NWFP minister claims Waziristan Taliban behind Pearl Continental attack

October 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The terrorist attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Saturday that left 20 people dead may accelerate plans for a full-scale military offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. Army's main target is likely to be the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates in South Waziristan, the Wall Street Journal reports.

September 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 34 suspected militants have died in clashes in Pakistan's South and North Waziristan while the Taliban claim to have killed 45 security personnel, media reports said Tuesday. Gunship helicopters pounded militant hideouts in South Waziristan, killing at least 26 suspected militants while injuring several others, Dawn reported Tuesday.

June 30th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban has declared an end to the peace deal it signed with the Pakistani government last year due to the ongoing military operation in northwest Pakistan. The Taliban made the announcement Monday after a meeting of the group's local shura (council) in North Waziristan, the website of the Dawn newspaper said.

June 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the law-enforcement agencies to ensure that Pak-Taliban chieftains don't escape to other countries. Zardari is reported to have issued the directive during a meeting with NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani.

June 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Swat Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah may have been injured in the Pakistani military's offensive against the militants in the country's restive northwest, Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying Monday. The security forces had laid a cordon around an area in which Fazlullah was holed up and there were reports of his being injured, Geo TV quoted Malik as saying, without elaborating.

June 15th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Orakzai Agency chapter has claimed responsibility for the series of suicide attacks that have rocked the country in the recent past. Taking responsibility for the attacks, including the devastating strike on Peshawar's Pearl Continental Hotel, the Orakzai TTP chief Maulana Saeed Khan said foreigners were the prime target.

June 15th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Orakzai Agency chapter has claimed responsibility for the series of suicide attacks that have rocked the country in the recent past. Taking responsibility for the attacks, including the devastating strike on Peshawar's Pearl Continental Hotel, the Orakzai TTP chief Maulana Saeed Khan said foreigners were the prime target.

June 13th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for Friday's serial suicide attacks on two mosques in Nowshera and Lahore. It had also took responsibility for the Pearl Continental Hotel bombing in Peshawar, saying more such attacks would be carried out in future against all those who oppose their decree.

June 11th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan Army has claimed that it has killed at least 100 more Taliban during its offensive in the Jani Khel and Baka Khel areas of Frontier Region (FR) in Bannu. According to sources, Taliban commander Sher Alam has also been killed in the operation.

June 11th, 2009 PESHAWAR - The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Government has admitted that there were security lapses which led to the Pearl Continental Hotel blast. The NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said there were 'security lapses' leading up to the blast which took place on Tuesday evening.

June 10th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Tuesday's blast at the Pearl Continental Hotel situated in Peshawar's most secure area once again exposes the security lapses, and raises doubts about when this landmark becomes functional again. Earlier, the mausoleum of the great Pashto poet Rahman Baba located on the outskirts of Peshawar was damaged.

June 10th, 2009 PESHAWAR - NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain has termed the blast at the Pearl Continental hotel here as a reaction to the ongoing army offensive in the Swat and Malakand Division. Talking to reporters, Hussain said people should be united in the face of the current situation now, as the possibility of a similar attack in the future cannot be ruled out.

June 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least five people were killed and 25 injured when a huge explosion ripped through the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's restive North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), officials said. The blast partially demolished the building, which is located near a military base and an important government building in a high-security zone.

May 28th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan has claimed that Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah has been killed in a military operation being carried out in the SwatValley. Announcing a whopping four million rupees bounty on Fazlullah, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said the Army has confirmed the deaths of several top militant commanders.

May 14th, 2009 LAHORE - Only 38 percent of the NWFP and the FATA is under Pakistan Government's control, a BBC map illustrates. The 18-month-long research covered 24 districts of NWFP, seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions of the FATA.