Floods engulf Balochistan, NWFP Pakistan

QUETTA/PESHAWAR/ HYDERABAD: More than 45 people died in Balochistan on Friday, while the total death count exceeded 200 following massive flooding throughout Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP.

Almost 150 people have died and thousands of crop fields have been destroyed in Balochistan. Quetta Railways is non-functional due to flooding of the lines. Meanwhile, Mirani Dam caused flash floods in Dasht damaging the Quetta-Sibi and Pak-Afghan highways and Khad Kocha Dam’s overflowing flooded the RCD Highway connecting Quetta to Karachi — effectively cutting Balochistan off from the rest of Pakistan. The provincial government has appealed to international donor agencies and rescue teams to help it in this time of need. The Kishingi, Bhag and Garani dams also broke apart due to excess water. Quetta had no natural gas for the third consecutive day following a pipe burst, as students protested against lack of government support..

Fifty-six people have been reported dead in Khyber Agency following flooding from the Kabul and Swat rivers. Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai met with tribal elders and assured them of compensation.

The armed forces have rescued 400 people in Balochistan.

Meanwhile, thousands of people in the NWFP have left villages located near the Shah Alam, Gambela and Kabul rivers after receiving a government warning regarding a possible high-level flood within the next 24 hours.

According to a report released by the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s Flood Forecasting Division, flash flooding is expected in the nullahs of Malakand Division and northern areas. It added that low-lying areas of Nowshera, Mardan and Peshawar would also be affected. National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt-General Muhammad Farooq Khan said the federal government has released Rs 200 million for Balochistan and Sindh.

The Mirani Dam has been declared safe after a 12 feet reduction in its water level.

The Gilgit-Skardu portion of the Karakorum Highway was blocked on Friday due to heavy rains, FWO sources said, adding efforts were underway to reopen it. President Musharraf assured Balochistan’s chief minister that Pakistan’s armed forces would continue their efforts. He said the affected people would be compensated. He added that any alterations to Mirani Dam’s design would be considered and implemented if necessary.

Meanwhile, a heavy downpour in Lahore yielded 75mm of rain by Friday afternoon, with forecasters predicting more rain in the next 24 hours. staff report/agencies

Relief operations begin as rains affect 900,000

QUETTA: Military helicopters began rescuing people stranded in floods caused by heavy rains in coastal areas of Balochistan, as 34 people were reported killed in the province on Thursday. Some 32 deaths were also reported following heavy rain in Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Cyclone Yemyin, which made landfall over the coast of Balochistan on Tuesday, has affected some 900,000 people, but heavy rains and winds eased somewhat on Thursday, allowing military planes and helicopters to reach people without shelter, food and medicine.

However, many areas were still without relief, and the nazim of Turbat resigned in protest at the government’s “poor response” to the disaster, AP reported.

On Thursday, 20 people were reported to have drowned in flood waters in Jhal Magasi and six in Turbat. Three members of a family died following a roof collapse in Hernai tehsil, Sibi district. Two died in Nasirabad and one woman lost her life in Jhal Magasi in weather-related incidents.

Fifteen people were killed in Landi Kotal and 17 died in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency due to heavy rains, sources told Daily Times. The political administration confirmed 18 deaths. Torrential rains also destroyed four bridges at the Pak-Afghan highway and stranded thousands of vehicles and passengers.

Rising water levels inundated a fourth district - Sibi - on Thursday. Turbat, Bloan and Gwadar were severely flooded, Balochistan Relief Commissioner Khuda Bakhsh Baloch told Reuters. He said some 200,000 houses had been destroyed.

“Due to torrential rain a seasonal river has started overflowing and 20 to 25 villages have been inundated. According to our estimates about 15,000 people have been affected,” Baloch said. “In all, roughly, 900,000 people have been affected.”

ISPR said in a statement that the rain and wind had lifted slightly on Thursday, allowing seven helicopters to launch rescue operations in Balochistan. Troops had evacuated more than 600 families from Turbat and another 300 from nearby Bela, the statement said.

A navy helicopter rescued 40 people marooned on a rooftop near Turbat and two other choppers were evacuating car and bus passengers from the coastal highway, which was partly washed away by storm surges, the statement said.

Three army C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying relief goods landed at Turbat and a nearby town early Thursday, along with a navy plane with medicines and other emergency supplies.

But the military said the situation at Mirani dam near Turbat was still “critical” with water above the danger level, adding that a battalion of engineers was working to shore up the site. However, a WADPA spokesman said the water level in the dam had receded and it was safe.

