story
stringlengths 117
4.55k
| questions
list | answers
list | summary
stringlengths 65
465
|
|---|---|---|---|
IN THE FLORIDA KEYS (CNN) -- In the early morning darkness of the Florida Keys, the low hum of the Mystic I is hardly enough to disturb the slumber of the tourists in their hotel rooms. A lobster fisherman holds two spiny tail lobsters caught during the Mystic I's trip off the Florida Keys. From the wheelhouse, Captain Karl Lessard steers his boat into the darkness toward the fertile fishing grounds off the small Island of Marathon, Florida. This is a ritual that Lessard has done thousands of times. "I've been fishing for 38 years, my family has been fishing since the 1820s, there are a lot of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-generation fishermen that are here in the Keys," Lessard says. At dawn he reaches a spot that holds a special meaning for him. "I pass where my mother's and father's ashes are scattered. Just around sunrise, it's a very spiritual place for me." In the light of a spectacular sunrise, Lessard plots his course on the open waters. "I fish for the freedom," he explains. "It's good for the soul. It's a fantastic way to make a living, coming out here in God's glory every day." He adds with a laugh that fishing also "gets me away from the house. I hate those 'honey-do's.' " It's spiny tail lobster season in the Florida Keys, and that is what Captain Karl and his three-man crew are on a quest for today. "I am hoping to catch between 300 and 400 pounds, with the new moon that slows fishing down," the skipper says. They travel 20 miles offshore to where they have put out their traps. They hope to find them filled with the clawless crustaceans that live in these shallow waters. "In the Keys, people really started fishing for lobster in the 1930s," Lessard says. "Before that there was very little market for them." Lobster fishermen in years past worried more about the impact of things like hurricanes, but these days they have other concerns, namely the price they can get for their catch. "This ... economy that we are in is not really promoting the sale of our product," Lessard says. "Lobster is going from eight dollars a pound to three dollars a pound. We are basically in survival mode at the present time, but it is still a wonderful way to make a living." As a mate hooks the buoys and throws the line in the winches, the traps break onto the surface. As they are hoisted on deck the captain smiles at what he is seeing. "We got some nice lobsters today, some grandes," he says. Watch the skipper at work on the water » Lessard navigates his boat along his strings of traps as his crew pulls them, repeating the motion some 480 times. Two dolphins play off the bow. "This is the most beautiful office that anyone could have in the world," the lobster fisherman says. "If you feel the calling, there is no better way to make a living. It's something I've wanted to do since I was a child, and I'm blessed to have been able to do what I wanted to do in life, and have the freedom to do it. "I hope my family can do it for another hundred years." As the afternoon wears on, the traps rise out of the ocean and fall back to the seabed, and a constant flow of lobster fills up the boat's holding tanks. The catch seems to be better than expected. "Sometimes if you are lucky, it's better than being good. And if you're good and lucky, that's even better," Lessard jokes. With the last trap dropped back into the water, Lessard and the crew of the Mystic I head back to the dock, where they will place the day's catch onto the scales to see how good the sea has been to them
|
[
"What is the crew off Florida Keys on a quest for?",
"How long has the lobster fisherman's family been working the waters?",
"Where is the crew",
"What does the boat skipper lament?",
"When did the fisherman's family start working",
"The lobster fisherman's family have been working the waters since when?",
"Where is the crew that is on a quest for the spiny tail lobster?"
] |
[
[
"spiny tail lobsters"
],
[
"since the 1820s,"
],
[
"Florida Keys,"
],
[
"\"Lobster is going from eight dollars a pound to three dollars a pound."
],
[
"the 1820s,"
],
[
"the 1820s,"
],
[
"off the Florida Keys."
]
] |
Lobster fisherman's family has been working the waters since the 1820s .
Crew off the Florida Keys is on a quest for spiny tail lobster .
Boat skipper laments the economic tailspin, falling price of lobster .
"This is the most beautiful office that anyone could have"
|
INDIO, California (CNN) -- For some concertgoers, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival really kicked into action on Day Two. Festival attendees enjoy the music Saturday, Day Two of the Coachella music festival in Indio, California. Day One was leisurely and pleasant -- the weather was mild, the acts were fairly mellow and the big headliner was Paul McCartney. On Day Two, someone took the dial and turned it up a notch, as the desert sun beat down a little harder, the music pumped a little louder and the crowds who packed the VIP tent threw a little more attitude. There were the usual celebrity sightings. Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon snuck in the back just as rapper M.I.A. hit the stage, Paris Hilton took in Travis Barker and DJ AM's set in the Sahara tent and David Hasselhoff was spotted making out with a mystery lady near the restrooms. Forty-six acts performed on five stages scattered about the grassy field of the Empire Polo Club near Palm Springs, California. Massive eco-friendly art installations fashioned from scrap metal and reclaimed wood doubled as shelter from the heat, as well as mini-stages for dancers and performance artists. There was good buzz for thenewno2, an indie-pop band fronted by Oli Hecks and Dhani Harrison, whose vocals are reminiscent of his late father, George, but warmer, and less haunting. "It's the first festival we've ever played, and our 12th gig overall," said Harrison. "Normally with festivals, people come to check you out, stand in the back, and then move on pretty quickly, even if they like you -- but people stayed! It's the best performance we've ever had." Unfortunately Fleet Foxes was not so lucky. The Seattle,Washington, group's delicate baroque harmonies were drowned out by the world music beats of Thievery Corporation's percussion section bleeding over from the neighboring main stage, as one of their female vocalists crowd-surfed. As usual, the day's line-up was a mix of up-and-coming indie artists sprinkled with tried-and-true veteran acts. The Killers have played Coachella in both capacities. The Las Vegas, Nevada, quartet received their first invitation from festival organizers in 2004, the same year their debut album, "Hot Fuss," was released. "We played at 11:30 a.m. in a tent. It was 150 degrees out, and backstage, it smelled like horse droppings," said drummer Ronnie Vannucci, referencing the fact that there are certain consequences to holding an event on a polo field in the desert. This time, as the marquee act, The Killers enjoyed their own backstage compound decked out with a white picket fence, tablecloths and festive party lights in the shape of daisies. Palm trees gently swayed in the distance, silhouetted against the desert backdrop. You could hear the crowd going crazy for a feisty M.I.A. slotted on the main stage before The Killers. Vannucci and his three bandmates had just rolled in on their tour bus from Vegas. He spoke with CNN while warming up his hands and wrists with drumming exercises. "With festivals, you have to realize the audience is not necessarily there to see YOU. So we'll play some stuff off our new album, 'Day and Age,' and work in some songs that everybody knows, like 'Mr. Brightside' from our first album." Half an hour later, The Killers took the stage, opening their set with their latest hit, "Human." Frontman Brandon Flowers soon had the crowd singing the along to the perplexing lyrics, "Are we human, or are we dancer?" At Coachella, it doesn't matter if you're human or if you're dancer. But if you're dancer, you'll probably be relegated to one of the mini-stages inside an art installation. "The first time I heard about Coachella 10 years ago, I thought, 'That could be the cool festival here in America," said Vannucci. "It's since become a successful festival with good bands, swarms
|
[
"What is the name of the band?",
"What is the number of acts performing?",
"What band was playing?",
"What were protecting the people from heat?",
"How many acts performed at the Empire Polo Club?",
"Who was the Killers' front man?",
"What is the name of the band's leader?",
"What is the frontman's name?",
"How many acts performed?"
] |
[
[
"The Killers"
],
[
"Forty-six"
],
[
"The Killers"
],
[
"Massive eco-friendly art installations"
],
[
"Forty-six"
],
[
"Frontman Brandon Flowers"
],
[
"Oli Hecks"
],
[
"Brandon Flowers"
],
[
"Forty-six"
]
] |
46 acts perform on 5 stages at Empire Polo Club near Palm Springs, California .
Massive art installations of scrap metal and wood shelter people from heat .
The Killers enjoy backstage compound with picket fence, tablecloths, festive lights .
Killers frontman Brandon Flowers has crowd singing the along to new hit, "Human"
|
INDIO, California (CNN) -- Parents danced with their young children to the infectious hip-hop beat of Lupe Fiasco on the main stage. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O is immersed in the music at Coachella. Twentysomethings wearing feathers in their hair jumped up and down to Somali emcee K'naan in the Gobi tent. In the portable toilets, an impromptu discussion broke out about the "awesomeness" of Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O. The mercury may have hovered close to 100 degrees, and somewhere outside the desert oasis of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival there was a global recession, but you'd never know it from the carefree crowd on Day 3 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Although exact figures have yet to be released, about 50,000 revelers turned out for the final day of the 2009 festival for an eclectic lineup that included former Jam front man Paul Weller, rap pioneers Public Enemy, a reunion of Irish indie darlings My Bloody Valentine and a nearly three-hour set from The Cure. Promoters say the turnout exceeded expectations, and this year's attendance figure might be the third largest in the festival's 10-year history. The three-day ticket price may have been steep -- roughly $300, including service charges -- but when divided among the 131 acts on the bill, that breaks down to less than $2.50 per act. This was also the first year concert promoter Goldenvoice offered layaway, which is how 18 percent chose to pay. The strong showing is good news for Bonnaroo, All Points West, Lollapalooza and other festivals taking place this spring and summer. Coachella was also moved up one weekend, which allowed for more kids on spring break to attend. Although Coachella is one of several music festivals in the United States, it still carries a certain cachet that's hard to match. Perhaps it's the scenery -- listening to music on a grassy polo field surrounded by swaying palm trees and craggy desert mountains. Or maybe it's the thrill of discovering new artists and rediscovering old ones standing shoulder-to-shoulder with friends, strangers and the random Hollywood celebrity. Or maybe it's the wacky moments that seem to happen only under the blistering desert sun. Where else could you get Morrissey -- a well-known vegetarian -- complaining in the middle of his Friday set that the smell of burning animals was making him sick, and that he only hoped it was human? The Moz was referring to meat grilling in a food booth across the polo field. And when troubled British neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse dropped out of her Saturday performance because she couldn't get a visa, M.I.A. stepped into her slot on the main stage -- but she apparently wasn't happy about the upgrade. Despite a massive, adoring crowd and a highly charged set, the new mom exclaimed, "This is the main stage? Next time, I'm back in a tent! I prefer the sweat!" This was after her tongue-in-cheek nod to Winehouse, where she sang, "They tried to make me do the Oscars, I said, 'No, no, no.' " Then, there were the memorable music moments. Friday headliner Sir Paul McCartney didn't end his playful, hit-filled set until about 54 minutes past the midnight curfew -- for a potential fine of $54,000. (According to Benjamin Guitron, media relations officer for the Indio Police Department, the promoter agrees to pay $1,000 for every minute past 12 a.m.) On Saturday, Seattle, Washington, indie pop band Fleet Foxes drew an overflowing crowd to the Outdoor Theatre, charming the audience with its delicate, baroque harmonies. Sunday headliners The Cure played 31 songs from the group's vast catalog -- concentrating heavily on early material, and for the most part, staying away from the biggest radio hits. They, too, played well past curfew -- continuing with their third encore even after the sound from the main PA system was cut off. My Bloody Valentine -- whose four members reunited last year after a decade apart -- was also a crowd
|
[
"Which vegetarian is mentioned?",
"What is cut off?",
"Who ran past curfew?",
"Which music festival will wrap up Sunday?",
"What did Morrissey complain about?",
"What did Morrissey complain about?",
"what festival wraps up?",
"What is coachella?",
"Where is it held?"
] |
[
[
"Morrissey"
],
[
"sound from the main PA system"
],
[
"Sir Paul McCartney"
],
[
"Coachella."
],
[
"the smell of burning animals was making him sick,"
],
[
"that the smell of burning animals was making him sick,"
],
[
"Coachella"
],
[
"Valley Music and Arts Festival"
],
[
"Empire Polo Club in Indio, California."
]
] |
Coachella music festival wraps up Sunday .
Intriguing moments include vegetarian Morrissey complaining about grilling .
Both Paul McCartney and The Cure run past curfew; Cure is cut off .
|
IP-455 Press Release 8 February 2008 The findings of a Scotland Yard inquiry into how Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died after being attacked during a political rally in Rawalpindi were presented to the Government of Pakistan today.
The bomb explodes near Bhutto's vehicle following a political rally in Rawalpindi.
The conclusions of the inquiry were outlined in a detailed report handed over to interim Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz by Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne, accompanied by a senior official from the British High Commission, during a meeting in Islamabad.
The text of the executive summary of the report is as follows:
On the 27th December 2007, Mohtarma Benazir BHUTTO, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), died as a result of being attacked in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Following discussions between the Prime Minister and President Musharraf, it was agreed that officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) should support the investigation into Ms Bhutto's death. The primary focus of the Scotland Yard team was to assist the Pakistani authorities in establishing the cause and circumstances of Ms Bhutto's death. The wider investigation to establish culpability has remained entirely a matter for the Pakistani authorities.
The SO15 team was led by a Detective Superintendent Senior Investigating Officer, and comprised two forensic experts, an expert in analysing and assessing video media and an experienced investigating officer. The team arrived in Pakistan on 4th January 2008 and spent two and a half weeks conducting extensive enquiries. During the course of their work, the team were joined by other specialists from the United Kingdom.
The UK team were given extensive support and co-operation by the Pakistani authorities, Ms Bhutto's family, and senior officials from Ms Bhutto's party.
The task of establishing exactly what happened was complicated by the lack of an extended and detailed search of the crime scene, the absence of an autopsy, and the absence of recognised body recovery and victim identification processes. Nevertheless, the evidence that is available is sufficient for reliable conclusions to be drawn.
Within the overall objective, a particular focus has been placed on establishing the actual cause of death, and whether there were one or more attackers in the immediate vicinity of Ms Bhutto.
The cause of death
Considerable reliance has been placed upon the X-rays taken at Rawalpindi General Hospital following Ms Bhutto's death. Given their importance, the x-rays have been independently verified as being of Ms Bhutto by comparison with her dental x-rays. Additionally, a valuable insight was gained from the accounts given by the medical staff involved in her treatment, and from those members of Ms Bhutto's family who washed her body before burial.
Ms Bhutto's only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head. The UK experts all exclude this injury being an entry or exit wound as a result of gunshot. The only X-ray records, taken after her death, were of Ms Bhutto's head. However, the possibility of a bullet wound to her mid or lower trunk can reasonably be excluded. This is based upon the protection afforded by the armoured vehicle in which she was travelling at the time of the attack, and the accounts of her family and hospital staff who examined her.
The limited X-ray material, the absence of a full post mortem examination and CT scan, have meant that the UK Home Office pathologist, Dr Nathaniel Cary, who has been consulted in this case, is unable categorically to exclude the possibility of there being a gunshot wound to the upper trunk or neck. However when his findings are put alongside the accounts of those who had close contact with Ms Bhutto's body, the available evidence suggests that there was no gunshot injury. Importantly, Dr Cary excludes the possibility of a bullet to the neck or upper trunk as being a relevant factor in the actual cause of death, when set against the nature and extent of her head injury.
In his report Dr Cary states:
• "the only tenable cause for the rapidly fatal head injury in this case is that it occurred as the result of impact due to the effects of the bomb-blast."
|
[
"Where was the trauma?",
"Who released the report?",
"Who was assassinated?",
"What country was Benazir Bhutto associated with?",
"What was the only apparent injury?",
"What was the injury consistent with?",
"Who released the reports?"
] |
[
[
"right side of the head."
],
[
"Scotland Yard"
],
[
"Mohtarma Benazir"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"major trauma to the right side of the head."
],
[
"major trauma to the right side of the head."
],
[
"British High Commission,"
]
] |
Scotland Yard releases report into assassination of Benazir Bhutto .
Only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head .
UK experts all exclude the injury being a wound as a result of gunshot .
Injury consistent with her head impacting upon the lip of vehicle escape hatch .
|
IP-455 Press Release 8 February 2008 The findings of a Scotland Yard inquiry into how Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died after being attacked during a political rally in Rawalpindi were presented to the Government of Pakistan today. The bomb explodes near Bhutto's vehicle following a political rally in Rawalpindi. The conclusions of the inquiry were outlined in a detailed report handed over to interim Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz by Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne, accompanied by a senior official from the British High Commission, during a meeting in Islamabad. The text of the executive summary of the report is as follows: On the 27th December 2007, Mohtarma Benazir BHUTTO, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), died as a result of being attacked in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Following discussions between the Prime Minister and President Musharraf, it was agreed that officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) should support the investigation into Ms Bhutto's death. The primary focus of the Scotland Yard team was to assist the Pakistani authorities in establishing the cause and circumstances of Ms Bhutto's death. The wider investigation to establish culpability has remained entirely a matter for the Pakistani authorities. The SO15 team was led by a Detective Superintendent Senior Investigating Officer, and comprised two forensic experts, an expert in analysing and assessing video media and an experienced investigating officer. The team arrived in Pakistan on 4th January 2008 and spent two and a half weeks conducting extensive enquiries. During the course of their work, the team were joined by other specialists from the United Kingdom. The UK team were given extensive support and co-operation by the Pakistani authorities, Ms Bhutto's family, and senior officials from Ms Bhutto's party. The task of establishing exactly what happened was complicated by the lack of an extended and detailed search of the crime scene, the absence of an autopsy, and the absence of recognised body recovery and victim identification processes. Nevertheless, the evidence that is available is sufficient for reliable conclusions to be drawn. Within the overall objective, a particular focus has been placed on establishing the actual cause of death, and whether there were one or more attackers in the immediate vicinity of Ms Bhutto. The cause of death Considerable reliance has been placed upon the X-rays taken at Rawalpindi General Hospital following Ms Bhutto's death. Given their importance, the x-rays have been independently verified as being of Ms Bhutto by comparison with her dental x-rays. Additionally, a valuable insight was gained from the accounts given by the medical staff involved in her treatment, and from those members of Ms Bhutto's family who washed her body before burial. Ms Bhutto's only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head. The UK experts all exclude this injury being an entry or exit wound as a result of gunshot. The only X-ray records, taken after her death, were of Ms Bhutto's head. However, the possibility of a bullet wound to her mid or lower trunk can reasonably be excluded. This is based upon the protection afforded by the armoured vehicle in which she was travelling at the time of the attack, and the accounts of her family and hospital staff who examined her. The limited X-ray material, the absence of a full post mortem examination and CT scan, have meant that the UK Home Office pathologist, Dr Nathaniel Cary, who has been consulted in this case, is unable categorically to exclude the possibility of there being a gunshot wound to the upper trunk or neck. However when his findings are put alongside the accounts of those who had close contact with Ms Bhutto's body, the available evidence suggests that there was no gunshot injury. Importantly, Dr Cary excludes the possibility of a bullet to the neck or upper trunk as being a relevant factor in the actual cause of death, when set against the nature and extent of her head injury. In his report Dr Cary states: • "the only tenable cause for the rapidly fatal head injury in this case is that it occurred as the result of impact due to the effects of the bomb-blast."
|
[
"Scotland Yard is in which country",
"Whose experts all exclude the injury being a wound as a result of gunshot?",
"What was the only apparent injury to Benazir Bhutto?",
"Who was assassinated?",
"Who released a report?",
"Who released a report into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto?",
"What did UK experts all exclude?"
] |
[
[
"United Kingdom."
],
[
"The UK"
],
[
"major trauma"
],
[
"Mohtarma Benazir"
],
[
"Scotland Yard"
],
[
"Scotland Yard"
],
[
"this injury being an entry or exit wound as a result of gunshot."
]
] |
Scotland Yard releases report into assassination of Benazir Bhutto .
Only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head .
UK experts all exclude the injury being a wound as a result of gunshot .
Injury consistent with her head impacting upon the lip of vehicle escape hatch .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suspected missile strike from a U.S. Predator drone killed at least four people in a house in Pakistan's North Waziristan region early Saturday.
Marchers protest recent U.S. missile strikes on the Pakistani tribal areas.
The attack, which occurred in the Mir Ali subdivision in the village of Ali Khel, was one of several to hit the country Saturday.
Six people were injured in Saturday's attack, the fourth suspected U.S. strike on Pakistani soil in November. The names of the victims have not been released. It is also not known why the house was targeted.
Elsewhere, three people were killed and 11 were injured in an explosion inside a mosque in northwest Pakistan's tribal region, a government official said.
The explosion happened just after 4 p.m. (6 a.m. ET), leaving the Hangu district mosque inside Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province in ruins, said Omer Faraz Khan, deputy superintendent of Hangu.
He said rescuers were trying to save people trapped under the debris. It was not immediately clear how many people were inside the mosque at the time of the blast.
Police were investigating the explosion, which was detonated using a homemade timer, Khan said.
Hours later, three bombs exploded about 10 p.m. (noon ET) outside a stadium in Lahore where a music festival was being held, police Inspector Muntzir Kazmi said. A 13-year-old was injured, but it was unknown whether the victim was a boy or girl.
This week, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson to lodge a formal protest against another suspected U.S. missile strike on its territory, an act Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani called a violation of his nation's sovereignty. Watch Gilani say his country has had enough of U.S. attacks »
Wednesday's strike in the Bannu region of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province left five dead and seven wounded. That attack was farther inside Pakistani territory than previous attacks.
The attack targeted a home outside the tribal areas that U.S. intelligence says have become a haven for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters battling U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
The U.S. government has not acknowledged hitting targets within Pakistan, an ally in the war on al Qaeda launched after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. However, Pakistan's government has repeatedly complained about the strikes.
Gilani took to the floor of the parliament and renewed his condemnation of the attacks Thursday but added that he thinks they will be controlled when President-elect Barack Obama takes office.
In October, the foreign ministry summoned Patterson to lodge a "strong" protest on continuing missile attacks and said they should be stopped immediately. At the time, a missile strike from a suspected U.S. drone on a compound in South Waziristan killed 20 people.
Pakistan's government said the attacks cost lives and undermine public support for its counterterrorism efforts.
The U.S.-led coalition and NATO, based in Afghanistan, have been seeking a way to effectively battle militants who are launching attacks from Pakistan's swath of tribal areas along the border.
They have become frustrated with Islamabad over the years, saying it is not being active enough against militants, a claim Pakistan denies.
The United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely.
|
[
"What city/country/etc. does \"northwest\" refer to?",
"What killed a teen outside a music festival?",
"Mosque bombings leaves at least how many dead?",
"What mosque was bombed?",
"What killed the teenager?",
"Who was suspected of killing four?",
"What was believed to be the fourth attack?",
"Number of people killed by drone?",
"How many were killed by the drone?",
"Where did the bombs explode?",
"How many attacks have occurred since November?"
] |
[
[
"Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province"
],
[
"three bombs exploded"
],
[
"five"
],
[
"Hangu district"
],
[
"U.S. Predator drone"
],
[
"U.S. Predator drone"
],
[
"Saturday's"
],
[
"four"
],
[
"four"
],
[
"outside a stadium in Lahore"
],
[
"fourth"
]
] |
NEW: Teen killed when three bombs explode outside music festival .
Four killed after suspected U.S. missile strike fired from drone, official says .
Attack believed to be fourth in Pakistan since early November .
Mosque bombing leaves at least three people dead in northwest .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- About 200 people have been arrested in a flare-up of anti-Christian violence in Gojra that left seven dead, a government minister said Monday.
Christians in Karachi, Pakistan, on Monday protest the slayings of seven Christians in weekend violence.
Rana Sana Ullah, Punjab's provincial law minister, told CNN that the paramilitary Rangers force was helping police and maintaining law and order.
Seven people were killed and 20 injured Saturday when Muslim demonstrators set fire to houses in a Christian enclave and fighting broke out, authorities said. Police said the Muslims were protesting an alleged desecration of pages in the Quran, the Muslim sacred text, at a Christian wedding.
At a news conference in Islamabad carried on local TV, Shehbaz Bhatti, federal minister for minorities, said an investigation determined there was no desecration of the Quran in village 95 Gill near Gojra City, and the allegations were baseless. He also said the government will rebuild all the burned houses.
Bhatti told CNN that four women, two men and a child, all Christians, were either shot to death or killed when their houses were burned. About 50 houses were burned down, and more than 100 were looted by the protesters, Bhatti said. The incident occurred in Gojra City, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Lahore.
Kamran Michael, Punjab provincial minister for human rights and minority affairs, who is a Christian, told CNN after meeting with Pakistan's Christian leaders in Gojra that a consensus had been reached to observe three days of mourning, from Monday to Wednesday, for the attack on the Christians.
On those three days, all schools, colleges, missions and educational institutions run by Christians will remain closed. Christian schools in Karachi, which were due to open for the new term Monday, remained closed. However, schools in most other areas of Pakistan are still on summer vacation.
Michael also criticized Pakistan's "law of offenses relating to religion," which has a penalty of life imprisonment for desecration of the Quran and even death for defiling the name of the prophet Mohammed. He called the law unjust and misused, and he strongly condemned it, demanding that it be amended because of its misuse against minorities.
Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many houses were burned?",
"What did the investigation determined?",
"how many houses where looted in violence",
"who were protesting an alleged desecration of the Quran",
"how many were hurt",
"how many were killed",
"what did the muslim protesters do",
"what happened when Muslim protesters set fire to houses in Christian area"
] |
[
[
"50"
],
[
"there was no desecration of the Quran in village 95 Gill near Gojra City, and the allegations were baseless."
],
[
"100"
],
[
"the Muslims"
],
[
"20"
],
[
"seven"
],
[
"set fire to houses in a Christian enclave"
],
[
"Seven people were killed and 20 injured"
]
] |
7 killed, 20 hurt Saturday when Muslim protesters set fire to houses in Christian area .
They were protesting alleged desecration of Quran at a Christian wedding .
Federal official says investigation determined there was no desecration of Quran .
About 50 houses were burned down, more than 100 looted in violence .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Eight police personnel were killed in an early-morning attack Saturday on a police security checkpoint in Pakistan's Punjab province, a police official said.
The attack happened at 3:30 a.m. Saturday (2230 GMT Friday). Some personnel were asleep in the checkpost guard quarters and others were standing guard when unknown militants attacked the checkpost from their vehicle, a police official from the Mianwali district of the province said.
All the men were killed by gunfire. The attackers then blew up the checkpost with explosives, the police official said.
The checkpoint was part of the NATO supply routes transporting goods from the port city of Karachi through Pakistan's northwestern region and tribal areas into Afghanistan.
Police told CNN that an attack a few days ago also targeted a checkpoint in the Mianwali district. Rocket fire damaged the top level of building but no one was killed in the attack.
|
[
"What was the checkpoint a part of?",
"Number of cops killed in early morning attack?",
"What was part of the NATO supply route/",
"What did the attackers blow up?",
"How many police personnel died?",
"How many police died?",
"What did the attackers do to the checkpost?",
"Who blew up checkpoint?"
] |
[
[
"NATO supply routes"
],
[
"Eight"
],
[
"The checkpoint"
],
[
"checkpost"
],
[
"Eight"
],
[
"Eight"
],
[
"blew up"
],
[
"unknown militants"
]
] |
Early-morning attack results in death of eight police personnel .
All men killed by gunfire -- attackers then blew up checkpost with explosives .
The checkpoint was part of the NATO supply routes .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- In Pakistan's combustible Swat Valley, some girls refuse to wear uniforms so they can make it to school without being harmed. Shiza Shahid, left, a 20-year-old Stanford University student, is helping to teach young girls in Pakistan. Other girls hide textbooks in their shawls to escape harassment. School-age girls are among the victims in the fierce fighting between government soldiers and Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. The Pakistani government said it has flushed much of the Taliban out of the area, but some fighting persists. Many girls remain banned from schools. Dozens of their schools have been bombed, and militants have burned books. A new program has taken 26 girls out of the battle-scarred region to Islamabad for a 10-day retreat, where they can learn in safer surroundings. A group of college students of Pakistani background is helping the girls. Among them are Shiza Shahid, 20, from California's Stanford University, who organized the program called Shajar-e-llm, or Tree of Knowledge. Shahid said she was moved to help after hearing about how the girls struggled to get an education. "I think we were so angry, upset and emotional that we decided we have to do something," she said. Watch as Shahid says she had to act to help the girls » Though well-intentioned, the program sometimes seems disorganized. "We need support. We need unfortunately more organization, more of the bureaucratic nitty-gritty that you don't want to do, but you have to," Shahid said. "We are young, and that does come with the burden as not being equally trusted or seen as capable." Nonetheless, the group has ambitions for a boys' learning retreat as well. The lessons are simple enough -- confidence-building exercises, critical-thinking lessons -- all framed in the context of Islamic values. The girls -- ages 11 to 14 -- spoke about their dreams. One wants to meet a poet; another wants to learn calligraphy. Another wants to grow up to lead Pakistan. "I want to become president and rule this country in a good way," said 12-year-old Malila. One day during the retreat, the girls were taught a song about freedom of speech. As a guitarist strummed, the girls sang that God gives everyone the right to free speech and no one can take it away. Free speech seemed to end with the song, however. The girls could not risk talking about Taliban harassment, because the militants' version of Islamic law lingers. Such Islamic law, or shariah, also keeps females from going to school or going outside without their husbands. The United Nations estimates that 375,000 Swat Valley residents fled their homes during fighting that started in April. In all, 2.5 million Pakistanis were displaced in what was said to be one of the largest human migrations in recent history. Many residents have returned to their homes, but peace has not been completely restored to the region. And soon, the girls at the learning retreat will return home to the Swat Valley as well. Organizers said they hope the girls will carry a new love for education. "There were tears and there were tough moments," said Madihah Akhter, a volunteer with the program. "But the girls surprised me. They were really resilient. They were beyond their years."
|
[
"Who were the Pakistani soldiers fighting?",
"From what university is a student helping the retreat come from?",
"who were fighting?",
"Which university is the helpful student from?",
"What number of girls were given a safe haven in Islamabad?",
"How many girls were given a safe haven to learn?",
"who is helping to lead the retreat?",
"What university does a student leader attend?",
"Where were the soldiers and taliban fighting?",
"Who is helping to lead them?",
"Who are the victims?",
"Where was the fight?",
"What is the retreat giving girls?",
"In which city is the retreat?",
"Where is the safe haven?"
] |
[
[
"Taliban militants"
],
[
"Stanford"
],
[
"government soldiers and Taliban militants"
],
[
"Stanford"
],
[
"26"
],
[
"26"
],
[
"Shiza Shahid, left, a 20-year-old Stanford University student, is"
],
[
"Stanford"
],
[
"Swat Valley."
],
[
"Shiza Shahid,"
],
[
"School-age girls"
],
[
"Swat Valley."
],
[
"safer surroundings."
],
[
"Islamabad"
],
[
"Islamabad"
]
] |
Schoolgirls victims of fighting between Pakistani soldiers and Taliban in Swat Valley .
A retreat in Islamabad gives 26 girls a safe haven to learn .
A student from Stanford University is helping lead the retreat .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan launched an offensive against the Taliban on Saturday, the biggest military push against militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region since a civilian government took power in March.
A Pakistan army vehicle patrols a troubled district of South Waziristan, in the northwest of Pakistan.
Army spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas said the operation occurred in the Khyber section of the tribal region, west of Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province. And it comes as the new administration announced that it would get tough with radicals in the region.
There had been reports that Peshawar was being threatened by militants. Although Abbas said the reports were exaggerated, the military determined that the conditions in the area necessitated action.
Troops cleared three militant outposts and pushed the insurgents west, Abbas said. There were no immediate reports of militant resistance or any casualties.
The area is not far from the Afghan-Pakistan border.
The Taliban militant movement has a strong presence in the tribal region and in neighboring Afghanistan, and there also have been numerous attacks on that restive border in recent weeks.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said this week that he hopes a newly announced Pakistani effort to clamp down on Islamic militants in its northwestern tribal districts will improve the situation in Afghanistan.
"What has happened is that as various agreements have been negotiated or were in the process of negotiation with various groups by the Pakistani government ... the pressure was taken off of these people and these groups, and they've therefore been more free to be able to cross the border and create problems for us," he said at the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, the the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan reported that 32 militants had been killed two days ago during Afghan and coalition operations in southern Afghanistan.
The fighting occurred in Uruzgan province and the report comes amid Pentagon warnings of a "resilient insurgency" by the Taliban.
Afghan and coalition forces were ambushed Thursday during a patrol. They returned fire and called in airstrikes that killed three militants.
Soon after, the militants again attacked the patrol. The forces then killed 29 insurgents.
"During this engagement, insurgents attempted to disguise themselves in women's clothing in order to escape," the coalition said.
A child and two police officers were wounded.
This is the latest report of fighting across Afghanistan, where there has been an uptick in Taliban militant activities in the south, the east, and the Afghan-Pakistan border region.
On Friday, a coalition service member was killed in Farah province. The death toll of U.S. and allied troops killed in Afghanistan in June has reached 40, the highest monthly toll of the war.
Also, NATO's International Security Assistance Force were attacked in Paktika and Kunar provinces. Strikes in Kunar killed two civilians and wounded 11 others. Insurgents in both Pakistan and Afghanistan fired rockets at the Paktika base, but there were no casualties reported.
A Pentagon report on security in Afghanistan underscored the tenacity of the Taliban. It said that although there has been some progress in battling the Taliban, setbacks are expected.
Although NATO and Afghan force operations kept the insurgency down in 2007 by killing or capturing key leaders and clearing out Taliban safe havens, the report predicted that the Taliban would be back in 2008.
|
[
"who launch major offensive?",
"Who faces a threat?",
"Who launched a major offensive against Taliban fighters in Khyber region?",
"What region is the Taliban located?",
"how many militants killed?"
] |
[
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Peshawar"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"32"
]
] |
Pakistani forces launch major offensive against Taliban fighters in Khyber region .
Military action is first taken by new government amid concern over threat to Peshawar .
32 militants killed in clashes with coalition forces in Afghanistan, coalition says .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's fired chief justice was reinstated in a flag-raising ceremony at his house Sunday after the government bowed to protesters' demands following days of massive demonstrations.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will not renew his oath of office.
The flag-raising was ceremonial. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will not renew his oath of office because his firing by former President Pervez Musharraf was deemed illegal.
About 100 people gathered outside Chaudhry's residence, some dancing, some beating drums in a boisterous celebration.
A growing protest movement had demanded that Chaudhry and other judges that Musharraf fired be re-seated.
Buckling under pressure, the government of current President Asif Ali Zardari agreed. Along with Chaudhry, most of the sixty others who had been fired have also returned to their posts. Watch people cheer after Chaudhry is reinstated »
Two unresolved matters will immediately test Chaudhry on his return to office:
Some experts have surmised that one reason Zardari delayed acting on Chaudhry's return is because the Supreme Court wanted to look into the amnesty.
Both Zardari and his late wife, one-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, had been granted amnesty by Musharraf so they could return from exile in 2007 and participate in elections.
The couple faced numerous charges of corruption.
Bhutto was assassinated during a campaign rally. Her husband became head of her party and the new president of Pakistan.
Zardari promised to reinstate the judges within 30 days of taking office. The deadline came and went.
The political turmoil in Pakistan came just a year after the country celebrated a return to democracy. It has forced the government's attention away from a deadly fundamentalist insurgency in its tribal areas and an economy that is on the verge of collapse.
The Obama administration Monday praised the Pakistani government's decision to reinstate Chaudhry, with the State Department saying the move "brought Pakistan back from the brink."
CNN's Reza Sayah and Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"when Celebrations outside chief justice's home mark reinstatement?",
"what U.S. said the move \"brought Pakistan back from the brink\"?",
"Who is being brought back?",
"Who was fired?"
] |
[
[
"Sunday"
],
[
"the Pakistani government's decision to reinstate Chaudhry,"
],
[
"Pakistan's fired chief justice"
],
[
"Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry"
]
] |
Celebrations outside chief justice's home mark reinstatement .
All judges fired by Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf to get jobs back .
U.S. said the move "brought Pakistan back from the brink"
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani forces in the last month foiled a planned attack on the parliament building, the intelligence agency and other federal institutions, the country's interior minister told CNN Sunday. Pakistan's parliament building was one target of a planned attack, an official says. In the last four weeks, authorities arrested three men with suicide vests who were plotting to carry out the attacks, said Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Malik would not say exactly when the men were caught. Pakistan is in the midst of an intense military offensive against Taliban militants. The militants are suspected of launching attacks inside Pakistan and in neighboring Afghanistan from their haven in the mountainous tribal region along the northwestern border. On Sunday, a suicide bomber in volatile northwestern Pakistan killed at three people and wounded 15 others, police said. The bombing rocked the Pakistani city of Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province. The incident took place when police approached a man acting suspiciously. The man ran away, police chased him and a gunfight ensued. The man ran out of bullets and blew himself up. Two women and seven children were among the injured. Remains of the alleged attacker were found, police said. Five houses were destroyed. The incident follows a car bombing on Saturday in Peshawar that killed two people, including the spokesman for an extremist group called Ansar ul Islam. Two suspects are in custody. Malik said Sunday the government's anti-Taliban operations will continue during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month considered to be a time of peace. Militants in North Waziristan, part of the tribal region, have said they will observe a unilateral ceasefire throughout the month. "There will not be a ceasefire during Ramadan. We are not interested in a ceasefire," Malik said. "They haven't kept their commitment in the past. We will continue targeted actions against the Taliban." Malik also said the Taliban killed the father-in-law of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and several other relatives, accusing them of leaking information about his whereabouts. Pakistan and U.S. officials contend Mehsud was killed in an August 5 drone attack in Waziristan at his father-in-law's house. The Taliban claims Mehsud is alive but ill.
|
[
"How many men plotted to carry out the attacks?",
"How many did the bomber kill?",
"Where did the suicide bomber act?",
"How many men plotted to carry out attacks?",
"Suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan kills at leasthow many?",
"What happened to the suicide bomber?",
"What is the name of the Interior Minister?",
"Suspect blew himself up after running out of what?",
"What was the plot against?",
"Where did the bombing occur?",
"who is responsible for the bombing",
"What was the number of men involved?",
"According to the Interior Minister, how many men plotted to carry out the attacks?",
"What happened to the suspect?",
"How many people did the suicide bomber kill?",
"how many were involved",
"Had the suspect blown himself up after running out of bullets?"
