Profile: Lt General Raheel Sharif (BIOGRAPHY)

Lt Gen Raheel Sharif as New Army Chief of Pakistan - Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif Pics, Biodate and Biography

Lt Gen Raheel Sharif  Biography

Prior to this appointment as Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif was serving as the Inspector General Training and Evaluation at the General Headquarters.His prior appointments include Commander, Gujranwala XXX Corps, Commandant of Pakistan Military Academy Kakul and General Officer Commanding Lahore. He is the younger brother of Nishan-i-Haider recipient Major Shabbir Sharif.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to name Lt. Gen. Raheel Sharif as the new Chief of Army Staff while Lt. Gen. Rashid Mehmood likely to be appointed as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, citing well placed sources, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Pirme Minister Finalized Lt Gen Raheel Sharif as New Army Chief of Pakistan

Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif  with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pevez Kayani

Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif with US Army

Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif  in Office

Lt Gen Raheel Sharif 

Born in Quetta on June 16, 1956 to Major and Mrs Muhammad Sharif, newly-appointed army chief Raheel Sharif grew up steeped in the military tradition.

Sharif’s elder brother, Shabbir Sharif, was a course-mate of General (rtd) Pervez Musharraf, and was killed during the 1971 war with India and was awarded the Nishan-i-Haider, Pakistan's highest military award.

He attained his formal education at Government College Lahore and later went on to attend the Pakistan Military Academy.

After graduation, he was commissioned in 1976 in the battle hardened and renowned 6th battalion The Frontier Force Regiment in which his elder brother was also commissioned.

As a young officer, he performed his duties in Gilgit in an infantry brigade and also served as adjutant of Pakistan Military Academy.

Over the years, Sharif climbed up the military ladder mentored by Musharraf who handed him command of the 11th Infantry Division in Lahore.

Despite the common surname, Raheel Sharif is not related to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but is known to be close to tribal affairs minister Lieutenant-General Abdul Qadir Baloch, a key confidante of the Sharif family.

As a brigadier, he has commanded two infantry brigades including an independent infantry brigade group.

He has been the General Officer Commanding of an infantry division and the Commandant of the prestigious Pakistan Military Academy.

As a Lieutenant General, Sharif served as Corps Commander for two years before taking over as Inspector General Training and Evaluation in which capacity he oversaw the training of Pakistan Army.

He was also awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award and honour that is given to both civilians and military officers of the Pakistan armed forces.

On Nov 27, the government approved Sharif’s appointment for the slot of Chief of Army Staff, a position that he will be taking over from Ashfaq Parvez Kayani who will be stepping down on Nov 29 after serving as military chief for six years.

The general is married with two sons and a daughter.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with its allied parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government, began its protest in Peshawar on Saturday against the US drone strikes.

 

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with its allied parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government, began its protest in Peshawar on Saturday against the US drone strikes.
The Ring Road in Peshawar, which is the main supply route for Nato, and the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham was blocked to choke Nato supplies. Security measures were also taken to avoid any untoward situation.
“We are being killed by dengue, hepatitis, tuberculosis, electricity, gas, inflation as well as drones,” stated Awami Muslim League (AML) President and MNA Sheikh Rasheed, who was the first speaker at the protest.
He also spoke against the federal government harshly during his speech.
PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that when PTI Chairman Imran Khan was talking about drones, no one listened to him. “Now even the UN secretary general says that they [drone strikes] are in violation of international laws. They call it war crimes,” he said.
Background
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan had placed responsibility for November 21’s drone strike on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his press conference in Islamabad.
He had invited the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to join the rally today against the first drone strike in settled areas of K-P, in which six people were killed and eight others were injured in Tal area of Hangu.

My Inestigation report............ Another unbaned Armed group Sipah e Mukhtar. Rawalpindi Riots Solved.

real link of this news
http://www.siasat.pk/forum/showthread.php?219102-Exclusive-Video-and-Pictures-of-riots-in-Raja-Bazaar-Rawalpindi/page8

Sipah E Mukhtar News ‏@SMP_14716h
Sipah-e-Mukhtar Alert:-Khairpur: Perokaran e Mukhtar Ne SSP K 4 ***** Kutton Ko Firing Kr K Shadeed Zakhmi Krdia.#InteQaam


Group isnt banned or anything infact is allowed to openly carry weapons and "protect" jaloos.