The navy saved a Mexican and an Indian seaman who had been drifting at sea for three days. In a separate navy rescue operation, 35 Chinese workers at the seaport of Gwadar were ferried to higher ground. Navy warships and helicopters have rescued at least 125 crewmen from floundering craft, the navy and Maritime Security Agency said.

Minister for Communications Shamim Siddiqui was caught in heavy rain near Hangol while trying to reach the affected area in a helicopter and was forced back to Karachi, APP reported.

The Meteorological Department warned of a monsoon system developing in the Bay of Bengal that would bring heavy rain to Balochistan and Sindh in the next few days.

In New York, a spokeswoman said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was deeply concerned and reaffirmed the UN’s readiness “to support national and local efforts to provide emergency assistance to the survivors”.

APMA wants complete control of worship places

PESHAWAR: The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) demanded on Monday that minorities be given complete control of their worship places and that a person belonging to a minority group be made head of the Evacuee Trust Property Board.

In a statement, the APMA said minorities had been playing a vital role for the solidarity, development and prosperity of the country since its creation.

APMA Chairman Shahbaz Bhatti, who along with APMA leaders and minority members of assemblies visited Gurdwara Joga Singh in Peshawar, said minorities were considered second-rate citizens and “untouchables” in this country.

Bhatti said the APMA was struggling for the rights of the oppressed class, religious freedom and economic, social, political and educational development.

Thousands evacuated as cyclone threatens coastal areas

KARACHI.The Meteorological Department on Monday warned of more heavy rains in Sindh and Balochistan as a possible cyclone headed for Pakistan’s coastal areas.

The department issued an alert at 2:00pm on Monday warning that a tropical storm forming in the Arabian Sea, 150 kilometres south of Karachi, was likely to intensify into a cyclone within the next 12 hours. The associated storm surge is expected to be 10-15 feet along the Sindh coast and 20-25 feet along Balochistan’s coastline. Met office officials said the cyclone would not directly strike Karachi.

The Met Department forecast gusty winds of between 40-50 and 60-70 knots with scattered “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in Sindh, especially in southern Sindh and coastal areas. The cyclone also threatened the Balochistan coastal areas of Gwadar, Jiwani, Pasni, Ormara and Lasbela.

The met office added that hilly areas, especially in southern Balochistan, might experience flash floods. Officials in Balochistan said around 2,000 people had been evacuated to higher ground from areas along the Arabian Sea coast that were already inundated by rain.

Fishermen were advised to stay ashore until June 27 in Sindh and June 28 in Balochistan because of the likelihood of “extremely” rough seas. At least 10 fishermen have been missing since the weekend, officials said.

The met office said that Punjab, upper parts of NWFP and Kashmir were also likely to receive rain with thunderstorm and lightning during next 24 hours. It said this season’s monsoon was likely to bring more than normal rains in eastern Sindh, Balochistan, north and eastern Punjab.

Karachi is still reeling from a deadly thunderstorm that killed close to 230 people on Saturday, with parts of the city still without electricity or drinking water.

President Pervez Musharraf ordered local authorities to take “immediate steps to tackle the situation,” while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the Sindh chief minister to deal with the problem of collapsed billboards on a “war-footing.” staff report/agencies

An Islamic school taunts the Pakistani authorities

An Islamic school taunts the Pakistani authorities
By JANE PERLEZ
The clerics who run Jamia Hafsa, a sprawling Islamic boarding school in Islamabad, admire the Taliban and say they are friendly with Al Qaeda. They regularly denounce the Musharraf government as secular, corrupt and a lackey of the United States. READ MORE

Please, "pray the news"

Protests spread to Malaysia over knighthood for Salman Rushdie

KUALA LUMPUR: Protests against the award of a British knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" outraged Muslims, spread from Pakistan, Iran and the Taliban movement to Malaysia on Wednesday.

Supporters of Malaysia's hard-line Islamic party protested near the British Embassy, chanting "Destroy Salman Rushdie" and "Destroy Britain."

Some 30 members of the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia urged Britain to withdraw the honor or risk the consequences. READ MORE.

Please, "pray the news"

Protests over Rushdie title spread

Pakistani Muslims torch a Britain flag as they shout slogans during a protest in Lahore, to strongly condemn the title of Sir awarded to Salman Rushdie. Pakistan demanded on Monday that Britain withdraw a knighthood awarded to Rushdie, as a government minister said the honour gave a justification for suicide attacks by Muslims (AFP)

Colleague’s death makes police turn on superiors

ISLAMABAD, June 19: Around 1,300 personnel of Punjab Constabulary (PC), called to reinforce the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police to handle the Lal Masjid crisis, demonstrated in the Aabpara Chowk on Tuesday in protest against the death of a colleague.

