

On Wednesday, a senior Pakistani Army official called the attack a deliberate act of blatant aggression against the country.

Thousands of people have marched in Pakistani cities, including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Charsada, Nowshera, and Rawalpindi to condemn the airstrikes.

US refuses to apologize over deadly Pakistan air strike

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/212823.html

Gen Martin Dempsey, the most senior figure in the U.S. military has refused to apologize for an air strike at the weekend that killed 24 Pakistan soldiers.

The Pakistani army claimed the attack lasted almost two hours, and that it continued even after commanders on the ground contacted NATO to ask what was going on.

In an interview with ITV News, Gen Dempsey said he telephoned the Chief of Pakistan's army General Ashfaq Kayani and “expressed regret”.

“They have reason to be furious that they have 24 soldiers dead and that what killed them was the ordinance of a partner,” he said.

Asked if there was anything apologize for however, Gen Dempsey said: “absolutely not.”

Gen Dempsey also admitted that the U.S. relationship with Pakistan, viewed from the outside is “the worst it's ever been.” Telegraph

FACTS & FIGURES

NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan on November 26, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging U.S.-Pakistan relations, already deeply frayed, further into crisis. Reuters

Pakistan summoned United States Ambassador Cameron Munter to seek clarification over the NATO raid on its military check post. The Nation

Pakistan also ordered a review of all arrangements with the United States and NATO, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence activities, following the deadly cross-border strike. AFP

On November 26, Pakistani authorities gave the United States 15 days to leave the Shamsi airbase, and closed NATO supply lines into Afghanistan in response to the deadly NATO air strike. en.ria.ru

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been strained following the alleged killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May, which Pakistan called a flagrant violation of sovereignty. Reuters

Pakistan orders US to vacate airbase

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212301.html

The Pakistani government has ordered the US to vacate an airbase within 15 days following a deadly air strike near the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Islamabad on Saturday ordered Washington to vacate Shamsi, which is a remote desert outpost in southwest Pakistan.

The airbase was reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone strikes. Pakistan had previously told the United States to leave the site in June.

The new order to vacate came after a US-led NATO air strike killed at least 28 Pakistani soldiers and wounded 15 others in the Mohmand Agency in northwestern Pakistan early on Saturday.

Pakistan also ordered a review of all arrangements with the US and NATO, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence activities, AFP reported.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of senior cabinet ministers and military service chiefs chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who strongly condemned the strike.

Islamabad also summoned US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter to lodge a strong complaint regarding the unprovoked attack.

Activists with Islami Jamiat Tulba, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami party, staged a protest in the northwestern city of Lahore to denounce the killings of soldiers.

NATO confirmed that the attack has left some Pakistani soldiers dead and has launched an investigation into the incident.

In a retaliatory move, the Pakistani government has blocked dozens of trucks carrying goods and fuel supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has repeatedly condemned air strikes against its troops near the border with Afghanistan. While the strikes supposedly target militants, they usually claim the lives of civilians and Pakistani soldiers.

Report: US-China Cold War starts

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212282.html

The formal organ of China's ruling party has reported that a cold war era has started between China and the US as Washington has stepped up a campaign to counter Beijing's growing clout across the globe.

Reports from Pentagon indicate that the US is gearing up to counter what it calls 'China's capabilities,' IRNA quoted from China's The People's Daily newspaper.

Based on the new roadmap, the US is set to pose a fresh challenge against China through the establishment of new strategic systems in the Asia-Pacific region, the report said.

The paper went on to say that a significant increase in the deployment of the US air forces in Asia-Pacific is considered as a threat which prompts Beijing to enhance its defense capabilities against Washington.

The official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) asserted that Washington's interference in Asia-Pacific will meet a resolute response from Beijing, warning the US against posing any military challenge against China.

Last week, US President Barack Obama announced Washington's new plans to increase its military presence in Asia-Pacific.

On top of the current 28,000 US troops in South Korea, and 50,000 in Japan, the US will permanently deploy 2,500 Marines in Australia.

Washington also plans to increase the traveling of combat aircraft such as B-52 bombers and aircraft carriers to Australia.

Meanwhile, Singapore and Vietnam have promised to provide bases for US combat ships.

Based on Obama's newly announced plan, Washington will supply Indonesia with 24 refurbished F-16C/D fighter aircrafts, and consider proving a second destroyer to Philippines.

The Obama administration has also reiterated its arms commitment to China's regional rival Taiwan.

Meanwhile, on the economic front, Washington has recently unveiled a free trade deal with its allies in Asia-Pacific, named Asia Trans-Pacific Partnership that excludes China.

Pakistan blocks NATO supplies to Kabul

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/212207.html

Pakistan has suspended a NATO supply route into Afghanistan following an attack by helicopters belonging to the Western alliance on a military checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, Press TV reports.

Dozens of trucks carrying goods and petroleum supplies for NATO forces were stopped in the Torkham border area of the Khyber tribal region in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government ordered its forces in Khyber Agency to stop the movement of the NATO supplies

The retaliatory measure was adopted hours after US-led NATO helicopters opened fire on a military checkpoint in the Baizai area of Mohmand Agency early Saturday, killing 28 Pakistani soldiers, including two officers, and injuring 15 more.

Pakistani officials have condemned the attack as "unprovoked and indiscriminate."

Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry vehemently condemned the NATO attack, saying the issue will be raised with US officials.

Local media say Pakistan's acting ambassador to the US has also lodged a protest with Washington over the attack.

Russia against US bases in Afghanistan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/210773.html

Russia has voiced strong opposition to the US military presence in Afghanistan and Washington's plans to set up large military bases in the Asian country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday expressed Moscow's disapproval of the permanent deployment of United States military bases in Afghanistan and in Central Asia, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We do not understand how the proposed withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan squares with US plans to set up major military bases in Afghanistan,” Lavrov said.

The senior Russian official noted that Moscow has discussed the issue with Afghan and US authorities, but "there are more questions than answers so far.”

“Moreover, information comes in periodically that our American colleagues want to expand their military presence in Central Asia," Lavrov noted.

Meanwhile, loya jirga spokeswoman Safia Sediqi said on Thursday that Washington wants a complete media blackout over the conditions set in its strategic long-term deal with Kabul.

The loya jirga, called by President Hamid Karzai, kicked off in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday. The four-day traditional gathering discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, and is mainly centered on long-term US bases in Afghanistan after US-led foreign troops withdraw in 2014.

Afghan religious and political figures have voiced strong opposition to US plans to set up long-term or permanent military bases in the war-torn country.

The United States has failed to achieve its goals after 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Many parts of the Asian country still remain insecure despite the presence of nearly 150,000 US-led foreign forces there.

Experts believe Washington's new strategy of establishing long-term military bases will only serve to raise anti-US sentiment among Afghans and neighboring countries.

Afghan people are against the plan, dismissing it as a ploy for indefinite neo-colonial occupation.