TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah killed in US strike in Kunar province
Mullah Fazlullah and his loyalists had been hiding in north-eastern Afghanistan since they were defeated in a massive operation by the Pakistani military in Swat district in 2009.
A 17-year-old son of the ultra-extremist cleric, Abdullah, along with 20 other terrorists had been killed in a US drone strike, also in Kunar province in March, this year.
“The killing of Fazlullah is a positive development,” the military’s media wing, the ISPR, said in a statement in which it also confirmed that President Ghani called army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“It [Fazlullah’s killing] gives relief to scores of Pakistani families who fell victim to [the] TTP terror [campaign] including the APS massacre,” the ISPR said in the statement.
President of Afghanistan Mr Ashraf Ghani called COAS and shared news about killing of Mullah Fazal Ullah (MFU) in a drone strike in Kunar Province of Afghanistan. MFU was hiding there since 2009 and masterminded scores of terrorist attacks against Pakistan including APS.
ISPR Pres Release 200/2018
Rawalpindi 15 June 2018: President of Afghanistan Mr. Ashraf Ghani called General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and shared news about killing of Mullah Fazal Ullah (MFU) in a drone strike in Afghanistan Province Kunar. MFU was hiding inside Afghanistan since 2009. Killing of TTP commander is a positive development. It gives relief to scores of Pakistani families who fell victims to TTP terror including the APS massacre.
Pakistan military leadership has always maintained that a cooperative and coordinated approach is the best response to the menace of terrorism.
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Pakistan’s top military general visits Nepal for bilateral talks
ISLAMABAD(18 June 2018) Pakistan’s Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Lt. Gen. Zubair Mahmood Hayat, is on a five-day visit to Nepal, the Nepalese Army said in a statement. The Pakistani top military general landed in Katmandu Monday evening on an official visit and was received at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) by Nepal’s Major General Gaurab Tandul. Hayat is scheduled to meet Nepal’s President Bidhay Devi Bhandari, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Ishwar Pokhrel and Nepal’s Army Chief General Rajendra Chhetri during his stay, the Nepalese Army confirmed on its website.
The Pakistani General will also visit some of the historical and tourist sites of the host country. Gen. Chhetri visited Pakistan last month and met his Pakistani counterpart General Qamar Javed Bajwa. “During the meeting (in Pakistan) matters of mutual interest, including military to military relations, the regional security situation and measures to improve bilateral relations were discussed,” the Pakistan military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said in a statement.
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Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Arrives in Sri Lanka
Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne, Chief of Defence Staff, together with Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Army welcomed Pakistan’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, NI (M) who arrived in Sri Lanka on a four-day official visit on Wednesday (27).
General Zubair Mahmood Hayat, the 17 CJCSC of Pakistan who is here on an invitation extended by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne is scheduled to call on H.E the President, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff, tri-service Commanders and a few more military leaders.
He is expected to discuss matters on enhancing defence cooperation especially in the areas of training and military exercises.
Meanwhile, General Zubair is also expected to pay a visit to the National War Heroes’ memorial at Sri Jayawardenepura. He is also scheduled to deliver a guest lecture at the Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) at Sapugaskanda. In addition, General Zubair will officially hand over six stallions as gifts from Pakistan to the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Dr. Shahid Ahmad Hashmat, High Commissioner for Pakistan in Sri Lanka was also present at the occasion. ‘Sri Lanka Time’
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Pakistan placed on FATF ‘grey list’ despite diplomatic efforts to avert decision
20 June,2018
The announcement was made late on Wednesday night. Despite Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to avert the decision, the financial watchdog, in its meeting, argued that Pakistan had failed to curb terror financing on its soil.
Earlier in the day, caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar had urged the FATF to remove Pakistan from its grey list. As the FATF plenary began its proceedings, the Pakistani delegation apprised the watchdog of steps Islamabad had taken to weed out money laundering and terror financing.
However, FO spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had assured that an action plan to eradicate terrorist financing was being prepared and would accordingly be shared with the international body. “Pakistan will be assigned to the ‘grey list’ in June, once an action plan has been mutually negotiated,” the spokesman had said, adding that Pakistan will cooperate with FATF in every possible way.
A 37-nation FATF plenary held its first meeting on Pakistan in February where China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia opposed the United States-led move to place Pakistan on the watchlist. But the US pushed for an unprecedented second discussion on Pakistan, held on February 22.
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Pakistan has more nuclear warheads than India
STOCKHOLM: Pakistan now has 140-150 nuclear warheads as compared to 130-140 of India, with China hovering around 280, as per the latest report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which was released. According the report, the world’s nuclear powers are reducing their arsenals but they are also modernising, putting a fresh and “worrying” focus on strategic deterrence.
“The renewed focus on the strategic importance of nuclear deterrence and capacity is a very worrying trend,” the SIPRI said. “The world needs a clear commitment from the nuclear weapon states to an effective, legally binding process towards nuclear disarmament,” SIPRI head Jan Eliasson said.
SIPRI, a well-respected authority, said nine countries — the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — had 14,465 nuclear warheads at the beginning of this year, of which 3,750 were actually deployed.
At the same time, Britain with 215 warheads, France 300, China 280, India 130-140, Pakistan 140-150, Israel 80 and North Korea 10-20, were all either deploying or planning to deploy new nuclear weapons system, it said. “North Korea also demonstrated unexpected rapid progress in the testing of two new types of long-range ballistic missile delivery systems,” it noted.
condemned the killing.
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