] |
[
[
"three"
],
[
"three people"
],
[
"northwestern Pakistan"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"three people"
],
[
"The man ran away, police chased him and a gunfight ensued. The man ran out of bullets and blew himself up."
],
[
"Rehman Malik."
],
[
"bullets"
],
[
"Pakistan's parliament building"
],
[
"Pakistani city of Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province."
],
[
"militants"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"blew himself up."
],
[
"three"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"of"
]
] |
NEW: Suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan kills at least three, authorities say .
NEW: Suspect blew himself up after running out of bullets in gunfight, police say .
Pakistani authorities say they stopped plot on government buildings .
Three men plotted to carry out attacks, says Interior Minister Rehman Malik .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani military says security forces have taken back the city of Mingora from the Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive against the Taliban. Pakistani solders escort a suspected Taliban militant inside an army base in Mingora. Mingora is the largest city in Pakistan's Swat Valley where security forces have been fighting the Taliban in a month-long offensive. "It is a great accomplishment," said Pakistani Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. "This is the largest city in Swat and for all practical purposes, Mingora has been secured." Abbas said militants put up a stiff resistance, but their resistance weakened as troops moved in. Abbas told CNN pockets of militants remain just outside Mingora. The fighting has uprooted about 2.4 million Pakistanis from their homes in the northwestern region of the country, according to the latest data from the United Nations. Of those displaced, about 10 percent -- or 240,000 -- are living in refugee camps, according to the U.N. The announcement that the military has pushed the Taliban out of Mingora comes after days of Taliban attacks in other areas in the country. The military issued a press release on Saturday saying that 25 militants and a soldier were killed in fighting across the region over the last 24 hours. Pakistani authorities increased security throughout Islamabad on Friday after a string of deadly bombings in Lahore and Peshawar, and a threat by the Taliban to carry out further attacks. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide attack in Lahore on a building housing police, intelligence and emergency offices. Twenty-seven people were killed. The militant group also threatened to continue attacking cities in Pakistan until the military ends its operations against Taliban militants in the country's northwest.
|
[
"What city was taken back by the Pakistani military?",
"Where was a deadly blast at?",
"Pakistani military says it has taken back which city?",
"Fighting in northwestern region has displaced roughly how many Pakistanis?",
"How many Pakistanis are displaced due to fighting?",
"Where did the deadly blasts occur?",
"Pakistani military has taken back what city?",
"Which countries military says it has taken back key Swat Valley city of Mingora?"
] |
[
[
"Mingora"
],
[
"Lahore"
],
[
"Mingora"
],
[
"2.4 million"
],
[
"2.4 million"
],
[
"bombings in Lahore and Peshawar,"
],
[
"Mingora"
],
[
"Pakistani"
]
] |
Pakistani military says it has taken back key Swat Valley city of Mingora .
Army spokesman says operation is a "great accomplishment"
Fighting in northwestern region has displaced about 2.4 million Pakistanis .
Pakistan raises security levels after deadly blasts in Lahore, Peshawar .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Violence echoed across a volatile Pakistani province and an adjacent tribal region on Saturday, with dozens reported killed in the latest military push, a drone strike, and a car bombing targeting a school bus. A Pakistani girl displaced by the military's offensive against the Taliban rests at a camp Saturday north of the capital. Pakistan's artillery and airstrikes against Taliban militants in North West Frontier Province left 47 suspected militants dead in operations over the last 24 hours, the military said. "Security forces are closing in from different directions and have been able to inflict more casualties," the military said in the daily roundup of its offensive in the Swat district and adjoining regions. The troops have been fighting to oust militants from districts across Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Forty-five people were killed in various areas of Dir, where four militants were arrested. The military conducted search-and-destroy operations in Shangla district, where they targeted terrorist hideouts and reported the arrest of one militant leader and the death of another. In Swat, the military said it killed a militant commander and were getting closer to the city of Mingora, where they isolated and blocked "the movement of fleeing terrorists," amid the sound of intense exchanges of fire. Watch Pakistani troops pound Taliban positions » In the adjacent tribal region, a missile believed fired by a drone overnight struck a madrassa, a religious school, a Pakistani intelligence official said. More than 20 people were killed, according to local and Taliban sources. The strike was near the village of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal regions. The official asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. According to a count by CNN, this is the 16th suspected missile strike in Pakistan this year. Pakistan has complained repeatedly about what it says are American airstrikes on its territory. The U.S. military in Afghanistan has not commented on the strikes, which typically target Taliban fighters in the border region. But the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from remote-controlled drones. In Peshawar, at least nine people were killed and 33 hurt Saturday when a car bomb exploded while a school bus passed on a road, local authorities said. The school bus was carrying handicapped children. It is not clear if any of them were killed, but as many as seven were injured. Peshawar is the capital of North West Frontier Province. More than a million people have been displaced in northwestern Pakistan as a result of the two-week-old military offensive with the Taliban, the U.N. refugee agency said Saturday. Antonio Guterres, high commissioner for refugees, said 1,171,682 people have been registered as internally displaced people. These are in addition to the 553,916 displaced people who've fled eruptions of fighting in the tribal areas and North West Frontier Province since August. CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many militants killed in North West Frontier Province?",
"How many were killed in the U.S. missile strike on a religious school?",
"What exploded by a school bus?",
"What was the death count from the suspected US missile strike?",
"Who has been killed?",
"What number of militants was killed by the Pakistani military?",
"Where is the killings?",
"What was the death count when a car bomb exploded?"
] |
[
[
"47"
],
[
"More than 20 people"
],
[
"car bomb"
],
[
"More than 20 people were killed, according to local and Taliban sources."
],
[
"47 suspected militants"
],
[
"47"
],
[
"North West Frontier Province."
],
[
"47"
]
] |
Pakistan military says it killed 47 militants in 24 hours in North West Frontier Province .
Local sources say 20 killed in suspected U.S. missile strike on religious school .
Pakistani troops fighting to oust Taliban militants from volatile province .
In Peshawar, nine killed when a car bomb exploded as school bus passed .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A Taliban spokesman issued a series of threats and ultimatums against Pakistani officials Wednesday as the country's military continued its offensive against the militant group in the Swat Valley. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan has courted local and international media in jovial telephone conversations. Speaking on the telephone with CNN, Muslim Khan announced that all national and provincial parliament members from the Malakand Division, the northwestern region where the Swat Valley is located, must resign within three days. "Otherwise, we will arrest all their families," Khan threatened, "and we will destroy all their buildings." The Taliban spokesman issued a separate directive aimed at prompting a public show of support for the militants from Pakistan's Islamist political parties. "All these parties must help the Taliban," Khan said. "They must give a press conference to show the people that we need sharia [Islamic law] in the Malakand Division." Members of the Islamist party Jamaat-i-Islami have spoken out against the military's offensive in the Swat Valley, but they have stopped short of announcing support for the Taliban. Watch more about the victims of the war » Throughout the fighting over the past three weeks, the gray-bearded Khan has been the public face of the Taliban, enthusiastically courting local and international media in jovial telephone conversations. In an earlier phone interview with CNN, he described how he had spent four years living in the United States, working as a painter in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. On Wednesday, Khan denied reports from many refugees emerging from the Swat Valley that Taliban militants had carried out a campaign of violence and intimidation in the region for the past two years. Several terrified Swat residents, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from the Taliban, described how insurgents kidnapped and killed their critics, beheaded government informers and blew up girls' schools. Khan denied the accusations. "We are killing the people which are only no good for society, like thieves and people who are making problem for the poor people, like people who are working for army," he said. "We are only killing these people." On Tuesday, the Pakistani army announced that it had dropped special forces soldiers by helicopter into the Peochar area of Swat, which is thought to be the headquarters for the region's Taliban's leader, Maulana Fazliullah. Local media report that the Taliban have training camps in Peochar. Khan confirmed that Pakistani troops had attacked Peochar, which he described as a "place for mujaheddin," or holy warriors. The Taliban spokesman said militants and soldiers have been fighting in the mountains around Peochar since Tuesday, and that the clashes continue. He said two Taliban fighters had been killed so far in the battle, along with five Pakistani troops. Meanwhile Wednesday, Taliban militants attacked NATO supply terminals, torching at least 10 supply trucks in northern Pakistan, local officials said. About 70 Taliban fighters attacked the facility in Peshawar, police said. A gunfight ensued between the insurgents and police. No casualties were reported. Peshawar is the capital of the North West Frontier Province, which intelligence officials say is rife with Islamic extremists and has been the site of recent clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants. Because Afghanistan is landlocked, many supplies for NATO-led troops fighting Islamic militants there must be trucked in from Pakistan. Convoys carrying food and military supplies have regularly come under attack in the area. Journalist Janullah Hashimzada contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who threatens Pakistan's ruling political class?",
"What did the Taliban attack torch?",
"Who did the Taliban spokesman threaten?",
"Who says leaders from Swat Valley must resign within three days?"
] |
[
[
"Taliban"
],
[
"10 supply trucks"
],
[
"issued a series of threats and ultimatums against Pakistani"
],
[
"Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan"
]
] |
Taliban spokesman threaten Pakistan's ruling political class .
Muslim Khan says leaders from Swat Valley must resign within three days .
Meanwhile artillery and helicopters pound Taliban targets in Swat Valley .
Taliban attack NATO supply terminals, torch at least 10 supply trucks .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A massive blast targeting the Danish Embassy in Pakistan Monday killed at least six people and wounded as many as 18, authorities said. The scene of devastation in Islamabad Monday after a suicide car bomb attack near the Danish Embassy. The blast left a four-foot deep crater in the road. Confusion lingered about the attack in the capital city of Islamabad and the number of casualties. Police at the scene said a suicide car bomber pulled up next to the embassy at about 1 p.m. and detonated explosives. But Senior Superintendent of Police Ahmad Latif told CNN that authorities could not immediately label it a suicide attack. Likewise, a medical worker told CNN the explosion killed eight people, including a young child and at least one foreign national. But Latif put the number of fatalities at six and said none of the dead were foreigners. Among the wounded, he said, was a Brazilian citizen of Pakistani descent. Watch Pakistan's foreign minister respond » Authorities differed on the number of wounded as well, with figures ranging from five to 18. No embassy official was seriously hurt, Latif said. It is not uncommon for preliminary casualty figures to vary: police cautioned that the numbers could rise. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller condemned the act. "My immediate reaction is that you can only condemn this," said Stig Moeller. "It is terrible that terrorists do this. The embassy is there to have a cooperation between the Pakistani population and Denmark, and that means they are destroying that. They're destroying the Pakistanis' ability to connect with Denmark. It is completely unacceptable." Watch the aftermath of the deadly attack » The blast, heard more than two miles away, sheared off the embassy's front wall and kicked in its metal front gate. The impact blew out the building's windows and also damaged the offices of a non-profit organization. The Danish and the EU flag, knocked off their staff, hung limply from a spot on the embassy balcony. Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters at the scene that police are beefing up security at embassies and foreign missions throughout the city. "I just want to assure everybody that the government will do everything to protect the diplomatic missions and also the security and safety of the citizens of Pakistan," he said. The explosion was the first deadly attack in Islamabad since a bomb was hurled over a wall surrounding an Italian restaurant on March 15. That explosion killed a Turkish woman and wounded 12 people, including four U.S. FBI agents. After Monday's attack, dozens of cars -- blanketed with dirt kicked up by the blast -- littered the street, their windows knocked out. Rescue workers carried away a bloodied person, covering his body with a blanket. Pieces of shoes and tattered clothing lay amid the rubble. Police said the attack targeted the embassy. Danish embassies in predominantly Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, have been the scene of protests since Danish newspapers reprinted cartoons that Muslims say insult their prophet. In February, several newspapers in Denmark reprinted the controversial cartoons of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, after Danish authorities arrested several people who allegedly were plotting a "terror-related assassination" of the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard's cartoon depicted the prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse. He said he wanted his drawing to say that some people exploited the prophet to legitimize terror. However, many in the Muslim world interpreted the drawing as depicting their prophet as a terrorist. Islam generally forbids any depiction of the prophet -- even favorable ones -- fearing that it may lead to idolatry. Two years ago, demonstrations erupted across the world after some newspapers printed the same cartoons. Some protests turned deadly. The protests prompted Danish officials to temporarily close the embassy in Islamabad. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Monday's blast. In the past, authorities have blamed Islamic militants for carrying out attacks inside Pakistani cities. The country experienced a month-long lull in attacks after a new government took office
|
[
"What embassy did the suicide bomber attack?",
"What was the death toll?",
"What was the target of the suicide car bomber?",
"What city did the attack occur?"
] |
[
[
"Danish"
],
[
"six people"
],
[
"Danish Embassy in Pakistan"
],
[
"Islamabad"
]
] |
Suicide car bomber targeted Danish embassy in capital, Islamabad .
Differing accounts put death toll at between eight and six people .
Medical worker says a child and at least one foreign national died in blast .
Danish embassy scene of protests last year over Muhammed cartoons row .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A military offensive to rid Pakistan's northwest of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters has killed more than 1,000 militants since it began in full force earlier this month, the country's interior ministry said Sunday. A Pakistani girl displaced by the offensive against the Taliban rests at a camp Saturday north of Islamabad. Officials also said that only 2 percent of the North West Frontier Province remains under Taliban control as a result of the operation. Both claims were difficult to verify independently. The government did not say whether the operation resulted in civilian casualties, or how many people it displaced. The United Nations said Saturday that more than a million people have been displaced as a result of the two-week-old offensive. The U.S-led coalition and NATO -- based in Afghanistan -- have long said Pakistan is not being proactive enough in battling militants who are launching attacks from Pakistan's swath of tribal areas along the border. Pakistan has denied the claim. But the country's military launched an intense operation to rout out militants from the area after Taliban fighters took control of a district just 60 miles from the capital, Islamabad. The control of the Buner district brought the Taliban closer to the capital of the nuclear-armed country than it had been since it mounted its insurgency. Watch car bomb, drone attack in Pakistan »
|
[
"Where is the coalition based?",
"Who were Pakistani troops trying to oust?",
"Which country leads the coalition?",
"What did the coalition say about Islamabad?",
"What claims is Pakistan deny?",
"Who has denied the claims?"
] |
[
[
"Afghanistan"
],
[
"al Qaeda and Taliban"
],
[
"The U.S-led"
],
[
"Pakistan is not being proactive enough in battling militants who are launching attacks from Pakistan's swath of tribal areas along"
],
[
"not being proactive enough in battling militants who are launching attacks from"
],
[
"Pakistan"
]
] |
Pakistani troops fighting to oust Taliban militants from volatile province .
U.S-led coalition and NATO, based in Afghanistan, have long criticized Pakistan .
Islamabad, coalition says, not effective in halting border attacks from inside Pakistan .
Pakistan has denied the claims, has launched operations to rout out militants .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A new Taliban military "code of conduct" calls for restrictions on suicide attacks aimed at avoiding the killing of civilians, but U.S. and Afghan military officials dismissed the document as propaganda, calling it hypocritical. A Pakistani looks at a bus set on fire by Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan in June. The booklet, obtained by CNN in northwestern Pakistan, has emerged during a crucial moment in the fight between troops and militants in Afghanistan, where battles are raging in the country's Helmand province and troops work to establish stability for the upcoming presidential elections. "Suicide attacks should be at high value and important targets because a brave son of Islam should not be used for low value and useless targets," the code of conduct said. "In suicide attacks the killing of innocent people and damage to their property should be minimized." It also says "all mujahideen must do their best to avoid civilian deaths and injuries and damage to civilian property." And it says that mujahideen "should refrain" from disfiguring of people, such as the severing of ears, nose and lips. "Mujahideen must be well behaved, and treat the people properly, in order to get closer to the hearts of civilian Muslims," the code said. Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul, saidit was notable that the document is intended to be "prescriptive on how the bad guys are supposed to conduct themselves." Watch why Taliban have brought out new code of conduct » "Their day to day actions contradict everything in it," Sidenstricker said. "The long and the short of it is, they don't operate in accordance to their code of conduct." She said more than 60 percent of civilians killed have been killed by the Taliban, and since January, more than 450 innocent Afghans have been killed and more than 1,000 others have been injured. Watch why Taliban are proving hard to uproot » Also, half the casualties resulting from roadside bombs were civilians. "The booklet also says suicide attacks should always be done against high-ranking officials. In reality, they have killed more then 200 Afghan civilians," she said. Afghanistan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zaher Azimi said the code is " propaganda" and that the Taliban "will never implement that." He cites a recent beheading of a retired Afghan soldier as a clear example of the group's real behavior. "It was against all the laws of war," Azimi said. As far as the upcoming election, Azimi said, the Taliban has tried its best in the past "to disrupt the normal process of peace and security, and they will try their best to disrupt the peace and security process in the future." The code of conduct is dated as coming into effect on May 9, 2009. It is similar to a previous document that emerged in 2006 and covers many topics. For example, it says "kidnapping for ransom is strictly prohibited." As for prisoners, the code says "it is strictly prohibited to exchange prisoners for money. Killing can only be decided by the Imam or his deputy. No one else has the right to do so." It says an imam or his deputy are on the only ones to make decisions on whether to kill, release of exchange a captured "military infidel." Further, it says the practice of taking weapons from people by force "is no longer permitted." "But people may hand over their weapons voluntarily," it said. And it says that the "mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate should not collect donations forcibly" and that "people should be free to choose who they want to give to." It said mujahideen shouldn't search peoples' homes. "If there is a need to do this, they should get permission from authority and the search should be done in the presence of the imam of the local mosque and two elders." The code said mujahids aren't permitted to smoke and that "a male who
|
[
"Who called the rules propaganda?",
"Who has issued a new code of conduct?",
"Who issued a new code of conduct?",
"What officials have dismissed the rules as propaganda and hypocritical?",
"What does the code outline?",
"What are the rules meant to limit?",
"What does the Taliban's code of conduct limit?",
"To whom is the code of conduct directed at?",
"Who dismisses the new rules as propaganda and hypocritical?",
"What kind of rules does the code outline?",
"What do officials have to say about the rules?",
"What did the Taliban issue?"
] |
[
[
"U.S. and Afghan military officials"
],
[
"Taliban military"
],
[
"Taliban military"
],
[
"Afghan military"
],
[
"calls for restrictions on suicide"
],
[
"killing of civilians,"
],
[
"killing of innocent people and damage to their property"
],
[
"Taliban"
],
[
"Taliban military \"code of conduct\""
],
[
"restrictions on suicide"
],
[
"dismissed the document as propaganda, calling it hypocritical."
],
[
"new code of conduct"
]
] |
Taliban issues a new code of conduct to show it is a disciplined force .
Code outlines rules to limit suicide attacks and civilian casualties .
U.S. and Afghan officials dismiss rules as propaganda and hypocritical .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suspected U.S. missile struck a village Wednesday in Pakistan's tribal region, killing three Taliban militants and wounding four others, according to local officials and media reports.
People inspect the damage from a suspected U.S. missile strike in northwest Pakistan last month.
The strike is the 12th missile attack this year, compared with three attacks during the same period in 2008.
The missile -- fired from an unmanned drone -- was targeting a pickup truck carrying suspected militants near the town of Wana in South Waziristan in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, according to Nasim Dawar, an official with the South Waziristan administration.
Witnesses and intelligence sources said the drone was flying low and the militants fired at it before the missile strike, Dawar said. Two nearby shops were destroyed in the missile attack, he said.
The U.S. military in Afghanistan routinely offers no comment on reported cross-border strikes. However, the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely.
Journalists Janullah Hashimzada and Nazar Ul-Islam contributed to this report.
|
[
"Where was the missile fired from?",
"who fired back at pilotless drone?",
"In what country did the attack take place?",
"how many strikes were in last year?",
"Where is the village?",
"How many strikes did the US Military execute this year?",
"where was missile was fired from?"
] |
[
[
"an unmanned drone"
],
[
"militants"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"12th missile attack"
],
[
"region,"
],
[
"12th"
],
[
"an unmanned drone"
]
] |
Witnesses say missile was fired from drone plane flying low over village, official says .
Militants fired back at pilotless drone, according to official in Pakistan's tribal region .
Strike is the 12th this year, compared to just three in same period last year .
U.S. military in Afghanistan routinely doesn't comment on reports of drone attacks .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A top official in Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley was kidnapped Sunday -- a day after a cease-fire between the government and Taliban militants was supposed to go into effect. Girls study this week in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where education fhas been an issue in peace talks. Kushal Khan was on his way to take up his new post as the District Coordination Officer when unknown gunmen kidnapped him and six members of his security guards near Mingora, the valley's main city, officials said. Khan was nabbed a day after the provincial government declared a permanent cease-fire agreement with Taliban militants in the valley. Yet, hours after the announcement, Maulana Fazlullah -- the Taliban commander in the area -- was playing down the agreement with aggressive rhetoric in a radio broadcast. Fazlullah said militants will continue their fight to impose Islamic law, or sharia, in the region. Watch cease-fire deal with Taliban » Swat Valley, located in North West Frontier Province, was once one of Pakistan's biggest tourist destinations. It is situated near the Afghanistan border and about 186 miles (300 km) from the capital city of Islamabad . Watch what sharia law requires The valley boasted the country's only ski resort until it was shut down after militants overran the area. The area was also a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts and visitors to the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area. In recent months, however, militants have unleashed a wave of violence that has claimed hundreds of lives across the North West Frontier Province. The militants want to require veils for women, beards for men and ban music and television. The fighting has displaced nearly half of Swat's population, officials said. The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants. As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly bombings, beheadings and kidnappings -- and said the attacks will continue until the troops pull out. On Saturday, the government of the province said it had reached a deal with the Taliban for a permanent cease-fire. It marked a major concession by the Pakistani government in its attempt to hold off Taliban militants. The agreement means boys' schools will reopen on Monday and camps will be set up for Swat residents who have fled the fighting or whose homes had been destroyed. Watch what sharia law requires » CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report
|
[
"What was one of the biggest tourist destinations?",
"What is key to the agreement?",
"What did the government do?",
"What was the offensive?",
"Who launched the offensive?",
"Where was the cease fire?",
"What is the tourist destination?>",
"Who reached a ceasefire?",
"What was a tourism destination?"
] |
[
[
"Swat Valley,"
],
[
"permanent cease-fire"
],
[
"declared a permanent cease-fire agreement with Taliban militants"
],
[
"to flush out militants."
],
[
"central government"
],
[
"Swat Valley"
],
[
"Swat Valley,"
],
[
"the government and Taliban militants"
],
[
"Swat Valley,"
]
] |
Provincial govt. struck permanent cease-fire with Taliban in Swat Valley Saturday .
Establishment of strict Islamic law in the region is key to the agreement .
Swat Valley was once one of Pakistan's biggest tourist destinations .
Central govt. launched an intense military offensive against militants in late July .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who admitted leaking nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya and then recanted his confession, has been released from house arrest after it was declared illegal by the Islamabad High Court, his attorney told CNN Friday. Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan meets the media outside his residence Friday. "What the court declared is that he is a free citizen which means effectively... the basic human rights are available to him like any other citizen," said attorney Syed Ali Zafar. The Pakistani government was slow to acknowledge the high court's ruling. A spokesman said the Interior Ministry hasn't received the official court ruling, but will comply with whatever decision was made. Government attorneys said they expected an official announcement to be made by Saturday. But evidence of the end of Khan's house arrest seemed clear outside his home in an upscale part of Islamabad. Where a government security detail previously stood guard with machine guns, cars were parked and reporters roamed the area scratching for details. Khan made a brief appearance, saying he was outside because of the court's ruling, but gave few other details. In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she is "very much concerned" about Khan's release. Separately, acting deputy State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said: "This man remains a serious proliferation risk.," he said. "The proliferation support that Khan and his associates provided to Iran and North Korea has had a harmful impact ... on international security and will for years to come." Khan is widely regarded as a hero in Pakistan for his part in helping the country to develop nuclear weapons. In 2004, Khan was placed under house arrest following his admission on Pakistan television that he had been involved in a clandestine international network selling nuclear weapons technology from Pakistan to a host of nations including Iran and North Korea. Pakistan has so far refused to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.S. access to Khan to quiz him on the extent of the nuclear secrets he sold. "Even if they had asked me I wouldn't have answered," he said last year. In May 2008, Khan denied his involvement with the spread of nuclear arms outside Pakistan. He explained in an interview with ABC News that the Pakistani government and then-President Pervez Musharraf forced him to be a "scapegoat" for the "national interest." He also denies ever traveling to Iran or Libya and said that North Korea's nuclear program was well advanced before his visit.
|
[
"Who was placed under house arrest?",
"Who is being released?",
"Pakistan has had nuclear weapons for how long?",
"Who is Abdul Qadeer Khan?",
"Who is helping to develop nuclear weapons?"
] |
[
[
"Abdul Qadeer Khan,"
],
[
"Abdul Qadeer Khan,"
],
[
"2004,"
],
[
"Pakistani scientist"
],
[
"Abdul Qadeer Khan,"
]
] |
NEW: U.S. concerned at Abdul Qadeer Khan's release from house arrest .
Pakistani nuclear scientist Khan was placed under house arrest in 2004 .
Admitted selling nuclear weapons technology to Iran, N. Korea, Libya, then recanted .
Khan is regarded as a hero in Pakistan for helping develop nuclear weapons .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- An explosion killed at least 22 people and wounded 60 others Tuesday in the central Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan, said a rescue service official. The dead included two children, three women and 17 men, said, Mubarak Ali Athar, the regional police chief in Dera Ghazi Khan. Three people were critically injured, he said. The blast ripped through a market located near the house of a senior adviser to the chief minister of Punjab province, said the official, Mohammed Hasnain. The adviser, Sardar Zulfiqar Muhammad Khosa, is a former provincial governor and a senior opposition party politician. He said he was the target of the attack, though police initially said he was not the intended target. Khosa told CNN that none of his family members were in the house when the attack occurred. He also said that he had never before received any threats against his life. The attacker detonated his car in front of the main gate at Khosa's house, said Hassan Iqbal, a senior government official. About 20 shops in the market were left in heaps of rubble. Journalist Umar Aziz Khan contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who was intended target?",
"Where did attacker detonate car?",
"who claims he was intended target of attack?",
"ow many were wounded?",
"how many were killed?",
"How many were wounded?"
] |
[
[
"Sardar Zulfiqar Muhammad Khosa,"
],
[
"central Pakistani city of Dera Ghazi Khan,"
],
[
"Sardar Zulfiqar Muhammad Khosa,"
],
[
"60"
],
[
"at least 22 people"
],
[
"60 others"
]
] |
Attack on market in Dera Ghazi Khan leaves 22 dead, 60 wounded .
Attacker detonated car in front of Sardar Zulfiqar Muhammad Khosa's home .
Former provincial governor claims he was intended target of attack .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 43 civilians were killed Sunday when they were caught in the crossfire between Pakistani forces and Taliban militants, a Pakistani military official said.
The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the incident happened in Charbagh, a district of Swat Valley in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
The mountainous Swat Valley region used to be a popular destination for tourists and skiers, but today it is a Taliban stronghold.
The Pakistani government and the army have come under criticism in recent weeks for allowing the security situation in Swat to deteriorate in the past few months. Islamabad has said there are plans for a new strategy to fight the Taliban, but they have yet to offer details.
The Taliban are imposing their strict brand of Islamic law in the region -- banning music, forbidding men from shaving, and not allowing teenage girls to attend school. Watch a report on civilians killed in crossfire »
Government officials say the Taliban have torched and destroyed more than 180 schools in the Swat region. Many families have fled the area, and have been followed by many Pakistani police officers who are too scared to take on Taliban forces, a Pakistani army spokesman told CNN last week.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 1996 -- harboring al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden -- and ruled it until they were ousted from power in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Since then, the Taliban have regrouped and are currently battling U.S. and NATO-led forces.
U.S. President Barack Obama has called Afghanistan the "central front" in the war on terror and has promised to make fighting extremism there, and in neighboring Pakistan, a foreign policy priority. He is expected to send as many as 30,000 additional U.S. troops to battle Taliban forces.
Richard Holbrooke, the administration's new envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is scheduled to make his first trip to the region this week.
|
[
"who are imposing strict law?",
"what Pakistan government criticized?",
"what used to be popular?",
"who is criticized?",
"what did Swat valley used to be popular for",
"what was the Pakistan government criticized for",
"where Taliban are imposing their stric?",
"what did the Taliban impose",
"What is a popular destination for tourists and skiers?",
"Which government is criticized for allowing security in Swat?",
"What are the Taliban doing?",
"Where was a popular destination?",
"Who is imposing their strict brand of Islamic law in the region?"
] |
[
[
"The Taliban"
],
[
"and the army have come under criticism in recent weeks for allowing the security situation in Swat to deteriorate in the past few months."
],
[
"The mountainous Swat Valley region"
],
[
"The Pakistani government and the army"
],
[
"tourists and skiers,"
],
[
"allowing the security situation in Swat to deteriorate in the past few months."
],
[
"Swat region."
],
[
"their strict brand of Islamic law"
],
[
"Swat Valley region"
],
[
"Pakistani"
],
[
"imposing their strict brand of Islamic law"
],
[
"Swat Valley"
],
[
"Taliban"
]
] |
Swat Valley region used to be a popular destination for tourists and skiers .
Taliban are imposing their strict brand of Islamic law in the region .
Pakistan government criticized for allowing security in Swat to deteriorate .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Attackers in a Taliban-controlled area of Pakistan shot and tried to behead a Pakistani journalist on Wednesday, according to his employer GEO TV. Mosa Khankhel was reporting for GEO TV when he was killed. The slain correspondent, Mosa Khankhel, had been covering the recent peace deal between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants in Swat Valley when he was killed, GEO TV managing director Azhar Abbas said. "He is the first martyr of this peace deal," Abbas said, adding that he believes it is unlikely the deal will end the campaign of violence that has centered in Swat. Khankhel was traveling in a caravan with Sufi Mohammed, who was leading the peace deal negotiations for the Taliban, when he went missing, Abbas said. His body was found about an hour later. He had been shot three times and his killers had attempted to cut off his head. Abbas called on Pakistan's government to fully investigate the killing of Khankhel, who was the network's correspondent based in North West Frontier Province as part of GEO TV's Peshawar bureau. His death comes a day after Pakistan's government recognized the Taliban's interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, in the entire Malakand Division, which includes Swat and its surrounding district. Watch questions raised by Khankhel's death » The agreement marked a major concession by Pakistan in its attempt to hold off Taliban militants who have terrorized the region with beheadings, kidnappings, death threats, and the destruction of girls' schools. The regional government in the Swat valley struck the deal to allow sharia law, in return the Taliban agreed to a 10-day cease fire. The Taliban control of Swat -- which is about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad -- is the deepest advance by militants into Pakistan's settled areas, which are located outside its federally administered tribal region along the border with Afghanistan. The peace deal is the latest attempt by Pakistan's civilian government -- which took power last year -- to achieve peace through diplomacy in areas where Taliban and al Qaeda leaders are believed to have free rein. But analysts as well as critics within the establishment have warned that Pakistan's previous dealings with the Taliban have only given the fundamentalist Islamic militia time to regroup and gain more ground. Khadim Hussain, a professor Bahria University in Islamabad who studies Pakistani politics, said the government has set the stage for two contradictory, parallel states in North West Frontier Province. "If you leave them like that and you give ... a semblance of peace in a particular area, what does that mean?" Hussain said. "It means you're capitulating. It means you're surrendering the state to them. It means your submitting the state authority to them because they are running a parallel state." He said the government's decision amounts to a marriage of convenience made under duress. Swat has been overrun by forces loyal to Maulana Fazlullah's banned hardline Islamic group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) which has allied itself with Taliban fighters. TNSM was once led by Sufi Mohammed, Fazlullah's father-in-law, who is leading the latest negotiations. Sufi Mohammed was released from jail last year by Pakistani authorities after he agreed to cooperate with the government. He was jailed in 2002 after recruiting thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Fazlullah took over TNSM during Sufi Mohammed's jail stint and vowed to continue his fight to impose fundamentalist Islamic law in the region. Last May, Pakistan's government announced it reached a peace deal with militants in Swat Valley. In the months that have followed, the Taliban have seized control of the region and carried out a violent campaign against government officials, including local politicians. The head of the secular Awami National Party -- which represents the region -- was forced to flee to Islamabad amid death threats from the Taliban. Pakistan is under enormous pressure to control the militants within its borders, blamed for launching attacks in neighboring Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO forces are fighting militants. The United States -- using unmanned drones -- has carried
|
[
"What kind of law is allowed in Swat ?",
"Was the journalist beheaded?",
"What was the name of the journalist killed?",
"Who was sadly killed in a Taliban-area ?",
"What happened to Mosa Khankhel?",
"Where was the journalist killed?",
"Who was Khankhel traveling with?",
"What was Khankhel doing when he was shot ?",
"What happened to the journalist?"
] |
[
[
"sharia, or Islamic"
],
[
"tried to behead"
],
[
"Mosa Khankhel"
],
[
"Mosa Khankhel"
],
[
"he was killed."
],
[
"Swat Valley"
],
[
"Sufi Mohammed,"
],
[
"reporting for GEO TV"
],
[
"he was killed."
]
] |
Journalist for Pakistan's GEO TV killed in Taliban-area of the country .
GEO says Mosa Khankhel was shot and his attackers tried to behead him .
Khankhel was traveling with Taliban lead negotiator when he went missing .
Incident happened in Swat where Pakistan-Taliban agreed to allow sharia law .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Back-to-back suicide bombings killed at least five people at a university here Tuesday and wounded nearly two dozen, authorities said. Police investigators collect evidence at the suicide blast site at Islamic International University in Islamabad. The explosions occurred at the International Islamic University in the Pakistani capital, said police official Bin Yamin. Naeem Iqbal, Islamabad police spokesman, said three men and two female students were killed, and 22 people were injured. At least four of the injured were in critical condition, said Altaf Hussein, a doctor at a hospital. All the victims are between the ages of 18 and 25. Usman Virk, a student, said he heard one explosion in the men's section of the university, followed by a blast in the cafeteria in the women's section of the university. Watch more about the attacks » Virk said he saw several injured students with blood-soaked clothes being taken away by rescue crews. More than 12,000 foreign and local students, including 5,500 women, are enrolled in the 29-year-old university. The university Web site describes the school as a "unique center of learning in the Muslim world which strives to combine the essentials of the Islamic faith with the best of modern knowledge." In recent weeks, Pakistan has been relentlessly rocked by a wave of suicide attacks as Islamic militants retaliate against a military offensive to rout insurgents operating along the Pakistan-Afghan border. On Friday, a suicide car bomber detonated near a police station in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province. The blast killed at least 13 people, most of them civilians. A day earlier, militants attacked two police training centers and the country's Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore in eastern Pakistan. At least 30 Pakistani police officers and civilians were killed in those attacks. At least 10 attackers also died. And on October 10, militants held dozens of hostages for 22 hours inside an army headquarters in Rawalpindi, which neighbors Islamabad. Eleven military personnel, three civilians, and nine militants were killed in the siege. CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.
|
[
"How many students enrolled?",
"What country was rocked by suicide attacks?",
"Where have there been a series of suicide attacks?",
"Where is International Islamic University located?",
"What ages were the victims of the attack between?",
"How many students are enrolled in the university?",
"What location was the attack?",
"How many students are enrolled at International Islamic University?"
] |
[
[
"12,000"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan"
],
[
"Islamabad."
],
[
"18 and 25."
],
[
"than 12,000"
],
[
"Islamabad."
],
[
"12,000 foreign and local"
]
] |
All the victims of the attack are between the ages of 18 and 25 .
Took place outside International Islamic University in Islamabad .
More than 12,000 foreign and local students are enrolled at university .
Pakistan rocked by series of suicide attacks in wake of its Taliban offensive .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Barack Obama's election as president of the United States won't see a change in American relations with the Taliban, a senior Taliban leader in Pakistan says. A Taliban leader says Barack Obama's election will bring little change. "For us, the change of America's president -- we don't have any good faith in him," said Muslim Khan, a grizzled Taliban spokesman who is one of the most wanted men in Pakistan, in a rare interview with CNN. "If he does anything good, it will be for himself." With an assault rifle on his lap, Khan answered 10 written questions, sharing his view on a range of topics from slavery to Obama's middle name -- Hussein. He spoke in the remote Swat Valley of northwestern Pakistan, the site of frequent and fierce clashes between Pakistani troops and Taliban and al Qaeda militants. There was no opportunity for follow-up questions. Khan said Obama's election may change conditions for black Americans. "The black one knows how much the black people are discriminated against in America and Europe and other countries," he said. "For America's black people, it could be that there will be a change. That era is coming." He said he doubted Obama's victory would lead to changes in relations between the United States and the Taliban. Watch the Taliban spokesman on Barack Obama » U.S. forces dislodged the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. America and its allies have battled the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan ever since, with fighting spreading across the border into Pakistan. "American should take its army out of the country," Khan said. "They are considered terrorists." Obama has minced no words in describing how he would administer U.S. policy toward the Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. When he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in August, Obama pledged to "finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban." And the president-elect included a blunt warning in remarks on the evening of his election victory: "To those who would tear the world down," he said, "we will defeat you." Khan noted that Obama's middle name was fairly common in the Muslim world, referring to him at times as "Hussein Barack Obama." "If he behaves in the way of a real Hussein, then he has become our brother," he said. "If Barack Obama pursues the same policies as Bush and behaves like Bush ... then he cannot be Hussein. He can only be Obama."
|
[
"What did the Taliban leader say?",
"who has obama commited himself to defeating?",
"To what has Obama committed himself?",
"Taliban is not expecting change with who?",
"Who has no faith in Obama?",
"Who has Obama committed to defeating?",
"Who has commited to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda?"