It was the first protest in Islamabad by a large number of police personnel against their officers. They also got a case registered against them.

A senior police official of the ICT confirmed that three police personnel, a deputy superintendent of police, a reserve inspector (RI) of the Punjab Constabulary and a constable of the Rescue 15 Islamabad, who according to protesters was making video films, were injured after being beaten up by the protesters.

Two separate cases were registered -- one against PC Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashraf Gujar and RI Mohammad Ilyas and the other against the protesters. The number of protesters (PC personnel) booked by the Aabpara police has not been mentioned in the FIR. Mohammad Ilyas was arrested following the registration of case against him.

The unrest started on Tuesday morning when PC Constable Imam Baksh of Khushab died after a brief illness. Hearing the news, nearly 1,200 PC personnel, who had been staying in CDA flats in G-6 since the beginning of the Lal Masjid crisis, came out and began marching towards the Aabpara Chowk. Before leaving, they reportedly beat up their DSP and RI.

The protesters, some of them carrying sticks, were shouting slogans against their officers, gathered at the Aabpara Chowk causing a traffic jam for several hours. They forced shopkeepers to close their shops.

Rawalpindi CPO Moravat Ali Shah and district administration officials reached the place and tried to persuade the protesters to disperse peacefully. Contingents of riot police also arrived.

The protesters were demanding registration of a case against their SP and RI and lifting of ban on their leave.

A constable, who identified himself as Shafqat, told Dawn: “The deceased constable had been requesting for leave as he was not feeling well. But, he was neither allowed to go to a hospital nor he was given first aid.”

He added: “Since the day when we had been brought here we have not been allowed to see our families. We have no water, no fans and even latrines are chocked. We have to go to a shrine across the road for a bath. There are 12 cooks to prepare meal for 1,300 persons.”

The protesters dispersed peacefully after they were assured that their demands would be met.

A senior official said that an amount of Rs2 million has been granted as compensation for the family of the deceased and the 1,300 PC personnel would get 10-day leave.

Waziristan balst killed 32

(correspondent ccnews portal)Waziristan, MIRAMSHAH, June 19: At least 32 people were killed and 10 others wounded in blast in Madrassah of Waziristan. Pakistan Government explain that bomb was blast when bomb was being made by Madrassa students. But Local people called it Missile attack.
The blast cuase 32 lives but a senior government official and the local Taliban said the death toll is up to 32.

Reports were sketchy about the cause of the explosion but local people insisted that missiles had hit a madressah, killing several people and wounding scores of others.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj-Gen Arshad Waheed denied reports that Pakistan army or coalition forces had carried out the attack.


A source, however, said a cluster of three houses and a tent had been hit by a missile fired from across the border. He said that there were 45 or 46 people there at the time.

“It has been hit so badly that even those wounded might not survive,” he said.

The source denied that the houses and tent served as a seminary and said most of those killed were of Uzbek origin.

Tribal sources quoted local militants as saying that the attack had been carried out from Afghanistan.
20-06-07

(correspondent ccnews portal) Islamabad. Octan Magazine banned for publishing Adam and Eve Pictures. Christian called it religious extremism and has demanded that religious pictures be allowed to published in news papers and Magazine.
20-06-07

Christian and other minorities vow on wrong census

(correspondent ccnews portal) Lahore. census for Christians and other minorities is deliberately being missed. Told Khalid Gill ( Coordinator APMA) to correspondent ccnews. The actual population stated by Government of Pakistan is 2.5% whearese Christian vows on this figure and claim that they are round about 10% in Pakistan.
Khalid Gill told ccnews that even his family vote are missing and round about 65 votes are missing in his neighbor.
Even Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has admitted that there is round about 70,00 vote are not listed in his region .

20-06-07

Pakistan Christian Children Sold as Slaves to Fund Islamic Militants

A leading member of a militant Islamic organisation based in Pakistan is funding its activities through the sale of Christian children into slavery, according to a Christian persecution watchdog group.

