According to official note, PM and DG ISI discussed matters relating to national security as well as regional stability.

The DG Islam apprised Nawaz Sharif about the working of his organization. However, further details of the meeting are not available.

The incident took place in Rawlakot district, around 65 kilometres east of Islamabad near the Line of Control (LoC) separating the Indian and Pakistani-controlled sectors of the Himalayan territory.

“Indian troops resorted to small arms and artillery fire in Battal area killing a 10-year old girl and wounding her mother,” a senior security official told AFP.

He said Pakistani troops returned fire and senior local official Sohail Azam, confirming the casualties, told AFP sporadic exchanges were ongoing.

He said the girl died after shrapnel from a mortar fired by Indian troops hit her house in Battal area.

Local resident Imtiaz Ahmad told AFP that he and other members of his family were confined to their house because of Indian firing.

On Tuesday, Indian troops opened fire on a small village in Kotli town along the LoC, injuring a 65-year old woman.

Official sources said one group led by ‘commander’ Arif Afridi and the other by ‘commander’ Umer Adizai exchanged heavy fire in hills of the Bostikhel area. Both groups were trying to gain control of some areas still in the control of various militant groups despite the presence of security forces in the region.

The Bostikhel area of Darra Adamkhel is considered to be a stronghold of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and Arif Afridi, a cousin of Tariq Afridi, the Taliban leader in Khyber Agency and Darra Adamkhel, controls it. He is said to be a close aide of TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud.

The sources said the slain terrorists could not be identified because the two groups took away their bodies.

A Foreign Office press release stated that Pakistan and all its institutions have unanimity of views on issues of national security and foreign policy. In this context, promoting peace and stability to Afghanistan is an important pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy which is supported by all state institutions.

The press release added that the success of this policy requires reciprocal action and good will on the part of Afghan government. It is in our common interest to jointly address the common challenges of terrorism and extremism being faced by our region. The newly elected leadership of Pakistan has reiterated its resolve to fully support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Pakistan will continue to support reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan in all its earnest for achieving durable peace, stability and development in our region.

In the press statement made on Tuesday, HRCP strongly condemned the attacks and went on to add that the attacks have greater significance in light of the recent political changes in the country.

The senate made similar statements earlier during the week, along with a resolution that was passed strongly condemning the attack on Quaid-e-Azam’s residency in Ziarat.

Former Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jahangir will meet senior government officials and politicians in the southern province, said Zohra Yusuf, Chairperson HRCP.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had contacted Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch to assure him that the federal government supported the people and provincial government.

Lawyers across Sindh decided to boycott duties on June 18^th to protest against the two attacks and Naeem Qureshi, Karachi Bar Association’s (KBA) president, said the attacks were against humanity and no religion permits anyone to commit such acts.

Shortly before Karzai’s speech at a handover ceremony, the location of which had been kept a secret, a prominent lawmaker escaped a bomb attack in Kabul that killed three civilians, underlining the country’s continuing instability.

“From tomorrow, our security and defence forces will now be in the lead,” Karzai said. “From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces.”

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Afghan forces were taking the lead on security from Tuesday.

Prominent Afghan lawmaker Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq pictured in Kabul on March 9, 2004
© AFP

“They are doing so with remarkable resolve, and they deserve the full support of the Afghan people,” he said at the ceremony.

The handover of the last 95 districts from NATO to Afghan control includes areas in the south and east where the Taliban have concentrated their bloody insurgency against the US-backed government since 2001.

After the handover, 100,000 NATO forces will play a supporting and training role as Afghan soldiers and police take the lead in the fight against the militants who were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks.

Doubts remain, however, over the ability of the 350,000-strong Afghan forces to thwart the Taliban, and the NATO military coalition will retain an important role in logistics and air support as well as in combat when required.

Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a leader of the ethnic Hazara minority who is likely to play a key role in presidential elections due next April, survived a bomb attack unhurt but his clothes were burnt.

“I’m fine. Four of my guards are wounded and are in hospital,” he told AFP. “I was going to the parliament and it was near the office of the Independent Human Rights Commission.

“I heard a big explosion on the side of the car and I didn’t realise what happened. It was big. Only my cloak is a little burned, other than that I’m fine.”

The lawmaker told AFP that he had been threatened.

“I was under threat. The intelligence agency was sending letters that I should be careful. There was a threat against me. I was rarely going to the parliament.”

Mohammad Zahir, the CID chief of Kabul, told reporters at the scene that three civilians were killed and 24 others, including some guards, were wounded.

He said the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device.

Recent attacks have demonstrated the Taliban’s ability to strike at Kabul as the country prepares for next year’s presidential elections and the NATO withdrawal by the end of 2014.

A suicide car bomb last Tuesday killed 15 civilians outside the Supreme Court in Kabul. The previous day, gunmen fired grenades at the city airport and an international aid group’s compound was targeted in a seven-hour battle late last month.

Despite the attacks penetrating the capital’s defences, the effective response of elite Afghan security forces has been widely hailed as a sign of increasing professionalism.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said no cause justifies such violence, and noted with dismay that “violence against women and educators has increased in recent years, the aim being to keep girls from attaining the basic right to education.”

Mr. Ban called on the Government “to do all possible to bring the perpetrators to justice” and expressed the UN s solidarity “in the face of continued terrorist violence in Pakistan.”

The Secretary-General also sent his condolences to the victims, their families, and the Government of Pakistan.

Addressing participants of the concluding session of military war games, the Exercise Azm-i-Nau-4, at the National Defence University, he said the army in coordination with the navy and air force was fully configured and prepared to thwart any aggression against the country.

“Military success depends on being fully prepared and the support of the people of Pakistan and other state institutions,” Gen Kayani said.

He appreciated the dedication and commitment of participants of the war games and said their contribution to the exercise was of immense professional value.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafiq Butt also attended the ceremony, besides a large number of senior officers of the army, navy and air force.

During the war games spanning over two weeks, strategic and operational plans were crystallised and validated for developing a comprehensive response. Operational plans of the PAF were also finalised in close coordination with the army.

A firing incident took place near Murtaza Chowrangi located in Landhi in which two people were killed while four other sustained injuries. The deceased are identified as Yousuf and Abdus Samad.

In Manghopir, an alleged regional vice commander Sher Alam alias Shera of the banned TTP was also killed in a firing incident. The accused was wanted in dozens of cases including murders. However, heirs of Sher Alam claimed that he was a tailor man.

In another incident, a man was gunned down on Nishtar road.

At least ten people were killed in various incidents of firing and violence in the city on Saturday.

The assistant commissioner, an FC captain, DSP, sub-inspector and reporter for a private news channel are among those injured in the blast on Saturday.

According to media reports the security forces have launched an operation against the attackers who are present in and around the medical complex.

Speaking to media, Dr Saifullah who is present inside the medical complex said firing was still continuing. He added that due to the situation, medical treatment for the injured students had been stopped.

Earlier, the injured and deceased from the women’s university blast were rushed to the Bolan Medical Complex. At least 12 female students were killed in blast. According to police, the explosives were planted on a university bus.