] |
[
[
"Barack Obama's election will bring little change."
],
[
"al Qaeda"
],
[
"\"finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban.\""
],
[
"Barack Obama's election"
],
[
"Muslim Khan,"
],
[
"al Qaeda"
],
[
"Obama"
]
] |
Taliban leader: We have no faith in Barack Obama .
Taliban not expecting change in relationship with U.S.
Obama has committed himself to defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Conflict raged Wednesday in volatile northwestern Pakistan, with nine militants killed in a gun battle, the Taliban's abduction and release of about 30 police officers, and strikes on stranded NATO trucks.
Pakistani policemen at a check point in Khyber Agency near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, February 12, 2008.
It's the latest fighting between Pakistani security forces and the Taliban militants in the northwestern region near Afghanistan.
The country's central government has little control in the area, and U.S. intelligence officials say the area is a haven for militants.
Nine militants were killed when police and local residents foiled an attempted kidnapping of the mayor in a village on the outskirts of Peshawar, police told CNN. Taliban fighters attempted to abduct Fahim Ur Rehman, but police and residents resisted and a gun battle ensued.
Along with the slain militants, two police and two civilians were wounded and some of the militants fled. The village, Bazid Khel, is located between Peshawar and the Khyber Agency in the tribal areas.
In the Swat Valley, militants abducted around 30 police Tuesday night but eventually released them on Wednesday. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan confirmed to CNN that the personnel had been released after returning to the path of Islam and promising not to return to their jobs.
Police told CNN that the security personnel had been forced to agree to the Taliban's terms and confirmed the release.
There are conflicting details about the incident, in which Taliban forces attacked the Shamozai check post in the Barikot area of Swat Valley on Tuesday night and captured the people after a nightlong firefight.
Khan said the personnel surrendered after Taliban forces mined the area, preventing access. He said their ammunition was seized when supply vehicles coming to assist government forces were stopped by Taliban mines.
Pakistan police said the security personnel didn't surrender; they were caught after they used up their ammunition. Police and military sources said the personnel were police, but Khan said paramilitary officers as well as police were among the group. Locals said government forces came under attack Tuesday evening and ran out of ammunition before surrendering.
This comes as the Pakistani military beefed up its operations this week in the Swat Valley.
In the latest in a series of recent attacks meant to choke off supplies into Afghanistan for the United States and its allies, a rocket strike destroyed at least nine vehicles near the town Landi Kotal in the Khyber Agency -- one of seven semiautonomous tribal agencies along the Afghan border, a Khyber official told CNN.
The trucks were returning from Afghanistan but were stranded in the town because, a day earlier, suspected militants had destroyed a bridge connecting Landi Kotal to Jamrod, another part of the Khyber Agency.
The bridge's destruction had forced authorities to halt traffic.
Because Afghanistan is landlocked, many of the supplies for NATO-led troops fighting Islamic militants there have to be trucked from Pakistan. In recent months, militants aligned with the Taliban and al Qaeda have carried out several attacks to disrupt supplies, Pakistani officials said.
|
[
"What mayor was kidnapped?",
"Who has did in an attempted kidnapping?",
"What destroyed nine vehicles?",
"What number of vehicles were destroyed?",
"Who was the intended victim?",
"What number died?",
"How many people were abducted?"
] |
[
[
"Fahim Ur Rehman,"
],
[
"Nine militants"
],
[
"a rocket strike"
],
[
"nine"
],
[
"Fahim Ur Rehman,"
],
[
"nine"
],
[
"30 police officers,"
]
] |
NEW: Nine militants die as police, residents foil attempted kidnapping of mayor .
NEW: Swat Valley: Militants release about 30 police who were abducted Tuesday .
Attack destroyed nine vehicles near the town Landi Kotal in the Khyber Agency .
Series of recent attacks have tried to choke supplies into Afghanistan for the U.S.
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Eight cadets and staff members were killed in Pakistan during an an eight-hour standoff Monday with gunmen who stormed a police training center in Lahore, said Gen. Athar Abbas, a military spokesman.
Police fire into the air after retaking the police training center in Lahore attacked by militants.
The militants had been holed up on the top floor of a three-story building, said Rehman Malik, the head of the country's Interior Ministry.
Security forces gained control of the first two floors and eventually made their way to the top, finally taking control of it and arresting the gunmen Monday afternoon.
Television pictures showed security forces firing into the air from the roof of the building after the firefight.
"The operation is over. Four terrorists were killed and three arrested," Interior Ministry Secretary Kamal Shah told Reuters. Malik and Abbas confirmed the figures.
Abbas added some of the dead militants blew themselves up.
The gang of seven gunmen stormed the academy in the Manawan area of the eastern Pakistani city, said Malik.
Abbas had previously said 30 people were killed. He cited the error on wrong information by his sources at the scene. Watch more about the attack »
At a news conference Monday night, Malik named the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, and his followers as the prime suspect in organizing the attack. Mehsud is also accused of plotting the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto.
At least 78 people were wounded in the attack, authorities said.
Lahore is the same city where gunmen opened fire March 10 on a bus carrying members of the Sri Lankan national cricket team on their way to a stadium for a match. The well-coordinated attack wounded at least eight members of the team and killed a driver and six Pakistani police officers.
In Monday's incident, the attackers hurled grenades, then stormed the compound and opened fire while officers were taking part in their morning drill.
About 800 officers train at the facility, but authorities could not say exactly how many were inside at the time.
The attackers, some in police uniforms, took dozens of officers hostage, said Asim Rizwan, spokesman for governor of Punjab -- the province where Lahore is located.
Paramilitary forces and the army descended on the scene. Every few minutes, the gunmen detonated explosives or fired on reporters and police personnel outside, sending them scurrying for cover.
Angry onlookers pumped their fists in the air and cheered as police led away a suspect they had captured. He had on him a grenade and a knife, officials told CNN.
CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.
|
[
"What is the number of dead cadets?",
"Who is considered a prime suspect?",
"who started the attack",
"how many were hurt",
"How many cadets were killed?",
"Where was the site of the attack?",
"Who has been named as prime suspect?",
"where did this happen",
"Where were the cadets killed?"
] |
[
[
"Eight"
],
[
"leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, and his followers"
],
[
"gunmen"
],
[
"Eight"
],
[
"Eight"
],
[
"police training center in Lahore,"
],
[
"Baitullah Mehsud, and his followers"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistan"
]
] |
Eight cadets are killed during attack in Lahore, top military official says .
Leader of Pakistan's Taliban named as prime suspect .
Four militants dead, three captured, authorities say .
Lahore was site of attack on Sri Lankan cricket team earlier in March .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Gul Bibi and her three children fled the Taliban's bloody interpretation of Islamic law in Pakistan's Swat Valley, hoping one day to return. A pro-Taliban delegation attends a meeting with government officials in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Monday. But now that the Pakistani government has recognized Taliban rule in the region in exchange for a temporary cease-fire, she said those hopes have been dashed. She warned that the government's deal with the Taliban will have worldwide implications. "The whole point is, if it's not contained to Swat, it's going to spill all over in Pakistan and the West also doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation," Bibi said. "Probably your next 9/11 is going to be from Swat." Watch Gul Bibi talk about Taliban threat » The chief minister of North West Frontier Province announced on Monday that the Pakistani government will recognize the Taliban's interpretation of strict Islamic law, or sharia. The Taliban's interpretation of sharia has included banning girls from school, forcing women inside and outlawing forms of entertainment. This form of Islamic law is already in effect in parts of North West Frontier Province where the Taliban have control -- including Swat, which is located about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad. Provincial minister Amir Haider Hoti said the people of the region want sharia which fills the "vacuum" left by a lack of access to Pakistan's judicial system. He said he hoped it would bring peace to the region, where Pakistani forces have battled militants aligned with the Taliban. It is difficult to gauge the concerns of residents in Swat, because the government does not allow journalists into the area due to the ongoing military operation. Also, residents risk their lives if they openly criticize Taliban rule. Bibi -- who used a false name to protect her identity -- told CNN that people in Swat do not support the Taliban's version of Islamic law. A strict Muslim herself, Bibi said she observes the teachings of the Quran, and the Taliban's interpretation of sharia has nothing to do with the Muslim religion. "They are killing people, they are beheading people, there is no accounting for what they are doing," Bibi said. Their oppression is also focused on women. The Taliban have destroyed dozens of girls' schools in the region. Bibi is living in a house in Islamabad with other women who have fled Taliban rule in Swat. "For God's sake, in the West you must realize this: no education for women," she said. "You are going to destroy an entire generation." She dismissed the government's peace deal as a concession to the Taliban. But she remains hopeful that she can return to the picturesque Swat Valley with her three children. "I want peace more than anyone else," Bibi said. "It's my home, it's where I want my children to go back to, it's where I want to live. "I love Swat. It's because of my love and my passion for Swat that I am speaking."
|
[
"What will the anti woman moves destroy?",
"What is the Taliban doing to the people?",
"Where will the next 9/11 come from?",
"Who agreed to let the Taliban rule?",
"What will the Talibans anti-women moves do?",
"What woman fled the town?"
] |
[
[
"an entire generation.\""
],
[
"banning girls from school, forcing women inside and outlawing forms of entertainment."
],
[
"Swat.\""
],
[
"Pakistani government"
],
[
"of sharia has included banning girls from school, forcing women inside and outlawing forms of entertainment."
],
[
"Gul Bibi"
]
] |
"Probably your next 9/11 is going to be from Swat," says woman who fled the town .
Pakistani government agreed Monday to let Taliban rule the area .
"They are killing people, they are beheading people" the woman says .
She says Taliban's anti-women moves will "destroy an entire generation"
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hours after declaring a state of emergency Saturday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ordered troops to take a television station's equipment and put a popular opposition leader under house arrest.
President Pervez Musharraf explains his actions in a televised address Saturday.
Musharraf also suspended the constitution and dismissed the Pakistan Supreme Court's chief justice for the second time.
On Sunday, police arrested the Javed Hashmi, the acting president of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's opposition party was arrested, along with 10 aides, The Associated Press reported. Hashimi was arrested when he stepped outside his house in the central city of Multan, AP reported.
The country is at a critical and dangerous juncture -- threatened by rising tensions and spreading terrorism, Musharraf said in a televised address to the nation after declaring martial law.
As Pakistani police patrolled the streets of the capital, Islamabad, Musharraf said his actions were "for the good of Pakistan." Watch Musharraf's speech »
There was quick condemnation from within and outside his country.
The Supreme Court declared the state of emergency illegal, claiming Musharraf -- who also is Pakistan's military chief -- had no power to suspend the constitution, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry said.
Shortly afterward, government troops came to Chaudhry's office and told him the president had dismissed him from his job.
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was quickly appointed to replace him, according to state television.
It was the second time Chaudhry was removed from his post. His ousting by Musharraf in March prompted massive protests, and he was later reinstated. See a timeline of upheaval in Pakistan »
Musharraf complained in his speech that the media -- which he made independent -- have not been supportive, but have reported "negative" news.
Early Sunday, two dozen policemen raided the offices of AAJ-TV in Islamabad, saying they had orders to take the station's equipment.
The government also issued a directive warning the media that any criticism of the president or prime minister would be punishable by three years in jail and a fine of up to $70,000, said Talat Hussain, director of news and current affairs for AAJ. Watch a former Pakistani P.M. call the developments in his country 'disturbing' »
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- who is in Turkey for a conference with Iraq and neighboring nations -- said The United States doesn't support any extra-constitutional measures taken by Musharraf.
"The situation is just unfolding," Rice said. "But anything that takes Pakistan off the democratic path, off the path of civilian rule is a step backward, and it's highly regrettable."
A senior Pakistani official said the emergency declaration will be "short-lived," and will be followed by an interim government.
Martial law is only a way to restore law and order, he said.
Mahmud Ali Durrani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, agreed.
"I can assure you, he will move on the part of democracy that is promised ... and you will see that happen shortly."
Musharraf was re-elected president in October, but the election is not yet legally official, because the Supreme Court is hearing constitutional challenges to Musharraf's eligibility filed by the opposition.
Under the constitution, Musharraf couldn't run for another term while serving both as president and military leader.
The court allowed the election to go ahead, however, saying it would decide the issue later.
Some speculated that the declaration of emergency is tied to rumors the court was planning to rule against Musharraf.
Musharraf has said repeatedly he will step down as military leader before the next term begins on November 15 and has promised to hold parliamentary elections by January 15.
Meanwhile, popular opposition leader Imran Khan said early Sunday that police surrounded his house in Lahore, barged in and told him he was under house arrest.
Musharraf also had Khan placed under house arrest during a government crackdown in March 2006.
Asked about Musharraf's actions Saturday, Khan said, "We are going to oppose this in every
|
[
"What did the white house call Musharraf's declaration?",
"What is the president's name?",
"What did the White House describe Musharraf's declaration as?",
"What does Khan say he is under?",
"Who is the President of Pakistan?",
"Who is under house arrest?",
"What did Musharraf order the troops to do?",
"What did Musharraf order troops to take?",
"Who is the leader of President Musharraf's opposition?"
] |
[
[
"illegal,"
],
[
"Pervez Musharraf"
],
[
"a step backward,"
],
[
"house arrest."
],
[
"Pervez Musharraf"
],
[
"Javed Hashmi,"
],
[
"take a television station's equipment and put a popular opposition leader under house arrest."
],
[
"television station's equipment"
],
[
"Javed Hashmi,"
]
] |
NEW: President Musharraf orders troops to take a television station's equipment .
Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan says he's under house arrest .
President Musharraf says his actions are for the good of the country .
White House calls Musharraf's emergency declaration "disappointing"
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of Pakistani residents have taken up arms and are battling local Taliban militants in the wake of a deadly mosque attack last week. A Pakistani police stands guard at a checkpoint in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 8. It is the first major battle between the residents of northwest Pakistan and Taliban militants near the Afghanistan border. The residents are outraged over a suicide attack on a local mosque during Friday prayers that killed at least 40 people and wounded some 80 others. Starting on Saturday morning, some 400 villagers in the Upper Dir district formed a "lashkar" -- or militia -- to fight the Taliban, killing 14 of the militants as of Sunday evening, according to local administrator Atiq Ur Rehman. Four of the villagers have been injured in the battle, Rehman said. The militia have burned a number of houses thought to be sheltering the militants, according to Upper Dir police chief Ijaz Kahn. Both the residents and Taliban fighters are using heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and anti-aircraft weapons, Rehman said. There is a long history of Taliban presence in the area, including foreign fighters in leadership roles, local officials said. Authorities said Taliban fighters were driven out of Shot Ghas and Ghazigay -- two villages where the Taliban have support. The villagers took up arms against the Taliban after Friday's suicide attack at a mosque in Hayagay Sharqi -- a village in Upper Dir located about 35 km (22 miles) from the Afghan border and known for being against the Taliban. Upper Dir is a part of the Swat Valley, where the Pakistani military has waged a month-long operation against Taliban militants, but the district has not been part of the ongoing military offensive. The United Nations has said an estimated 2 million Pakistanis have been displaced by fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants. The militants threatened to continue attacking cities in Pakistan until the military ends its operations against Taliban militants. As a result, Pakistani authorities have increased security in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital city. CNN's Ingrid Formanek and journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report
|
[
"What follows after suspected suicide attack?",
"Who is using heavy weapons?",
"How many Pakistanis have been displaced by fighting?",
"Where is the Pakistan army fighting the Taliban militants?",
"Where are they fighting?",
"Who is fighting?",
"What does the U.N. say?",
"What caused backlash?",
"Where is Upper Dir?",
"How many Pakistani have been displaced?",
"How many Pakistanis have been displaced?",
"When was the suicide attack?",
"What did the official say?",
"How many have been displaced?",
"Where is the Swat valley?"
] |
[
[
"Hundreds of Pakistani residents have taken up arms and are battling local"
],
[
"Both the residents and Taliban"
],
[
"2 million"
],
[
"near the Afghanistan border."
],
[
"Upper Dir district"
],
[
"Pakistani military and Taliban militants."
],
[
"an estimated 2 million Pakistanis have been displaced by fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants."
],
[
"deadly mosque attack"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"an estimated 2 million"
],
[
"estimated 2 million"
],
[
"Friday"
],
[
"There is a long history of Taliban presence in the area, including foreign fighters in leadership roles,"
],
[
"estimated 2 million Pakistanis"
],
[
"Upper Dir"
]
] |
Upper Dir, part of Swat Valley, is where Pakistan army are fighting Taliban militants .
U.N. says an estimated 2 million Pakistanis have been displaced by fighting .
Backlash follows suspected Taliban suicide attack Friday at a mosque .
Official: Both sides using heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft weapons .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of militants, believed to be foreign fighters, launched attacks on various military check posts in Pakistan's border with Afghanistan Saturday night and early Sunday morning, military officials said. A Pakistan soldier on patrol last fall against militants on the border of the Mohmand agency district. The ensuing fighting left 40 militants and six Pakistan soldiers dead, said military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas. "This is one of the largest attacks we have seen," Abbas said. The attacks occurred at checkposts and military camps in the Mohmand agency, part of the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas where U.S. and Pakistani officials have reported a presence of militants. Abbas said the fighters crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, and used rocket launchers and machine guns in their attacks. They have since been repelled, he said. Pakistan and Afghanistan share a porous 1,500-mile border. In recent months, Afghan officials have blamed militants operating from havens in the lawless tribal regions of Pakistan of sneaking into their country and attacking security personnel. Pakistan has repeatedly denied involvement and bristled at the accusation, saying that Afghan lawmakers were making allegations without proof. Abbas' Sunday comments reverse those allegations, with Pakistan now blaming militants from Afghanistan attacking inside its soil.
|
[
"From where did the miliitants cross?",
"Who many soldiers were killed?",
"how many militants are?",
"What happened?",
"who crossed into Pakistan From Afghanistan?",
"How many killed into fighting?",
"Where did the attacks occur?"
] |
[
[
"Afghanistan,"
],
[
"40 militants and six Pakistan"
],
[
"Hundreds"
],
[
"Hundreds of militants, believed to be foreign fighters, launched attacks"
],
[
"the fighters"
],
[
"40 militants and six Pakistan soldiers"
],
[
"Pakistan's border with Afghanistan"
]
] |
Attacks occurred at checkposts and military camps in the Mohmand agency .
40 militants, six Pakistani soldiers killed in fighting, Pakistan says .
Militants crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, official says .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of refugees on Wednesday blocked a main road in northwest Pakistan, to protest living conditions for some of the 1.5 million Pakistanis forced to flee their homes in the past three weeks. The refugee situation in Pakistan could be a bigger threat than fighting with Taliban, U.N. says. "The government has been making big promises, but none of those were ever fulfilled," said Hazrat Bilal, a protester and refugee whose family has taken up temporary residence in a primary school. The refugees had blocked the main road in Pakistan's Mardan district since 8 a.m. Wednesday, Bilal said by telephone. The demonstrators were demanding food, water and other government services, he said. Mardan is a main transit point for the large numbers of Pakistanis fleeing the Swat Valley, the site of fierce fighting between Taliban militants and Pakistani soldiers. The first pictures from the fighting » The refugee crisis could pose a bigger threat to stability in Pakistan than the war itself, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told CNN while touring a refugee camp in the nearby Swabi district last week. The Pakistani government has been working with international aid agencies to establish camps for refugees, where tents, food, water and basic medical services are provided. But the scale and speed of the displacement -- said to be the worst since the Rwandan genocide in 1994 -- have overwhelmed aid workers, Guterres said. "The scale of the problem is such that all our resources combined cannot cope with it. And it's very important for this population not to feel abandoned," Guterres said. "Without massive support of the international community for the Pakistani people, this will become a very dramatic problem, and not only a humanitarian problem." On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced $110 million in humanitarian aid for Pakistani refugees. She also unveiled a system that lets Americans donate to the U.N. refugee effort, by sending a text message on mobile phone, including the word "Swat." Meanwhile, Pakistan's military said it was continuing the assault on Taliban militants. Pakistani forces have targeted regional Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah and Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, but have "no information about whether we have been successful," said the spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. He said 80 "terrorists" were killed Tuesday night in "intense fighting" in the town of Sultanwas, located in Buner district. One Pakistani soldier was also killed in recent fighting, Abbas said.
|
[
"What is the us sending?",
"What kind of threats does the refugee crisis bring?",
"How long have the Pakistanis been displaced?",
"What did the un say?"
] |
[
[
"$110 million in humanitarian aid"
],
[
"stability"
],
[
"three weeks."
],
[
"The refugee situation in Pakistan could be a bigger threat than fighting with Taliban,"
]
] |
Nearly 1.5 million Pakistanis have registered as displaced since May 2, U.N. says .
U.N. believes refugee crisis could be bigger threat than fight with Taliban .
United States is sending $110 million in aid to Pakistan .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- In radio broadcasts and sermons, Taliban militants have been promoting themselves as Islamic Robin Hoods, defending Pakistan's rural poor from a ruling elite that they describe as corrupt and oppressive.
Mohammed Daoud, with his son Faisal, is among those who have embraced the Taliban's message.
That message has been resonating throughout the Pakistani countryside, where the culture is deeply conservative and the people are desperately poor.
In farmlands just 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the center of Islamabad, Mohammed Daoud and his 15-year-old son Faisal eke out a living by cutting grass for their four water buffalo. They feed their family of seven, earning the equivalent of around $50 a month by selling buffalo milk. Two months ago, Daoud said, the government bulldozed his family's house, probably because they were illegally squatting on property they did not own.
"Justice [in Pakistan] is only for people who have money," Daoud said, while slicing through handfuls of grass with a small scythe. "We are illiterate," he added, "but we are hoping that with Islamic sharia law, our lives will get better."
Across this overwhelmingly Muslim country, there is widespread hope that adopting a strict code of law based on the Koran will transform a society where corruption is rampant and where at least a quarter of the population lives under the poverty line. Watch why the Taliban's message would resonate
Enforcement of sharia law is the platform the Taliban have been using to justify recent land-grabs, such as last week's armed occupation of the district of Buner, some 60 miles from the Pakistani capital.
In an interview with CNN, Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman in the militant stronghold of Swat Valley, denounced the Pakistani government, calling the prime minister and lawmakers "un-Islamic."
"They're making money like in a supermarket," Khan said, adding that under sharia law both the rich and the poor would be treated equally.
Militants have slowly taken over territory in northwestern Pakistan by first targeting unpopular landlords and bureaucrats, according to Amnesty International, the human rights watchdog.
"Its systematic. The Taliban move into an area, they use local existing resentments. They often go in with the guise of being Robin Hoods," said Amnesty International representative Sam Zarifi. "They scare away some local thieves, they impose very, very quick justice, very harsh justice, and initially in some places they are even welcomed."
The Taliban's promise of Islamic justice would be welcomed in farm fields on the outskirts of Islamabad. Rows of wheat -- along with the posh villas of Pakistan's ruling elite -- are within sight of Islamabad's iconic white Faisal Mosque.
"In the present judicial system, even the innocent people are punished," said Sajeet Hussein, as he and a group of farmers shared lunch under the shade of a tree. The group explained that they were losing a court battle to stop the government from seizing their land, because they claimed they couldn't afford to bribe policemen and judges.
"Every part of the country should have sharia law, like in Saudi Arabia," said Hussein's brother Babar, who sported a long bushy beard. "Then poor and rich people will be equal."
"We love the Taliban," announced one Pashtun farmer who asked not to be named. He called the militants heroes.
Sports star-turned-politician Imran Khan summed up his response to the Taliban in Pakistan by saying, "The poorer section of society is joining them...this is now developing into a battle between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots.'
"What the Taliban are giving them is cheap -- in fact, free -- accessible justice at the village level," he added. "This is what Pakistan should be doing for its own people."
But if farmer Babar Hussein has his way, Taliban justice would mean taking away freedoms from Pakistani women, like the right to have a driver's license.
"Women should not even come
|
[
"Who target the unpopular landlords first?",
"Who are the first targets?",
"Where is the Faisal Mosque?",
"Who calls the Pakistani government as \"un-Islamic\"?",
"Who is being portrayed as \"un-Islamic\"?",
"What is being surrounded by posh villas?",
"Who does the Taliban target?",
"What does spokesman call Pakistani government?",
"What did Imran Khan say?"
] |
[
[
"Militants"
],
[
"unpopular landlords and bureaucrats,"
],
[
"Islamabad's"
],
[
"Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman"
],
[
"prime minister and lawmakers"
],
[
"Faisal Mosque."
],
[
"unpopular landlords and bureaucrats,"
],
[
"\"un-Islamic.\""
],
[
"\"The poorer section of society is joining them...this is now developing into a battle between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots.'"
]
] |
Amnesty International: Taliban first targets unpopular landlords, bureaucrats .
Taliban spokesman in Swat Valley calls Pakistani government as "un-Islamic"
Islamabad's Faisal Mosque surrounded by posh villas of Pakistan's ruling elite .
Imran Khan: Battle shaping up as one "between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' "
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Iran has condemned the kidnapping of one of its diplomats in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, calling it an "act of terrorism," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said. Pakistani policemen inspect a bullet-riddled car of a kidnapped Iranian diplomat on Thursday. "Pakistan should do its best to protect foreign diplomats and their residential places," the spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. At least four gunmen abducted Heshmatollah Attarzadeh near his home in Peshawar as he headed to work at the Iranian consulate, according to Pakistani police and Iranian diplomatic officials. His bodyguard, a Pakistani police officer, was shot and killed when the two men tried to resist, a Peshawar police official said. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also "strongly condemned" the attack, and informed Iran that the government "will take all necessary measures for his safe and early recovery." Attarzadeh is a commercial attache for the Iranian consulate in Peshawar. It is the second attack targeting a foreign worker in Peshawar in two days. An American aid worker was shot and killed outside the Iranian consulate in Peshawar on Wednesday. Stephen Vance worked for a non-profit foundation funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development that helped find jobs for people in Pakistan's tribal regions, according to a statement from his employer, the Cooperative Housing Foundation International. "Stephen had fully immersed himself in the community in which he worked," the statement said. "He dressed traditionally and even sent his children to local schools." Vance, 52, a native of California, is survived by his wife and five children -- all of whom lived with him in Peshawar -- CHF International official Bill Holbrook told CNN. The attacks come less than three months after gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying the senior U.S. diplomat in Peshawar, Lynne Tracy. She escaped unharmed. Peshawar is the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, an area rife with Islamic extremists and the site of recent clashes between security forces and militants. In late June, Pakistan's military launched an offensive in the province -- the biggest push against extremists in the tribal region since the civilian government took power in March. Islamic militants vowed to retaliate. Since then, militants have launched several deadly attacks. Pakistan's new government has tried to negotiate a deal with militants as part of its efforts to bypass military might and achieve peace through talks.
|
[
"Where was the diplomat kidnapped?",
"Where was he kidnapped?",
"Who was killed?",
"Where was the diplomat going when he was kidnapped?",
"Who was kidnapped?",
"who was killed in Peshawar?",
"Who was killed by gunmen in Peshawar?",
"What day was the American aid worker killed?",
"What nationality was the aid worker?",
"Where was the diplomat kidnapped?",
"Who was kidnapped?",
"He was traveling from his home to what destination?",
"Where was the American aid worker slain?",
"Where is Peshawar?",
"Where was the bodyguard killed?",
"Who is the kidnapped diplomat?",
"Where was the diplomat and his bodyguard killed at?"
] |
[
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"His bodyguard, a Pakistani police officer,"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Iranian diplomat"
],
[
"Heshmatollah Attarzadeh"
],
[
"American aid worker"
],
[
"Wednesday."
],
[
"American"
],
[
"near his home in Peshawar"
],
[
"Heshmatollah Attarzadeh"
],
[
"Iranian consulate,"
],
[
"outside the Iranian consulate"
],
[
"is the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province,"
],
[
"home in Peshawar"
],
[
"Heshmatollah Attarzadeh"
],
[
"Pakistan"
]
] |
Diplomat was kidnapped and his bodyguard killed in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan .
Authorities believe he was kidnapped while traveling from his home to consulate .
On Wednesday, gunmen shot and killed an American aid worker in Peshawar .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Less than a day after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency and scolded the country's media for being too "negative," police stormed the offices of a television station early Sunday, AAJ-TV's director of news and current affairs said.
Pakistani policemen patrol the streets of Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday.
Armed with guns, the two dozen police said they had orders to take the station's equipment, including a van that the station uses to broadcast live coverage, Talat Hussain said.
"We resisted," Hussain said. "We said show us the papers."
The police didn't have proof their demands were legitimate, he said, adding the officers said only that they had orders "from the highest authority."
"They said, 'We'll do it the nice way or the other way,' " Hussain said.
A brief scuffle between the policemen and about 40 journalists in the station followed, but no one was hurt, he said.
During the confrontation, two AAJ journalists were able to drive the news van away from the station, Hussain said.
Police later left the building, but remained outside, Hussain said.
The raid followed a government directive to the media, warning journalists that any criticism of the president or prime minister would be punishable by three years in jail and a fine of up to $70,000, Hussain said.
Earlier, in a Saturday night televised address to the Pakistani public aimed at explaining why he had declared a countrywide state of emergency and suspended the constitution, Musharraf was critical of the country's media, saying they had "added insult to injury."
"The media could not lend a helping hand to improve the situation," Musharraf said, describing "the situation" in Pakistan as fraught with tension and constrained by the spread of terrorism.
"I said frequently that the media should not be negative," Musharraf said.
Shortly after private networks reported Saturday that Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency was imminent, most media channels went off the air in an apparent blackout, although some flickered off and on. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"Who is at risk for jail time & fines?",
"Who did the police have orders from?",
"President Pervez Musharraf said what about the media?",
"What did the police say?",
"What was said by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf?"
] |
[
[
"journalists"
],
[
"Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf"
],
[
"being too \"negative,\""
],
[
"they had orders to take the station's equipment, including a van that the station uses to broadcast live coverage,"
],
[
"\"The media could not lend a helping hand to improve the situation,\""
]
] |
Police say they had orders "from the highest authority" to take equipment .
News director: Police said "We'll do it the nice way or the other way"
Government warns of jail, fines if president or prime minister are criticized .
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf: Media have "added insult to injury"
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Militants set fire to a hotel at Pakistan's only ski resort Thursday, as security in the Swat Valley continued to deteriorate despite a month-old peace deal.
Pakistani soldiers on patrol in the Swat Valley, which is home to the country's only ski resort.
Militants forced their way into the state-run hotel in the northwestern tourist valley early Thursday morning, ransacked it and set it on fire, said Sardar Rehim Shahzad, district coordinator for Swat police.
The hotel, the only one at the Malam Jabba ski resort, sustained significant damage, he told CNN.
The resort is located near the Afghanistan border and about 300km (186 miles) from the capital city of Islamabad. It was shut down last summer after militants overran the area, keeping tourists away, Shahzad said.
Swat Valley, located in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), was once Pakistan's biggest tourist destination. Aside from the ski resort, it was a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts and visitors to the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area.
In recent months, however, militants bent on imposing fundamentalist Islamic law, or Sharia, have unleashed a wave of violence across the NWFP which has claimed hundreds of lives, many of them security personnel.
The militants want women to wear veils, beards for men and to ban music and television.
After months of bloody battles, the government in May reached a peace deal with fighters loyal to the banned hardline Islamic group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM).
It is the latest attempt by Pakistan's new government -- headed by the party of the assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto -- to achieve peace through negotiations in the lawless tribal areas where Taliban and al Qaeda leaders are believed to have free rein.
Ahead of the peace pact, Pakistan's government released TNSM's former leader Sufi Mohammed, who had been jailed in 2002 after recruiting thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
He was freed after agreeing to cooperate with the government. Under the terms of his release, TNSM was also expected to lay down its arms and forgo violence.
But his son-in-law Fazlullah, who took over TNSM during his jail stint, vowed to continue his fight to impose fundamentalist Islamic law in the region.
|
[
"What is the name of the Pakistan ski resort?",
"What did militants set fire to?",
"How far is the resort from Islmabad?",
"Where did militants set fire to a hotel?",
"Who forced their way in?",
"Who set fire at hotel?",
"How did militants get into the hotel?",
"What group do the militants represent?",
"Where did they force their way?"
] |
[
[
"Malam Jabba"
],
[
"a hotel at Pakistan's only ski resort"
],
[
"about 300km (186 miles)"
],
[
"Swat Valley"
],
[
"Militants"
],
[
"Militants"
],
[
"forced their way"
],
[
"Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi"
],
[
"into the state-run hotel"
]
] |
Militants set fire to a hotel at Pakistan's only ski resort Thursday .
Militants forced their way into the state-run hotel in the Swat Valley .
The resort is located near the Afghanistan border, 300km from Islamabad .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- More than 1,300 pounds of explosives were packed into a construction truck that detonated outside an Islamabad hotel, killing 57 people, including two Americans and a diplomat, officials said Sunday. A truck burns at the gate to the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad before a larger, deadly explosion Saturday. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the Saturday attack at the Marriott Hotel "is the biggest attack, volume-wise" in Pakistan in seven years. Two American military personnel who worked for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad were among those killed, the U.S. military said. A Lithuanian and the Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, also were among the fatalities, police superintendent Sheikh Zubair said. The suicide truck blast injured 266 people, including 11 foreigners, according to Malik. Watch guards scatter after an explosion » British Airways temporarily suspended its flights to Islamabad as a result of the security situation, according to an airline spokeswoman who did not want to be named. A Sunday night flight has been canceled, and the airline is reviewing its operations for later in the week. British Airways operates at least three flights a week to the Pakistani capital out of London's Heathrow Airport. At a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Pakistani authorities released security video of the blast, showing a small explosion inside the truck before the larger, deadly explosion. Watch the truck bomb caught on tape In the video, a large truck crashes into the security gate, sending one security officer scurrying for safety. Then, as security guards approach the truck, the top of the vehicle explodes and the security guards flee. A small cloud of smoke appears above the truck, which is engulfed in flames minutes later. One of the security guards tries to put out the fire with a hand-held extinguisher, to no avail. The guards then walk away, and the camera freezes on the burning truck. Pakistani officials said the blast apparently disrupted electricity to the area, causing the closed-circuit television camera to malfunction. No arrests have been made in connection with the attack, Malik said Sunday, adding that militants in Pakistan's tribal regions are suspected of orchestrating the attack. "I am not in a position to tell you who has done it, but [in] all the previous investigations, all the roads have gone to South Waziristan," he said. South Waziristan is one of Pakistan's seven tribal areas where Taliban and al Qaeda militants are active. At the bombing site, video showed a deep crater in the pavement where the bomb detonated. More than a dozen cars were reduced to twisted steel. The crater was 24 feet deep and nearly 60 feet wide, Malik said. The blast also caused a natural gas leak that set the top floor of the five-story, 258-room hotel on fire, police said. The blaze quickly engulfed the entire structure. Watch a witness describe walking over bodies » Most of the fatalities appeared to be drivers, who were waiting with their cars outside the Marriott, and hotel security guards, Geo TV's Hamid Mir said. The hotel, where a standard room costs more than $300 per night, is near the compound that contains the Parliament building, the prime minister's house, the Supreme Court and the presidency. The blast occurred about 7:50 p.m., after the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, Malik said. Trees were felled by the explosion, which occurred hours after newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari addressed a joint session of Parliament and promised to root out terrorism. Watch the scene the morning after the blast » A few hours after the attack, Zardari addressed the nation on television, saying he knows the pain of terrorism after his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in December on the campaign trail. "My heart cries tears of blood. I can understand your pain. I want to ask you to turn this pain into your strength," he said, describing extremism as "a cancer, which we will finish.
|
[
"What was the truck loaded with?",
"What is the name of the Czech Republic's ambassador who died in the hotel bombing?",
"Who is Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan?",
"What was the truck loaded with according to an official?",
"How many Americans died in the embassy bombing?",
"What was the number of Americans assigned to the embassy who were among the dead?",
"How many Americans died?",
"What did the Pakistani president say about the perpetrators?",
"How many explosives were found in the truck?"
] |
[
[
"More than 1,300 pounds of explosives"
],
[
"Ivo Zdarek,"
],
[
"Ivo Zdarek,"
],
[
"1,300 pounds of explosives"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"Two"
],
[
"two"
],
[
"\"is the biggest attack, volume-wise\""
],
[
"1,300 pounds"
]
] |
NEW: Truck loaded with more than a half-ton of explosives, official says .
U.S. military says two Americans assigned to embassy among dead .