The militant Islamic organisation, Gul Khan, is said to abduct children between the ages of six to twelve from their homes in remote Christian villages in the Punjab and incarcerate them in deplorable conditions until they are sold, report the Barnabas Fund. Children supposedly sold into the sex trade or a life of domestic servitude sell for about US$1,700 each. The group reported that two Christian missionaries – one Pakistani, the other American – helped expose the slave trafficking after seeing photographs of boys for sale on the black market in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

The missionaries reportedly devised an elaborate and risky rescue plan where the Pakistani missionary posed as a Lahore businessman who wanted to buy boys to beg for him. The plan is said to have succeeded and the missionaries managed to buy back twenty boys and return them to their homes. Barnabas Fund said they were also able to film a member of the militant Islamic group Jamaat-ud Daawa (JUD) accepting money for 17 boys.

“The revelation of this horrifying trade in Christian boys to fund Islamic terrorism is an extreme manifestation of the discrimination and oppression of Christians in Pakistan,” said Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, the International Director of Barnabas Fund.

“The classical teachings of Islam on the second class status of non-Muslims (called dhimmi) create an attitude of contempt towards Pakistan’s Christian minority which is seen in a whole raft of daily discrimination, injustice and humiliation.”

According to Barnabas Fund, the children are beaten savagely, only fed once a day and ordered not to talk, play or pray.

Imran Masih became victim of Muslim gang

Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab: Now, a new wave of persecution of Christian youth: Those Christian youth who resist Muslim oppression are sodomized by Muslim gangs. Imran Masih became victim too. The Rays of Development (ROD), is investigating the case.

Pakistan heat wave kills more than 100

(Correspondent ccnews portal) At least 63 more people died Sunday from the effects of heat wave of Pakistan which has broken 78 year old records of heat wave, bringing the weekend death toll to around 110, while other sources say 125 have been killed.

The mercury rose as high as 52 degrees in south-west parts of the country as the hot spell entered its fourth day, also setting a 78-year record in the city of Lahore in the central Punjab province.

Around 50 people died in the province, where the temperature hovered around 49 degrees and prolonged power cuts added to the discomfort, the newspaper The Nation reported on Monday.

Hundreds of people were also hospitalized with sunstroke, meteorologists predicted the heat wave will last at least three more days.

11-06-07

‘Wapda, KESC, PIA white elephants’

ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday termed Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) and PIA as ‘white elephants’, as despite receiving billions of rupees in subsidies from the national kitty, their performance had been dismal.

“These white elephants have eaten up billions of rupees. We could have spent these funds on health, education and other social sectors. Despite the subsidies, their performance is unacceptable,” Dr Salman Shah, Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, said this at the post-budget briefing here.

To a question, Salman Shah replied, “If we do not subsidize these institutions, it will affect the common man even more”. Several questions were raised about the poor performance of the KESC during the last couple of years, especially this year.

KESC, which supplies electricity to Karachi, the economic hub of the country, is charging four times more than Wapda. However, it has failed to provide electricity to its consumers. Both entities have flaws in transmission and distribution systems and have failed to match their performance to international standards. The deficiency results in frequent power breakdowns and line losses, which negatively affect the economic activities and, ultimately, the GDP growth.

About Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Salman Shah said that Boeing passenger planes, which were added to the PIA fleet in the 90s, had become ‘gas-guzzlers’ and their running expenses were more than their earnings.

Interestingly, in the outgoing fiscal year 2006-07, the government had allocated Rs 20.93 billion subsidies for Wapda that was later revised upward by 19.1% to Rs 24.92 billion. In the upcoming new fiscal 2007-08 starting from July 1, another huge subsidy of Rs 27.89 billion for Wapda is on the cards, he said.

Two months back, in a meeting on energy crisis, Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi had accused Wapda of mismanagement, causing loadshedding of over 1,100 MW while its units at eight stations remained closed for minor faults.

During the financial year 2006-07, KESC was subsidized up to Rs 13.938 billion, which was revised, and raised by 26.98% to Rs 17.69 billion at the end of the outgoing fiscal. In the new budget 2007-08, the government has earmarked another Rs 19.596 billion to shoulder the crisis that has engulfed the KESC. Salman Shah said that in the next five years, the government would bring some drastic reforms in the power sector to enhance its production.

Pakistan Minister Condemns Blasphemy Accusations against Christian Students

Christian lawyer claims that Police First Information Report is ‘fake’

By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- The Minister of State for Minorities affairs has termed the accusations of blasphemy leveled against four Christian nursing students of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) a conspiracy by the hard-line elements to pit Christians against Muslims.

Talking to ANS by phone on Sunday, June 3, Professor Mushtaq Victor said a fringe of extremists was foiling efforts to promote culture of enlightened moderation in the country.

The alleged blasphemy at the school of nursing took place on May 17. After passage of some two weeks, some 300-400 students of the School and College of Nursing gathered at the institute's premises to vent their spleen against the alleged blasphemy on Friday, June 1.