Lakhani owned ET also had a Slide show on them a few days back,


tribune.com.pk/multimedia/slideshows/631504/







Website has more info:

mfp.org.pk

Shows its an armed wing of TNFJ






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Pictures are from Mukhtar force units in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
(Doesnt see that active else where in the country)


Note similarities in name badges from yesterday Rawalpindi Lynching incident:

PFUJ observed Journalists Martyrs day 19-11-2013 across Pakistan.

Islamabad, Mirpur AJK: Sardar Attiq Sadozai

Pakistan Federation Union of Journalists (PFUJ) will observed the ‘Journalists Martyrs Day’, today (Tuesday) to pay rich tributes to all those journalists who were killed in the line of duty, in Pakistan and around the world, says a press release.

PFUJ holds seminars and rallies to highlight their cases and failures of the government to provide justice to the victims“We have also appealed to the International Journalist bodies to show solidarity with the victims and their families,” President of the PFUJ, Afzal Butt and Secretary General, Khursheed Abbasi and Saadia Sehar Haidari widow of Aziz ullah Haidari, activist journalist said in a joint statement.

They called upon the government to appoint Special Public Prosecutors for speedy trials of journalists who were killed and recovery of missing journalists. By observing Nov 19th as day for martyred journalists, PFUJ will try to draw world’s attention towards the threats faced by Pakistani journalists.PFUJ appealed to all the UJS, Press Clubs, civil societies, lawyers, trade unions and political parties to join hands in expressing solidarity with the journalists.

On the call of PFUJ several media organizations also observed this day across country. Mirpur AJK, Kashmir Press Club Mirpur observed solidarity day with journalists martyred on duty. seminar conducted at Club's hall where senior and junior journalist paid tribute to all martyred journalist special aziz ullah Haidari.
while addressing the gathering President club Syed Abid Hussain Shah, Secretary general Sajjad Jarral, Altaf Hamid Rao, Bilal rafiq, Rafiq Mughal along with other speakers demanded justice for murdered journalists in Pakistan. speakers also demanded govt to implement wage-board award and force media owners to pay salaries to their employees.

Al-Ansar and Daily Pardes News on Rawalpindi Inccident.

Press Tv (Iran) Biased, Fake, Oposite from ground reality report on Rawalpindi. what a shameful journalism in Iran.

Iranian PRESS TV reported totally wrong, biased and fake news report totally opposite from the ground realities. True Report is Shia group killed 7 Non shia muslims in a Masjid at rawalpindi and several injured.

Look what PRESS TV says. Comment below on this report. you comments worth for Pakistan.

Pro-Taliban militants have attacked a religious gathering in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, killing at least eight Shia Muslims and injuring several others, security sources say.

The violence broke out as Shia Muslim mourners massed to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (Peace Be Upon Him), grandson of Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

Local security officials say the procession coincided with a sermon in a nearby mosque controlled by a Sunni extremist group.

The exact cause of the clash could not be immediately determined. But media reports say it began after someone fired at the Shia procession.

A curfew has been imposed after army soldiers were called in to control the situation.

Shia Muslims in Pakistan say the government must take decisive action against the forces involved in the targeted killings. They also accuse Islamabad of failing to provide security for the Muslim community.

The country’s Shia leaders have called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the bloodshed.

The killing of Shias has caused an international outrage, with rights groups and regional countries expressing concern over the ongoing deadly violence.

Meanwhile, Muslims across Pakistan have held mourning ceremonies to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH). The ceremonies took place in a number of cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta and Karachi.

Mourners took to the streets in their millions to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hossein and his 72 companions. They were killed during a battle in Karbala on the day of Ashura---that’s the tenth day of the month of Muharram on the lunar calendar.

Some other Muslim countries, like Iran, observed Ashura on Thursday.


JR/AB

My Article on Current Situation in Pakistan.

EYE WITNESS ON RAWALPINDI MASSACRE.