Pakistani president says of perpetrators: "These people are not Muslims"
Police: Ivo Zdarek, Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, died in hotel bombing .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- No running water, no electricity, no fuel and little food. Pakistanis displaced by fighting demand government assistance during a protest Sunday in Karachi. International Red Cross officials are "gravely concerned" about the stark situation in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where a monthlong offensive against the Taliban has displaced more than 2 million civilians. Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived in the Swat Valley this weekend for the first time since the onset of violence there. The organization evacuated more than a dozen people in need of urgent medical care and called for an immediate humanitarian response. "The people of Swat need greater humanitarian protection and assistance immediately," Pascal Cuttat, head of the organization's delegation in Pakistan, said Sunday. "The ICRC will do its utmost to meet those needs without delay. Given what we have already seen on the ground, we are mobilizing additional resources, but safe and unimpeded access to the area remains essential for our teams to deliver." Those who have left their homes tell of the whole valley being turned into a battlefield as citizens flee on foot, many of them with no shoes. Some fall ill from sun and heat exposure, particularly infants and those already weak and sick. According to the most recent United Nations numbers, about 2.4 million Pakistanis registered as displaced persons since May 2. Currently, the clashes are concentrated near Mingora, the valley's largest city. "People have been blocked for weeks," said Daniel O'Malley, who led the ICRC team. "There is no running water, no electricity, and food is scarce. There is no fuel left for generators and most medical facilities in the district are no longer functioning. Phone lines are down, so people have been cut off from the outside world and are anxious for contact with relatives who fled the area." The Red Cross team visited Khwazakhela hospital, one of the few medical facilities left in Swat Valley, to deliver supplies and found a small group of hospital staff members struggling to work without water, electricity or supplies, O'Malley said. "They simply cannot cope with the influx of patients," he said. The team evacuated 14 patients. Meanwhile, one soldier was killed in a roadside bombing, and security forces killed two militants in the Swat Valley over the last 24 hours, the Pakistani military said on Sunday. The military said an unknown number of slain militants were found in a training facility destroyed by security forces in Shangla district, and a government girls' school at Baiderra was torched by militants. The Pakistani military said on Saturday its security forces have taken back the city of Mingora from the Taliban, calling it a significant victory in its offensive.
|
[
"where are they located",
"Who needs help immediately?",
"What is scares according to the Red Cross?",
"What causes fleeing people to fall ill?",
"who needs help"
] |
[
[
"Pakistan's Swat Valley,"
],
[
"Pakistanis"
],
[
"food"
],
[
"sun and heat exposure,"
],
[
"\"The people of Swat"
]
] |
Residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley need help immediately, Red Cross official says .
U.N.: Offensive against the Taliban has displaced more than 2.4 million people .
Red Cross: Food scarce; hospital struggling to operate without running water .
Residents say people fleeing valley are falling ill from heat exposure .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan election officials on Monday disqualified opposition party leader and former former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from participating in January parliamentary elections. Election officials say Nawaz Sharif's previous convictions bar him from standing for reelection. A spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League told CNN Monday that Sharif had been barred by the election commission because of a previous criminal conviction. Sharif filed paperwork for his candidacy last week, although he had left open the possibility that he would boycott the election in protest of a state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf. Sharif, an outspoken critic of Musharraf, who ousted him from power in 1999, had said he wanted to keep all options open. Sharif returned to Pakistan last month, ending seven years in exile in Saudi Arabia. He had first returned in September, but Pakistani authorities deported him within hours of his arrival. Sharif was convicted of terrorism, hijacking and tax evasion after Musharraf seized power in 1999. He was released in 2000 in exchange for agreeing to 10 years of exile in Saudi Arabia. He retained his Pakistani citizenship, but has not been allowed to travel to Pakistan or directly take part in Pakistani politics. Musharraf, who quit as military leader and took office for a third term last week, has pledged to lift the state of emergency by December 16. He was criticized of using the emergency to crack down on political rivals and to purge the judiciary of those likely to block the approval of his reappointment as leader. E-mail to a friend -- CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"Where was the returning officer?",
"Name the former Pakistani PM?",
"who was rejected",
"who was upheld",
"Who is a former PM of Pakistan?",
"who submitted papers for the elections",
"What was he submitting papers for?"
] |
[
[
"Saudi Arabia."
],
[
"Nawaz Sharif"
],
[
"Nawaz Sharif"
],
[
"Nawaz Sharif"
],
[
"Nawaz Sharif"
],
[
"Sharif"
],
[
"his candidacy"
]
] |
Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif has his candidacy papers rejected .
Had submitted nominations papers for Pakistan's parliamentary election .
Returning officer in Lahore upheld ineligibility objections from other candidates .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has arrested a suspected al Qaeda militant who intelligence officials say is tied to the London subway bombings in 2005, authorities there said Thursday.
The double-decker bus damaged by a bomb in central London on July 7, 2005.
Zabih al-Taifi was arrested in a village near Peshawar on Wednesday as part of ongoing security operations in the area, police and intelligence officials told CNN. Six others, both Afghans and Pakistanis, were also arrested.
The Metropolitan Police Service in London, also known as Scotland Yard, issued a statement refusing to comment on the arrest.
"Speculation around this reported arrest with alleged links to an ongoing terrorist trial is unhelpful and may be prejudicial to current criminal proceedings," it said.
The London blasts killed 52 people and wounded at least 900 others when bombs went off on three subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005.
Security analysts say the village where al-Taifi was arrested in the North West Frontier Province has been the site of recent clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants.
CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who was killed?",
"Where was al-Taifi arrested?",
"How many were killed?",
"how many wounded",
"Who is the militant?"
] |
[
[
"52 people"
],
[
"a village near Peshawar"
],
[
"52 people"
],
[
"at least 900 others"
],
[
"Zabih al-Taifi"
]
] |
Officials say arrested al Qaeda militant has ties to 2005 London subway bombings .
52 killed, 900 wounded from bombs on 3 subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005 .
Zabih al-Taifi arrested in village near Peshawar in ongoing security operations .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has arrested a suspected al Qaeda militant who intelligence officials say is tied to the London subway bombings in 2005, authorities there said Thursday. The double-decker bus damaged by a bomb in central London on July 7, 2005. Zabih al-Taifi was arrested in a village near Peshawar on Wednesday as part of ongoing security operations in the area, police and intelligence officials told CNN. Six others, both Afghans and Pakistanis, were also arrested. The Metropolitan Police Service in London, also known as Scotland Yard, issued a statement refusing to comment on the arrest. "Speculation around this reported arrest with alleged links to an ongoing terrorist trial is unhelpful and may be prejudicial to current criminal proceedings," it said. The London blasts killed 52 people and wounded at least 900 others when bombs went off on three subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005. Security analysts say the village where al-Taifi was arrested in the North West Frontier Province has been the site of recent clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants. CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who was arrested?",
"what happened on July 7, 2005",
"What did Officials say?",
"Who was arrested near Peshawar?",
"Near where was Zabih al-Tifi arrested?",
"How many subway trains had bombs on them on july 7th, 2005?",
"Who do officials say has ties to 2005 London subway bombings?",
"Who did Officials arrest?"
] |
[
[
"Zabih al-Taifi"
],
[
"London subway bombings"
],
[
"Zabih al-Taifi was arrested in a village near Peshawar on Wednesday as part of ongoing security operations in the area,"
],
[
"Zabih al-Taifi"
],
[
"Peshawar"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"Zabih al-Taifi"
],
[
"Zabih al-Taifi"
]
] |
Officials say arrested al Qaeda militant has ties to 2005 London subway bombings .
52 killed, 900 wounded from bombs on 3 subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005 .
Zabih al-Taifi arrested in village near Peshawar in ongoing security operations .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has indefinitely blocked travel for convoys, carrying food and military supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, through a key mountain pass.
Armed militants pose next to a captured armored vehicle near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
But in a statement, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said, "We do not expect any impact on ISAF's ability to carry out operations."
The decision to suspend travel through the Khyber Pass in northwest Pakistan was taken due to security concerns, said Gula Jan, a security official in Khyber Agency, on Sunday.
The mountain pass links Pakistan to its neighbor, Afghanistan. It is in the Khyber Agency, one of seven semiautonomous tribal agencies along the Afghan border.
Because Afghanistan is landlocked, many supplies for NATO-led troops fighting Islamic militants there have to be trucked in from Pakistan. Officials said militants aligned with the Taliban and al Qaeda have carried several attacks there.
The Pakistani central government has little control in the area, and the area is believed to be a haven for militants.
On Tuesday, as many as 60 to 70 armed militants launched back-to-back assaults on convoys.
The militants seized 13 trucks -- 12 carrying wheat into Afghanistan as part of a World Food Programme convoy, and one transporting Humvees to the U.S.-led coalition, Khyber Agency officials said.
Jan said the decision to suspend travel came after local leaders met with representatives of some of the shipping firms. He said trucks will be allowed through the pass once the security situation improves, but did not specify a date.
Dozens of trucks idled by the side of roads Sunday in the Khyber Agency and in Peshawar waiting for the green light.
In its statement, ISAF said it has "multiple, robust and complementary lines of support."
It added that for security and geographical reasons, "the movements of civilian convoys destined for ISAF are coordinated with Pakistani authorities and border crossing points. The current temporary adjustments in convoy movements are as a result of this coordination."
CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.
|
[
"What organization expects no impact on ability to carry out operations?",
"Which forces expect to impact?",
"What country sent a convoy into Afghanistan?",
"Militants seized what?",
"What did the NATO force expect?",
"Which country suspends convoys going into Afghanistan?",
"Who suspended convoys?",
"What did militants seize?"
] |
[
[
"the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan"
],
[
"the NATO-led International Security Assistance"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"13 trucks"
],
[
"any impact on ISAF's ability to carry out operations.\""
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"13 trucks"
]
] |
NEW: NATO force expects no impact on ability to carry out operations .
Pakistan suspends convoys into Afghanistan through key mountain pass .
Route was used to carry food and military supplies to U.S. troops .
Militants seized U.S. humvees, food aid in ambush earlier this week .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's foreign ministry Wednesday rejected concerns raised by the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief that the country's nuclear weapons "could fall into the hands of an extremist group in Pakistan or in Afghanistan." Mohamed ElBaradei, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief. fears for Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Mohamed ElBaradei's comments to Al-Hayat newspaper were "irresponsible" and "unwarranted," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said at a news briefing on Wednesday. "Pakistan rejects the statement by Dr. ElBaradei, Director General IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), hinting at the possibility of its nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremists," according to a ministry statement. "As head of the IAEA, which is a U.N. body, he has to be careful about his statements which ought to remain within the parameters of his mandate. "His remarks also ignore the fact that the strategic assets of Pakistan are fully secure and under multilayered safeguards and controls exercised by the National Command Authority." In an interview published in Al-Hayat Tuesday, ElBaradei said that Pakistan's recent political instability makes it more sensitive to susceptible to problems in other Muslim countries. "The effects of any new war in the Middle East and the Islamic world could have repercussions, not only in Iran, but what I fear most is the effect in Pakistan, a nation with many internal problems," ElBaradei said. "I fear a system of chaos or extremist regime in this state, which has 30 or 40 nuclear weapons." Pakistan has been in a state of political upheaval since the country's opposition challenged President Pervez Musharraf's tight grip on power, pushing him to step down as military chief and lift the emergency rule he had imposed in early November. The country further spiraled into chaos after the December 27 assassination of leading opposition figure and former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. In response to the IAEA director-general's comments, Pakistan's foreign ministry stressed in its statement that ElBaradei, "on several occasions, has been briefed about the structure and control mechanisms put in place to ensure complete safety of our nuclear assets." "Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapon state. Our nuclear weapons are as secure as that of any other nuclear weapon state. We, therefore, believe statements expressing concern about their safety and security are unwarranted and irresponsible. "Pakistan attaches great importance to IAEA and has extended cooperation and assistance to the Agency on many important issues towards the fulfillment of its mandate. Our civilian nuclear program is under IAEA safeguards and we have always fully complied with IAEA obligations," the ministry said. E-mail to a friend
|
[
"which country rejects fears its nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of extremists?",
"What did Pakistan reject?",
"Who voiced his worries?",
"Whose nuclear weapons as secure as those held by other nuclear states?",
"which country declare Our nuclear weapons as secure as those held by other nuclear states?",
"who said I fear chaos in this state, which has 30 or 40 nuclear weapons?",
"Who voiced his worries Tuesday?",
"What country rejects fears its nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of extremists?"
] |
[
[
"\"Pakistan"
],
[
"concerns raised by the U.N."
],
[
"Pakistan's foreign ministry"
],
[
"\"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Mohamed ElBaradei,"
],
[
"ElBaradei"
],
[
"\"Pakistan"
]
] |
Pakistan rejects fears its nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of extremists .
Mohamed ElBaradei, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief, voiced his worries Tuesday .
ElBaradei: I fear chaos in this state, which has 30 or 40 nuclear weapons .
Pakistan: Our nuclear weapons as secure as those held by other nuclear states .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's foreign ministry said Wednesday that it has lodged a "strong" protest with the U.S. ambassador over missile attacks conducted on Pakistani soil by unmanned drones.
The aftermath of a suspected U.S. drone attack on a building in North Waziristan.
The ministry said it summoned Ambassador Anne Patterson to underscore that such attacks violate Pakistan's sovereignty and should be stopped immediately.
A statement from the ministry said Patterson was also told that the attacks have cost lives and undermined public support for Pakistan's counter terrorism efforts.
The ministry lodged its protests three days after a missile strike from a suspected U.S. drone on a compound in South Waziristan killed 20 people.
Pakistan has repeatedly raised objections to foreign nations violating its sovereignty to pursue terrorists. A U.S. ground operation in September that left several civilians dead rankled relations between the two countries.
Last week, Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution that condemned any incursion on Pakistani soil by foreign forces.
The resolution called for a review of the country's national security strategy and said the government needs to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The ministry said it handed Patterson a copy of the resolution.
The U.S. and NATO, which have troops in Afghanistan, have been seeking a way to effectively battle militants who launch attacks from Pakistan's swath of tribal areas along the border.
They have become frustrated with Islamabad over the years, saying it is not being proactive enough against militants -- a claim Pakistan denies.
The United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely.
In another development, suspected Taliban militants kidnapped three government officials from an administrative office in Pakistan's tribal region Wednesday, officials said.
The militants abducted two employees and a security guard from the Ambar district in Mohmand Agency.
Mohmand is in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where U.S. and Pakistani officials have reported a presence of militants.
Earlier in the day, militants tried unsuccessfully to take control of a school in Mohmand and abduct about 100 students, authorities said. A shootout with Frontier Corps followed, in which one militant was killed and another arrested.
The Frontier Corps is a paramilitary force which uses recruits from Pakistan's tribal areas and is overseen by Pakistani army officers.
Also Wednesday, a suicide car bomber detonated explosives outside a police checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, killing two security personnel, officials said.
The Wednesday afternoon attack in the Bannu district of the North West Frontier Province also wounded a dozen people, military sources said.
The bomber targeted a check point near a military hospital, said the sources who did not want their names revealed because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
CNN's Reza Sayah and journalist Janullah Hashimzada contributed to this report
|
[
"What country was talking to a US ambassador?",
"How many people were kidnapped recently?",
"Number of officials kidnapped?",
"Where did the drone strike?",
"Number of people killed in drone strike?",
"A missile strike from a US drone killed how many?",
"Which officials were kidnapped?",
"How many people died in a recent missile strike?",
"Pakistan summons what country's ambassador?",
"Who is the U.S. ambassador?",
"Who did Pakistan summon over missile attacks?",
"Suspected Taliban militants kidnap how many officials?"
] |
[
[
"Pakistan's"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"a building in North Waziristan."
],
[
"20"
],
[
"20"
],
[
"government"
],
[
"20"
],
[
"U.S."
],
[
"Anne Patterson"
],
[
"Ambassador Anne Patterson"
],
[
"three"
]
] |
Pakistan summons U.S. ambassador over missile attacks .
Missile strike from a suspected U.S. drone killed 20 people .
Suspected Taliban militants kidnap 3 officials from in tribal region .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's military continued its assault Thursday on militants in Taliban-held areas, its chief spokesman told reporters.
Pakistani army trucks move military equipment into the troubled Buner district Thursday.
So far, 14 militants have been killed in the past 24 hours, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. The operation is still ongoing in the districts of Dir and Buner, which was recently seized by the Taliban in violation of an agreement with Pakistan's government.
Pakistani forces have completely secured Daggar, the main town in Buner and the scene of heavy fighting on Wednesday, Abbas said.
The Daggar operation resulted in the deaths of 50 militants, but freed 18 Frontier Corps personnel who had been abducted by militants, he said. Fifty-two of their colleagues are still believed to be held by their suspected Taliban kidnappers.
This week's military operation has resulted in more than 180 militant casualties since Sunday, while the military has suffered one death and one injury, according to Abbas. He said he hopes the operation will be completed by the end of the week.
Pakistan has asked the United States to supply its forces with helicopters, communication equipment and night vision technology, Abbas said Thursday.
Most of this week's casualties happened on Tuesday, when Pakistani fighter jets launched airstrikes, killing at least 70 militants in the Dir district, according to the Pakistani military.
The operation is part of the Pakistani army's intensified drive against the Taliban in its restive tribal regions. The Pakistani government has been criticized for not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan. As a result, the U.S. military has carried out airstrikes against militant targets in Pakistan, which have rankled relations between the two countries.
The military campaign has apparently not stopped Washington from carrying out unmanned drone attacks on Pakistan's soil. A suspected unmanned aerial vehicle killed six people Wednesday night in the village of Kaniguran in the tribal district of South Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence sources said.
Pakistan has complained repeatedly about what it says are American airstrikes on its territory. The U.S. military in Afghanistan has not commented on the strikes, which typically target Taliban fighters in the border region. But the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from remote-controlled drones.
U.S. President Barack Obama is "gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan," he told reporters Wednesday night.
Speaking at a news conference capping his 100th day in office, Obama said the United States has "huge national security interests in making sure that Pakistan is stable" and doesn't end up a "nuclear-armed militant state." But he stressed he was more concerned about the ability of Pakistan's civilian government to "deliver basic services," and not "that they're immediately going to be overrun" by the Taliban.
Pakistan's recent military crackdown has led to an exodus of civilians from the region. At least 33,000 residents have left their homes in the midst of the recent fighting, according to Amnesty International.
Civilians fleeing from Lower Dir in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province join more than 500,000 people already displaced by the fighting, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.
The Pakistani military completed its operation to eliminate and expel militants in Dir Tuesday, and is now focusing on the Buner district, Abbas said. About 300 militants entered Buner a few days ago, in violation of the Taliban's recent agreement to leave the district, he said.
Buner is about 60 miles from Islamabad, but Abbas said the militants pose no threat of entering the capital. The fighter jets pounded targets in Buner and the Swat Valley in an effort to block the militants' entry and exit points, according to Abbas.
CNN's Samson Desta, Ivan Watson, and Nasir Habib contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who is Barack Obama?",
"What has resulted in more than 180 militant casualties?",
"Who is \"gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan\"?",
"when says Barack Obama \"gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan\"?",
"where Pakistani military intensifies drive against Taliban?",
"Who was \"gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan\"?",
"What is the Pakistani military intensifying?",
"What did the Pakistani military intensify their drive against?",
"What has resulted in casualties?",
"What is Obama concerned about?",
"What did recent military operations result in?"
] |
[
[
"U.S. President"
],
[
"This week's military operation"
],
[
"U.S. President Barack Obama"
],
[
"Wednesday night."
],
[
"restive tribal regions."
],
[
"U.S. President Barack Obama"
],
[
"its assault"
],
[
"the Taliban"
],
[
"This week's military operation"
],
[
"the situation in Pakistan,\""
],
[
"the deaths of 50 militants, but freed 18 Frontier Corps"
]
] |
Pakistani military intensifies drive against Taliban in restive tribal regions .
Recent military operation has resulted in more than 180 militant casualties .
Has not stopped U.S. unmanned drone attacks on Pakistan's soil .
Barack Obama "gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan"
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's president has defended his government's recent ceasefire in the country's volatile Swat Valley in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, saying that many in the West have mischaracterized the deal. President Zardari also said that the cease-fire would not close girls' schools in the troubled region. The permanent ceasefire, which was brokered in late February between members of the Taliban and leaders of Swat Valley, has been criticized and called a major concession by the Pakistani government in an attempt to hold off Taliban attacks. The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants from areas of the North West Frontier Province As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly attacks, beheadings and destruction of girls' schools. They also continued to gain ground, setting up checkpoints throughout the area. President Asif Ali Zardari addressed the international criticism in his Wall Street Journal article, published Wednesday. "We have not and will not negotiate with extremist Taliban and terrorists," Zardari wrote. "The clerics with whom we have engaged are not Taliban. Indeed, in our dialogue we'd made it clear that it is their responsibility to rein in and neutralize Taliban and other insurgents." The deal was brokered by Sufi Mohammed, a pro-Taliban cleric who in the past was arrested for leading thousands of fighters against the United States in Afghanistan. Mohammed made the deal with his son-in-law and Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah. In the article, Zardari also said that the cease-fire would not close girls' schools in the region. "We have not and will not condone the closing of girls' schools, as we saw last year when militants closed schools in pockets of Swat Valley. Indeed, the government insists that the education of young women is mandatory. This is not an example of the government condoning or capitulating to extremism -- quite the opposite," Zardari wrote. The cease-fire deal imposes Islamic law, or sharia, in the region. As part of the agreement, the Taliban is allowing boys' schools to reopen and the government to set up temporary quarters for the more than 200,000 Swat residents who fled. Women in the area interviewed by CNN said that they would not be able to go to the schools and that, under Taliban-imposed sharia law, they cannot even be seen in public without their husbands or fathers. Swat Valley, located in North West Frontier Province, was once one of Pakistan's biggest tourist destinations. It is near the Afghanistan border and is 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the capital, Islamabad. -- CNN's Stan Grant contributed to this report.
|
[
"what Deal brokered in February between Taliban and leaders?",
"who is the deal between",
"what has zardari said",
"When was the deal brokered?"
] |
[
[
"The permanent ceasefire,"
],
[
"members of the Taliban and leaders of Swat Valley,"
],
[
"\"We have not and will not negotiate with extremist Taliban and terrorists,\""
],
[
"late February"
]
] |
Deal brokered in February between Taliban and leaders of Swat Valley .
Central government has long exerted little control in the area .
Zardari: "The clerics with whom we have engaged are not Taliban"
"It is their responsibility to rein in and neutralize Taliban," he said .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's religious affairs minister escaped with a minor injury in an attack that killed his driver Wednesday. Hamid Saeed Kazmi (center) and his driver are helped into an ambulance at the site of the shooting. The attack took place at an Islamabad market, next to a police station, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said. The minister, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, was shot in the leg but his injury was not serious, hospital officials said. The minister's driver, however, died in the attack, the APP said. Kazmi, 51, is the federal minister for religious affairs and member of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Security analyst Hasan Askari-Rizvi told CNN affiliate Time.com the attack shows that the serious security problems in the country remain. "If this type of attack can take place in the center of Islamabad," he said, "then nowhere in Pakistan is safe." Wednesday's attack comes a day after Pakistani officials claimed fighting in the northwest of the country left 43 militants dead and two commanders captured. The deaths came as a result of a military operation in Bara, in the Khyber Agency, according to the agency's Office of Political Administration. CNN's Samson Desta contributed to this report.
|
[
"where was it next to",
"what happened to the minister",
"Where did the attack took place ?",
"Who was killed in the attack ?",
"Who was shoot in the leg ?",
"who is the minister"
] |
[
[
"a police station,"
],
[
"escaped with a minor injury in an"
],
[
"Islamabad market, next to a police station,"
],
[
"his driver"
],
[
"Hamid Saeed Kazmi,"
],
[
"Hamid Saeed Kazmi"
]
] |
Religious affairs minister, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, was shot in the leg .
Attack took place at an Islamabad market, next to a police station .
Minister's driver was killed in the attack .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani armed forces have killed 80 militants since launching an assault on a region recently held by the Taliban, the military announced Sunday. Displaced people from Buner district flee the fighting. Three soldiers have been killed and eight wounded in the crackdown in the Buner district in the northwest of the country, the military statement said. The Pakistani offensive started in the province last Sunday, after Taliban militants moved into Buner, a move that alarmed U.S. and Pakistani officials. Pakistani security forces also killed at least 16 militants late Friday and early Saturday in the Mohmand district, in the country's volatile tribal region, the country's military said on Saturday. The incident appears to be separate from the hostilities in Buner. However, it reflects the tensions in the region and could signal a spread of fighting resulting from the crackdown. In the incident, about 100 militants attacked a Frontier Corps post in the Mohmand Agency, or district, an area where militants hold great sway. Troops returned fire and killed the 16 militants, the military said. Mohmand is in the country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas that border a volatile region in war-torn Afghanistan and Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Earlier this year, Pakistan had entered into an agreement with militants, allowing them to enforce Islamic law, or sharia, in parts of Swat Valley in exchange for ceasing violence. The Swat Valley is a broader area that includes several provincial districts, including Chitral, Swat, Shangla, Malakand, Upper Dir, and Lower Dir. But Pakistani officials say the armed militants' advance into Buner district violated the agreement and briefly halted peace talks between the two sides in North West Frontier Province. Representatives from Pakistan's government and the Taliban restarted their negotiations on Friday and were planning to have another session soon, a provincial spokesman said. The Pakistani government has been criticized for not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan. As a result, the U.S. military has carried out airstrikes against militant targets in Pakistan, which have rankled relations between the two countries.
|
[
"How many did the Pakistani security kill?",
"How many soldiers were killed?",
"How many soldiers have been killed and wounded?"
] |
[
[
"80 militants"
],
[
"Three"
],
[
"Three"
]
] |
Pakistani security forces kill at least 80 militants in country's tribal region .
Pakistani army has been waging a week-long crackdown on Taliban .
Three soldiers killed, eight wounded in crackdown in northwest of country .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have arrested four men in connection with the suicide truck bombing of a Marriott Hotel last month in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people, officials said Friday. More than 50 people died in last month's attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The men appeared Friday before a magistrate in an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, police and Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency investigators said. Although they have not been charged, the magistrate is allowing police to hold them for a week while the investigation continues. The magistrate ordered them back to court on October 31. Authorities have not said how they believe these men are connected to the September 20 bombing. The men -- one of whom is a doctor -- were arrested at different times in different places, authorities said, but gave no additional details. They identified them as: Dr. Muhammad Usman and Tehseen Ulla Jaan, both from Peshawar; Ilyas Rana Muhammad, from a village near Faiselabad in Pakistan's Punjab province; and Hameed Afzal Muhammad, from Toba Taik Singh district, also in Punjab province. In addition to the dozens killed, some 250 people were wounded in the suicide truck attack, which sparked a fire that left the hotel in ruins. The hotel, located near the diplomatic section of Islamabad, had been popular among tourists visiting Pakistan. It was crowded the night of the bombing.
|
[
"What have authorities not said?",
"When did the attacks take place?",
"Where was the blast?",
"What hotel was targeted on September 20?",
"What is the number of people arrested?",
"How many were arrested in connection with hotel blast?",
"Who have not said how they believe the men are related to the blast?",
"How many were arrested?",
"How many were injured?",
"They were arrested on suspicion of what?",
"How many were injured in the September attack?",
"What have authorities not said?",
"How many were arrested on suspicion of involvement in hotel blast?",
"How many were arrested on suspicion of involvement\" in hotel blast in Pakistani capital?",
"How many were arrested?",
"How many were injured in the September 20 attack on Marriott hotel?",
"When was the attack on a Marriott hotel?",
"How many were injured?",
"Where was the blast?",
"How many were injured in September 20 attack?",
"Where was the hotel blast located at?",
"What are the four suspected of?"
] |
[
[
"how they believe these men are connected to the September 20 bombing."
],
[
"last month's"
],
[
"Marriott Hotel in Islamabad."
],
[
"in Islamabad."
],
[
"four"
],
[
"four men"
],
[
"Authorities"
],
[
"four men"
],
[
"wounded"
],
[
"truck bombing of a Marriott Hotel"
],
[
"250"
],
[
"how they believe these men are connected to the September 20 bombing."
],
[
"four men"
],
[
"four men"
],
[
"four men"
],
[
"some 250 people"
],
[
"last month"
],
[
"250"
],
[
"the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad."
],
[
"250"
],
[
"Marriott"
],
[
"connection with the suicide"
]
] |
Four arrested on suspicion of involvement" in hotel blast in Pakistani capital .
More than people died in September 20 attack on Marriott hotel, 250-plus injured .
Authorities have not said how they believe the men are related to the blast .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have arrested two top leaders of the Islamic militant group India blames for the November massacre in Mumbai, Pakistan's prime minister confirmed Wednesday.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Pakistani security forces had rounded up a number of militant figures.
The top military officer in the U.S. on Wednesday said he is "encouraged" by Pakistan's recent arrests of "significant players" in the Mumbai attacks.
U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the arrests amount to "first steps" toward determining who plotted the three day siege last month that killed 160 people in Mumbai, India's financial capital.
"There are more steps to follow," he noted.
He also thanked India for showing restraint against Pakistan, which it has accused of harboring the terrorist groups behind the November massacre.
Zarar Shah, a top operational commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and Zakir Rehman Lakhvi, whose arrest had been reported Tuesday, were among the militant figures rounded up in recent days, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters.
Gilani would not confirm the detention of Masood Azhar, the leader of another militant group, Jaish-e-Muhammad. But he said his government has launched its own investigation into India's allegations that the gunmen who killed more than 160 people in Mumbai had links to Pakistan.
The acknowledgment came three days after Pakistani security forces raided an LeT camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, in the first sign of government action against Lashkar-e-Tayyiba since the three-day siege of India's financial capital.
Both LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad were formed to battle Indian rule in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, and both were banned after a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought the South Asian nuclear rivals to the brink of war.
The United States has listed LeT as a terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. According to the U.S. government, Lakhvi, 47, has directed LeT's military operations in southeast Asia, Chechnya, Bosnia and Iraq.
Pakistan's Defense Minister Choudhry Mukhtar Ahmed told CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN, that Lakhvi and Azhar had been arrested on Monday. Azhar has been in Pakistan since 1999, when he was released from an Indian prison in exchange for hostages aboard a hijacked Indian airliner.
Indian authorities say the sole surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks told investigators that he was trained at an LeT camp near Muzaffarabad, along with the nine other attackers who were killed in the three-day siege. A Pakistani security official said the terror raids on banned militant groups are ongoing and have resulted in at least 15 arrests.
|
[
"Who was arrested for Mumbai terror attacks?",
"Who was formed to oppose Indian rule in divided Kashmir?",
"Who is a leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba?",
"What was the group formed to oppose?",
"Which US officer was encouraged by arrests?",
"What group is Shah top commander of?",
"What does Zarar Shah command?",
"Who is encouraged by terror arrests?"
] |
[
[
"group"
],
[
"LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad"
],
[
"Zarar Shah,"
],
[
"battle Indian rule"
],
[
"U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen"
],
[
"Lashkar-e-Tayyiba,"
],
[
"a top operational commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and Zakir Rehman Lakhvi, whose arrest had been reported Tuesday,"
],
[
"U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen"
]
] |
NEW: Top U.S. military officer encouraged by terror arrests .
Pakistan arrests militant leaders blamed by India for Mumbai terror attacks .
Zarar Shah, top commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, among those held .
Blamed militant groups were formed to oppose Indian rule in divided Kashmir .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have arrested two top leaders of the Islamic militant group India blames for the November massacre in Mumbai, Pakistan's prime minister confirmed Wednesday. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Pakistani security forces had rounded up a number of militant figures. The top military officer in the U.S. on Wednesday said he is "encouraged" by Pakistan's recent arrests of "significant players" in the Mumbai attacks. U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said the arrests amount to "first steps" toward determining who plotted the three day siege last month that killed 160 people in Mumbai, India's financial capital. "There are more steps to follow," he noted. He also thanked India for showing restraint against Pakistan, which it has accused of harboring the terrorist groups behind the November massacre. Zarar Shah, a top operational commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and Zakir Rehman Lakhvi, whose arrest had been reported Tuesday, were among the militant figures rounded up in recent days, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters. Gilani would not confirm the detention of Masood Azhar, the leader of another militant group, Jaish-e-Muhammad. But he said his government has launched its own investigation into India's allegations that the gunmen who killed more than 160 people in Mumbai had links to Pakistan. The acknowledgment came three days after Pakistani security forces raided an LeT camp near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, in the first sign of government action against Lashkar-e-Tayyiba since the three-day siege of India's financial capital. Both LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad were formed to battle Indian rule in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, and both were banned after a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought the South Asian nuclear rivals to the brink of war. The United States has listed LeT as a terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. According to the U.S. government, Lakhvi, 47, has directed LeT's military operations in southeast Asia, Chechnya, Bosnia and Iraq. Pakistan's Defense Minister Choudhry Mukhtar Ahmed told CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN, that Lakhvi and Azhar had been arrested on Monday. Azhar has been in Pakistan since 1999, when he was released from an Indian prison in exchange for hostages aboard a hijacked Indian airliner. Indian authorities say the sole surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks told investigators that he was trained at an LeT camp near Muzaffarabad, along with the nine other attackers who were killed in the three-day siege. A Pakistani security official said the terror raids on banned militant groups are ongoing and have resulted in at least 15 arrests.
|
[
"Who is the top commnander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba?",
"What was formed to oppose Indian rule?",
"What is the top US military officer encouraged by?",
"Who was encouraged by the arrests?",
"Who was blamed by India?",
"What is Shah commander of?"
] |
[
[
"Zarar Shah,"
],
[
"Both LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad"
],
[
"Pakistan's recent arrests of \"significant players\" in the Mumbai attacks."
],
[
"top military officer in the U.S."
],
[
"group"
],
[
"Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, and Zakir Rehman Lakhvi,"
]
] |
NEW: Top U.S. military officer encouraged by terror arrests .
Pakistan arrests militant leaders blamed by India for Mumbai terror attacks .
Zarar Shah, top commander of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, among those held .
Blamed militant groups were formed to oppose Indian rule in divided Kashmir .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have launched a massive crackdown on terror groups that they say were planning numerous suicide attacks, including in the country's largest city of Karachi. Pakistan security officials show seized weapons and ammunition in Karachi on Sunday after the arrest of seven alleged militants. At least 13 suspects were arrested Sunday and Monday, including three people carrying suicide jackets and explosives inside a bus station, a police official said. The three were seized early Monday after police raided a bus station in Sargodha, a city located about 120 miles (190 km) south of Islamabad in Pakistan's Punjab province. The suspects were plotting to attack two Shiite mosques, police stations, and a Norwegian telecommunications company in Punjab, according to district police officer Usman Anwar. Three other suspects linked to the plot were arrested hours later in Sargodha, he said. Those arrested early Monday included the Pakistani Taliban's chief in Punjab, according to Anwar. The Taliban in Punjab have direct ties to Baitullah Mehsud, the former head of the Pakistan Taliban, and have been accused of sectarian murders in Punjab. Pakistan and U.S. officials contend Mehsud was killed in an August 5 drone attack in Waziristan at his father-in-law's house. The Taliban claim Mehsud is alive but ill. Hakeemullah Mehsud has been selected as the new head of the Pakistani Taliban, a Taliban commander said Saturday. Pakistani authorities also said they thwarted planned attacks in the southern port city of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and the capital of Sindh province. Seven members of a banned militant group with strong ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban were arrested Sunday along with suicide vests and a large quantity of ammunition, according to the city's police superintendent Mohammed Fayyaz Khan The group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was planning to conduct attacks in Karachi, according to Karachi Police Chief Waseem Ahmad. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department, and was banned by then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2001. It is described as Pakistan's "most extreme and feared militant group" by IHS Jane's, a provider of defense and security information. The banned Sunni militant group, which began in the 1990s, is a "key ally" of the Taliban and al Qaeda, according to Jane's. "However, many of its leaders and members have been killed or jailed in recent years and there is little evidence that it remains a coherent organization with centralized structures," Jane's said in an assessment released earlier this month. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is blamed for the attempted assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999, and the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. The group also has also been linked to the March attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The recent arrests in Karachi and in Punjab are part of a broader crackdown on terror groups that have extended their reach outside Pakistan's volatile North West Frontier Province and adjacent tribal regions. That is where Pakistani security forces continue to battle a strong Taliban presence. Taliban militants maintained strongholds within 100 miles of the capital, Islamabad, before Pakistani security forces pushed them back this year. A month ago, Pakistani authorities unraveled a militant plot to target government buildings in Islamabad with suicide attackers, according to Interior Minister Rehmen Malik. Three bombers were detained, and along with them suicide vests packed with complex explosives surrounded by ball bearings that would kill anyone within 50 to 100 meters. "They had the live jackets ... they were staying in one house and they had hidden the suicide jackets not far from that (house) in the hills," Malik told CNN. "Obviously they had a plan in Islamabad because Islamabad is the icon of the country." He said they first planned to target parliament, then move on to other prominent government buildings in the capital city. Hitting back at the government would seem to be a high priority for the newly appointed leader of the Pakistani Taliban. Said to be a brazen and young commander
|
[
"What did the police chief say?",
"What did the arrest preventing happening in Karachi",
"How many suspects are there?",
"Who was assassinated?",
"What sports team was attacked?",
"Three Pakistan Tailban members where arrested wearing what",
"Where were attacks averted?",
"Who attached the cricket team?"
] |
[
[
"Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was planning to conduct attacks in Karachi,"
],
[
"numerous suicide attacks,"
],
[
"At least 13"
],
[
"Mehsud"
],
[
"Sri Lankan cricket"
],
[
"people carrying suicide jackets and explosives"
],
[
"southern port city of Karachi,"
],
[
"Lashkar-e-Jhangvi"
]
] |
Arrests averted attacks on Karachi, police chief says .
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi linked to Bhutto assassination, attack on Sri Lanka cricket team .