Mushtaq Victor, who visited PIMS on June 1, said the charged Muslim students of the nursing school and college and the paramedics were shouting slogans against the alleged blasphemy. He said the enraged protesters flung threats at Christian nursing students who have been accused of desecrating Quranic verses placed in the classroom. Source - Read More

Other News for our readers ...

Church Movement in Turkey is Growing

The underground-church movement in Turkey is growing and expanding amidst persecution from Muslims. Christians are banished from their families when they convert to Christianity, but their faith in God is unshakeable.

The Voice of the Martyrs recently received information from sources in Turkey that while Christians risk imprisonment and torture, believers are still meeting and preaching the gospel. “I was raised and taught in a Muslim family. Even though I questioned the teachings of Islam, I had no other option. One day, I received a New Testament and started reading the Gospel of John. I soon realized that in the Middle East we needed God. I discovered Jesus and after my conversion I went to my grandfather and told him I was now a Christian. Immediately, I lost everything,” the VOM source said.

He added he had to leave his village when people found out he became a Christian. “When I moved, I started evangelizing and winning Muslims to Christ. I was arrested and tortured. Instead of denying Christ, I prayed for my captors. They tortured my body; they ripped my soul and spirit, but I survived. God was in control,” the contact added.

“I would rather die than deny the Son of God, the Living God,” he said.

Pray for Christians in Turkey to be bold witnesses for Christ in spite of threats and attacks against them. Source

Soon to be Released

Three Jailed Indonesia Sunday School Teachers to Be Released Early

In all my time writing about Christian persecution the story of Rebekka, Ratna, and Eti who were imprisoned back in May 2005 for converting Muslim children to Christianity is one story that stands out above many others.

I'm happy to report that today CBN did an update on these three precious saints and not only are they being used in jail to lead others to Jesus, but our prayers have been answered because they will be released early next month! Praise the Lord!

CBN has a short 3 minute video that I'd like you to click on over and watch. This is great news and we need to rejoice. Source

4 Christian Girls Accused of Blasphemy

(Students from Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) reach to Pimz Hospital)

(Corrrespondent CCNews Portal) Islambad. Two Nursing Hostels have been closed by the executive of the pmiz Hospital after the fear of attack by female student of Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) . 25 students of Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hifsa) reached the hospital after they got information that the Islamic Calendar has been desecrated. Doctor Fazal Hadi mistreated with Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) students along with Media. Heavy Police of Islamabd has surrounded the Hospital to face any circumstance.

4 Christian nurses of Pmiz hospital have been accused for this act. They have also been beaten bitterly by the Muslims students of (Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza). Police has also registered the case against them. Hospital has also terminated the Christian principal of hospital.

Action against Jamia Hafsa students, Lal Masjid administration sought

Taliban Warn of Jihad

Taliban warn of jihad against Govt, if Lal Masjid attacked (Correspondent ccnewsportal) Taliban fighters in tribal areas have warned the government that they would announce Jihad (holy war) against the government, if it attacked Lal Masjid or adjacent Jamia Hafsa. Haji Omer, Taliban commander in South Waziristan, pledged that it was their duty to protect mosques and madaris and “we will ensure it at all costs.”

Haji Umer revealed that he had been in continuous contact with the administrator of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz and had assured him of his all out support. One Taliban Commamner has reached Lal Masjid, Sources of Pakistan believed that one Taliban Commander has reached the Lal Majid in order to defend Lal Masijd with other Lal Masjid executive. More Taliban arrival and involvment is expected. 03-06-07

Desecration of Holy Quran

Desecration of Holy Quran. Students form Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) reach to Pimz Hospital. Hospital Executive close two Nursing Hostels. Executive of Hospital mistreated with Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) students and in fear has announced 15 days Holiday.

(Corrrespondent CCNews Portal) Islambad. Two Nursing Hostels have been closed by the executive of the pmiz Hospital after the fear of attack by female student of Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) . 25 students of Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) reached the hospital after they got information that the Holy Quran has been deserated.

Doctor Fazal Hadi mistreated with Lal Masjid ( Jamia Hafza) students along with Media. Heavy Police of Islamabd has srrounded the Hospital to face any circumstance. There is no news that Who has desecerated theHoly Quran.But it is being considered that some christian nurses has done it. 02-06-07

Ammant Masih Sentenced to death for Blasphemy

Depiction

(Correspondent CCNews) Lahore High court finally took his decision on 29-05-07 to sentenced to death to Ammant Maish for accouring words against Islam. Appeal from Ammant Masih to supreme court is being expected.