Gun attack at Kabul ‘CIA compound’: officials

KABUL:
                A compound in Kabul used by the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) came under attack Sunday, officials said, the latest in a series of assaults in the Afghan capital.
Afghan interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqui said police had heard “a couple of minutes” of gunfire from inside the Ariana Hotel compound at around 9.15pm.
“Our police heard there were some shots from inside the Ariana compound,” he said. But he added that Afghan forces could not go inside as the site “belongs to coalition forces” and was “not within the reach of police”.
An Afghan government source speaking anonymously to AFP said the Ariana compound was used by the CIA.
A US official in Washington confirmed an attack against a facility used by US officials in Kabul, telling AFP “the situation is fluid, and the investigation is ongoing” over the incident.
The CIA declined to comment.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Kabul, Gavin Sundwall, also said he could not comment on the incident.
Major Jason Waggoner, spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Kabul, confirmed that “there were shots fired” near the hotel but did not have further details.
The attack came amid escalating violence in the capital which earlier this month saw a 19-hour siege which targeted the US embassy and also the assassination of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Washington has accused elements of the Pakistani state of supporting the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network which it blames for the September 13 embassy attack, and tensions between the US and Pakistan have reached an unprecedented level.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said at the weekend the US allegations would only benefit the militants, and that they “betray a confusion and policy disarray within the US establishment on the way forward in Afghanistan”.
His comments came after top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen on Thursday directly accused Pakistan’s intelligence service of supporting the network’s attack on the embassy and a truck bombing on a Nato outpost.
The Haqqani network, which has a fighting force of at least 2,000 men, operates independently of the Taliban leadership but remains politically subservient and would fall behind any peace deal the insurgents negotiated.

Pakistan ‘will not launch’ Haqqani offensive

ISLAMABAD:

                           Pakistan will not launch an offensive against Haqqani militants despite Washington ramping up the pressure after a series of attacks on US targets in Afghanistan, an official said Monday.

Pakistan’s army chief of staff gathered together his top generals in an extraordinary meeting at the weekend after a series of stinging rebukes from the Americans blaming the Haqqanis and Pakistani intelligence over attacks.

General James Mattis, commander of the US Central Command, which oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, became the most senior US commander to hold talks with Pakistani generals in Islamabad since the pressure mounted.

“I don’t think the indicators are as such,” a senior Pakistani security official told AFP when asked if the army was going to launch an operation in North Waziristan, where the Haqqani leadership is allegedly based.

Instead, he said, the military needs to “consolidate gains” made against local militants who pose a security threat elsewhere in Pakistan’s tribal belt that Washington has branded an Al-Qaeda headquarters.

Pakistan army chief Kayani visits UK

LONDON: Britain’s Ministry of Defense says Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani is visiting Britain amid growing US outrage over allegations Pakistan’s military spy agency helped militants attack US targets in Afghanistan.

The ministry says Kayani is expected to meet privately with the UK’s Defense Minister Liam Fox on Monday. It declined to comment further.
The top US military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, last week accused Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency of supporting an Afghan insurgent group suspected of involvement in an assault on the US Embassy in Afghanistan on Sept. 13 as well as a truck bomb that wounded 77 American soldiers days earlier.
Kayani, widely considered the most powerful man in Pakistan, has dismissed the allegations as baseless.

Haqqani group was once CIA’s “blue-eyed boy”, says Khar

NEW YORK:-

                        Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the Haqqani group that the US holds responsible for last week’s attack against the American embassy in Kabul was
CIA’s “blue-eyed boy” for many years.

Responding to questions during an interview with Al Jazeera television, Khar, who is in New York leading Pakistan’s delegation to the UN General Assembly, rejected US accusations against Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), saying it has no links to the Haqqani network.
“If we talk about links, I am sure the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) also has links with many terrorist organisations around the world, by which we mean intelligence links,” she said.
“And this particular network, which [the United States] continues to talk about, is a network which was the blue-eyed boy of the CIA itself for many years.”
When asked about Admiral Mike Mullen’s statement that the Haqqani group “acts as a veritable arm” of ISI, the foreign minister said: “It is something that goes very, very unappreciated on our side. This is unsubstantiated. No evidence has been shared with us.”
Partners and allies, she said, do not talk to each other through public statements.
Pakistan had taken up the matter with the United States, but the spate of hostile statements coming from senior US officials meant that Washington had taken policy decision. If that was the case then “we have the right to make our own decision”, she said.
Ms Khar said that scapegoating and blame games would not help and that Pakistan wanted to be a partner of the US.
“I just hope that we’ll be given a chance to co-operate with each other and the doors will remain open — because statements like this are pretty much close to shutting those doors,” she added.
Replying to a question, Ms Khar said drone attacks not only violated Pakistan’s sovereignty, they were also counterproductive, and greatly angered the people of Pakistan.
“I think we must not be tested more than we have the ability to bear,” she added.

US, Pakistan need to improve ties: Blake

ISLAMABAD:-

                             US Deputy Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake said that there was a need to enhance ties with Pakistan and help the people of Pakistan who were facing political, economic and security problems.

Talking to VOA on Monday, he said that it was important for all of us to move forward and work together.

“We need to help the people and the government of Pakistan in resolving their political, economic and security problems and in fact it is the time to focus on these issues,” he said.

He said that Pakistan’s role in the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was important and the United States wanted Pakistan on its side in the future strategy as it was a valuable ally.

Haqqani Network Produced by CIA – Rehman Malik

Pakistan News:-

                          The Central Intelligence Agency – CIA of United State produced Haqqani Network not Pakistan, Interior Minister Rehman Malik give statement on Sunday.

Rehman Malik talked to the media persons the Haqqani network was based and present in Afghanistan and if they have claimed that they are present in Pakistan so they should give evidence of Haqqani’s existence.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan fights against terrorism and also playing a rule in war on terror in the world; Pakistan is able to face all kind of challenges.

Malik said Pakistan is not blamed directly CIA or Afghanistan on different attacks in Mohmand Agency and Other tribal areas.

Interior Minister also forced on immigration system on the Pak – Afghan border and requested to the international community that they do not forget the sacrifices of Pakistan in the war on terrorism.

He also told that the Karachi Operation also was successful with the support of Rangers, Police and Frontier personnel.

Gilani calls back Khar from United States

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani telephoned Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in United States and directed her to return home urgently. According to the Prime Minister House spokesmen, PM asked Khar to return Pakistan without delay to discuss ongoing political and security situation with all political leaders of the country. Spokesmen said that all the political leaders have showed positive response over PM Gilani’s initiative to take them in confidence. He said that government would soon call All Parties Conference (APC).