Police: Three suspected Pakistan Taliban members also arrested with suicide vests .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani fighter jets pounded Taliban targets in the country's northwestern region Tuesday, part of a wider military crackdown on militants inside its borders. A Pakistan army gunship flies over the troubled Dir region on Monday. The airstrikes killed between 70 and 75 militants in the Dir district and flushed out many more, military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas told reporters. It is part of the Pakistani army's intensified drive against the Taliban in its restive tribal regions. The Pakistani government has been criticized for not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan. As a result, the U.S. military has carried out drone attacks against militant targets in Pakistan, rankling Pakistan. But Pakistan's recent military crackdown has led to an exodus of civilians in the region. Between 15,000 and 30,000 residents have left the Dir district, which is less than 160 km (100 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad, according to an aid agency operating in the region. The Pakistani military on Tuesday completed its operation to eliminate and expel militants in Dir and is now focusing on the Buner district, Abbas said. About 300 militants entered Buner a few days ago in violation of the Taliban's recent agreement to leave the district, he said. Buner is about 60 miles away from Islamabad, but Abbas said the militants posed no threat to the capital city. Fighter jets pounded targets in Buner and the Swat Valley in an effort to block the militants' entry and exit points, he added. The general also released a recording of what he said was a conversation between a regional Taliban commander, Maulana Fazlullah, and some of his lieutenants. On the call, the purported Taliban leaders discuss how to stage an announced retreat from Buner last weekend while remaining in control of the territory. "Those who will remain there will stay apart, so that the world gets to know that Taliban have left Buner," one of the commanders says, according to the transcript. "Not more than two Taliban should sit on a vehicle. Moulvi Sahib will lead. Other vehicles will follow." Showing off for news organizations "is all right, but we have to implement a permanent plan," Fazlullah said. Pakistan's government insists that its military crackdown has growing popular support for taking on the Taliban -- an issue that has divided the Pakistani people, particularly in the Pashtun areas. "The government has been hesitant and divided in going after these guys, but public opinion -- judging by what I read in the Pakistani newspapers -- may be shifting," analyst Michael Krepon told CNN. "They have thought the Taliban is America's war, " said Krepon, a co-founder of the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank. "We led them to that conclusion with our drone attacks on Pakistani soil." But he warned that a Pakistani military operation against what is sometimes perceived as "going after its own people" will not be an easy task for the government. "The military will go into the field and reclaim territory, but it's not going to be pretty and it's not going to be easy," he said. Amnesty International's Asia Pacific director Sam Zarifi told CNN he thinks the test for Pakistan's government is not a military defeat over the Taliban, but "whether the schools will once again open, whether the health units will once again operate (in Buner)." He also warned that a Pakistani military operation could be worse than Taliban rule in Buner and other regions. "What people are telling us over and over again from Buner, from Swat, and other areas, is that they're very intimidated, very scared about life under the Taliban," Zarifi said. "But what really frightens them is the idea that the Pakistani military will launch operations." He said that local residents have told Amnesty in recent months that Pakistani military operations have "destroyed houses, destroyed markets, without in any way impacting the Taliban." "And that's what really frightens people," he said. "We
|
[
"What was in the recording the General released?",
"For what reason was Pakistan criticized?",
"Where did Pakistan not crack down on militants?",
"What is Pakistan criticized for ?",
"What are the recording of conversation about ?",
"What did he say in the conversations?",
"What did the Pakistani military say?",
"Where does the Pakistani operation take place ?"
] |
[
[
"a conversation between a regional Taliban commander, Maulana Fazlullah, and some of his lieutenants."
],
[
"not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan."
],
[
"along its border with Afghanistan."
],
[
"not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan."
],
[
"Taliban leaders discuss how to stage an announced retreat from Buner"
],
[
"\"Those who will remain there will stay apart, so that the world gets to know that Taliban have left Buner,\" one of the commanders"
],
[
"The airstrikes killed between 70 and 75 militants in the Dir district and flushed out many more,"
],
[
"Buner district,"
]
] |
NEW: Pakistani military says operation completed against militants in Dir .
NEW: General releases recording of conversation he says is among Taliban leaders .
Pakistan criticized for not cracking down on militants along Afghan border .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani forces have killed as many as 200 Taliban militants in the past day in the Swat and Shangla areas, the military said Sunday. Pakistan has launched a massive military operation against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. CNN could not verify the account, because journalists are barred from the region. The military blamed the Taliban for injuring civilians as the offensive entered its third week. "Indiscriminate mortar firing and planting of IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in the streets and roads by the miscreants in the populated areas of village Thana, Malakand and Mingora, resulted into civilian casualties," the military said in a statement. Watch more on crisis » The military eased a curfew on the region, allowing civilians to flee the fighting between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. (7 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday EDT). The United Nations refugee agency warned Friday of a "massive displacement" of civilians as the military wages its campaign with helicopter gunships, tanks and artillery. Watch as CNN's Ivan Watson tours a refugee camp » In the last few days, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Pakistanis have fled the military operation, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond, citing provincial government data. Another 300,000 Pakistanis were on the move or expected to flee the fighting. At least two soldiers were killed Sunday, and another died of wounds he suffered on Friday, the military statement said. Watch why civilians have backed the Taliban to survive » The military has been releasing regular reports saying it has killed Taliban militants in the region, but it has produced little evidence of the successes it claims. Journalists have not been permitted to observe the offensive and the army has not shown the bodies of the dead militants. It is also not clear what effect the offensive is having on the overall fight against the Taliban in the region, as fears grow that they could threaten the stability of Pakistan, a nuclear-armed power and key U.S. ally.
|
[
"Were many killed?",
"Where are the Taliban located?"
] |
[
[
"200"
],
[
"Swat and Shangla areas,"
]
] |
Pakistani military says 200 Taliban fighters have been killed in 24 hours .
An unknown number of civilians have also been killed and injured .
Tens of thousands of civilians have fled as the military campaign intensifies .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani government officials announced Monday an agreement with the Taliban to allow strict Islamic law, or sharia, to be implemented in parts of North West Frontier Province.
Delegation members of pro-Taliban leader Soofi Mohammad at a meeting in Peshawar Monday.
It marks a major concession by the Pakistani government in its attempt to hold off Taliban militants who have terrorized the region with beheadings, kidnappings, and the destruction of girls' schools.
The government will recognize sharia for the entire Malakand Division, which includes the Swat district -- a two-hour drive from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad -- the chief minister of North West Frontier Province Amir Haider Hoti announced Monday in a news conference. Islamic law is already being practiced in the area, where the Taliban have control.
Hoti said the people of the region want sharia which will fill the "vacuum" left by a lack of access to Pakistan's judicial system. He said he hoped it would bring peace to the region, where Pakistani forces have battled militants aligned with the Taliban.
"Those who chose to take the path of violence because of this decision, I appeal to all of them to work for the sake of peace now," Hoti said.
"There is no accounting for the sacrifice of all the people of Swat and the Malakand division. How many children have been orphaned? How many parents have lost their children? How many young people have been martyred? In my mind, I don't think that anyone can take this any more." Watch Pakistan's foreign minister discuss negotiating with the Taliban »
He also stressed that the recognition of Islamic law in the region "isn't something that hasn't happened before." He said previous agreements have been made regarding sharia, but were never implemented. He also said that the Islamic law will not go against basic civil liberties, although he did not explain how the government would make sure that provision would be upheld. Watch the implications of the concessions to the Taliban »
Sharia is defined as Islamic law but is interpreted with wide differences depending on the various sects of both Sunni and Shia Islam.
So far, the Pakistani Taliban's interpretation of sharia has included banning girls from school, forcing women inside and outlawing forms of entertainment.
The agreement comes amid negotiations between Pakistani provincial officials and Taliban representatives, led by Sufi Mohammed. The Taliban on Sunday declared a 10-day cease-fire in Swat Valley, which Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said was a gesture of good will towards the government.
The Taliban's control of Swat is believed to be the deepest advance by militants into Pakistan's settled areas -- meaning areas outside its federally administered tribal region along the border with Afghanistan.
The negotiations in North West Frontier Province are the latest attempt by Pakistan's civilian government -- which took power last year -- to achieve peace through diplomacy in areas where Taliban and al Qaeda leaders are believed to have free rein.
But analysts as well as critics within the establishment have warned that Pakistan's previous dealings with the Taliban have only given the fundamentalist Islamic militia time to regroup and gain more ground.
Khadim Hussain, a professor Bahria University in Islamabad who studies Pakistani politics, said the government has effectively surrendered the areas to the Taliban, thereby setting the stage for two contradictory, parallel states in North West Frontier Province.
"If you leave them like that and you give ... a semblance of peace in a particular area, what does that mean?" Hussain said. "It means you're capitulating. It means you're surrendering the state to them. It means your submitting the state authority to them because they are running a parallel state."
He said the government's decision amounts to a marriage of convenience made under duress.
Swat has been overrun by forces loyal to Maulana Fazlullah's banned hardline Islamic group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) which has allied itself with Taliban fighters. TNSM was once led by Sufi Mohammed, Fazlullah's father-in-law who is leading the latest negotiations. Sufi Mohammed was released from
|
[
"Where did the Taliban agree to a 10-day cease-fire?",
"How long was the cease fire for?",
"What did Critics says about previous dealings with the Taliban?",
"What are girls banned from?",
"What is the deal with the Taliban?",
"Where is Swat Valley?",
"What do critics warn against?",
"What is sharia?"
] |
[
[
"Swat Valley,"
],
[
"10-day"
],
[
"warned that Pakistan's previous dealings with the Taliban have only given the fundamentalist Islamic militia time to regroup and gain more ground."
],
[
"school,"
],
[
"to allow strict Islamic law, or sharia, to be implemented in parts of North West Frontier Province."
],
[
"a two-hour drive from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad"
],
[
"Pakistan's previous dealings with the Taliban have only given the fundamentalist Islamic militia time to regroup and gain more ground."
],
[
"strict Islamic law,"
]
] |
Pakistani Taliban's interpretation of sharia includes banning girls from school .
Deal with the Taliban comes after a visit by U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke .
Taliban: 10-day cease-fire in Swat Valley is good-will gesture towards government .
Critics warn that previous dealings with the Taliban have allowed it to regroup .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani security forces say they have killed at least 16 militants overnight in the country's volatile tribal region. Pakistani security personnel patrol the Buner district. This appears to be separate from the hostilities in the military's week-long crackdown in northwestern Pakistan against a Taliban militant advance in the country's North West Frontier Province. However, this reflects the tensions in the region and could signal a spread of fighting resulting from the crackdown. The Pakistani offensive started in the province on Sunday and it came after Taliban militants moved into Buner district last week, a move that alarmed U.S. and Pakistani officials. In this latest incident, about 100 militants attacked a Frontier Corps checkpost in the Mohmand Agency, an area where militants hold great sway. Troops returned fire and killed the 16 militants, the military said. Mohmand is in the country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas that borders a volatile region in war-torn Afghanistan and Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. The military on Saturday released details about other incidents in the province that occurred over the last 24 hours. Troops conducted a successful operation against militants in the district, in the Ambela-Daggar area in the Buner district. They secured a key road and cleared roadside bombs, the military said. In the province's Upper Dir district, militants abducted and then released 10 troops and seized their weaponry and ammunition. And two civilians were wounded when militants lobbed hand grenades. In the province's Swat district, militants attacked a security forces checkpost on Khawazakhela Bridge and Sambat Ridge. In Langer, security forces and militants exchanged fire and forces found military uniforms that militants were using for terrorist activity. Three Afghan nationals were among five militants arrested while planting a roadside bomb. Earlier this year, Pakistan entered into an agreement with militants, allowing them to enforce Islamic, or sharia, in parts of Swat Valley in exchange for ceasing violence. The Swat Valley is a broader area that includes several provincial districts, including Chitral, Swat, Shangla, Malakand, Upper Dir, and Lower Dir. But Pakistani officials say the armed militants' advance into Buner district violated the agreement and briefly halted peace talks between both sides in North West Frontier Province. Representatives from Pakistan's government and the Taliban restarted their negotiations on Friday and were planning to have another session soon, a provincial spokesman said. The Pakistani government has been criticized for not cracking down on militants along its border with Afghanistan. As a result, the U.S. military has carried out airstrikes against militant targets in Pakistan, which have rankled relations between the two countries.
|
[
"Who have the Pakistani army been waging a week-long crackdown on?",
"how many killed",
"For how long has the Pakistani army been waging war on the Taliban?",
"Who did Pakistani security forces kill?",
"how many militants were involved",
"What did the Pakistani security forces do in the country's tribal region?",
"who was targeted by the army",
"What did 100 militants attack?"
] |
[
[
"Taliban militant"
],
[
"at least 16"
],
[
"week-long"
],
[
"at least 16 militants"
],
[
"100"
],
[
"they have killed at least 16 militants"
],
[
"Taliban militant"
],
[
"Frontier Corps checkpost in the Mohmand Agency,"
]
] |
Pakistani security forces kill at least 16 militants in country's tribal region .
Pakistani army has been waging a week-long crackdown on Taliban .
100 militants attacked a checkpost and Pakistani troops returned fire .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani soldiers and militants battled Saturday in the country's vast tribal region, with more than a dozen insurgents killed in airstrikes, at least four soldiers slain in skirmishes and a key village seized by troops, the military said. A Pakistani soldier pictured during operations against militants in June. The fatalities come hours after Pakistani troops launched a massive ground offensive backed up by air power targeting the Taliban in South Waziristan, a refuge and a power base for insurgents operating in Pakistan and along the Pakistani-Afghan border. The highly anticipated offensive, which comes after a wave of suicide attacks in Pakistan, also has prompted the exodus of tens of thousands of civilians, the U.N. refugee agency said. One military official said Pakistani troops seized control of Kotkai, where Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has lived with fellow commander Qari Hussein, the mastermind behind some of Pakistan's deadliest suicide attacks. Watch how the offensive began » Another military official said the airstrikes from jet fighters and helicopter gunships targeted militant hideouts in Kotkai and the villages of Badar, Barwand and Khisur, all strongholds of the Taliban and their late leader Baitullah Mehsud. The official asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. There have been confrontations throughout the day between soldiers and militants. Along with the four slain soldiers, 12 have been wounded, the military said. Gen. Athar Abbas, the Pakistan military spokesman, said the ground offensive in South Waziristan was launched shortly after midnight after the military received clearance from the government. He said the region's eight entry and exit points have been sealed by troops. Pakistani officials say that about 10,000 to 15,000 militants linked to the Taliban or to al Qaeda operate in South Waziristan, a harsh terrain familiar to militants but difficult for others to navigate. About 28,000 Pakistani soldiers have moved into the epicenter of Taliban activity in the region to counter their activities, officials said. Elsewhere in Pakistan's tribal region, in the Mohmand Agency, at least eight militants and one soldier were killed Saturday when they exchanged gunfire near a military checkpoint, the military said. For months, the military had been targeting militant hideouts in South Waziristan and other hot spots in Pakistan's tribal areas. This year, troops launched a large operation targeting militants in the Swat Valley, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. But despite these efforts, insurgents have continued to strike with relative impunity inside Pakistan, brazenly targeting government, police and security locations. The latest attack occurred Friday in the northern city of Peshawar, when a suicide car bomber detonated near a police station, killing 13 people, most of them civilians. The recent wave of deadly attacks has raised concerns about the ability of Pakistan's security forces to maintain control. The attacks heightened internal and international pressure on the government to take swift and effective action. In a high-level meeting Friday, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani "gave a detailed briefing on the prevailing national security situation and its ramifications in the future," according to a statement from the prime minister's office. Those who attended the meeting condemned the recent attacks and "agreed that these elements pose a serious threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the state," the statement said. The attacks show "once again that the militants in Pakistan threaten both Pakistan and the United States," White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said. On Thursday, President Obama approved an additional $7.5 billion in assistance to Pakistan over the next five years.
|
[
"Official says troops took which village?",
"Where are up to 10,000 militants operating?",
"was anyone killed",
"What do the troops take?",
"How many militants are operating in South Waziristan?",
"About how many soldiers move into the epicenter?",
"How many Pakistani soldiers are involved?",
"How many are deployed in total?",
"What village was captured?",
"Who says troops take village of Kotkai?",
"How many Pakistani soldiers move into epicenter of Taliban activity?",
"How many Pakistani soldiers are involved?"
] |
[
[
"Kotkai,"
],
[
"South Waziristan,"
],
[
"more than a dozen insurgents"
],
[
"a key village"
],
[
"10,000 to 15,000"
],
[
"28,000"
],
[
"28,000"
],
[
"About 28,000"
],
[
"Badar, Barwand"
],
[
"One military official"
],
[
"28,000"
],
[
"About 28,000"
]
] |
NEW: Official says troops take village of Kotkai .
About 28,000 Pakistani soldiers move into epicenter of Taliban activity .
Up to 10,000 militants operating in South Waziristan, officials estimate .
Tens of thousands of civilians fleeing region, U.N. refugee agency says .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani troops have been moved to the Indian border amid fears of an Indian ground incursion, two Pakistani military officials told CNN on Friday.
File image of a Pakistani soldier
The troops were deployed from Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan, where forces have been battling Taliban and al Qaeda militants in North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Pakistan's armed forces have been on high alert in anticipation of a possible conflict with India following last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which killed 160 people.
India believes the 10 men who carried out the attacks were trained at a terrorist camp in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir.
A senior official said the troops had been moved from areas where there are no active military operations, and emphasized that troop levels have not been depleted in areas where soldiers are battling militants, such as the Swat Valley and near Peshawar, capital of the North West region.
In addition to the move, leave for all military personnel has been restricted and all troops were called back to active duty, the senior official said.
Asked for a reaction to the development, Husain Haqqani, Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said, "Pakistan does not seek war, but we need to be vigilant against threats of war emanating from the other side of our eastern border."
He said Pakistan's conduct since the Mumbai attack "has been consistent with international expectations. There is no justification for threats against Pakistan."
"Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and will continue to act against terrorists," he added. "We are a country of rule of law and need evidence to prosecute anyone for the crime of terrorism."
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the United States has been "in close contact" with India and Pakistan in probing the Mumbai attack and fighting terror. He is hoping that "both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times."
In London, England, Pakistani envoy to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan countered the report, noting that winter redeployments are normal and that only police and not the army had their vacation canceled. While he criticized India's "coercive diplomacy" and regretted India's "war hysteria," he underscored the fact that the two countries don't want to go to war.
Tensions increased between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan following the November 26 attacks in Mumbai, where militants launched a coordinated strike against luxury hotels, a Jewish center and other targets.
India has criticized Islamabad for not doing enough to counter terrorism, and it has accused elements within the Pakistan government and military of complicity in fueling terrorism in the region.
On Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned India to refrain from launching any strikes against Pakistan, according to a report in The Nation newspaper.
Another unnamed Pakistani military official told CNN that the Pakistani military has been taking precautionary measures to safeguard borders in the face of mounting military threats from India over the Mumbai attacks.
"Naturally, you have to take certain steps to stem that expected tide of Indian operations," he said, "You can't fight on both fronts so we have redeployed certain military elements from the western border to the northern border to meet Indian operations."
The official said that while Pakistan has tolerated U.S. missile strikes from Afghanistan into Pakistan, he believes the government and public would not stand for an Indian incursion.
In the Indian capital of New Delhi on Friday, three military chiefs briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the security situation.
An Indian officer said Indian soldiers have spotted Pakistani troop movements along the Line of Control in Kashmir. The Line of Control divides the disputed region between the area controlled by India and the area administered by Pakistan.
Indian defense spokesman Sitanshu Kar said India isn't carrying out a troop buildup along its western borders but "is monitoring the situation closely." He also said he is "not aware" of military reports about Pakistani troop mobilization along the Indian border.
"But we are keeping a vigil," Kar
|
[
"Who is monitoring?",
"Who is on high alert?",
"What kind of an alert are Pakistan forces on?",
"Where has Pakistan moved troops?"
] |
[
[
"India"
],
[
"Pakistan's armed forces"
],
[
"high"
],
[
"Indian border"
]
] |
Pakistan has moved troops to border with India amid rising tensions, officials say .
Pakistan forces on high alert after terror attacks last month in Mumbai .
Indian defense spokesman: India "is monitoring the situation closely"
The two countries have fought three wars since 1947 .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani troops have been moved to the Indian border amid fears of an Indian ground incursion, two Pakistani military officials told CNN on Friday. File image of a Pakistani soldier The troops were deployed from Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan, where forces have been battling Taliban and al Qaeda militants in North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistan's armed forces have been on high alert in anticipation of a possible conflict with India following last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which killed 160 people. India believes the 10 men who carried out the attacks were trained at a terrorist camp in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. A senior official said the troops had been moved from areas where there are no active military operations, and emphasized that troop levels have not been depleted in areas where soldiers are battling militants, such as the Swat Valley and near Peshawar, capital of the North West region. In addition to the move, leave for all military personnel has been restricted and all troops were called back to active duty, the senior official said. Asked for a reaction to the development, Husain Haqqani, Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said, "Pakistan does not seek war, but we need to be vigilant against threats of war emanating from the other side of our eastern border." He said Pakistan's conduct since the Mumbai attack "has been consistent with international expectations. There is no justification for threats against Pakistan." "Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and will continue to act against terrorists," he added. "We are a country of rule of law and need evidence to prosecute anyone for the crime of terrorism." U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the United States has been "in close contact" with India and Pakistan in probing the Mumbai attack and fighting terror. He is hoping that "both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times." In London, England, Pakistani envoy to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan countered the report, noting that winter redeployments are normal and that only police and not the army had their vacation canceled. While he criticized India's "coercive diplomacy" and regretted India's "war hysteria," he underscored the fact that the two countries don't want to go to war. Tensions increased between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan following the November 26 attacks in Mumbai, where militants launched a coordinated strike against luxury hotels, a Jewish center and other targets. India has criticized Islamabad for not doing enough to counter terrorism, and it has accused elements within the Pakistan government and military of complicity in fueling terrorism in the region. On Thursday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned India to refrain from launching any strikes against Pakistan, according to a report in The Nation newspaper. Another unnamed Pakistani military official told CNN that the Pakistani military has been taking precautionary measures to safeguard borders in the face of mounting military threats from India over the Mumbai attacks. "Naturally, you have to take certain steps to stem that expected tide of Indian operations," he said, "You can't fight on both fronts so we have redeployed certain military elements from the western border to the northern border to meet Indian operations." The official said that while Pakistan has tolerated U.S. missile strikes from Afghanistan into Pakistan, he believes the government and public would not stand for an Indian incursion. In the Indian capital of New Delhi on Friday, three military chiefs briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the security situation. An Indian officer said Indian soldiers have spotted Pakistani troop movements along the Line of Control in Kashmir. The Line of Control divides the disputed region between the area controlled by India and the area administered by Pakistan. Indian defense spokesman Sitanshu Kar said India isn't carrying out a troop buildup along its western borders but "is monitoring the situation closely." He also said he is "not aware" of military reports about Pakistani troop mobilization along the Indian border. "But we are keeping a vigil," Kar
|
[
"What country moved troops to the border?",
"What country has moved troops to the border?",
"What caused Pakistan to move troops to the border?",
"Who is the Indian defense spokesman?",
"Which country is monitoring the situation closely?",
"Where did the attacks occur last month?",
"What nation moved troops to the Indian border?"
] |
[
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistani"
],
[
"Indian ground incursion,"
],
[
"Sitanshu Kar"
],
[
"India"
],
[
"Mumbai,"
],
[
"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan"
]
] |
Pakistan has moved troops to border with India amid rising tensions, officials say .
Pakistan forces on high alert after terror attacks last month in Mumbai .
Indian defense spokesman: India "is monitoring the situation closely"
The two countries have fought three wars since 1947 .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police tightened security at airports across Pakistan Thursday after receiving reports of a possible suicide attack at the international airport that serves Islamabad. Pakistan's capital was rocked by a suicide attack on the city's Marriott Hotel at the weekend. Officers emptied the parking lot at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, on the outskirts of Islamabad, said Parvez George of the country's Civil Aviation Authority. Flights were going out of the airport, but police cleared the terminal building of the large crowds that usually gather to see relatives arrive or depart, George said. Muhammad Asghar of Islamabad Police told CNN that authorities placed the airport on high alert after intelligence reports indicated it was under threat of an attack. The country's capital city is on edge since a deadly blast Saturday night at the Marriott Hotel. The explosion killed more than 50 people, including two U.S. military personnel and the Czech ambassador to Pakistan. The bombing wounded more than 250 and sparked a fire that left the hotel in ruins. On Thursday, the Danish intelligence service said one of its employees, Karsten Krabbe, was among the victims of the blast. Krabbe, a 53-year-old married father of two, was a security adviser at the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, which was targeted by a suicide bomber in June. That attack killed six people and wounded more than 20. "Karsten Krabbe lost his life in a cowardly and ruthless terror attack," the Danish intelligence service said in a statement. Reacting to the Saturday's attack, the U.S. government barred employees from major hotels in several Pakistani cities, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said. The Embassy in Islamabad added Lahore on Wednesday to a list of three other cities in which U.S. personnel are no longer allowed to visit or stay in major hotels. The Embassy took the measures because of general security concerns, said spokesman Lou Fintor Thursday. He did not comment on a specific threat. In addition to the hotel restriction, the Embassy temporarily suspended visa and other routine consular services for Thursday and Friday. It said it will make available emergency services for U.S. citizens who need passports or are arrested. And an advisory reminded Americans in Pakistan to avoid crowds and demonstrations and to keep a "low profile." It said Americans should vary times and routes while traveling to avoid setting patterns. And it said a travel warning issued on August 7 still stands: U.S. citizens should defer nonessential travel to Pakistan due to continuing security concerns. -- CNN's Zein Basravi and Reza Sayah, and Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report
|
[
"What were officers looking for at Benazir Bhutto International Airport?",
"What was under attack?",
"What did intelligence reports reveal?",
"What was the threat?",
"Which airport is on high alert?",
"What kind of attack was the airport in danger of",
"Where was the Danish Intelligence employee killed?"
] |
[
[
"possible suicide attack"
],
[
"Marriott Hotel"
],
[
"possible suicide attack at the international airport that serves Islamabad."
],
[
"possible suicide attack"
],
[
"Benazir Bhutto International"
],
[
"possible suicide"
],
[
"Marriott Hotel"
]
] |
Benazir Bhutto International Airport on high alert .
Intelligence reports indicated airport was under threat of an attack .
Officers combed through the airport compound looking for explosives .
Danish intelligence says one of its employees was killed in Marriott hotel attack .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Polish authorities in Pakistan say they are monitoring local reports that Taliban militants have executed a kidnapped Polish engineer. Pakistani Taliban militants offer prayers in Mamouzai area of
Orakzai Agency in November. Piotr Stancza was kidnapped September 28 from the city of Attock in Punjab province. Stancza had been based there for a Polish survey company searching for natural gas. Local reports and TV station Dawn News reported Stancza's execution Saturday. Polish Embassy spokesman Peter Adams said his offices were aware of local media reports but were waiting to hear officially from Pakistani authorities. He said all efforts had been made by Polish authorities to pressure the Pakistani government to do whatever it could to secure Stancza's release. "From the Polish side, we did whatever we could, pressuring the Pakistani government on the presidential and prime minister level," Adams said. "Problem was, this was solely Pakistan's responsibility. Demands were only towards [the] Pakistan government." Adams said there had been no demands for ransom. The Taliban had demanded the release of Taliban prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas. Although there were assurances that the Pakistani government was doing everything it could and that Stancza would be freed soon, Adams said it was never clear what the government was actually doing to secure his release. "We are waiting for confirmation and waiting for any answer [about] how this happened and why did this happen," Adams said. A spokesman for Pakistan's interior ministry said that the reports of Stancza's death have yet to be confirmed and that the case of his kidnapping was a high priority for the government. Shahid Ullah Baig said the government had been working hard to retrieve Stancza unharmed but did not give details. "The Pakistan government is doing its level best to secure his release," he said, adding, "Human life is more important to us than anything else." Kidnappings and attacks against foreigners have risen sharply in recent months throughout the country. Most recently, an American working for the United Nations was kidnapped in Quetta, and Peshawar has been the scene of various attacks against foreign diplomats and journalists.
|
[
"Who was kidnapped from Attock?",
"What did the Taliban demand?",
"Who was kidnapped?",
"Who demanded release of prisoners, pullout of forces?",
"When was Stancza kidnapped?",
"Who was kidnapped September 28?",
"When was Piotr Stancza kidnapped?",
"When was Piotr kidnapped?",
"When was Stancza kidnapped?",
"Who has demanded release of prisoners?",
"What group has demanded release of prisoners?",
"Where was Stancza kidnapped from?",
"Where was Piotr Stancza taken from?",
"Who is checking local reports in Pakistan?",
"When was Piotr Stancza kidnapped?",
"What did the Taliban demand?"
] |
[
[
"Piotr Stancza"
],
[
"prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas."
],
[
"Piotr Stancza"
],
[
"The Taliban"
],
[
"September 28"
],
[
"Piotr Stancza"
],
[
"September 28"
],
[
"September 28"
],
[
"September 28"
],
[
"Taliban"
],
[
"Taliban"
],
[
"city of Attock in Punjab province."
],
[
"the city of Attock in Punjab province."
],
[
"Polish authorities"
],
[
"September 28"
],
[
"prisoners being held by the government and a pullout of government security forces from the tribal areas."
]
] |
Piotr Stancza kidnapped September 28 from Attock in Punjab province .
Polish authorities in Pakistan checking local reports .
Taliban had demanded release of prisoners, pullout of forces .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad has announced he has pulled out of a peace deal in the violence-plagued Swat Valley, saying the government is not serious about implementing Islamic law, or sharia, in the region.
Supporters of cleric Sufi Mohammad gather as they march during a peace rally in the Swat Valley.
Mohammad brokered the cease-fire in late February between the Pakistani government and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, who commands the Taliban in Swat Valley.
With the deal, the area would come under sharia law, which -- under the Taliban's strict interpretation -- would prevent women from even being seen in public without their husbands or fathers.
Mohammad has set up a protest camp at the headquarters of his son-in-law's Taliban-aligned group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM), according to a police official. The headquarters are located in Batkhelah in the Malakand agency of North West Frontier Province.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Mohammad expressed frustration that President Asif Ali Zardari had not signed off on the peace deal. He blamed the Pakistani government for any bloodshed that might follow. Watch how peace talks have hit a hurdle »
Mohammad's pullout does not automatically mean the deal is over. The Taliban, itself, has not announced whether or not it too is pulling out.
A lawmaker with the Awami National Party (ANP) of the North West Frontier Province -- where Swat is located -- said he did not expect fighting to resume.
"God willing, there won't be anything that happens to take this [peace] out of our hands," said Hashem Baber of the ANP.
The province's government will send a contingent to meet with Mohammed and hear his complaints.
"We'll meet and talk and if they have an complaints, we'll try to push those away and solve the situation to get back to the peace deal," Baber said.
Critics of the cease-fire have called it a major concession by the Pakistani government in an attempt to hold off Taliban attacks.
Indeed, after the deal went into effect, Fazlullah proclaimed himself the Emir of Swat.
Swat Valley was once one of Pakistan's biggest tourist destinations. It is near the Afghanistan border and is 186 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad.
The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants from areas of the North West Frontier Province
As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban carried out a series of deadly attacks, beheadings and destruction of girls' schools. They also continued to gain ground, setting up checkpoints throughout the area.
Sufi Mohammad was released from jail last year by Pakistani authorities after he agreed to cooperate with the government. He was detained in 2002 after recruiting thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah took over TNSM during Sufi Mohammed's jail stint and vowed to continue his fight to impose fundamentalist Islamic law in the region.
Last May, Pakistan's government announced it reached a peace deal with militants in Swat Valley.
In the months that followed, the Taliban seized control of the region and carried out a violent campaign against government officials, including local politicians.
The head of the secular Awami National Party -- which represents the region -- was forced to flee to Islamabad amid death threats from the Taliban.
Pakistan is under enormous pressure to control the militants within its borders, blamed for launching attacks in neighboring Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO forces are fighting militants.
The United States -- using unmanned drones -- has carried out several airstrikes inside Pakistan on suspected militant targets, including one on Wednesday that killed three suspected Taliban militants in the tribal region. Such incursions have infuriated many Pakistanis and their leaders.
Pakistan's military operation in the region is unpopular among Pakistanis, but efforts to deal diplomatically with militants have not worked in the past.
Pakistan's previous leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, reached a cease-fire deal with militants
|
[
"who pulled out",
"what Mohammad brokered cease-fire between?",
"Who pulled out of the peace deal?",
"who brokered the cease fire"
] |
[
[
"Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad"
],
[
"the Pakistani government and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah,"
],
[
"Sufi Mohammad"
],
[
"Mohammad"
]
] |
Pro-Taliban cleric pulls out of peace deal in violence-plagued Swat Valley .
Cleric says Pakistani government not serious about implementing Islamic law .
Mohammad brokered cease-fire between Pakistani government and son-in-law .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Rawalpindi's police chief stopped doctors at the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died from conducting an autopsy, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. In a video released Sunday, Benazir Bhutto, far right, appears through the sunroof before shots ring out. It was a violation of Pakistani criminal law and prevented a medical conclusion about what killed the former prime minister, said Athar Minallah, who serves on the board that manages Rawalpindi General Hospital. However, the police chief involved, Aziz Saud, told CNN that he suggested an autopsy be done, but that Bhutto's husband objected. The revelation came on Monday after new videotape of Bhutto's assassination emerged, showing her slumping just after gunshots rang out. The tape provided the clearest view yet of the attack and appeared to show that Bhutto was shot. That would contradict the Pakistan government's account. Read Bhutto's full medical report A previously released videotape showed a man at the right of her vehicle raising a gun, pointing it toward Bhutto, who was standing in her car with her upper body through the sunroof. He fired three shots, then there was an explosion. In the video that emerged on Sunday, Bhutto was standing, and her hair and scarf appeared to move, perhaps from the bullet. Bhutto fell into the car, then came the blast. Watch new tape showing apparent gunman » These images seem to support the theory that Bhutto died at the hands of a shooter before a bomb was detonated, killing another 23 people. Doctors at Rawalpindi General Hospital declared the 54-year-old dead hours after Thursday's attack, but the cause of her death has been widely debated. Pakistan's Interior Ministry announced on Friday that Bhutto died from a skull fracture suffered when she fell or ducked into the car as a result of the shots or the explosion and crashed her head onto a sunroof latch. See the likely sequence of events » Bhutto's family and political party maintain that the government is lying, and insist she died from gunshot wounds. Bhutto's husband, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday, called for an international investigation into his wife's death, saying the new video proves the Pakistani government "has been trying to muddy the water from the first day." "Everything is now very clear that she was shot," Asif Ali Zardari said. Zardari also called on the U.S. government to push for an international probe. "I want them to help me find out who killed my wife, the mother of my children," he said of the Bush administration. Javed Iqbal Cheema, spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry, said the government's conclusion on Bhutto's death was based on "absolute facts, nothing but the facts" and "it was corroborated by the doctor's report." But Minallah issued an open letter on Monday and released the doctors' clinical notes to distance them from the government statement, and he also talked to CNN. In the letter, Minallah said the doctors "suggested to the officials to perform an autopsy," but that Saud "did not agree." He noted that under the law, police investigators have "exclusive responsibility" in deciding to have an autopsy. Minallah told CNN that he was speaking out because the doctors at the hospital were "threatened." "They are government servants who cannot speak; I am not," he said. He did not elaborate on the threats against the doctors. He said the lack of an autopsy has created "a perception that there is some kind of cover-up, though I might not believe in that theory." "There is a state within the state, and that state within the state does not want itself to be held accountable," Minallah said. Cheema said the government had no objection to Bhutto's body being exhumed for an autopsy if the family requested it. Her widower has said the family was against exhumation because it did not trust the government. Minallah said the family could
|
[
"Who objected to an autopsy according to Aziz Saud?",
"What did the widow object to?",
"Which video is this?",
"What us Aziz Saud's job title?",
"When did this incident occur?",
"What is Athar Minallah's job title?",
"What does the video show?",
"Where did this happen?"
] |
[
[
"Bhutto's husband"
],
[
"exhumation"
],
[
"Bhutto's assassination"
],
[
"police chief"
],
[
"Thursday's"
],
[
"manages Rawalpindi General Hospital."
],
[
"Benazir Bhutto, far right, appears through the sunroof before shots ring out."
],
[
"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan"
]
] |
NEW: New video proves Bhutto shot, widower says .
Doctors claim Pakistani police prevented an autopsy on Benazir Bhutto .
Lawyer Athar Minallah said the move violated Pakistani criminal law .
