Peshawar—The PAF jets and the gunship
helicopters, backed by artillery, heavily
pounded the hideouts of the militants loyal to
Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) during the ongoing operation
Rah-e-Najaat in South Waziristan Agency (SWA)
where in the forces claimed to have killed at
least 32 miscreants during ground and air
offensives on Saturday.
Baghdad—The US army handed over a base in the
Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, once a
bastion for anti-US insurgents, to Iraqi forces
on Saturday as the deadline nears for its
pullout from Iraq’s cities. The transfer of the
Joint Security Station (JSS) comes barely more
than a week before a June 30 deadline for US
forces to pull out of Iraq’s urban centres as
required by a security accord signed between
Baghdad and Washington in November.
Chuprial—The army has announced that 95 per cent
of the Swat Valley has been secured, with
opposition now confined to the Biha valley.
Artillery fire pounded militant positions in the
Biha valley, in the upper Swat Valley, as an
intense operation there started Friday night
against remnants of Taliban fighting forces and
continued into the day.
Washington—US President Barack Obama has said
that any American military aid to Pakistan needs
to be used against extremism, supporting
lawmakers concerns that the new financial aid
should not end up building up the Pakistan army
against India.
Islamabad—The 56th Birth Anniversary of
Shaheed-e-Jamhooriat Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is
being celebrated today (Sunday) across the
country.
President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Naudero to
attend the 56th birth anniversary of former
prime minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
The president will donate blood and also address
the large public meeting of party workers at
Naudero.
Islamabad—As the debate on new Federal Budget
continued in both the Houses of Parliament on
Saturday, the Senate rejected the opposition
motion for freezing the budgetary allocations
for defence at the amount of revised budget for
2008-09, while the law makers in the Lower House
from both sides of the divide urged the
government to create employment opportunities
for youth to remove their sense of deprivation,
early return of internally displaced persons to
their homes and to expand tax net by bringing
the non- tax payers under the net.
Islamabad—The withdrawal of Rs. 65 billion
subsidy on electricity announced in the federal
budget is likely to increase the power tariff by
17 per cent from July 1.
