Three killed in different firing incidents in Karachi

KARACHI: Three people were shot dead in different incidents of firing in the metropolis on Thursday, Geo News reported.

Two people were killed by unknown gunmen in Ilyas Goth area of Liaqatabad. According to police, the incident is a result of rivalry between two groups who are allegedly involved in drug trafficking.

Two people were also injured in a separate firing incident in C-One area of Liaqatabad.

Unidentified miscreants targeted two men in a passenger bus moving from Karachi to Hyderabad at Teen Hatti area. As a result of the assault, one man died on the spot while the other was critically wounded, the bus conductor told Geo News.

The two men had got on the bus from Baloch Para.

The target killing incident took place in the Jamshed Quarter police station limits.

11 year old girl assaulted in Gujranwala

GUJRANWALA: An eleven year old girl working as a maid was assaulted and then thrown on the road. Her arms and legs were broken; she had received wounds to the head and had burns all over her body.

The girl was found in critical condition near a gutter line by Edhi workers who took her to the district headquarters hospital.

When conscious the girl revealed that she had been working as a maid for a year and a half however authorities have not been able locate her family nor the house she was employed at.

The Child Protection Bureau Gujranwala has taken the girl into their custody.

Mazhar Majeed appeals against fixing verdict

LONDON: Sports agent Mazhar Majeed jailed over a cricket fixing sandal has appealed against his conviction.

Majeed was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Three Pakistani cricketers also received custodial sentences at London's Southwark Crown Court in November over a scandal that rocked world sport.

Former Test captain Salman Butt was jailed for two and a half years for his role as the "orchestrator" of a plot to bowl deliberate no-balls in the 2010 Lord's Test against England.

Mohammad Asif, the former world number two Test bowler, was sentenced to

12 months.

Mohammad Amir, who had been tipped to become one of the all-time great

fast bowlers, was sentenced to six months.

All three players are serving five-year bans from cricket imposed by the

International Cricket Council (ICC).

Amir and Butt failed in an attempt to have their sentences reduced at

the Court of Appeal in November.

US drone attack kills eight in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: At least eight persons were killed and several others injured when a US drone attacked a house in North Waziristan Agency on early Saturday morning, Geo News reported.

According to sources, two missiles hit and destroyed the compound in

Shawal area, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.As a result of strike, the compound was completely destroyed and eight people were killed and several others wounded.

Four drones were flying in the area after the missile attack as a result rescue work was also delayed.

The identity of those killed could not be ascertained yet

Normalcy returns to Lyari

KARACHI: Life in Lyari was troubled when security forces launched an operation against criminal elements in the area more than a week ago, but now the local residents have breathed a sigh of relief after the operation was halted for 48 hours, Geo News reported Saturday.

Business activities started to resume today while the schools were also open. The electricity supple was suspended in the area after miscreants damaged supply lines by hand grenades and rocket launchers at Cheel Chowk. Some houses were also damaged during the battle that forced the residents to migrate to safer areas.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had announced on Friday that soon a major operation would be launched against criminals in Lyari, hours after the Sindh police chief Mushtaq Shah said the weeklong operation in the area was being halted for 48 hours.

“It [the weeklong action] was not exactly an operation; rather, it was a targeted attack to capture certain criminal elements taking refuge in the area,” Malik told a press conference at the Central Police Office.

The announcement comes amid a growing criticism of the police operation that left at least 30 people dead and scores injured in Lyari, a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan People Party, over the past eight days.

“This time around, a lot more people will be accompanying the police,” said Malik, who was flanked by Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Shah and various high-ranking officials of District South.

The interior minister said that at present the majority of criminals were residing in Lyari and, if a comprehensive operation took place in the area, it would “completely clean Karachi of criminals.”

“At present, there are 200 criminals in Lyari, including members of proscribed organisations taking refuge in the area,” he said, referring to Al-Qaeda, Jaish-e- Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sepah-e-Sahaba and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

IG Mushtaq Shah said the police were very much capable to handle the situation in Lyari and said it was not at all a “professional mistake.” “We will definitely go after them. Maybe within 48 hours,” he added cautiously before walking out.

IG Shah said that the Sindh government had decided to provide facilities to the public, as the operation had left the people of Lyari facing extreme food shortages.

PTI, PML-N to stage rallies today

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has finalised preparations to stage a march in support of the judiciary here today (Sunday), a day after the PML-N held an impressive public meeting in Taxila.


Banners and portraits of Imran Khan and local leaders have been displayed at prominent intersections and market places to highlight the significance of the proposed event.


Dr Shahzad Wasim, who was once a close aide of ex-President General (R) Pervez Musharraf, also put up his portraits at various points across the federal capital.


The PTI chairman Imran Khan will lead the march from China Chowk to D-Chowk, where he will speak to the participants. Other senior leaders including Javed Hashmi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are also expected to speak on the occasion.


During a recent news conference, the PTI chief had announced to hold the solidarity march in the federal capital in support of the Supreme Court and its Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.


“The rulers are by design flouting the apex court's judgments and orders to hide their corruption and push the country towards chaos and anarchy,” asserted PTI central spokesman Zahid Hussain Kazmi while talking to The News here.


The PTI spokesman reiterated his party's stance that after the Supreme Court conviction of Gilani, he was no more the chief executive of the country. He is not even an MNA now after his conviction. He must go home he asserted.


Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will hold a massive rally against the prime minister in Gujranwala.

Addressing a press conference, PML-N leader Zaeem Qadri and Khurram Dastagir announced to hold rally against the prime minister here