Police chief Aziz Saud said he suggested autopsy but Bhutto's widower objected .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Samina Rajput speaks in hushed tones about her husband, Asif, who was killed alongside former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in the December 27 attack that convulsed the nation. Suicide bombings have killed 400 people and wounded nearly 1,000 others in the last three months. "He always used to say ... 'I am ready to sacrifice my life for the party and my country,'" Rajput says. She clings to a weathered book with newspaper clippings of her husband, a 28-year-old Bhutto supporter who had great political ambitions. He wanted a brighter and freer Pakistan, Rajput says, as she turns the delicate pages of the scrapbook. The clippings on the faded pages offer little comfort. But a picture of their wedding day less than two years ago, buried among the pages, makes her face light up somewhat. "As the widow of a martyr, one has to keep dignity, and I will do this up to my last breath," Rajput says, clasping her hands and rubbing them together. Suicide bombings like the attack that killed Bhutto and more than 20 of her supporters, including Asif, have intensified in recent months in Pakistan. Watch the devastating effects of bombings » On Thursday, a suicide bomber killed at least 23 people and injured more than 58 others outside a court in Lahore, police said. The attack brought to 20 the number of suicide attacks in Pakistan in the last three months, including a failed attack on Bhutto's life in October. The bombings have killed close to 400 people and wounded nearly 1,000 others in the last three months, according to government officials. Pro-Taliban militants with ties to al Qaeda are carrying out the attacks, according to analysts and government officials. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen says the number of suicide bombings in Pakistan has "reached unprecedented levels in the past year." Previously, Bergen says, such attacks were rare. "The reason for this rise is because al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban have morphed together ideologically and tactically, and both see themselves at war with the Pakistani state," Bergen says. "Many of the suicide attacks have been aimed at Pakistani politicians, officials and soldiers." Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to fight militancy and religious extremism, going after Taliban and al Qaeda within the country. Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, recently told CNN that the Pakistani military is "totally focused on destroying al Qaeda and the Taliban network and not just one person." Still, the suicide bombers are succeeding, targeting political parties, rallies, military installations and anyone seen as a threat. Meanwhile, civilians are caught in the crossfire. "They would like to destabilize our country," Azhar Hamdani, who survived a July attack, says of suicide bombers. Clutching a walker, Hamdani recalls the blast that changed his life. On July 17, 2007, a suicide bomber targeted a rally for Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who was stripped of power by Musharraf. The explosion killed at least 12 people and wounded 35 others in the capital, Islamabad. Hamdani remembers a strong blast throwing him several yards. When he regained consciousness, he was missing his left eye and his right leg was severely injured. "My leg was totally damaged," he says. "My one left eye was damaged and I have several other injuries on my body." But at the time of the blast, Hamdani was not focused on his own pain, he says, because he was surrounded by the bodies of his dead friends lying in pools of blood. The bombings, he says, must be stopped. "I hope that we will succeed and, God willing, we will try to stop these bloody cowards," he says. "I don't think they are Muslim." "Innocent people are suffering." E-mail to a friend CNN's Wayne Drash contributed to this report.
|
[
"What are the number of attacks in Pakistan?",
"What did the man wounded in the attack say?",
"How many suicide bombings have there been?",
"How many suicide bombings have rocked Pakistan over the last three months?",
"Who must be stopped?",
"Who joins forces?",
"Who is the man wounded?"
] |
[
[
"20"
],
[
"\"They would like to destabilize our country,\""
],
[
"20"
],
[
"20"
],
[
"The bombings,"
],
[
"Pro-Taliban militants with ties to al Qaeda are carrying out the attacks,"
],
[
"Azhar Hamdani,"
]
] |
19 suicide bombings have rocked Pakistan over the last three months .
Terror analyst: Number of attacks "unprecedented" as Taliban, al Qaeda join forces .
Man wounded in attack says "bloody cowards" must be stopped .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Security forces patrolled the streets of the eastern Pakistan city of Gojra on Sunday, one day after seven people were killed and 20 injured when Muslim demonstrators set fire to houses in a Christian enclave and fighting broke out, authorities said. Pakistani human rights activists in Lahore protest on Saturday over the anti-Christian violence in Gojra village. Police said Muslims were enraged over an alleged desecration of pages in the Quran at a Christian wedding last Saturday, and held a rally to protest such an act. The Quran is the Muslim sacred text. Shehbaz Bhatti, federal minister for minorities, told CNN that four women, two men and a child, all Christians, were either killed when their houses were burned or were shot to death. Some 50 houses were burned down and more than 100 were looted by the protesters, Bhatti said. The incident occurred in Gojra City, 160 kilometers or around 100 miles southwest of Lahore. No violence was reported Sunday, Punjab Provisional Minister Rana Sana Ullah told CNN. There was a demonstration by about a thousand Christians who refused to bury their dead until the government registered a criminal case against those they alleged to have carried out the attacks. The government would register a criminal case, Sana Ullah said. Registering a case means a criminal investigation will be opened. Sana Ullah added that the government strongly condemned the incident. He said the attack was not a sectarian issue, but rather terrorism. He blamed the incident on attackers with ties to militants in Northwest Pakistan, where the government is carrying out an offensive against Taliban groups. On Thursday, 15 Christian houses in the region were also torched. Pakistan is predominantly Muslim but has a small Christian community. Meanwhile, police in Islamabad reported the Friday arrest of an al Qaeda member thought to be involved in several attacks. Bin Yamin, a senior police official in Islamabad, identified the militant as Rao Shakir Ali. He is suspected of being involved in strikes on several targets, such as the Danish Embassy, police and a hotel, and is also suspected of targeting a rally for Chief Justice Iftikhar Chauhdary, authorities said. The suspect is a resident of Sargodha, which is 165 kilometers (more than 100 miles) northwest of Lahore and has a house in Rawalpindi that has been used to facilitate insurgent acts, police said. CNN's Tim Schwarz and Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report.
|
[
"what broke out",
"how many houses",
"what is predominantly muslim",
"Who has a small Christian community?",
"Where was the Quran alledgedly desecrated?",
"How many homes did the Muslims burn?",
"What did the Muslims torch?"
] |
[
[
"fighting"
],
[
"50"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"Christian wedding"
],
[
"50"
],
[
"houses in a Christian enclave"
]
] |
Fighting broke out as Muslims torched 40 to 50 houses in Christian enclave .
Muslims enraged over an alleged desecration of Quran at a Christian wedding .
Muslims burned 15 Christian homes on Thursday .
Pakistan predominantly Muslim, but has a small Christian community .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Suspected Taliban militants blew up a bridge early Tuesday in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, suspending NATO supply lines.
A Pakistani policeman sits near a police check post in the tribal area of Khyber Agency on February 12, 2008.
The blast occurred about 6 a.m. Tuesday in the Khata Kushta area of Jamrod in the Khyber Agency in Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The bridge connected Landi Kotal and Jamrod. Transport has been suspended, and authorities are assessing damages.
Engineers also are on location and work is under way to open a temporary route. Details were unclear on the size of the blast, but most of the iron bridge was destroyed, local officials said.
No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.
Authorities are looking for alternate supply routes for NATO supply trucks and traffic going from Pakistan to Afghanistan, because the route is the main one between the two countries. All vehicles must cross the bridge when going from Peshawar toward the crossing point into Afghanistan.
This is the first time militants have targeted a bridge or roadway in efforts to disrupt NATO supplies, a local official said.
Previously, militants have targeted truck depots where supply convoys wait to cross into Afghanistan or have attacked trucks on their way through Pakistan and into the Khyber Agency.
On Monday, at least 35 suspected militants were killed as part of ongoing operations in the Swat Valley, the Pakistan military confirmed to CNN.
Government security forces engaged 70 to 80 suspected militants with artillery and attack helicopters about 11 p.m., after observing their movements in the Khwaza Khela District of the Swat Valley, the military said.
Though only 35 militants were confirmed dead, many more were injured in the attack and the death toll was expected to rise, the military said.
Also on Monday, a Taliban FM radio sermon announced that militants had killed 16 Pakistan army soldiers in the Swat Valley. Officials at the Swat media center said that report was false.
|
[
"who was killed",
"where is Khyber Agency",
"Where did the militants blow up a bridge?",
"who was blown up",
"What number of deaths or injuries were immediately reported?",
"How many suspected militants were killed?",
"Where is the Khyber Agency located?",
"Where was the bridge blown up by Taliban militants?"
] |
[
[
"35 suspected militants"
],
[
"in Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas."
],
[
"region between Pakistan and Afghanistan,"
],
[
"a bridge"
],
[
"No"
],
[
"35"
],
[
"Pakistan"
],
[
"region between Pakistan and Afghanistan,"
]
] |
Suspected Taliban militants blown up a bridge in Pakistan's Khyber Agency region .
Khyber Agency is in border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan .
NATO supply lines suspended; No deaths or injuries were immediately reported .
At least 35 suspected militants killed as part of operations in the Swat Valley .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Suspected Taliban militants blew up a government-run school Monday in Pakistan's violence-plagued Swat Valley, bringing to 183 the number of schools destroyed since fighting began in the area six months ago, officials said.
Students gather outside a destroyed school on January 17 in Kundar in Pakistan's Swat Valley.
A day earlier, radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah threatened to kill more than four dozen government officials if they did not appear before him for opposing the Taliban.
Local newspapers on Monday printed the list of 50 government officials and tribal elders whom Fazlullah has threatened with death.
The boy's high school that was destroyed was located in Mingora, the valley's main city, said Sher Afzal Khan, an education officer for Swat. The attack occurred early Monday and no one was wounded.
Swat Valley, located in North West Frontier Province, was once Pakistan's biggest tourist destination. It is situated near the Afghanistan border and about 186 miles (300 km) from the capital city of Islamabad.
The valley boasted the country's only ski resort and was a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts until it was overrun by militants, led by Fazlullah. He has launched a violent and deadly campaign to enforce Taliban-style fundamentalist Islamic laws throughout the province.
The militants want to require veils for women and beards for men, and to ban music and television.
The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants.
As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban has carried out a series of deadly bombings, and has said the attacks will continue until the troops pull out.
Elsewhere in the North West Frontier Province, a blast killed five people and wounded 15 others Monday morning, officials said.
The bomb, planted on a bicycle, went off in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, said Mohammad Riaz of the province's police force. It killed shopkeepers and pedestrians, added the town's police chief, Abdul Rashid.
CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"What groups are causing the violence in the North West Frontier Province?",
"What did the blast target?",
"Where is Mingora?",
"Where was the boy's high school?",
"How many people have been killed in the wave of violence?",
"Who were killed?",
"How many were killed in the wave of violence?",
"How many schools has this fighting destroyed?",
"A boy's high school was targeted by what?",
"Which province were hundreds of people killed across?",
"How many schools have been destroyed in the past six months?",
"How many people have been killed in the violence across the North West Frontier Province?",
"Where is the school located?",
"Where was the blast?",
"what killed the people?",
"Where were the blasts located?",
"How many schools were destroyed?"
] |
[
[
"Taliban militants"
],
[
"government-run school"
],
[
"the valley's main city,"
],
[
"Mingora,"
],
[
"five"
],
[
"shopkeepers and pedestrians,"
],
[
"five"
],
[
"183"
],
[
"Taliban militants"
],
[
"North West Frontier"
],
[
"183"
],
[
"five"
],
[
"Swat Valley,"
],
[
"Kundar in Pakistan's Swat Valley."
],
[
"deadly bombings,"
],
[
"Swat Valley,"
],
[
"183"
]
] |
Blast targets boy's high school in Mingora, Swat Valley .
Monday attack marks 183rd school destroyed in past six months of fighting .
Hundreds of people killed in wave of violence across North West Frontier Province .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan announced a 10-day cease-fire on Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley, a volatile region in North West Frontier Province that is largely controlled by the Taliban.
The Taliban says it has agreed a 10-day cease-fire with Pakistani forces in the Swat Valley.
The Taliban are holding talks with the North West Frontier Province's government in the town of Timagera in the province's Lower Dir district, he said. Taliban leader Sufi Mohammad is heading negotiations for the militants.
There was no immediate confirmation of the cease-fire from the Pakistani government.
Swat Valley was once Pakistan's biggest tourist destination until it was overrun by militants led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah. The valley boasted the country's only ski resort and was once a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts.
It is believed to be the deepest advance by militants into Pakistan's settled areas -- meaning areas outside its tribal region along the border with Afghanistan.
The negotiations are the latest attempt by Pakistan's civilian government -- which took power last year -- to achieve peace through diplomacy in areas where Taliban and al Qaeda leaders are believed to have free rein.
Swat has been overrun by forces loyal to Maulana Fazlullah's banned hardline Islamic group, Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) which has allied itself with Taliban fighters. TNSM was once led by Sufi Mohammed, Fazlullah's father-in-law who is leading the latest negotiations. Sufi Mohammed was released from jail last year by Pakistani authorities after he agreed to cooperate with the government. He had been jailed in 2002 after recruiting thousands of fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Fazlullah took over TNSM during Sufi Mohammed's jail stint and vowed to continue his fight to impose fundamentalist Islamic law in the region.
Last May, Pakistan's government announced it reached a peace deal with militants in Swat Valley. Analysts as well as critics within the establishment have described those talks as a failure that gave the Taliban time to regroup and gain more ground.
The Taliban have recently targeted local politicians, including the head of the Awami National Party -- which represents the region -- who was forced to flee to Islamabad.
Pakistan is under enormous pressure to control the militants within its borders, blamed for launching attacks in neighboring Afghanistan where U.S. and NATO forces are fighting militants.
Pakistan's military operation in the region is unpopular among Pakistanis, but efforts to deal diplomatically with militants have not worked in the past.
Pakistan's previous military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, reached a cease-fire deal with militants in South Waziristan in 2006 which was widely blamed for giving al Qaeda and Taliban a stronger foothold in the region.
CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"Who is the spokesman?",
"What did the spokesman announce?",
"Is there conformation of the cease-fire?",
"How long will the cease-fire last?"
] |
[
[
"Muslim Khan"
],
[
"10-day cease-fire"
],
[
"no"
],
[
"10-day"
]
] |
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan announces a 10-day cease-fire in Swat Valley .
Taliban are holding talks with the North West Frontier Province's government .
No immediate confirmation of the cease-fire from the Pakistani government .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Taliban in Pakistan have issued a direct challenge to the legitimacy of the Pakistani government, by declaring the country's entire legal system "un-Islamic." Taliban representatives leave talks in Peshawar in February after reaching a deal on Sharia law in Swat. "Let the judges and the lawyers go to Islamic university," said Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman in Pakistan's Swat Valley. "(After) they learn Islamic rules, Islamic regulation, they can continue to work." In a telephone interview Tuesday with CNN, Khan demanded the imposition of Islamic sharia law all across the country. He also called for the creation of jaziya, an Islamic tax, to be levied on all non-Muslims in Pakistan. And Khan denounced any Pakistanis who disagreed with his interpretation of Islam, calling them "non-Muslims." The Taliban militant echoed statements made by Sufi Muhammed, an Islamist fundamentalist leader who helped broker a peace deal between the Pakistani government and the Taliban in Swat Valley. Last week, the deal led to the implementation of sharia law in Swat, an alpine region that was once one of Pakistan's most popular destinations for foreign tourists. Speaking before an audience of tens of thousands on Sunday, Sufi Muhammed declared democracy and Pakistan's judicial system "un-Islamic." Since reaching his peace deal with the government in Islamabad, Muhammed has been appointing qazis, or clerics, to serve as judges in Islamic courts in Swat. The rise of the Taliban in Swat has alarmed and frightened some members of local civil society there. "This is a time bomb for the country," said Aftab Alam, the head of the lawyers' association in Swat district. Speaking by telephone from the town of Mingora, Alam claimed Taliban militants have kidnapped, ransomed and even killed lawyers in recent months. "The only sane voice against the militants, the only sane voice against the criminals, is the lawyer community," he said. "And this is why we have been declared by them, I mean the militants, liable to death." This week, some secular Pakistani political parties publicly condemned the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam. But many other prominent officials appear unwilling or unable to challenge the creeping Taliban conversion of Pakistani society. For example, Ali Ahmed Kurd, one of the leaders of the lawyers protest movement which helped bring down the government of military ruler Pervez Musharraf, declined to comment on Tuesday when asked by CNN about Sufi Mohammed's comments. In recent months, videos have emerged showing what appear to be Taliban militants in Swat meting out vigilante justice. One video shows men beating a woman accused of adultery with a cane. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan initially claimed responsibility for the public caning in interviews with Pakistani TV stations. But in his interview with CNN on Tuesday he reversed his position, accusing "opponents of Islam" of making fake videos to hurt his movement's image. Meanwhile, in another Taliban-run region called Orakzai, details emerged of militants forcing a small community of Sikhs to pay a jaziya or "minority tax" of 10.5 million rupees, roughly 18,000 dollars earlier this month. During his interview, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that if his vision of an Islamic society is fulfilled in Pakistan, terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden will be welcome to travel and live openly here. "Sure, he's a Muslim, he can go anywhere," Khan said. Khan added that he would like to see sharia law implemented beyond Pakistan, even in America, a country he knows intimately. For four years, the Taliban spokesman lived in the United States, working as a painter near Boston.
|
[
"What has Government-Taliban deal lead to?",
"Where has Sharia law been implemented?",
"What has been condemned?",
"What were the words of fundamentalist leader about Pakistan's judicial system?",
"What did the taliban demand?",
"What do secular parties think?",
"What is the Taliban demanding?"
] |
[
[
"the implementation of sharia law in Swat,"
],
[
"Pakistan's Swat Valley."
],
[
"the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam."
],
[
"\"Let the judges and the lawyers go to Islamic university,\""
],
[
"the imposition of Islamic sharia law"
],
[
"publicly condemned the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam."
],
[
"the imposition of Islamic sharia law"
]
] |
Taliban in Pakistan demand imposition of Islamic sharia law across country .
Government-Taliban deal has led to implementation of sharia law in Swat Valley .
Fundamentalist leader declares Pakistan's judicial system "un-Islamic"
Secular Pakistani political parties have condemned strict interpretation of Islam .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday amid tensions between the two countries about U.S. military incursions into Pakistan's tribal areas. Adm. Michael Mullen will meet with Pakistan's new prime minister and its military chief. Adm. Michael Mullen will meet with Pakistan's newly elected prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Parvez Kayani, Mullen's office said. Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been tense since the U.S. military sent ground forces into Pakistan's tribal regions earlier this month without Islamabad's permission. The incident prompted the Pakistani government to summon the U.S. ambassador to voice its disapproval, as well as deliver a "demarche" (a diplomatic petition or protest) through its ambassador in Washington. Last week, Kayani announced no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan in light of the "reckless" U.S. military ground operation. Kayani said Pakistan's "territorial integrity ... will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside Pakistan." His announcement came amid media reports that several months ago, President Bush authorized U.S. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without first seeking Islamabad's permission. Meanwhile, a suicide attack late Tuesday evening in the restive area of Swat killed three soldiers and wounded six others, the Pakistani military told CNN. Pakistan army spokesman Major Murad Khan said the driver of the suicide car bomb tried to ram the gate of a military checkpoint at a school in the Swat District. Troops shot from the check-post before the attacker reached his target, Khan said. The car exploded, and militants shot back as they ran away. The incident happened at a time when Muslims break their fasts in the month of Ramadhan. Swat militants loyal to banned religious leader Maulana Fazlullah have claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the military. The suicide attacker in the car was killed. A few others were also believed to have been killed or injured, but Khan said there were no confirmed numbers because it was dark and the militants removed the bodies of their dead and wounded. The explosion occurred at the Tutano Bandai school of Tehsil Kabal in Swat District in the North West Frontier Province. A military spokesman offer no additional details. CNN's Jamie McIntyre and Zein Basravi contributed to this report.
|
[
"who is meeting with Pakistan's new prime minister?",
"In which region Relations between U.S. and Pakistan tense?",
"how many were wounded?",
"How many soldiers were killed in Suicide?",
"how many soldiers were killed?"
] |
[
[
"Adm. Michael Mullen"
],
[
"tribal areas."
],
[
"six"
],
[
"three"
],
[
"three"
]
] |
Adm. Michael Mullen to meet with Pakistan's new prime minister and military chief .
Relations between U.S. and Pakistan tense since U.S. raid in Pakistani tribal region .
Suicide attack kills 3 soldiers, wounds 6 others in Pakistan region of Swat .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The new leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed revenge on Pakistan, the United States and NATO forces for drone attacks along the Afghan border, two local journalists who attended a meeting with him told CNN. File picture taken on November 26, 2008 of Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud Leader Hakimullah Mehsud met reporters Sunday in South Waziristan, according to the journalists, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the news media. Taliban commanders Wali-Ur Rehman and Qari Hussein, and spokesman Aazam Tariq, were at the meeting as well, the journalists said. Mehsud also vowed to avenge the recent death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, they said. Officials think he was killed by a drone attack in August. The leader said the Taliban would not disarm as a condition for talks, and added that the militants' withdrawal from the Swat Valley was a strategic move and not a retreat or a defeat, the journalists said. South Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border. The Pakistani military is fighting Taliban militants in the country's north, and missile attacks from suspected U.S. drones have targeted militant leaders. The United States is the only country in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely. U.S. officials do not comment on suspected drone strikes, which have caused tension between Pakistan and the United States.
|
[
"where is this journalist",
"What ability does U.S. have?",
"When did Hakimullah Mehsud meet reporters?",
"Whose death did Mehsud vow to avenge?",
"What did Mehsud do?",
"What is the only country known to have ability to launch missiles from drones?"
] |
[
[
"South Waziristan,"
],
[
"launch missiles from drones,"
],
[
"Sunday"
],
[
"Taliban leader Baitullah"
],
[
"vowed to avenge the recent death of Taliban leader Baitullah"
],
[
"United States"
]
] |
Hakimullah Mehsud met reporters Sunday in South Waziristan .
Mehsud also vowed to avenge recent death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud .
U.S. the only country known to have ability to launch missiles from drones .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- There have been conflicting accounts of how former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died Thursday. Here is a timeline of the accounts reported by CNN. Late Thursday, Pakistan time: • Pakistani police say that a suicide bomber killed 14 people at a rally in Rawalpindi organized by Bhutto supporters. A Bhutto spokesman says the opposition leader was rushed away from the scene and was safe. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrives at a campaign rally Thursday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. • Pakistan's Geo Television Network, quoting Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, reports the ex-premier was critically wounded in the bombing. • Former Pakistani government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan says Bhutto was hurt leaving the rally, but there is no indication whether she was shot or hurt in the bombing. Reports from police and the Bhutto camp conflict over whether she was injured. • Geo TV quotes Zardari saying his wife suffered a bullet wound to the neck after the suicide bombing. • Khan and Pakistan's primary television networks report Bhutto is dead. Television reports indicate she died of bullet wounds suffered after the suicide bombing. • Khan says it appears Bhutto was shot, but he adds it's unclear whether bullets or shrapnel caused her wounds. • Doctors and a spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party confirm the ex-premier's death, but it remains unclear how she was killed. • Police tell CNN that a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle detonated himself near Bhutto's motorcade. She was rushed to nearby Rawalpindi General Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Khan says it's unclear if a bullet or shrapnel dealt the fatal wounds. Friday morning, Pakistan time: • The Pakistani Interior Ministry tells the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan that Bhutto died of a gunshot wound to the neck. The suicide bomber fired shots before blowing himself up, the ministry tells the news agency. A photographer for Getty Images confirms hearing three shots before the blast. • CNN quotes a witness who describes Bhutto's killer as a "thin young man jumping toward the vehicle and opening fire." Friday evening, Pakistan time: • The Interior Ministry tells the Associated Press of Pakistan that flying shrapnel from a suicide bomb killed Bhutto. The bomber also shot at her with a pistol, the ministry tells the state-run news agency, but Bhutto suffered no injuries from bullets. • Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Javed Iqbal Cheema, citing a medical report, says Bhutto was hit on the right side of her skull with shrapnel. • Another Associated Press of Pakistan report quotes Dr. Mussadiq Khan saying that Bhutto showed "no signs of life" on her arrival at Rawalpindi General Hospital and that she was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later. • Cheema says Bhutto died after fracturing her skull on a sunroof lever in her vehicle. Contrary to previous reports, she did not die from bullet or shrapnel wounds and nothing entered her head, the Interior Ministry spokesman said. • Cheema says that Bhutto "fell down or perhaps ducked" when gunshots rang out. She apparently hit her head on a lever, Cheema said, adding that it was stained with blood. • Khan, the doctor who treated Bhutto before she was declared dead, says the former prime minister had a "big wound" on the side of her head "that usually occurs when something big, with a lot of speed, hits that area." E-mail to a friend
|
[
"What reports say Friday?",
"who died from a gunshot wound to the neck?",
"Who says Bhutto died after hitting his head?",
"What killed Bhutto?",
"What did reports later on Friday say Bhutto died from?",
"who killed BHutto?"
] |
[
[
"Bhutto was hit on the right side of her skull with shrapnel."
],
[
"Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto"
],
[
"CNN."
],
[
"\"big wound\" on the side of her head"
],
[
"flying shrapnel"
],
[
"\"thin young man jumping toward the vehicle and opening fire.\""
]
] |
Pakistani government now says Bhutto died after hitting head on sunroof lever .
Reports early Friday said Bhutto died from a gunshot wound to the neck .
Reports later Friday said flying shrapnel from a suicide bomb killed Bhutto .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Three suspects were arrested after an explosives-packed van reduced a police building to rubble Wednesday in eastern Pakistan, killing 27. The scene of an apparent suicide car bomb attack on a police building in Lahore on May 27. The morning attack in Lahore -- Pakistan's second-largest city -- also wounded more than 250 people, most of them police officers and staffers, authorities said. Fourteen of the dead included police officers. Three others were identified as bodies of "terrorists," said City Commissioner Khusro Pervez. Immediately after the blast, police arrested two of the suspects, said City Commissioner Khusro Pervez. Local television showed the men being led away by officers. Sir Ganga Ram hospital, which was damaged by the explosion, was treating 128 victims. Authorities expected the death toll to rise as rescue workers picked through twisted metal and other debris from the building, looking for more bodies. Watch more on the attack » The attack comes amid a Pakistani military offensive to rout militants from their haven in the northwestern part of the country. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistan Taliban, had threatened to target major Pakistani cities if the operations did not cease. "The enemies of Pakistan are trying their very best to use every venue to destabilize the country," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters Wednesday. The blast occurred on Mall Road near the city police headquarters and the high court. It is one of Lahore's busiest areas. A passenger van, laden with explosives, broke through a security barrier and was headed toward the police building when guards opened fire to stop it, said Lahore's district coordination officer, Sajjad Ahmed Bhutta. Watch rescue workers respond to the scene » The two sides exchanged gunfire, with the attackers hurling grenades, said Faisal Gulzar, deputy police superintendent. The van exploded before it could reach the building. It was carrying an estimated 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives, Bhutta said. The impact was immense. The targeted building -- Building 15 -- collapsed. It housed the city's rapid response team, which is dispatched during emergencies. At least 50 people were thought to have been inside the two-story building at the time, said police spokesman Ray Nazar Hayat. The police headquarters that sits adjacent to the building was also damaged. Motorcycles from a nearby dealership were strewed about, charred from the heat. The roof of four operating rooms caved at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, with 40 medical staff members suffering minor wounds. Police waved away onlookers in vain. Many of them jumped over the collapsed walls of Building 15 to look for survivors. Semi-conscious officers in blood-stained uniforms were pulled from under wooden planks. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, with suspicion falling on the beleaguered Islamic militants in the northwest who had vowed revenge. "We're doing our best," Malik, the interior minister, said of the offensive in the northwest. "Please do not forget we're in a state of insurgency. It's a fight for our survival. We had two choices: We surrender our country or we save it for our next generation." Lahore is Pakistan's cultural capital, far removed from the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that is embraced in the north of the country, which borders Afghanistan. Still, it has sporadically been swept into widening Islamist violence that grips the country. In March gunmen hurled grenades and opened fire on officers at a police training center, killing at least seven cadets. The same month gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying members of the Sri Lankan national cricket team on their way to a stadium for a match. The attack wounded at least eight members of the team and killed a driver and six Pakistani police officers. "Everywhere in the city is insecurity," Haris Nadeem, a student in Lahore, said Wednesday. "You never know when a blast is going to occur or where. A shopping center? A government office?" Still, said Saleem Khan,
|
[
"How many attackers among the dead, city official says?",
"How many killed, more than 250 wounded, according to officials ?",
"Where was the Vehicle packed with explosives ?",
"How many people were killed?",
"How many were wounded, according to officials?",
"Who was among the dead?",
"How many were killed?"
] |
[
[
"Three"
],
[
"killing 27."
],
[
"eastern Pakistan,"
],
[
"27."
],
[
"more than 250 people,"
],
[
"police officers."
],
[
"killing 27."
]
] |
NEW: Three attackers among the dead, city official says .
At least 27 killed, more than 250 wounded, according to officials .
Attack reduces police building in Lahore to rubble .
Vehicle packed with explosives detonated by building with at least 50 people inside .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Tuba Sahaab looks nothing like a warrior. She is a slight girl of 11, living in a simple home in a suburb of Islamabad. But in Tuba's case, looks are deceiving.
"I want to give peace to my nation," Tuba Sahaab says, "I will fight for it."
With her pen, Tuba is taking on the swords of the Taliban. She crafts poems telling of the pain and suffering of children just like her; girls banned from school, their books burned, as the hard-core Islamic militants spread their reign of terror across parts of Pakistan.
A stanza of one of her poems reads: "Tiny drops of tears, their faces like angels, Washed with blood, they sleep forever with anger."
Tuba is not afraid to express her views. Of the Taliban forcing young girls out of the classroom, she says: "This is very shocking to hear that girls can't go to school, they are taking us back to the Stone Age."
Less than two hours from Tuba's home, the Taliban have control. The one-time holiday destination of the Swat Valley is now a no-go zone. Curfews are in place at all times. Militants kill with impunity.
Human rights activists and people on the ground in Swat Valley speak of a place called "slaughter square" where the Taliban leave the bodies of their victims with notes saying "do not remove for 24 hours." No one touches the corpses out of fear of reprisals. Watch Tuba recite her poetry »
Tuba Sahaab refuses to be silent. As young as she is, she is wise and brave beyond her years. The young school girl is reaching a bigger audience, regularly appearing in the media.
On the day we spend with her, Tuba and her mother appear on a talk radio program. Back home, she tells me how she would give her life for her country.
"I want to give peace to my nation," she says, "I will fight for it."
And Tuba has an inspiration: U.S. President Barack Obama.
She prayed for his elections, she says. She sees in him the hope of peace in her own country. Tuba Sahaab has a dream to meet her hero. She can hardly contain her excitement.
"I want to go the White Palace and show him my poems, show him what is happening and ask him to come to Pakistan and control it because he is a super power."
Meeting and listening to Tuba Sahaab, it is easy to forget she is still a young girl.
In her playground at school, Tuba dances and laughs with her friends. She loves writing her short stories (she has already published one book) and shows me a cartoon character she has created called "Tomato Man."
Tuba's parents are proud of their daughter. They say they are not afraid even as she speaks out so publicly against the Taliban.
Tuba is their only child but as her mother tells me, she is "worth more than seven sons and seven daughters."
And Tuba has the dreams of any young child. She tells me she wants to be an astronaut and then one day lead her country.
"I will do anything, if my life goes I don't worry, I just want to do something." "I think you will get the chance," I say.
"Yes, if someone gives me the chance you will see what I can do."
Of that, I have no doubt.
|
[
"What does Sahaab craft?",
"Who is Tuba Sahaab?",
"What does Tuba craft?",
"What does she do?",
"What is Tuba Sahaab's age?",
"Where have girls been banned from?",
"What does Sahaab refuse to do?",
"How old is Tuba Sahaab?",
"How old is Sahaab?",
"What have girls been banned from?",
"Who has been banned fro school?"
] |
[
[
"poems"
],
[
"She is a slight girl of 11,"
],
[
"poems"
],
[
"crafts poems telling of the pain and suffering of children just like her;"
],
[
"11,"
],
[
"school,"
],
[
"be silent."
],
[
"11,"
],
[
"11,"
],
[
"school,"
],
[
"girls"
]
] |
With her pen, 11-year-old Pakistani Tuba Sahaab takes on the swords of the Taliban .
She crafts poems on children in Pakistan oppressed by hard-core Islamic militants .
Girls have been banned from school, their books burned, as militants spread terror .
Refusing to be silent, despite the danger, she regularly speaks out in the media .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden assured Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday that the incoming Obama administration will continue to support Pakistan's efforts to strengthen democracy and combat terrorism, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vice President-elect Joe Biden meets Pakistani officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday. Biden told Zardari that the new U.S. administration would also help Pakistan "meet its socio-economic requirements and capacity building," the ministry said in a written statement. The vice president-elect "assured the Pakistani leadership" of the United States' "continued assistance to Pakistan," the statement said. No additional details were provided. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, accompanied Biden on the trip. Biden "described Pakistan as an incredibly valued U.S. ally and said that the U.S. recognized Pakistan's important contribution and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism," the ministry said. Zardari, who took office in September, said "Pakistan needed the support and understanding of the international community in this effort," according to the statement. Pakistan's government is waging a bloody battle against Taliban and al Qaeda militants in its tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan. The United States has provided Pakistan with billions of dollars in aid for those counterterrorism activities. Last year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill authorizing $7.5 billion in non-military aid over the next five years. The measure is sponsored by committee chairman Biden and the ranking Republican on the panel, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. It would provide money for developments such as schools, roads and medical clinics, and it conditions security aid on State Department certification that Pakistan is making efforts against the Taliban and al Qaeda. The bill has not come before the full Senate. Biden also said he was hopeful that India and Pakistan could resolve their conflicts, according the ministry. "The U.S. vice president-elect expressed the hope that both Pakistan and India will be able to overcome the current tensions and would resolve their differences peacefully," the ministry's statement said. November's attacks in Mumbai, India, fueled tensions between Pakistan and India, longtime rivals that have fought three wars since independence and conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998. India has said Islamic militants trained in Pakistan were behind the three-day siege of India's financial capital. Pakistani officials have promised to cooperate with the investigation but have insisted that India show it the evidence supporting its case. On Wednesday, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the sole surviving suspect in the Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160 people, is a Pakistani national, state-run media reported.
|
[
"What is Lindsay Graham's job?",
"did the bill pass?",
"what happeend in islmaabad?"
] |
[
[
"Sen."
],
[
"passed a"
],
[
"Vice President-elect Joe Biden meets Pakistani officials in Islamabad,"
]
] |
NEW: Vice President-elect Joe Biden hopes Pakistan, India overcome tensions .
Biden and Sen. Lindsay Graham meet in Islamabad .
Biden assures Pakistani president of support against terrorism .
Pakistan is one of main focus points in war to defeat the Taliban .
|
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- U.S. and Pakistani troops exchanged fire Thursday along the Pakistani-Afghan border minutes after the Pakistani military fired shots at two American helicopters that were providing cover for the troops, a U.S. military spokesman said. Pakistan says it shot at two U.S. OH-58D helicopters like this one pictured in a U.S. Army photo. The U.S. Army OH-58D Kiowas, part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, were patrolling the Pakistani-Afghan border when the Pakistani military fired on them, NATO and U.S. officials said. The Pakistani military said the fire was warning shots, and President Asif Ali Zardari said it was flares. Both Zardari and the Pakistani military said the helicopters had crossed into Pakistani territory -- a charge U.S. officials denied. Rear Adm. Greg Smith of U.S. Central Command said the helicopters were providing cover for a small U.S. military unit accompanying an Afghan border police unit on a routine patrol. After the shots were fired at the helicopters, Smith told CNN, the U.S. troops fired "suppressing rounds" into a nearby hill to get the Pakistanis to stop. That prompted the Pakistani troops to stop firing at the helicopters and fire instead in the direction of the troops, he said. The U.S. troops then returned fire, Smith said. No injuries were reported in the five-minute incident. Smith and other U.S. officials said the helicopter crews did not fire back. But the Pakistanis disagreed, asserting in a written statement that the helicopters "returned fire" after the initial shots were fired. "The helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistan territory" at the time that "security forces fired anticipatory warning shots," the Pakistani statement said. After the shots were fired, "the helicopters returned fire and flew back." The Pakistani statement did not mention exchanging fire with ground troops and did not identify the shots as flares, as Zardari did in New York in an appearance with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "They are flares," he said in response to a question asking why the Pakistani military was firing on NATO helicopters. "Just to make sure that they know they crossed the border line." Asked if such warnings will continue, he replied, "Sometimes the border is so mixed that they don't realize that they crossed the border." Rice, off camera, agreed that "the border is very unclear" and "inhospitable." Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman reiterated the United States' stance that the two helicopters were over Afghan territory. "The Pakistanis need to provide the U.S. a reason to why this took place," he said. The ISAF issued a news release saying that "ISAF helicopters received small-arms fire from a Pakistan military checkpoint along the border near Tanai district, Khowst." "At no time did ISAF helicopters cross into Pakistani airspace." The ISAF did not mention ground troops or say whether the helicopters returned fire. Both the ISAF and Pakistani military said they are working to resolve the issue. Last week, Zardari said Pakistan would not allow foreign nations to violate its sovereignty to pursue terrorists. "We will not tolerate the violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity by any power in the name of combating terrorism," he said in his first speech to Parliament as president. His remark followed a similar declaration from Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Parvez Kayani, who said this month that Pakistan's territorial integrity "will be defended at all cost, and no external force is allowed to conduct operations." A senior defense official in the Pentagon said the Pentagon is trying to determine the details of Thursday's incident. "What we don't know if this was just a case of trigger-happy members of the Frontier Corps," the official said, "or whether in fact the Pakistani military does have orders to fire on our helicopters." "We are confident our helicopters were on the Afghan side of the border, and we have no report they fired back," the official added. Top U.S. commanders will be talking
|
[
"Did anyone die?",
"What was fired on by Pakistanis?",
"Why did U.S. return fire?",
"Who warned troops to stay out?",
"What did the Pakistani president say they fired?",
"Who fired at American copters?",
"What are Pakistani and U.S. officials working on?",
"What president warned foreign forces to stay out?",
"Who claimed the military fired flares?"
] |
[
[
"no"
],
[
"shots"
],
[
"Pakistani military fired shots at two American helicopters"
],
[
"Pakistani military"
],
[
"shots at two American helicopters"
],
[
"Pakistani military"
],
[
"resolve the issue."
],
[
"Asif Ali Zardari"
],
[
"President Asif Ali Zardari"
]
] |
NEW: U.S. says it returned fire after Pakistanis fired shots at American copters .
Pakistani president says military fired only flares .
Attack comes after president, general warned foreign troops to stay out .
