KABUL - Three key Taleban insurgents, one of them believed to be a bomb maker, were arrested in Sherzad district of eastern Nangahar province, official said on Friday. The commandos detained three Taleban insurgents, among them a key facilitator identified as Haji Shir Khan, who is was involved in improvised explosive device (bomb) making, the coalition forces said in a statement.
According to the statement, Haji Shir Khan was responsible for numerous attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in eastern Nangahar province. Afghan and coalition forces launched a two-day search operation in Sherzad district of Nangahar province, the statement said, adding, ‘during the search, forces discovered 18 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, one anti-tank mine, 10 hand grenades, one 12-gauge shotgun, eight AK-47 magazines, and more than 80 kilograms of opium.’
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US sees serious religious freedom problems in Pakistan
Saturday, September 15, 2007
WASHINGTON: The US State Department’s annual report on religious freedoms around the world notes “continued deterioration of the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom” in Iran and highlights “serious problems” in Pakistan.
‘Report on International Religious Freedom’ published on Friday warns that religious freedom conditions have worsened in insurgency-wracked Iraq as well as Egypt, while communist China has embarked on a crackdown on foreign missionaries ahead of the Olympics. Religious freedom is “integral to our efforts to combat the ideology of hatred and religious intolerance that fuels global terrorism,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as she launched the 800-page report in Washington.
Amid intra-sectarian Muslim violence, religious worship conditions “deteriorated” over the past year in Iraq with the ongoing insurgency “significantly” harming the ability of people to practice their faith, according to the report.
“Many individuals from various religious groups were targeted because of their religious identity or their secular leanings,” the report said of the situation in Iraq where US troops are facing an uphill battle to restore order.
In Egypt, a key US ally, respect for religious freedom has “declined”, the report said, citing particularly a court ruling this year that reinstated a policy not to provide a legal means for converts from Islam to Christianity to amend their civil records. “There are cases where converts have been held and sometimes received physical abuse,” US special envoy for international religious freedom John Hanford told a briefing. One convert released after 25 months has his life now “under threat,” he pointed out.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/09/15/story_15-9-2007_pg7_17