26/11 -A year After

I read a news item recently regarding the terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26/11 last year. The news stated that the bulletproof jackets worn by the police officers who were fighting the terrorists from Pakistan were substandard & were from a lot which was rejected earlier & accepted later. You know what that means.

Substandard equipment was purchased by the Government of India which ultimately led to the death of top police officials like Hemant Karkare just because they were wearing so called bulletproof jackets which were not bulletproof at all.

Is that the value we have for the lives of the brave people who fight to keep us & our country safe?

GUYS, PLEASE HELP ME IN RAISING VOICES AGAINST THIS ACT OF CORRUPTION WHICH HAS TAKEN PLACE RIGHT AT THE TOP & LED TO THE LIVES OF OUR VALIANT OFFICERS.

Battered Cricketers!

The most seriously injured player was Thilan Samaraweera, who was shot in the leg. Doctors will decide on Wednesday whether to try to remove the bullet.

Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, who was injured during the attack by gunmen in Lahore on Tuesday, arrives at the Colombo airport early on Wednesday morning.

Cricket tour called off!

The Lahore second Test between Sri Lanka and hosts Pakistan has been called off after a gun attack on the touring team bus injuring players, a Sri Lankan cricket board official said.

"We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible. The Test match has been cancelled," the official said on Tuesday.

Six members of Sri Lanka's cricket team were wounded in a shooting attack in Pakistan on Tuesday, and two including an assistant coach were still being treated in hospital, Sri Lanka's sports minister said.

"Six members were injured including assistant coach Paul Farbrace. Four have been treated at hospital, and Thilan Samaraweera and the assistant coach are still being treated," Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said.

Their injuries are not serious and the other players are safe at their hotel, he added.

Cricket Team attacked

Gunmen killed at least four people in an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus on Tuesday as it drove to the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore. Four players received minor injuries in the attack -- Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis , Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana.

Pakistan television channels said four people were killed. Two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden. The two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.

Pakistan had invited the Sri Lanka team to tour after India's team pulled out with security concerns following the militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai in November.

The incident took place when the Sri Lankan team was attacked by around 10 armed gunmen near the Liberty Chowk which is close to the stadium.

One explosion was also heard at the stadium.

The attackers later escaped in separate groups.

The liaison officer of the Pakistan team said players of the host nation have been sent back to the hotel.

"The Sri Lankan players are presently safe at the Gaddafi stadium and they are getting treatment," one PCB official told PTI.

Sources also claimed that the police had received a threat on Monday that the Sri Lankan team would be attacked so a different route was used to transport the team to the stadium.

"The firing took place from at least four sides and continued for some minutes," one police official said.

"There were 12 masked gunmen," Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman told reporters, adding that police battled against the assailants for about 25 minutes.

"They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws. They were armed with rockets, hand grenades, Kalashnikovs," he said.

Television channels aired footage of at least two of the gunmen, one of them wearing shalwar kameez and other jeans and a jacket. Both were armed with assault rifles and carrying backpacks.

Police cordoned off the area immediately after the attack and launched a search for the gunmen. The driver of the cricket team's bus drove away from the spot immediately after the firing started.

"We are assessing the situation," Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ejaz Butt said.

"Five policemen who were providing protection to the team sacrificed their lives," he added.

Osama Hiding in Pakistan???

Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world, is likely to be hiding in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released Tuesday.

A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.

Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest Osama may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 15 km from the Afghan border, the USA Today reported.

Parachinar is the capital of Khurram Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, of Pakistan. It is about 290 km west of Islamabad and is situated on a neck of Pakistani territory south of Peshawar close to Afghanistan. Parachinar is the closest point in Pakistan to Kabul and borders on the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan.

The research incorporates public reports of Osama's habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.

Osama's, the main accused behind 9/11 attacks in US, whereabouts are considered "one of the most important political questions of our time", the study, reported in the MIT International Review, notes.

The study's real value, Gillespie says, is in combining satellite records of geographic locations, patterns of nighttime electricity use and population-detection methods to produce a technique for locating fugitives.

The study also makes assumptions that Osama might need:

- Medical treatment, requiring electricity in an urban setting

- Security combining a few bodyguards and isolation that requires a walled compound

- Tree cover to shield outdoor activities from aircraft.

Al QAEDA WARNS INDIA.

A top Al Qaeda commander, who was reported to have been killed in a US drone strike last year, has appeared in a video warning India of more Mumbai-style terror attacks if it tried to attack Pakistan.

'India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan,' Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, believed to be Al Qaeda's military commander in Afghanistan and ranked behind No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in a 20-minute video in Arabic received by the BBC.

Yazid, who the Pakistani military said may have been killed in fighting last August in the Bajaur tribal region, said: 'The Mujahideen will sunder your armies into the ground, like they did to the Russians in Afghanistan. They will target your economic centres and raze them to the ground.'

Yazid denounced the ban on terrorist groups in Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks and asked the people of Pakistan to rise up and overthrow the government and President Asif Ali Zardari , the BBC reported.

The Al Qaeda leader is said to have been involved in a number of terror attacks, including last year's Danish Embassy bombings, in Pakistan and had claimed the responsibility of assassinating former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Blame game

The people of India are really disgusted with every passing day after the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Its like both the Indian Government & Pakistan government are working hand in hand to just pass the time till people start forgetting about the tragedy & the public demand for action slows down. With every passing day either of the governments find some point or the other & pass on the blame to each other.
Till when will this game continue?

Do they really want to find a solution out of this?

From the look of it the people dont think so. What the general public thinks is that the Indian Government should act tough & give an ultimatum to the Pak Government. Say 24 hours. They have to act before 24 hours or face the consequences. What do you say? Something like this is necessary.

Everyday the foreign ministers of both countries keep giving statements about what is going on & what should be done to curb terrorism. Will this really help? Will any solution be achieved from this?

If the Indians think the root of terrorism is Pakistan, they should go the American way & attack Pakistan & if they dont have enough proof regarding that they should just shut their mouths & wait patiently for the next attack which has been happening continuously for the last many years.

Similarly if the Pakistan has proof that their land is not used for terrorist activities they should hand it over to India & finish the debate once & for all. All this blame game is not going to help.