Pakistani, U.S. officials say they are working to resolve the issue .
|
ISLAMABAD, Paksitan (CNN) -- At least 41 people were killed and dozens wounded in a blast Monday at a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, authorities said. A girl places flowers at a shrine to army soldiers killed by militants who stormed Pakistan's army HQ. About 45 people were injured in the explosion in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley, said Syed Altaf Hussein, a senior government official in the area. The explosion targeted a military vehicle, officials said. The blast is the latest in a string of attacks in the country. On Saturday, militants attacked the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, killing 11 military personnel and three civilians, according to the Pakistani military's press office. Nine militants died in the attack. A total of 39 hostages were freed Sunday morning after being held by five militants at the army headquarters. In a news conference Monday, the top spokesman for the Pakistani military said Saturday's attack was planned by the Taliban based in South Waziristan. Gen. Athar Abbas said intelligence agents intercepted a phone call in which Pakistani Taliban commander Wali-ur Rehman was informed about the start of the attack. Rehman responded by calling for a prayer for the operation to succeed, Abbas said. Abbas said the leader of the operation, who was captured alive, is from Pakistan's Punjab province. Four other militants were from Punjab as well. Five others were from South Waziristan. During the standoff, two of the militants held 22 hostages in a small room, Abbas said. One of the militants wore a suicide vest connected to a mine and a bomb. He sat in the middle of the 22 hostages. Abbas said this room was the focus of the operation and security forces were successful in storming the room and killing the militant with the suicide vest before he could detonate his bombs. Military officials said they have tightened security around army headquarters. The attacks will not deter Pakistan from launching an offensive in South Waziristan, the Interior Ministry said. South Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border. Intelligence analysts consider it a haven for Islamic militants who have launched attacks in Pakistan and targeted U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan. A date for the offensive in the area has not been announced. The Shangla district east of Mingora is one of the areas where the military conducted search-and-destroy operations earlier this year. Troops targeted terrorist hideouts and reported the arrest of one militant leader and the death of another. Mingora is the largest city in the Swat Valley, where the Pakistani military is battling Taliban militants for control. CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.
|
[
"In what district is the volatile Swat Valley?",
"Where is the Shangla district located?",
"How many were killed in the blast?",
"Where was the blast?",
"Where explosion took the place?",
"In total, how many victims were in nortwestern Pakistan?"
] |
[
[
"Shangla"
],
[
"Swat Valley,"
],
[
"41"
],
[
"a security forces checkpoint in northwest Pakistan,"
],
[
"in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley,"
],
[
"At least 41 people"
]
] |
41 killed in blast at security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan .
Explosion occurs in the Shangla district in the volatile Swat Valley .
Intercepted phone call tipped officials to Saturday's attack, general says .
Swat Valley has been scene of clashes with Taliban militants .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- The governments of Armenia and Turkey will sign a peace agreement in Zurich on Saturday that would normalize relations after nearly a century of animosity between the neighboring nations, the Swiss government said Friday. The Swiss-mediated peace deal would also open the border between the countries, which has been shut since 1993. The signing ceremony comes more than a month after Armenia and Turkey announced they had agreed to start six weeks of "internal political consultations" on two protocols aimed at establishing diplomatic and bilateral relations. The Swiss-mediated peace deal would also open the border between the countries, which has been shut since 1993. The border was closed after Turkey objected to Armenia's war with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabagh. Neither country has an embassy in the other's capital. Turkish-Armenian relations have often been overshadowed by the dispute over the massacre of ethnic Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, more than 90 years ago. Armenians accuse Ottoman Turks of committing genocide, killing more then a million Armenians starting in 1915. Modern-day Turkey vehemently rejects the allegations. The proposed protocols for normalizing relations call for creating a committee of international experts to research archives and "restore mutual confidence between the two nations." There is no mention of the disputed territory of Karabagh, which Armenian troops have controlled since the 1993 Armenian-Azerbaijan war. But the success of the protocols is still uncertain, as the parliaments of both countries still must ratify the agreement. A senior U.S. State Department official -- authorized to brief reporters without attribution because of diplomatic sensitivities -- said the situation remains "difficult." "There's opposition both in Turkey and in Armenia," the senior official said Thursday, "but both governments realize ultimately it's in their interest to have normalized relations and an open border after years of tension and the economic isolation, particularly of Armenia." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend the signing, along with dignitaries from several other countries, including the European Union, according to the Swiss government.
|
[
"When is the deal expected to be enacted?",
"What would the Swiss-mediated deal normalize?",
"When does the animosity date back to?",
"who mediated the deal?",
"What led to this animosity?",
"Who are the two countries involved?",
"Where is the border located?",
"The border has been closed since when?",
"When was the border closed?",
"What country is mediating the deal?",
"When does the animosity date back to?",
"Who would the deal normalize relations between?",
"The animosity dates back to what Empire?",
"Since when has the border been closed?",
"What year has the border been closed since?",
"What would normalize relations?"
] |
[
[
"on Saturday"
],
[
"relations"
],
[
"1915."
],
[
"the Swiss government"
],
[
"Armenia's war with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabagh."
],
[
"Armenia and Turkey"
],
[
"between the countries,"
],
[
"1993."
],
[
"1993."
],
[
"Swiss-mediated peace"
],
[
"nearly a century"
],
[
"Armenia and Turkey"
],
[
"Ottoman"
],
[
"1993."
],
[
"1993."
],
[
"a peace agreement"
]
] |
Swiss-mediated deal would normalize relations between rival nations .
Accord also open the border, which has been closed since 1993 .
Animosity dates back to Ottoman Empire and massacre of ethnic Armenians .
Both countries still must ratify the protocols, and difficulties remain .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Iason Athanasiadis' ordeal began at the airport, shortly after he checked in for his flight to leave Tehran. Iason Athanasiadis said he endured hours of questioning over several weeks in sound-proofed rooms by interrogators he could not see. "I was heading to the gate," the Greek-British journalist said. "This guy materialized on my right. He said 'are you Iason Fowden?' [Athanasiadis' passport name]. I said 'yeah that's me.' He said 'please step to the side ... you're not going to be flying tonight.'" It was an ominous introduction to Iran's security apparatus. Athanasiadis spent the next 21 harrowing days in Iranian prisons, accused of espionage, subjected to interrogations and, on several occasions, beatings. The journalist, a freelance writer and gifted photographer who had been on assignment for the Washington Times newspaper at the time of his arrest, spoke to CNN by phone from his parents' home in Athens Thursday, several days after an extraordinary international lobbying effort helped secure his release. Athanasiadis has extensive experience reporting in Iran. He also did graduate level academic work in Iran in 2004, as part of a program sponsored in part by Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The young freelance reporter realized he was in serious danger at the airport in Tehran on June 19, when a half dozen plain-clothed security officers arrived and began leading him out of the building. The reporter resisted, and began yelling to crowds of nearby passengers that he was a journalist. "I got kind of pulled kicking and screaming and getting punched behind an escalator," Athanasiadis recounted. While being dragged outside to an unmarked car, the journalist said he managed to get the attention of a Western-looking woman waiting in the airport. To this day, Athanasiadis says he does not know the woman's name. But he believes she was instrumental in helping spread the word of his detention. "She was the best thing that happened to me that day," Athanasiadis said. "I just said 'I'm a Greek reporter for the Washington Times. Please contact the Greek Embassy.' And she ran after me with a note pad and pen and asked me to spell my name." International human rights organizations estimate thousands of Iranians have gone missing, since the Iranian government launched its crackdown on opposition activists and journalists following the disputed June 12 presidential elections. Eyewitnesses in Tehran say many families are still struggling to determine the whereabouts and official status of their detained relatives. But in Athanasiadis' case, the Greek Foreign Ministry announced it was working for the journalist's release just days after his arrest. That night, Athanasiadis says security officers forced him to ride into Tehran from the airport, with his head buried in his lap. Later, when he tried to make a phone call from a police station in Tehran, Athanasiadis said security forces tackled him, threw him to the ground, beat him with a club and pepper-sprayed him. Eventually, they transferred him to Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where he witnessed new Iranian prisoners being delivered by the busload to the prison gates. That is where the interrogation began. Dressed in a prison-issue uniform, Athanasiadis endured hours of questioning over the next several weeks in sound-proofed rooms where he was never allowed to see his interrogator. "I just sat in one of these school desk situations, a chair with a desk extension," he explained. "I was told to face the wall ... and they sat behind me and they crooned into my ear." On the second day of his incarceration, a prosecuting judge told Athanasiadis, a fluent Farsi speaker, that he was facing charges of espionage. Since incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the June 12 election, opposition candidates and their supporters have accused the Iranian government of falsifying election results. In response, the Iranian government has accused Western governments, particularly Britain, of organizing large protests in the streets of Tehran and other cities. "
|
[
"How many days was Athanasiadis in prison?",
"How many days did the journalist spend in jail?",
"For how many days was Iason Athanasiadis in prison?",
"Who had the journalist been on assignment for?",
"Who was arrested in the Tehran airport?",
"At what location was Iason Athanasiadis arrested?",
"What is Iason Athanasiadis occupation?"
] |
[
[
"21"
],
[
"21 harrowing"
],
[
"21 harrowing"
],
[
"Washington Times"
],
[
"Iason Athanasiadis"
],
[
"the airport in Tehran"
],
[
"journalist"
]
] |
Iason Athanasiadis arrested at Tehran airport on June 19 .
Journalist had been on assignment for the Washington Times .
Spent the next 21 harrowing days in Iranian prisons accused of espionage .
Released after intense diplomatic effort by Greek government .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- More than 80 years after his family was ordered from the country, the grandson of one of the last Ottoman sultans was buried Saturday as hundreds of admirers looked on. Relatives carry the coffin of Osman on Saturday after his funeral ceremony in Istanbul. Ertugrul Osman, grandson of Sultan Abdulhamid II and heir to the Ottoman throne, died this week in Istanbul of kidney failure at the age of 97, after having lived most of his life in exile in a humble third-floor walk-up apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Osman's funeral in the garden of the mammoth Sultanahmet Mosque was attended by Turkish state ministers, artists and media glitterati. They lined up to pay their respects to Osman's widow, Zeynep Osman, herself a descendant of the royal family of Afghanistan. One woman pressed her forehead to Mrs. Osman's hand in a traditional Turkish show of respect, saying "I'm just an ordinary person, but I would like to kiss your hand." "His death marks the passing of an era," wrote Jason Goodwin, author of "Lords of the Horizons," which tells the history of the Ottoman Empire, in an e-mail to CNN. "Osman himself was born into a family that still ruled an empire stretching from the Balkans to the Indian Ocean. He was named after the founder of his dynasty, who lived seven centuries ago." During annual campaigns at the peak of its power, the Ottoman Sultan's army of Janissaries struck fear into the hearts of European monarchs. For 400 years, the Ottomans declared themselves the "caliphs" -- spiritual leaders -- of the Muslim world. But the empire declined during the 19th century, eventually suffering a humiliating defeat and partition at the hands of Allied armies during World War I. In 1922, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, sent the last Ottoman sultan packing aboard a British warship. Two years later, Ataturk banned the caliphate, declaring Turkey a secular state. Ertugrul Osman, who had played as a boy in the imperial palaces of Istanbul, was sent with the rest of his family into exile. He lived for decades in Europe, then moved after World War II to the United States. Friends say he ran a successful mining business in Chile. They described Osman as a polyglot Renaissance man with a passion for politics and opera and a taste for evening cocktails. Over the years, Osman told reporters he had no interest in assuming the Ottoman throne. In the early 1990s, after more than half a century outside the country, Osman returned to Turkey at the invitation of a Turkish prime minister. Friends say that, prior to getting a Turkish passport in 2004, he traveled using documents identifying him as an Ottoman citizen. The hundreds of mourners at Saturday's funeral stunned other surviving members of the Ottoman royal family. One man rushed Bulent Osman, a tall, elderly French-born nephew of the deceased, kissing his hand and crying in Turkish? "My prince, we are guilty for how we treated you!" "I am not a prince," Osman later explained to a reporter in French-accented English. "I am quite surprised. It is the first time I have seen such an outpouring." The royal family seems to be especially revered by devout muslim Turks, who see the sultan's descendants as a link to the abolished Islamic caliphate. "They are our grandfathers," said a young man named Fatih, who wore the long beard, turban and robes of a fundamentalist Islamic sect. "They glorified our religion and brought it to the highest level." The funeral was attended by an eclectic mix of mourners -- stylishly dressed members of the royal family who grew up in Europe alongside fervent Islamists, some of whom pushed through the crowd ordering women to move to the back to pray. Hundreds of police officers blocked traffic as Osman was buried in a garden filled with the gravestones of Ottoman pashas and viziers, beside the ornate tombs of his grandfather Sultan Abdulhamid II and
|
[
"Who attended Osman's funeral?",
"What is the name of grandson?",
"one of the last what?",
"When was the grandson buried?",
"who was buried?",
"Who died of kidney failure at age 97?",
"who attended the funeral"
] |
[
[
"Turkish state ministers, artists and media glitterati."
],
[
"Ertugrul Osman,"
],
[
"Ottoman sultans"
],
[
"Saturday"
],
[
"of one of the last Ottoman sultans"
],
[
"Ertugrul Osman,"
],
[
"Turkish state ministers, artists and media glitterati."
]
] |
Grandson of one of the last Ottoman sultans was buried Saturday .
Ertugrul Osman died this week in Istanbul of kidney failure at the age of 97 .
Osman's funeral attended by Turkish state ministers, artists, media glitterati .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Police used pepper gas and water cannons to disperse crowds of demonstrators who took to the streets Tuesday to protest a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
A protester fires a catapult at police during demonstrations in Istanbul.
Some protesters broke shop windows in and around Taksim Square before scurrying for cover as police armored cars hosed them with water.
Taksim Square, in downtown Istanbul, is blocks from the site of the IMF meeting.
Delegates are in the city to discuss ways to battle poverty and to strategize ways to prevent a repeat of last year's global economic crisis.
Though Turkey is one of the world's 20 wealthiest economies, a huge income gap exists. The latest government statistics show that nearly one in five Turks lives below the poverty line, despite the country's economy enjoying steady growth for much of the past decade. Watch CNN reporter overwhelmed by tear gas »
Over the past year, the economic crisis has pummeled Turkey's export-driven industries, pushing unemployment to record highs. See images of protests »
The downturn has hit everyone from Istanbul's garbage pickers, who say there is less useful trash to scavenge, to Istanbul's cabbies, who complain that fewer customers can afford rides. iReport: Send your photos, videos
On Thursday, a protester threw a shoe at the IMF director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the end of a question-and-answer session Thursday at a university in Istanbul. The shoe missed.
Other demonstrators at Bilgi University unfurled a banner and chanted, "Go away, IMF. You're stealing money."
|
[
"What was being protested?",
"Where did the protesters break windows?",
"Where are these anti-IMF protestors?",
"What are the delegates in the city to discuss?",
"Where are riotous acts taking place?",
"What are the IMF delegates doing in town to discuss?"
] |
[
[
"a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank."
],
[
"in and around Taksim Square"
],
[
"ISTANBUL, Turkey"
],
[
"ways to battle poverty"
],
[
"Istanbul."
],
[
"ways to battle poverty and to strategize ways to prevent a repeat of last year's global economic crisis."
]
] |
Police use water cannons to disperse anti-IMF protesters in Istanbul .
Some protesters broke shop windows in and around Taksim Square .
IMF delegates are in the city to discus ways to battle poverty .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Regular programming has just been interrupted by a news conference. A slender black man in a suit steps up to a podium, flanked by American flags and a White House logo.
Michael Lamar was laid off in January but has a new job as a Barack Obama look-alike.
"I wish I could announce such an economic package," he says, "but there is a bank in Turkey that did it. It is Garanti. I wish we had Garanti in America."
Don't be fooled. This is a commercial on Turkish TV. The actor is a 44-year-old Barack Obama look-alike from Whitehall, Pennsylvania, named Michael Lamar. And he is shilling for a Turkish bank.
In the month before the real Barack Obama is to visit Turkey, this ad campaign went out all across the country on television and on billboards, using the iconic, Warholian image of the American president to sell low-interest loans.
The "Mad Men" behind the concept say their Obama look-alike was the perfect guy to sell what they described as Garanti Bank's own economic stimulus package.
"We probably wouldn't be doing this commercial if it was the previous president," said Can Celikbilek, a copy writer at the advertising company, Alametifarika. "But in the case of Obama, he does represent hope, not only for the States but for the whole world."
For Obama look-alike actor Lamar, there was some irony about getting flown to Turkey to star in a commercial for a bank. He is a recent casualty of the global economic crisis.
"I was laid off in January of this year from JP Morgan Chase Bank in the U.S.," Lamar said, in a telephone interview from Pennsylvania. "After 18 years in the company, I was just laid off. One of the cutbacks. I'm currently unemployed right now."
Or, was unemployed.
Lamar's striking resemblance to the American president has suddenly offered the former software analyst a possible new career for supporting his wife and child.
"I'm available full-time now," Lamar said. "I'm going to see where this leads me."
Lamar is now being represented by a casting agency in Los Angeles that specializes in celebrity look-alikes.
Since he discovered his new "talent," he has traveled to the Netherlands to appear in a commercial for a liquor chain and to Paris, where an activist organization brought him in to meet lawmakers at the National Assembly, as part of a campaign to raise awareness about racism and racial profiling in France.
"This was very exciting for me, a true privilege!" Lamar said.
During his brief visit to Turkey, locals did double-takes when they saw Lamar walk past.
"Even in the studio, the crew [members] were like, 'Oh! Is that Obama?" said Celikbilek of Alametifarika advertising.
Using the image of an American president to promote anything in Turkey is a remarkable reversal.
U.S. approval ratings in Turkey plunged to 9 percent, according to a 2007 Pew Research poll, making America less popular in Turkey then almost anywhere else in the world, even though the two countries are NATO allies.
There was widespread anger among Turks at the war in neighboring Iraq. But the election of Barack Obama appears to have dramatically improved perceptions of America.
"Bush was a dictator who attacked other countries," said Abdurrahman Ozdemir, who sells cigarettes from a small stall on the street. "But we love Obama ... because he does not want to go to war with other countries."
"We started to love and like America because of Obama," said a 33-year-old woman named Begum Arinc. "I don't want to see people dying. I don't want to see any war. That's why I want to believe in Obama."
|
[
"Where will Obama visit soon?",
"Where will Obama be soon on presidental visit?",
"How much have U.S approval ratings pluged in Turkey over the past few years?",
"Who did Lamar work for?",
"Where Obama going?",
"Who is Michael Lamar?",
"How long did Lamar work for JP Morgan Chase?",
"Who is in ads for a bank in Turkey?",
"where will obama be",
"Where did Micheal Lamar work before being laid of?",
"Which bank did he work for?",
"What country will president Obama visit soon?",
"Where is President Obama going soon?"
] |
[
[
"Turkey,"
],
[
"Turkey,"
],
[
"9 percent,"
],
[
"JP Morgan Chase Bank"
],
[
"Turkey,"
],
[
"Barack Obama look-alike."
],
[
"18 years"
],
[
"Michael Lamar."
],
[
"Turkey,"
],
[
"JP Morgan Chase Bank"
],
[
"JP Morgan Chase"
],
[
"Turkey,"
],
[
"Turkey,"
]
] |
Michael Lamar strikes an Obama-like figure in ads for a bank in Turkey .
Lamar worked for JP Morgan Chase for 18 years before being laid off .
President Obama will be in Turkey soon on presidential visit .
U.S. approval ratings in turkey have plunged in recent years .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- The Turkish military said Friday it is weighing bids from American, Russian and Chinese defense contractors as it seeks to buy at least $1 billion worth of long-range missile defense systems. The Turkish military says a missile defense deal could include U.S. Patriot missile systems. Among the missile systems Turkey is considering are U.S. Patriot missile systems, the military said. "We will purchase four batteries," Turkish armed forces spokesman Metin Gurak announced at a weekly press briefing in the Turkish capital, according to the state news agency, Anatolian. "The actual figure will be determined during the bidding process, but the cost is expected to be around $1 billion." The news contradicts earlier reports in the Turkish and American media that the Turkish military was considering purchasing as much as $7.8 billion worth of Patriot missiles from the United States. Turkish diplomats and military commanders have denied speculation that the Patriots could be used as part of U.S.-backed missile defense shield against its eastern neighbor, Iran. "It is wrong to draw links between the Patriot and Iran," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN's sister network, CNN Turk, Friday morning. "We neither have a perception of threat from any of the neighboring countries, nor have any military or security related preparation against them." Thursday, the Obama administration announced it was scrapping a missile defense program for Eastern Europe, after years of angry objections from Russia. The White House has said the program was aimed at protecting allies from Iran, not from Russia. Read the story Russia is Turkey's largest trading partner. Meanwhile, relations have warmed considerably between the Iranians and the Turks in recent years. The Turkish government is putting itself forward as a neutral party, offering to host talks between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China on Iran's controversial nuclear program. But Turkey is also a member of the NATO military alliance, and it has long had close military ties with Washington. During the first Gulf War, Patriot missile batteries were temporarily stationed on Turkish territory. Turkish officials say the missile defense batteries it wants to buy would be part of a larger, long-term program to modernize the country's military. Prominent Turkish intellectuals have questioned the purchase. "Does Turkey really need these missiles?" asked Lale Kemal, a columnist who writes about military affairs for Turkey's Zaman newspaper. "Turkish military acquisition projects are not going through parliamentary or government scrutiny. We don't have a transparent military procurement system. So how can I or anyone say that Turkey needs them?" Defense contractors have until Oct. 13 to submit bids for the missile defense package.
|
[
"What plans were scrapped?",
"What missiles does the potential deal include?",
"Turkey considering bids to supply at least $1 billion worth of what type of systems?",
"What is Turkey considering?",
"Potential deal includes what type of U.S. missiles?",
"What does the potential deal include?",
"Obama scrapped U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in which area?"
] |
[
[
"a missile defense program for Eastern Europe,"
],
[
"systems."
],
[
"long-range missile defense"
],
[
"U.S. Patriot missile systems,"
],
[
"Patriot"
],
[
"U.S. Patriot missile systems."
],
[
"Eastern Europe,"
]
] |
Turkey considering bids to supply at least $1 billion worth of defense systems .
Country's military says potential deal includes U.S. patriot missiles .
Some question whether Turkey really needs to purchase extra missiles .
Obama scrapped U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in eastern Europe .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- The head of a Kurdish nationalist party in Turkey addressed his party members Tuesday in the Kurdish language -- which is illegal -- prompting the national broadcaster to pull the plug on the live broadcast.
Ahmet Turk began his speech in Turkish before switching to Kurdish.
In his address, Democratic Society Party leader Ahmet Turk began his speech in Turkish, addressing the value of a "multilingual culture" and decrying the fact that the Kurdish language is not protected under Turkey's constitution.
"We have no objection to Turkish being the official language, yet we want our demands for the lifting of the ban on Kurdish language to be understood as a humanitarian demand," he said.
Turk then announced he would deliver the rest of his speech in Kurdish and, at that point, state broadcaster TRT cut the broadcast.
"Since no language other than Turkish can be used in the parliament meetings according to the constitution of the Turkish Republic and the Political Parties Law, we had to stop our broadcast," the TRT announcer stated. "We apologize to our viewers for this and continue our broadcast with the next news item scheduled."
The situation is somewhat ironic because Turkey began a new Kurdish language state television channel, TRT6, on January 1. Turk pointed out that paradox in his speech to parliament.
"Despite the Kurdish broadcast on TRT 6, there is no legal protection (for the language)," he said. "(Politicians) get punished for speaking Kurdish while Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan speaks Kurdish during rallies. Therefore, Kurdish is forbidden to Kurds yet free for (the ruling party) and the state."
The issue comes ahead of hotly contested elections scheduled to be held on March 29. Political analysts have said Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish acronym AKP, is trying to gain votes in the Kurdish southeast, which has traditionally been held by the Democratic Society Party, or DTP.
Erdogan's launching of the Kurdish language channel is considered a historic development not only because speaking the language in parliament is illegal, but also because the Turkish republic for decades officially denied the existence of ethnic Kurds, calling them "mountain Turks" instead.
-- CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.
|
[
"What did Ahmet Turk switch to in his address?",
"What language is the new channel featuring?",
"Who broadcast the speech to party members?",
"What did TRT do to the broadcast?",
"Name of the Turkish broadcaster?",
"Who switched to Kurdish to address party members?",
"What was ironic behind the shutting down of the broadcast?",
"What did Turk decry about Kurdish?",
"What is the name of the Turkish state broadcast network?",
"What language cannot be spoken on Turkish TV, in some cases?",
"What language did Ahemt Turk switch to during his address?"
] |
[
[
"speech in Kurdish"
],
[
"Kurdish"
],
[
"TRT"
],
[
"pull the plug on the live"
],
[
"Ahmet Turk"
],
[
"Ahmet Turk"
],
[
"Turkey began a new Kurdish language state television channel, TRT6, on January 1."
],
[
"the fact that the Kurdish language is not protected under Turkey's constitution."
],
[
"TRT"
],
[
"Kurdish"
],
[
"Kurdish"
]
] |
Ahmet Turk switched to Kurdish during address to party members .
Turk decried fact Kurdish language not protected under Turkish law .
Turkish state broadcaster TRT then cut the broadcast .
Ironic because Turkey has started a new Kurdish language state TV channel .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish authorities have arrested 13 people in connection with blasts that killed 17 people in Istanbul last week, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said Saturday. Video from last week's bombing in Istanbul shows bloodied people being loaded into ambulances. Of those arrested, 10 were sent to judicial court, Atalay said in a televised news conference. He described the attack as the "work of the bloody separatist group," but did not identify a group by name. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which went off within minutes of each other in Istanbul's crowded Gungoren community. About 154 people were wounded, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler, who called the blasts "an act of terror," said last week that the explosive devices were placed 15 meters (49 feet) from each other. The first was a stun grenade that was detonated to draw attention before the second blast went off, he said. The other, a bomb, had been placed in a trash can. Turkey -- a candidate for European Union membership -- has pushed its anti-terror campaign on multiple fronts. Tensions between Turkey » and Kurdish rebels have risen over the Kurdistan Workers' Party's increasing attacks and Turkey's subsequent crackdown. The rebels, known as the PKK, have waged a decades-long battle for an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey's southeast. Last month, 86 people -- including former military officials, journalists, politicians and businessmen -- were indicted on charges of being involved with an alleged terror group called Ergenekon, which aims to topple the Turkish government. The arrests and indictments dramatize the sharp and serious political tensions between the country's Islam-rooted ruling party -- the Justice and Development Party, or AKP -- and its outspoken critics from the nation's secularist population.
|
[
"which group conducted the attack?",
"When was the earlier bombing?",
"what minister say",
"Where did the explosions take place?",
"who got arrested",
"By whom was the attack conducted by?",
"what did minister mention about earlier bombing?",
"Who conducted the attack?",
"where did explosions happen"
] |
[
[
"No one has claimed responsibility"
],
[
"last week,"
],
[
"Turkish authorities have arrested 13 people in connection with blasts that"
],
[
"Istanbul"
],
[
"13 people"
],
[
"separatist group,\""
],
[
"authorities have arrested 13 people in connection with blasts"
],
[
"\"work of the bloody separatist group,\" but did not identify a group by name."
],
[
"Istanbul"
]
] |
Attack was conducted by "bloody separatist group," Interior minister says .
2 explosions, minutes apart, hit residential area in Turkey's largest city Sunday .
Those arrested were responsible for earlier bombing June 15, says minister .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian ministers met in Ankara on Thursday to discuss water shortages in the major Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which run through all three countries.
Iraqi fishermen ride their motor boat in the waters of the Tigris River in Baghdad.
The meeting comes amid a diplomatic spat over Iraqi accusations that Syria is harboring terrorists.
The Tigris River has plunged to record low levels, Iraqi farmers told CNN. Iraq is suffering a drought that its officials are calling a "catastrophe."
Baghdad and Damascus want Turkey, where the source of the Tigris and Euphrates is located, to increase the flow of water passing through its network of dams.
"Syria and Iraq are badly in need of water but our Iraqi brothers feel the need much more ... it is why this meeting is so important," Turkey's official Anatolian Agency quoted Syrian Irrigation Minister Nader al-Bounni as saying at the start of Thursday's tri-partite meeting to address water resources. "Our dams are empty and we have human needs."
Also attending the meeting was Iraq's Water and Natural Resources and Turkey's Environment and Forestry minister, as well as its Energy minister .
But at the start of the meeting at a hotel in the Turkish capital, Turkey's energy minister seemed to rule out delivering significant quantities of additional water to Iraq and Syria.
"We are aware of the water needs of Syria and Iraq," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told journalists at the entrance to the conference. "Water is not plenty in Turkey, and therefore we cannot exceed the determined amount too much."
Turkey provided Syria and Iraq 500 cubic meters of water a second, Yildiz said. But, he added, central and eastern Turkey had only received 350 cubic meters/second of water this year.
The Turkish government said rainfall over its part of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers plummeted by about 46 percent in the past three years.
Over the past decade, some environmental and political analysts have written about the scenario of a "water war" possibly breaking out in the Middle East as countries affected by climate change compete over dwindling access to fresh water.
However, there are more immediate political tensions complicating relations between the neighboring countries.
Syria and Iraq have withdrawn their ambassadors from each others' capitals after a series of deadly suicide truck bombings in Baghdad killed more than 100 people last month.
Iraq demanded Syria hand over several suspects it accuses of organizing the attacks. Damascus has denied charges that it is harboring insurgents.
This week, Turkey's foreign minister shuttled between Baghdad and Damascus, carrying messages between the two capitals in an effort to defuse tensions.
|
[
"Which river has plunged to record low levels?",
"What does Iraq want Turkey to do?",
"What river has plunged to record lows?",
"What happened to the Tigris River?",
"What country does Iraq and Syria want to increase its water flow?",
"What did Turkey do?",
"What have they withdrawn from each others' capitals?",
"Where is the rivers' source located?"
] |
[
[
"Tigris"
],
[
"to increase the flow of water passing through its network of dams."
],
[
"Tigris"
],
[
"has plunged to record low levels,"
],
[
"Turkey,"
],
[
"provided Syria and Iraq 500 cubic meters of water a second,"
],
[
"ambassadors"
],
[
"Turkey,"
]
] |
Tigris River has plunged to record low levels, Iraqi farmers say .
Iraq, Syria want Turkey, where rivers' source is located, to increase water flow .
Meeting comes amid Iraqi accusations that Syria is harboring terrorists .
They have withdrawn their ambassadors from each others' capitals .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Two Iranians who were caught up in the waves of arrests that followed the disputed presidential elections in June have accused their captors of raping them.
By telling his story, Ibrahim Sharifi says, he "committed social suicide so this incident wouldn't happen to others."
An Iranian man and a woman made the allegations in separate interviews with CNN. Both said they fled to Turkey from Iran after claiming to have been threatened by Iranian security services. While CNN does not normally use the names of alleged rape victims, their names are included here with their permission.
CNN could not independently confirm their accounts. But the testimony of one of the alleged rape victims, Ibrahim Sharifi, was revealed last month by a prominent Iranian opposition leader who claimed to have gathered at least four accounts of sexual assault this summer in Iranian prisons. Sharifi's allegations were also included in a report published last week by two Western human rights organizations investigating reports of abuse in Iranian prisons.
"What we're encountering are numerous accounts of brutality, poor treatment, even torture, serious beatings, and a couple of cases, as you know, of alleged sexual assault -- rape," said Joe Stork, Middle East deputy director for Human Rights Watch.
The Iranian government has launched two investigations into the allegations. Iran's judiciary concluded there was no evidence of rape. A parliamentary fact-finding committee is still working on the issue.
Repeated calls by CNN to get reaction from Iranian officials to the claims of the alleged victims did not result in a response.
"Take him and get him pregnant"
Twenty-four-year-old Ibrahim Sharifi is a university student from Tehran who campaigned actively on the Internet for opposition presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi in the run-up to the controversial June 12 vote.
When incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared winner, Sharifi joined the throngs of angry protesters in the streets who accused the government of rigging the election.
On June 22, Sharifi said, he was kidnapped, handcuffed, blindfolded and stuffed into a car by three unknown men while he was walking home from language lessons at the Italian Embassy. He said they drove him to an unknown location, where he was stripped to his underwear. There, he said, he endured several days of beatings and mock executions alongside other male prisoners, all the time tightly blindfolded. Watch Ibrahim Sharifi describe being tortured and sexually assaulted »
"They took us and they put a noose around my neck in a way that I was forced to stand on my tiptoes, unable to breathe," Sharifi said. "Somebody was constantly telling us ... 'You have received the oral sentence to be hanged, we are just waiting for the written order.'"
"There was the stink of piss and blood. It smelled terrible," Sharifi recalled. "I was beaten so much I didn't have any energy left to cry."
On the fourth day of his detention, during one of these mock executions, Sharifi said he finally snapped.
"I said, if you want to kill us, go ahead. Why do you play such games with us? And the response was a kick in my stomach that made me fall."
Sharifi said his captors kicked him repeatedly in the stomach until he started vomiting blood. He showed a pink scar on his belly from a previous car accident that he said was torn open by the blows.
"Then the guy told someone else, 'Take him and get him pregnant,'" Sharifi said, his voice cracking with emotion. "They tied my hands to the wall and tied my legs, and then did that thing to me. While doing it, he was telling me, "You, who cannot even defend your you-know-what, you wanted to conduct a revolution?"
Sharifi said he blacked out during the rape and woke up later, handcuffed to a hospital bed. A day later, he said, his captors dumped him, blindfolded, on the side of a highway.
"I
|
[
"Who gave interviews to CNN?",
"Who allege rapes?",
"Who gave separate interviews to CNN?",
"When were they arrested?",
"When was the presidential election?"
] |
[
[
"An Iranian man and a woman made"
],
[
"disputed presidential elections in June"
],
[
"An Iranian man and a woman"
],
[
"June"
],
[
"June"
]
] |
Two expatriate Iranians allege rapes in graphic detail .
Male, female Iranian dissidents give separate interviews to CNN .
Both are in Turkey, claiming they fled after threats from security services .
They were arrested after disputed June 12 presidential election .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Were nine attractive young Turkish women duped and imprisoned in a villa by Internet soft-core porn peddlers? Or did they simply call in the police to help them break their contract with an Internet contest similar to the reality TV show "Big Brother"? A lawyer for the production company, Istanbul Group Electronic Trade Communications and Advertising A.S., is arguing the latter. In a written statement on the company's Web site, Hilmi Tufan Cakir denied reports published in the Turkish and international media, that nine women were trapped against their will in an Istanbul villa, while cameras sold their images on the Internet. "My client organized a contest with reward money, contracts were signed with the contestant girls," the lawyer's statement said. "In accordance with the contracts signed by the nine girls, this contest was to be broadcast on the Internet live." But on Friday, an officer with a Turkish gendarme unit, told CNN that security forces raided the reality show's villa earlier this week, after they received a complaint. "We detained one person," said the gendarme officer, who asked not to be identified. "There were eight or nine young girls, some younger then 18, who were returned to their families." Turkish television showed footage of gendarme officers raiding the villa and detaining a suspect earlier this week. The disputed Web-site is a page of hot pink graphics and photos of scantily clad young women, accompanied by throbbing dance music and the title, "We Are at Home." It shows video of the villa and its pool, and flashes photos of the nine female "contestants" as well as a list of ratings for viewers, who can vote for their favorite lady via cell phone text message. Audience members were also encouraged to send "virtual gifts" to the contestants, like pink panties, beer, chocolate and a pearl necklace. Each resident of the house had their own introductory video. The women, dressed in mini-skirts and bikinis, pose by the villa's pool, dance around in revealing outfits, and introduce themselves to the camera. In one segment, a hostess named Zeynep Karacan, who wears a long dress with a plunging neck line, reads from cue cards, introduces viewers to the house and its residents, who enter one-by-one waving to the camera and carrying luggage. According to the Web site's rating system, the second most popular contestant was woman from the town of Kocaeli who went by the name "Tugce." Text on the web-page said she was 18-years old, born on September 14th, 1990. But in her on-camera appearance, Tugce tells the audience "I am 16." She wears a purple bikini by the pool and goes on to say "I came here to be discovered. My biggest dream is to be a model." In Turkish press reports, the women said they signed contracts requiring them to pay fines of more then $30,000 if they left the show before it completed filming. This is not the first time scandal has rocked the booming reality TV industry in Turkey. In 2005, a male contestant from the hit show "Would You Be My Bride?" died of an apparent drug overdose after the season wrapped up production. On that show, mothers helped their sons choose a bride. The mother of the young man who killed himself, has since gone on to host another reality match-making TV show.
|
[
"What television showed footage?",
"Did the women sign contracts?",
"How many young girls were returned?"
] |
[
[
"Turkish"
],
[
"were signed with the contestant girls,\""
],
[
"eight or nine"
]
] |
Police: 8 or 9 young girls, some under 18, were returned to their families .
Turkish television showed footage of gendarme officers raiding the villa .
Women were to take part in a Big Brother-style show on the Internet .
Report: Women signed contracts requiring them to pay fines if they left show .
|
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Nearly two months ago, President Obama embarked on a two-day, two-city charm offensive in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country and NATO military ally whose people give the United States abysmal approval ratings.
President Obama listens at a town hall-style meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, in April.
The American president toured a mosque, laid a wreath at the grave of the founder of the Turkish republic, and announced before the Turkish parliament that "the United States is not and will never be at war with Islam."
Did Obama's new brand of diplomacy work?
