Pakistan to expand its ‘war on terror’ into Al-Qaeda’s stronghold

September 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Al-Qaeda has released a latest video apparently marking the eight anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US. The video shows Al-Qaeda's second man in command Ayman al-Zawahri along with other top militant leaders speaking about various topics including the global financial crisis and Barack Obama's election, a US based monitoring group SITE said.

September 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Army has decided not to allow the US to expand its 'war on terror' inside the country's geographical territory, sources said. Sources privy to the 121st Corps Commander Conference chaired by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters (GHQ) said the Army top brass discussed in detail the country's security scenario and voted in favour of not succumbing to US pressure.

July 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said India, Pakistan and the United States face a common enemy, and that a joint effort is needed to crush the threat facing the region. Addressing a press conference here, Holbrooke said: "India, Pakistan and the US are surrounded by a common enemy.

July 17th, 2009 DHAKA - A top operative of a Indian terror group -Asif Reza Commando Force - has been arrested for trying to expand his network in Dhaka. "We have arrested ARCF operator Sheikh Obaidullah, who, according to our information, is wanted by the Indian authorities," Deputy Police Commissioner of Detective Branch Monirul Islam said.

July 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has once again highlighted that Pakistan is a terror safe haven and said that Al-Qaeda's leadership is based in that country. Clinton's comments came a day before her significant visit to India, where she will be meeting the country's leadership.

July 14th, 2009 CAIRO - External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna has said that New Delhi would like a visible response from Islamabad, which should have commitment to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks. Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Sharm-al Shaikh here last night, Krishna said that India wants an assurance from Pakistan that acts of terrorism engineered from Pakistan soil will not be repeated.

July 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new book published by the Al Queda reveals that the terror organization is under immense pressure from the US-driven war on terror in Pakistan. Written by a senior Al Qaeda commander, Abu Yahya Al-Libi, the "Guide to the Laws Regarding Muslim Spies" was recently posted on jihadist Web sites.

June 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Terming the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region as 'terror safe haven', US President, Barack Obama has expressed concern over the increasing activities of a "resurgent" Taliban. In a statement issued by the White House here, Obama highlighted that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have intensified their activities in the ungoverned tribal regions along Pakistan and Afghanistan.

June 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US is to give Pakistan $3.20 billion during 2009 for various tasks, including industrial aid and the war on terror, the country's envoy here has said. Of this, $950 million would be given as industrial aid, $700 million for the war on terror and $910 million as compensation for the losses Pakistan had faced in the war on terror, Online news agency quoted ambassador Hussain Haqqani as saying.

June 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has raised fears over the Taliban's expanding writ in the country saying that the outlawed terror organization could spread its nefarious activities into neighbouring India. In an interview to a foreign newspaper, Qureshi expressed fears that the Taliban could expand its writ to regions as far as Persian Gulf.

May 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON -Terming Pakistan as the "nerve center of al Qaeda's global operations", the US Central Command chief General David Petraeus has said that top commanders of the outfit are utilizing the terror safe havens situated in country's ungoverned tribal regions to plot terror strikes around the world. General Petraeus said that Al-Qaeda was also using the Pakistan based sanctuaries to channelize finance, recruit young men and pass orders to affiliates operating across the world.

April 21st, 2009 LAHORE - Responding to top US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan's comments that Pakistan must do more to dismantle the terror safe havens operating on its soil, Pakistan has also asked NATO to 'do more' in Afghanistan. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a private television channel that the Pakistan Army is 'doing enough' in the war on terror, and asked NATO forces to intensify its operations in Afghanistan.

April 18th, 2009 TOKYO - The US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the international community should ensure giving more financial aid to Pakistan, as the terrorist groups based on its soil are on the verge of carrying out attacks around the world. Addressing delegates at the donors' conference here in which countries have pledged five billion dollars for Pakistan as aid, Holbrooke said the world must keep supporting the country.

April 10th, 2009 LONDON - Following the 9/11 incident the world saw Afghanistan as the hub of worldwide terrorism, but now the focus has shifted to Pakistan which experts believe is the origin of three-quarters of all terror plots. A report in The Telegraph states that at least three out of every four terror plots in Britain, which are being probed now, have Pakistani roots.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - Declaring Pakistan as the 'epicentre' of world terrorism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has urged the world's most powerful countries to rid both Pakistan and Afghanistan of terrorism. 'We all know the epicentre of terrorism in the world today is Pakistan.