Could 48 hours of handshakes, speeches and smiles turn around Turkish public opinion? After all, in 2007, only 9 percent of Turks polled by the Pew Research Center held favorable views of America, the lowest level among 47 countries surveyed.
If 24-year old Ece Basaran is any indicator, Obama succeeded beyond expectations.
After attending a town hall-style meeting with the American president during his visit to Istanbul last April, Basaran and a group of her friends started up a Turkish-American friendship club at her university.
"I get positive feedback because everybody around me likes Obama," Basaran said, while taking a break from preparing for final exams at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University this week. Basaran said that as recently as last year, the United States was unpopular among fellow students and friends, but added that "after Obama, it seems popular. At least the negative image began to fade away."
Officials and commentators in both Turkey and the United States are also calling Obama's first presidential visit to a Muslim country a positive step.
"At the moment, he's doing the right thing," said Suat Kiniklioglu, a member of the Turkish parliament. "His first task was to remedy the situation of America wielding a big stick for the last eight years."
"President Obama's visit and recent policy initiatives have managed to dispel some of the pervasive suspicion in U.S.-Turkish relations -- no small achievement," said Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last month. But, he added, "much remains to be done."
There are strong indications that words alone will not be enough to transform years of deep suspicion many Turks feel towards the United States, particularly after the long, widely unpopular war in neighboring Iraq.
According to a recent poll published by academics at Bahcesehir University, 43 percent of Turks said they would not like to live next door to American neighbors.
In a phone interview this week, Osman Solmaz, another of the Turkish students chosen to attend the town hall meeting with Obama, said that in his hometown, the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, "the majority of the people have prejudice against the United States."
"Nobody agrees with America's foreign policy," said Sertac Yakin, a university student from Ankara who also attended the Istanbul meeting in April.
"To change public opinion in Turkey is a long-term affair," argued Kemal Koprulu, the founder of Ari Movement, an Istanbul-based nongovernmental organization that focuses on promoting youth participation in civil society. "There is no way that the election of a president and several nice statements from a State Department spokesman will change dramatically the public opinion in Turkey."
Koprulu argued that his organization has documented alarmingly high levels of anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism among young Turks. He pointed out that at a recent academic conference at one of Turkey's most progressive universities in Istanbul, he witnessed audience members give a five-minute standing ovation to a Turkish speaker who "slammed America" in front of a panel of visiting U.S. officials.
The White House does appear to have made some progress in patching up damaged relations with the powerful Turkish military.
Top Turkish army generals did not attend an important bilateral conference in the United States last year, following American criticism of Turkey's cross-border military offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels in Northern Iraq. This year, the Turkish military chief of staff was among the key speakers attending
|
[
"What says only 9 percent of Turks had positive view of U.S. in 2007 ?",
"What percentage of Turks had positive view of the US in 2007?",
"When did Obama go to Turkey?",
"President Obama tried to change what in April ?",
"What was the main reason Obama`s visit to Turkey?",
"What is percentage of Turks being positive towards U.S.?"
] |
[
[
"Pew Research Center"
],
[
"9 percent"
],
[
"April."
],
[
"public opinion in Turkey.\""
],
[
"to remedy the situation of America wielding a big stick for the last eight years.\""
],
[
"9"
]
] |
Poll says only 9 percent of Turks had positive view of U.S. in 2007 .
Iraq war, foreign policy of Bush administration among the reasons, Ivan Watson says .
President Obama tried to change those sentiments during April trip to Turkey .
Some Turks say Obama's won them over; others wait and see, Watson reports .
|
Ibb, Yemen (CNN) -- When 18-year-old Amal al-Sadah became the fifth wife of 43-year-old Osama bin Laden in 2000, she was "a quiet, polite, easygoing and confident teenager" who came from a big, conservative family in Yemen, a relative told CNN in an exclusive interview.
The relative, Ahmed, who knew al-Sadah growing up, said she came from a traditional family in Ibb, Yemen -- established and respectable but certainly with no militant views paralleling the al Qaeda leader's terrorism.
The family had no connection to al Qaeda prior to the arranged marriage, Ahmed told CNN during an interview in Ibb on Friday.
While some accounts say a matchmaker put the couple together, the relative wasn't sure of that report, adding he heard many stories about how the two were betrothed.
"She was a very good overall person," Ahmed told CNN. "The Sadah family is a big family in Ibb. The family of Amal was like most Yemeni families. They were conservative but also lived a modern life when compared to other families.
"The family is a respected family and is well known. The family had no extremist views, even though they came from a conservative background," Ahmed said, referring to al-Sadah's parents and siblings.
The Yemeni government is apparently pressuring the family not to speak publicly about their notorious in-law, bin Laden, Ahmed said.
"From what I know, the government would give the Sadah family an extremely difficult time and always warns them from talking to the media," Ahmed said. "The government tells them that the information or comments they give would be misunderstood or misinterpreted and could hurt the family more than the government."
An al Qaeda figure in Yemen named Sheikh Rashed Mohammed Saeed Ismail said he arranged the marriageand told the Yemen Post in 2008 that he was "the matchmaker" and that al-Sadah was one of his students, describing her as "religious and pious enough."
Ismail, whose brother spent time as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, accompanied the young bride-to-be to Afghanistan in July 2000, where she and bin Laden were married after he gave her family a $5,000 dowry.
The marriage was apparently a political alliance to shore up bin Laden's support in the land of his ancestors.
"I was told after they got married that Osama did not want to cut his ties with his ancestral home, Yemen," Ahmed said.
Back in Yemen, al-Sadah was barely spoken of again, Ahmed told CNN.
"After her marriage, we heard a little about her, and her direct family knew the dangers of talking about such topics," Ahmed said. "Even if anyone asked them about her, they would avoid talking about the issue."
At first, Yemeni authorities didn't seem aware that they were giving al-Sadah a passport in 2000 for the purpose of marrying bin Laden in Afghanistan, Ahmed said.
"Only a small number of people knew about the story of the marriage in the start, so it wasn't difficult to travel," Ahmed said. "The Yemeni government gave the family a hard time after she left Yemen. The family is still being watched and have been interrogated dozens of times. Her father also went through a lot."
The marriage was immediately fruitful, and al-Sadah and bin Laden gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Safiyah, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the weeks after 9/11.
According to Pakistani officials this week, Safiyah was inside the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound where bin Laden was killed Monday by U.S. Navy SEALs, and she probably saw her father shot dead.
Ahmed asserted that al-Sadah and bin Laden also bore other children, but he couldn't provide details in his brief interview with CNN.
In "The Osama bin Laden I Know", Peter Bergen spoke with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, who met bin Laden soon after the 9/11 attacks. Mir said bin Laden had told him
|
[
"Where did the family of this wife originate from?",
"What wife was this",
"Osama Bin Laden married?",
"who did he marry",
"who old was he when he married"
] |
[
[
"Yemen,"
],
[
"the fifth"
],
[
"Amal al-Sadah"
],
[
"Amal al-Sadah"
],
[
"43-year-old"
]
] |
Osama bin Laden was 43 when he married an 18-year-old Yemen woman in 2000 .
Amal al-Sadah became his fifth wife, and they had a daughter shortly after 9/11 .
She comes from a big, respectable, conservative family in Yemen, a relative tells CNN .
Her family didn't have any ties to al Qaeda prior to the marriage, the relative says .
|
Iceland's new prime minister wants her country to join the European Union and adopt the euro as its official currency to help lift the Nordic nation from financial ruin, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir took office earlier this week.
The announcement by Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, came just two days after she was sworn in as prime minister and a week after the Cabinet resigned in the fallout from Iceland's financial collapse. She is Iceland's first female prime minister and the world's first openly gay leader.
Iceland has been in political turmoil since October, when its currency, stock market and leading banks crashed amid the global financial crisis.
The island nation's Nordic neighbors sent billions of dollars to prop up the economy, as did the International Monetary Fund in its first intervention to support a Western European democracy in decades.
Sigurdardottir touted EU membership at a joint news conference Tuesday with Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson, whose Left-Green Movement teamed up with the prime minister's Social Democratic Alliance to form the new two-party minority government.
The Alliance party was until recently the only movement in Iceland's five-party parliament to push EU membership as a viable way to rescue Iceland's suffering economy.
However, Sigfusson and his party aren't convinced that the country should join the EU's 27 other members. Instead, he said he is considering a monetary union with Norway, meaning Iceland would adopt the Norwegian krone as its currency.
Iceland's newly instated minority government will only be in power for 80 days and elections are scheduled for April 25. Until then, no decisions about the country possibly joining the European Union will be made -- though the question could be important during the elections, Sigurdardottir's spokesman, Kristjan Kristjansson, said.
CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.
|
[
"When did stock market and banks crash?",
"Who is the Prime minister?",
"When are elections?",
"Where did banks crash last autumn?",
"Who wants to adopt euro as official currency?"
] |
[
[
"October,"
],
[
"Johanna Sigurdardottir"
],
[
"April 25."
],
[
"Iceland"
],
[
"Iceland's new prime minister"
]
] |
No decision on joining EU will be made before April elections .
Prime minister wants nation to adopt euro as official currency .
Iceland's stock market, banks crashed last autumn during financial crisis .
|
If home is where the heart is, a new survey suggests that most people aren't sure exactly where they live. More than half of people cannot pinpoint the exact location of the human heart on a diagram, and nearly 70 percent can't correctly identify the shape of the lungs, according to the survey. This lack of knowledge isn't just embarrassing -- it could lead to a poorer quality of health care, some experts say. In the study, published in the journal BMC Family Practice, a research team surveyed 722 Britons -- 589 hospital outpatients and 133 people in the general population. They gave the volunteers four diagrams of human figures and asked them to choose the one that showed the correct size and location of a specific organ. (For example, the heart diagrams showed various size organs on the far left side of the chest, directly in the center, anchored on the center/left chest, and on the right side of the chest.) Overall, people knew less basic anatomy than the researchers expected -- even those patients being treated for a specific condition involving that organ. Participants generally answered half the questions correctly, including 46.5 percent who knew which drawing represented their heart. In all, 31.4 percent correctly identified the lungs, 38.4 percent the stomach, 41.8 percent the thyroid, and 42.5 percent the kidneys. The intestines and bladder were the most easily identified, with 85.9 percent and 80.7 percent, respectively, answering the question correctly. Health.com: Are you cholesterol smart? Take this quiz There was little to no improvement compared with a similar study conducted in 1970, says lead author John Weinman, Ph.D., of King's College London. In that study, subjects correctly identified eight major body parts about half of the time. (The researchers used the same body parts from the 1970 study and added three more: the pancreas, gallbladder, and ovaries.) Given the accessibility of the Internet and the prominence of health stories in the news media today, Weinman's team expected that people would now know more about their body. Weinman says he wouldn't be surprised if a study based in the United States produced similar results -- or worse. "I imagine they would be similar, but there could well be regional variation, depending on which part of the U.S. the participants were from," he says. "Actually, I asked one of my colleagues, who is from the U.S., and she felt that Americans might be worse because, to quote her, 'Very many Americans don't even know where New Jersey is, so how would they know where their pancreas is?'" Health.com: Eat Smarter in your 30s, 40s, and 50s That may sound harsh, but time and again, U.S. studies have shown that doctors overestimate how much their patients understand about their conditions and treatment. Adam Kelly, Ph.D., an assistant professor of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, Texas, conducted a 2007 study, that showed that doctors overestimate patient literacy and that a lack of patient knowledge leads to poorer care. Kelly believes the problem could be "even more profound" in the United States, although a similar study has not been conducted in America. Still, anatomy may not be the best measure of health literacy, says Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., the director of the heart failure program at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and the author of "Intern: A Doctor's Initiation." Health.com: Computer games that boost your memory "They would like us to draw the conclusion that because the patients can't identify these organs anatomically that that is an indication of low health-care literacy -- and that may or may not be true," he says. "I work with heart failure patients, and whether they can identify where their heart is is not so important to me as long as they know which medicines to take and when." Many patients with heart failure, unfortunately, don't know which medicines to take, can't identify their symptoms, and don't follow up with their doctors, Jauhar says. "So
|
[
"Amount of people that couldn't identify heart's location",
"Who couldn't identify heart's location?",
"What could be similar or worse?",
"What country cannot identify heart's location?",
"What did the expert speculate?",
"How many people couldn't identify the heart's location?",
"What is the main subject of the survey?",
"What does health literacy contribute to?",
"What organs ocation did more then half of surveyed people failed to identify"
] |
[
[
"More than half"
],
[
"More than half of people cannot pinpoint the exact"
],
[
"a study based in the United States"
],
[
"Britons"
],
[
"poorer quality of health care,"
],
[
"More than half of"
],
[
"basic anatomy"
],
[
"people would now know more about their body."
],
[
"the exact location of the human heart"
]
] |
More than half in British survey couldn't identify heart's location .
U.S. results could be similar or worse, some experts speculate .
Health literacy contributes to better care received, better patient outcomes .
|
If you want to know where American food traditions are headed, look back. Many of today's most healthful eating trends bear a strong resemblance to yesterday's: Nearby farms offering nutritious, peak-of-season produce; slow-cooked dinners that foster leisurely family meals; an emphasis on meatless dishes and minimally processed foods. Sales of organic food have risen more than 20 percent per year since the 1990s, the USDA says. "It used to be that packaging and convenience were all the rage. But today, food lovers also want to know where their food comes from and how to prepare it in the simplest, most natural way possible," says Fern Gale Estrow, M.S., R.D., a community nutritionist based in New York City. "People still want and need to save time in the kitchen, but they're not willing to sacrifice taste and nutrition to get it." Fortunately, these five food trends provide exactly that -- flavorful, nutrient-rich meals that are easy to prepare and can help you fulfill many of your dietary requirements. Flexitarianism Like vegetarians, "flexitarians" eat a primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, and fruits, but they occasionally obtain protein from lean meat, fish, poultry, or dairy. A quarter of Americans fit the description, consuming meatless meals at least four days a week, according to the American Dietetic Association. Why it's here to stay: Flexitarianism is exactly what dietitians, nutritional researchers, and public health advocates have been recommending for years. "It's about eating a varied diet that's low in saturated fat and high in fiber," says Milton Stokes, M.P.H., R.D., chief dietitian at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City, and an ADA spokesperson. Because the emphasis is on produce rather than protein, flexitarians are more likely than most Americans to meet the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables and the vitamins and minerals they contain. CookingLight.com: Take our quiz on correct serving sizes What it means for you: Studies show that people who follow this approach to eating generally weigh less and have lower rates of hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. In one large study from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, researchers tracked the eating habits of more than 9,600 people over a 19-year period and found those who consumed fruits and vegetables at least three times daily lowered their risk of stroke by 42 percent, and their risk of cardiovascular disease by 27 percent. Locally grown foods As people seek fresher foods, they have begun to connect with local family farms. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers' markets give consumers direct access to produce, meats, cheeses, breads, honey, and other foods that are produced in nearby communities. In the past 10 years, the number of local farmers' markets has more than doubled -- it is up from 1,755 to 3,706, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service. Why it's here to stay: Because they are so fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables often have a nutritional edge over produce raised on "factory" farms. The latter, which constitutes most of the produce grown in the United States, is picked about four to seven days before it arrives on supermarket shelves, and shipped for an average of 1,500 miles before it's sold, according to Local Harvest, a nonprofit agricultural research group. All that downtime takes a toll. USDA researchers have found that if it's not handled properly, produce can lose up to half its nutrients in transit. Water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C are particularly vulnerable. What it means for you: "Buying food from local vendors gives you input," says Gail Feenstra, R.D., food systems analyst at the University of California at Davis' Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. "You can find out how things were grown. You can also request varieties of fruits and vegetables that wouldn't be available elsewhere." And then there's the most important reason of all: Because of its freshness, locally grown food tastes better than
|
[
"What has more than doubled in the last decade?",
"What are Flexitatians mostly eating?",
"What can fill dietary gaps?",
"Who eat mostly a plant-based diet?",
"What has doubled in the last decade?",
"What do flexitarians eat?",
"What has more than doubled?"
] |
[
[
"number of local farmers' markets"
],
[
"primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, and fruits, but they occasionally obtain protein from lean meat, fish, poultry, or dairy."
],
[
"Flexitarianism"
],
[
"\"flexitarians\""
],
[
"the number of local farmers' markets"
],
[
"a primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, and fruits, but they occasionally obtain protein from lean meat, fish, poultry, or dairy."
],
[
"the number of local farmers' markets"
]
] |
"Flexitarians" eat a mostly plant-based diet but sometimes add animal protein .
The number of local farmers' markets has more than doubled in the last decade .
"Functional foods," those enriched with extra nutrients, can fill dietary gaps .
Studies: Organic produce contains more nutrients than traditionally grown foods .
|
If you're like us, you eat out more than ever -- and, as nice as it is to not have to cook, those meals out can actually feel like work. How do you navigate the minefields of huge portions, hidden fats, and sky-high sodium levels? Olive Garden's Venetian Apricot Chicken has 448 calories and 11 grams of fat. You shouldn't have to resign yourself to paying for restaurant meals with a future cardiac risk. You just need to know where to go to find healthy, fresh food. To that end, we went out into the world of sit-down restaurants, looking to separate the (whole) wheat from the chaff. Backed by an advisory panel of experts in healthy dining, we sifted through 43 chains with more than 75 locations across the country and, frankly, were astonished by how many restaurants made no nutritional information available. Health.com: Meet Health's experts But judge we did those brave (and progressive) enough to share their numbers. What you hold in your hands are the 10 that stood at the top of the heap. Uno's Chicago Grill If you haven't been to your local Uno's recently, you're in for a great surprise. Sure, its famous deep-dish (read high-fat) pizzas still hold court, but nutrition has become the word of the day with a completely transfat-free menu and plenty of grilled entrees (including antibiotic-free chicken). Adding to the healthy variety: whole-grain pasta and brown rice, organic coffee and tea, and flatbread pizzas that have half the calories of deep-dish ones. Plus, you can add a salad to your pizza for half-price because, according to the menu, "We want you to get some greens in your diet." Now that's a blue-ribbon commitment to health. Another reason Uno's is at the top of our list: You know what you're eating. In the lobbies of most of the restaurant's locations, there are Nutrition Information Centers that detail ingredients, fat and sodium contents, and calories and fiber of every item, in addition to gluten-free options. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at Health magazine's restaurant choices » • Danger zone: Deep-dish pizzas can pile on the fat. • We love: The Penne Bolognese -- just 16 grams of fat (well within the daily recommended max of 65 grams of fat for a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet). Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes Can a buffet-style restaurant -- that symbol of American overindulgence --possibly be one of the healthiest restaurants in the country? It can in this case, because this salad-soup-and-bakery eatery (Southern California locations are named Souplantation, everywhere else they're called Sweet Tomatoes) uses produce so fresh that it's guaranteed to have been "in the ground" 24 hours before it's in a refrigerated truck on its way to the restaurant. At the salad bar you'll find seasonal vegetables like squash and bell peppers, freshly tossed and prepared salads, and a great range of nonfat dressings. San Marino Spinach With Pumpkin Seeds and Cranberries, anyone? This is paradise for vegetarians, vegans, and anyone who's looking for a low-sodium, low-fat, high-nutrient meal outside the home. • Danger zone: Plate overload -- after all, it's all-you-can-eat. • We love: The Tomato Spinach Whole Wheat pasta, a delicious combo of whole grains and veggies. Mimi's Cafe This cozy café-style restaurant transforms normally less-than-healthy foods into better -- and still tasty -- options: a half-pound cheeseburger wrapped in lettuce (that's right, no bun); the cutely named Naked French Market Onion Soup, served without cheese. Another thing to love is the way that Mimi's clearly steers you toward its healthy options. Its "Lifestyle Menu" points you to low-carb picks like the fish of the day served with fresh steamed veggies. Also, Mimi
|
[
"What is the experts favorites?",
"what did health magazine list?",
"What does the health magazine name?",
"What writers looked into?",
"Who looked at 43 chains?"
] |
[
[
"Uno's Chicago Grill"
],
[
"restaurant choices"
],
[
"restaurant choices"
],
[
"world of sit-down restaurants,"
],
[
"advisory panel"
]
] |
Health magazine names Top 10 chain restaurants for fresh, healthy food .
Writers looked at 43 chains with more than 75 locations across the country .
Experts' favorite: Uno's Chicago Grill, with trans fat-free menu, many grilled entrees .
|
In Fad-Free Nutrition, exclusively on CNN.com, the editors of Cooking Light help you digest the latest diet and food news and trends. The recent recall of industrial peanut butter and products that contain it sparked nationwide concern about the safety of eating many popular snack products. That's understandable, considering the average American consumes 3.3 pounds of peanut butter each year, according to USDA data. Pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, and others can be made into tasty spreads and put in recipes. While consuming with caution is always prudent, it's important not to give up on nuts and peanuts (which are actually legumes) entirely. They offer numerous health benefits and can even help dieters stay on track. Consuming just one ounce of nuts -- of any variety -- up to five times a week in place of other calories consumed is likely to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Although nuts are high in calories, they contain heart-healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, and they're jam-packed with nutrients such as vitamin E, folate, niacin, copper, magnesium, and potassium. Plus, they have some protein and fiber to help keep you feeling satisfied. Learn more about the health benefits of nuts (plus recipes that use them) at CookingLight.com. Tips on smart snacking If you are worried about buying peanut butter based on the recent salmonella scare, try these tasty and nutritious alternative ways to snack safely: 1. Make your own spread. Although major national brands of jarred peanut butter have not been recalled, it's a fun and nutritious option to make your own. At certain grocery stores, such as some locations of Whole Foods Market, you can grind peanuts to make fresh peanut butter. In less than one minute, you have a fresh, peanutty spread without preservatives or added sugar. You can also make fresh peanut butter at home; all you need are plain roasted peanuts and a food processor. Put ¾ cup plain roasted peanuts in a food processor; process two minutes or until smooth. See our staff's tips on making homemade nut butters on our blog, Test Kitchen Secrets. 2. Get creative. Use fresh peanut butter to upgrade homemade versions of snacks that may have been recalled. For example, spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on a whole-grain cracker instead of purchasing ready-made peanut butter crackers. You might surprise yourself by creating a better-for-you treat, such as our lightened peanut buttery Swag Bars. 3. Branch out beyond peanut butter. Almond, cashew, macadamia, walnut, and hazelnut butters are unaffected by the recall. They all offer a strong nutrition profile. For example, 2 tablespoons of almond butter (one serving) provide the following: • Almost half your daily needs of the antioxidant vitamin E with 6.5 milligrams • About one-third of a day's worth of magnesium (97 milligrams), a mineral that supports muscle function and bone tissue • 243 milligrams of potassium (about five percent of one day's allotment), which helps keep your blood pressure levels steady Visit CookingLight.com to learn more about other nutritious nut butters made from cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts -- including how to make them, and healthful recipes that put them to delicious use. For more tips on making healthy taste great, try Cooking Light - CLICK HERE
|
[
"which brands were affected by the recall?",
"What is being recalled?",
"What are alternatives?",
"What are alternative snacks made with?",
"How many pounds of peanut butter are consumed?",
"What has put a damper on American snacking habits?",
"The average american consumes how much peanut butter each year?"
] |
[
[
"industrial peanut butter"
],
[
"industrial peanut butter and products that contain it"
],
[
"Make your own spread."
],
[
"Pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds,"
],
[
"3.3"
],
[
"recent recall of industrial peanut butter and products that contain it"
],
[
"3.3 pounds"
]
] |
Peanut product recall putting a damper on American snacking habits .
USDA: Average American consumes 3.3 pounds of peanut butter each year .
Alternatives include snacks made with almond, cashew, macadamia, walnut butters .
|
In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents and producers share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Stan Wilson visited San Quentin for "Black in America: The Black Man" which rebroadcasts tonight at 8 p.m. ET. "I want to have everything that an average American would want," said Chris Shurn who served time in prison. OAKLAND, California (CNN) -- Chris Shurn walked out of San Quentin Prison in June after serving four years of hard time for possession of crack cocaine and a weapon charge. He joined at least 3,000 men paroled each year in Oakland, California, where the recidivism rate is more than 50 percent. When our documentary team first met Shurn inside San Quentin in 2008, he considered himself one of the lucky ones. At 21, he entered prison with a fourth-grade education, but left with a GED certificate and was only a few semesters short of earning an associate degree. Shurn told us there were few role models around him as a kid. He said his father left home before he entered the first grade, his mother was a crack addict and he was surrounded by a lot of violence. Ironically, San Quentin is where Shurn met the kind of role models he said he needed to break the cycle of incarceration. His hard work and determination to change caught the eye of Everett Highbaugh, who runs a program called Project Choice. Twice a week, Highbaugh goes into San Quentin with the goal of transforming men like Shurn from drug entrepreneurs to business entrepreneurs. Upon his release, Shurn replaced his dreadlocks and prison uniform with casual attire and a neatly manicured haircut. He said he felt relieved after the harsh conditions of prison life, but said he struggles every day in his Oakland neighborhood to resist the temptations of making easy money by selling crack cocaine. "I want to have a family. I want to own a house. I want to have everything that an average American would want; a good-paying job, a career," he said. But the odds are against him. Nearly 1 million black men are behind bars, an especially crippling blow to black communities, where one in three black men will have a prison record in their lifetimes. They leave behind communities filled with fear, broken families and a generation of vulnerable children. After Shurn left San Quentin, Highbaugh was in contact with him twice a week and helped him land a part-time job at Goodwill Industries. At Goodwill, Shurn spent 30 hours a week in a labor-intensive job, stacking goods and preparing them for shipment. "I remember reading a lot of these very same books in prison," said Shurn as he was busy working. He was grateful to have a job, but frustrated because it paid so little, $7 an hour. That job lasted only a few months. When we caught up with him in January, he had been unemployed for a while. As he sat in Oakland's Oracle Arena watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama, he wondered how he was going to help support his girlfriend and her daughter and earn enough tuition money to continue working toward his degree. Shurn has moved a few times, but is still hoping for success, still fighting against long odds, particularly in a severely debilitated job market. He's hopeful that his hard work and the skills he learned through Project Choice will be a much better alternative than making easy money on the street -- a certain pathway back to prison. "Every day of my life, with or without work, I feel vulnerable," said Shurn. "Instead of waking up every day and going to a 9-to-5; I used to wake up and go outside and sell some drugs and have my money for a whole week." "It crosses my mind, but I got to a point where I'm disciplined and don't need to venture into it." A few weeks ago, Shurn was hired as a courier for a local printing business. The job pays $9 per
|
[
"What educational credentials did Shurn earn while incarcerated?",
"What is his present job?",
"Where did Shurn serve four years time?",
"What amount of money does he make per hour?",
"What job is Chris Shurn doing now?",
"What Prison did Chris Shurn served his time in?",
"What degree did Shurn earn while in prison",
"Where did Shurn serve four years?"
] |
[
[
"GED"
],
[
"courier for a local printing business."
],
[
"San Quentin Prison"
],
[
"$9"
],
[
"courier for a local printing business."
],
[
"San Quentin"
],
[
"GED certificate"
],
[
"San Quentin Prison"
]
] |
Chris Shurn served four years in San Quentin Prison .
Shurn earned a GED and nearly completed an associate degree in prison .
He currently makes $9 per hour as a courier and hopes to return to college .
"Every day of my life, with or without work, I feel vulnerable," says Shurn .
|
In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. After a one-on-one interview with President Obama on Wednesday, CNN en Español's Juan Carlos López is traveling with Obama to Mexico City and to the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón in Mexico City on Thursday. MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- It's the return of an American president to Mexico City. Although George W. Bush visited the country several times, he never made it to this city of more than 20 million people, and it is President Obama's first visit to Latin America. Obama's relationship with Mexico started on shaky ground, although the first foreign leader he met with as president-elect was Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Reports from the Pentagon and the CIA considered that Mexico was at risk of becoming a failed state, something that didn't sit well with the Calderón government. Washington corrected course and even admitted its own responsibility in Mexico's growing drug war, which killed 6,000 last year alone. Statements by Cabinet members and Obama himself calmed things down, but tensions arose again. Congress ended a pilot program that allowed Mexican trucks into U.S. territory, as contemplated in the North America Free Trade Agreement; Mexico, in line with the treaty, retaliated by imposing fees on 90 U.S. products. Even so, the bilateral relationship is at a high point and large-scale protests aren't expected when Obama visits the Mexican capital. But there are pending issues, such as immigration reform, trade and a pressing question in this capital: Who will the next U.S. ambassador be? Local media have been reporting that Carlos Pascual, a Cuban-American expert on Europe and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, is Obama's choice, but the fact that he wrote a report for the Brookings Institute on Iraq and the importance of reconstructing a failed state wasn't well received in political and government circles. Obama and Calderón have a lot to sort out in this one-day visit. Then comes the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, where Obama will face 33 heads of state, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who called Obama ignorant on Latin-American issues, and other leaders who want Cuba, a member of the Organization of American States suspended since 1962, to be reinstated. Although Obama lifted some restrictions on travel and remittances to the island by Cuban-Americans, many in the region want more, including the lifting of the decades-old embargo, something Obama says he is not considering. It is not clear if Obama will be welcomed in the same way he was by Europe two weeks ago, but so far the signs are positive -- to have a U.S. president saying he is willing to listen to and treat Latin American neighbors as equals is something the region isn't used to.
|
[
"What was the relationship?",
"Where is the bilateral relationship now?",
"What does Lopez say the issues are?",
"What are issues with the US ambassador and Mexico?"
] |
[
[
"started on shaky ground,"
],
[
"at a high point and large-scale"
],
[
"immigration reform, trade and a pressing question in this capital: Who will the next U.S. ambassador be?"
],
[
"immigration reform, trade"
]
] |
Lopez: Obama's relationship with Mexico started on shaky ground .
But now, the bilateral relationship is at a high point, he says .
Lopez: Pending issues, such as immigration reform, trade .
There also is high interest in who will be U.S. ambassador to Mexico, he says .
|
In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Christiane Amanpour meets the Dalai Lama and some of his unruly flock in "Buddha's Warriors" airing Saturday and Sunday, 8 and 11 p.m. ET
The Dalai Lama cracked jokes and chatted when a storm knocked out power during his interview with CNN.
DHARAMSALA, India (CNN) -- I never knew much about Buddhism, and was not expecting much, spiritually, from covering the Dalai Lama. But what happened just goes to show how the unlikeliest events can affect you at the unlikeliest times.
I flew from covering the historic visit of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in North Korea to Dharamsala, India. This is the home-in-exile of the Dalai Lama and his government, as well as thousands of Tibetan monks and supporters.
Our visit coincided with the events that commemorate each March 10, the date the Dalai Lama fled Tibet on horseback in 1959. He managed to evade the Chinese Communist forces, disguised as a soldier and escaping at night. The somber remembrance is a little like what the Palestinians do every year. They call it al-Nakba, or "catastrophe," which marks 1948 when they lost much of their land as the state of Israel was founded.
This year, however, the March 10 anniversary took on a more ominous tone. It was the first time the growing split among Tibetan exiles burst into the open. Some of the younger generation of exiles are losing faith in the Dalai Lama's abandonment of the dream of Tibetan independence. Some want action, even if it might mean abandoning their peaceful Buddhist way.
I wanted to ask the Dalai Lama about this and where he thought it would lead.
The day we visited, we attended a "Long Life Ceremony" in which thousands of Tibetans come from all over India and across the Himalayas from Tibet to catch a glimpse of their spiritual leader, to pray for his continued health and long life and to bestow their most precious gifts upon him, including cubes of dried cheese wrapped in muslin, textiles and tapestries.
It went on for more than two hours. I never thought I would sit through the whole thing, but something about the chanting, the incense and the vital connection between the Dalai Lama and his adoring flock was mesmerizing. Watch: Amanpour investigates new breed of Buddhists »
As a journalist and an observer, I was transfixed.
Even though the Dalai Lama has spent nearly 60 years in exile, people are still so faithful to him, so respectful, weeping, bowing low as they pass him sitting high above on his throne-like dais. He towers over them, and yet there is nothing removed or dictatorial about him. See behind-the-scenes photos from Buddha's Warriors »
Afterwards we prepared for our interview. He gives many, and I wondered what we could elicit from him that would be new or noteworthy. As our cameramen were setting up, I hung around outside to quietly watch as he received the first of many visitors that day: dignitaries, ordinary tourists, prayer groups and school groups. I've found you can tell almost everything about a person by observing the way they deal with others. He was kind, witty, warm, laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moved by some of the personal tales he heard from those visitors seeking his advice and blessing. I thought about how he must do this so many hundreds of thousands of times and yet he had time for everyone, treating each one like a VIP.
Once we sat down, I was immediately slightly thrown off by his style. He told us very clearly that what the Chinese are doing in Tibet amounts to "cultural genocide." And then he burst into his trademark giggles. I couldn't fully understand why, but it is apparently the Buddhist way to laugh off life's horrors, and thus survive. Learn about Tibet's history of conflict »
He went on to tell us, with great earnestness, how he approves of the Olympic
|
[
"Who traveled to India?",
"When did the Dalai Lama flee Tibet?",
"what does the dalai lama do",
"In what year did Dalai Lama flee?",
"Where did Amanpour travel?"
] |
[
[
"Christiane Amanpour"
],
[
"1959."
],
[
"cracked jokes and chatted"
],
[
"1959."
],
[
"Dharamsala, India."
]
] |
Christiane Amanpour traveled to India to meet with the exiled Dalai Lama .
In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet on horseback to evade China's communist forces .
Amanpour says the Dalai Lama's connection to his adoring flock is "mesmerizing"
Dalai Lama says what the Chinese are doing in Tibet amounts to "cultural genocide"
|
In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Gary Tuchman accompanied a Border Patrol unit in Nogales, Arizona, and experienced the variety and the danger of law enforcement life firsthand. CNN's Gary Tuchman pulls his weight on ride-along with 64 lbs. of marijuana seized by law enforcement. NOGALES, Arizona (CNN) -- Nogales, Arizona, is a small city. Just more than 20,000 people live here, according to the 2005 census. But spend a couple of days here with law enforcement, and your head will spin. Almost half of all illegal drugs seized from Mexico last year were seized in the eastern Arizona region, and Nogales is the largest border city in this U.S. border patrol sector. In the past six months, the Border Patrol has seized about 500,000 pounds of illegal drugs here, which is 15 percent higher than the previous six months. Each day, hundreds of people are arrested, mostly for immigration violations but many for drug and weapons crimes. The temporary jail cells in the Border Patrol station in Nogales are often overflowing. The Border Patrol boss in this sector says his agents were assaulted 260 times within the past year. One night this week, we saw the danger and variety of lawbreaking activity experienced here quite vividly. At the immigration checkpoint set up a half-hour north of Nogales on Interstate 19, a semi truck is pulled over when the drug-sniffing dog detects something. The back of the truck is opened, and inside are thousands of tomatoes, but the dog is still not happy. The truck is taken back to the Border Patrol station, and agents climb over the tomatoes. And that's where they find the stash. Bales and bales of dope. Forty bales of marijuana. Nine hundred eight pounds, to be exact. At a street value of $800 a pound, the authorities estimate they kept $720,000 worth of marijuana off the streets. I interview the man arrested for driving the shipment. The operating theory: that he is doing dirty work for one of the Mexican cartels. But the Mexican man tells me he is not scared, because "I was just carrying tomatoes." He claims that he knew nothing about the nearly half-ton of pot. The man will be telling that to the judge and could face significant time in an American prison. Illegal drugs consume the day of all law enforcement people here. We drive with the Border Patrol in the late hours of the night and hear a call over the radio that two men have been spotted jumping the border wall with backpacks. The chase is on, and another dog is brought to the area. The men disappear, but the dog picks up a scent in the heavy, hilly brush. Sarah the drug-sniffing dog is taught to sit when she finds something. She suddenly sits and then jumps on what looks like bushes. It turns out the bushes are actually attached to sacks of marijuana. Two 25-pound sacks full of pot. They were abandoned by the men when they ran away after being spotted. Street value, at least $40,000. Ray Rivera, the agent who works with Sarah, told me that over the past two years, Sarah has found nearly 7,000 pounds of pot. But Rivera also is pretty heroic. Just a couple of weeks ago, he was shot in the leg when a man he was chasing committed suicide. The bullet passed through the man's face and into Rivera's knee. Law enforcement life here is not for the squeamish. Before we leave this area, we go to a rural area west of Nogales where we hear illegal immigrants and drug couriers often try to get into the United States. When we get there, we see why. The tall border fence abruptly ends as it gets close to a small mountain, but there is plenty of space for people to squeeze into the United States. We wander about 10 feet into Mexico to look at some of the clothes, water bottles and cigarette boxes that people have
|
[
"What kind of fruit was used to conceal the marijuana?",
"What dud Tuchman say about law enforcement life?",
"Where did half of the illegal drug seizures occur?",
"During what time frame did Border Patrol seize 500,000 pounds of drugs?",
"In what region were seizures reported in?",
"Where does Gary Tuchman work?",
"What were the drugs hidden in?",
"What did bushels of tomatoes conceal?"
] |
[
[
"tomatoes,"
],
[
"here is not for the squeamish."
],
[
"eastern Arizona region,"
],
[
"past six months,"
],
[
"eastern Arizona"
],
[
"CNN"
],
[
"tomatoes."
],
[
"bales of dope."
]
] |
About half of seizures of illegal drugs from Mexico occurred in eastern Arizona region .
In past six months, Border Patrol has seized about 500,000 pounds of drugs .
Bushels of tomatoes conceal 908 lbs. of marijuana in truck seized by patrol .
CNN's Gary Tuchman: "Law enforcement life here is not for the squeamish"
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.