PLEASE CLICK ON LINK TO WATCH VIDEO OF EYE WITNESS.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=232281103614902&set=vb.182985658544447&type=2&theater

MEDIA COVERAGE ON RAWALPINDI KILLINGS 18-11-2013

Death behind the Ducks. Migrant Birds killing is continue in Mirpur AJK.

Mirpur AJK:

Death behind the Ducks. Migrant Birds killing is continue in Mirpur AJK.

 Migrant Birds killing is continue in Mangla dam lake for this winter season. Hunters are hunting Mallard or Anas platyrhynchos  or known as in local language Murghabi or Neilsar. Amateur hunters continuously hunting Mrughabis, Black Ducks on the bank of Mangla Lake and uploading their pictures on social media. While Wildlife and fisheries department of Azad Jammu & Kashmir state is silent on these crimes. Birds hunting is banned in AJK but hunters ignore the laws and make fun during hunting.

 Director Fisheries and Wildlife department of AJK state Ch Abdul Razaq told Express Tribune that Department strictly follows the laws and in several occasions departments arrested hunters during hunting these precious migrant birds but we can not make check posts or departmental security patrol on the sides of Mangla lake because of insufficient funds and Inadequate staff." publc asks govt to take serious notice on killing of migrant birds at Mangla Lake. It is to remember that these migrant birds from across the world come at mangla lake from September to March. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Common Teal (Anas crecca), Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) and Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) are some of the birds that flock the vast blue waters of Mangla Dam Lake.

Pakistan Taliban name Mullah Fazlullah new leader

The BBC's Haroon Rashid says the Pakistani Taliban "wanted to send out a message to the world"

Continue reading the main story

Taliban Conflict

• Profile: Mullah Fazlullah
• Meeting Fazlullah
• Tribal politics
• Who are the Taliban?

Pakistan's Taliban have named Mullah Fazlullah as their new leader, after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack.

Mullah Fazlullah is a particularly hardline commander whose men shot the schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.
Mehsud was killed when missiles struck his vehicle in the North Waziristan region on 1 November.
The government had been trying to set up peace talks, but the new leader has already rejected the initiative.
The BBC's Richard Galpin in Islamabad says the Taliban have indicated that Mullah Fazlullah wants revenge for the killing of Mehsud.
A Taliban spokesman told the BBC the militants would target the military and the governing party.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad

The choice of Mullah Fazlullah as the new head of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) is unlikely to please many Pakistanis. He was among the TTP's more vocal opponents of talks with Islamabad, so the group appears set to continue on the path of violence.
Mullah Fazlullah led the bloody occupation of the Swat Valley in 2008-09, and pioneered a violent campaign against polio vaccination.
Since his eviction from Swat in an army operation in 2009, he has moved to north-eastern Afghanistan from where he has launched several attacks against the Pakistani military, including one in September that killed an army general. He also said he was behind the assassination attempt on education activist Malala Yousafzai last year.
But he starts out with two major disadvantages - he is not based in Pakistan and he is not a native of the Waziristan tribal region, the main militant sanctuary. Many expect him to face problems in controlling the disparate, and at times fractious groups within the TTP, the bulk of them locals from Waziristan.

• Pakistanis react with dismay to new Taliban chief

The Mehsud killing had angered the Pakistani government. Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan said that the drone strike was "not just the killing of one person, it's the death of all peace efforts".

Mehsud clan The announcement of the new leader was made by the Taliban's caretaker leader Asmatullah Shaheen at a news conference at an undisclosed location.
When the news was announced, there was reportedly heavy celebratory gunfire in the area around Miranshah, the main town in the tribal area of North Waziristan.
Mullah Fazlullah led a brutal campaign in Swat between 2008 and 2009, enforcing hardline Islamic law, that included burning schools, and public floggings and beheadings.
A military operation was launched to retake the area.
Mullah Fazlullah fled over the border into Afghanistan but Islamabad says he has continued to orchestrate attacks in Pakistan.
He was accused of being behind a roadside bomb in September that killed Maj Gen Sanaullah Niazi, the top commander in Swat, along with two other military personnel.
Mullah Fazlullah was known for his radio broadcasts calling for strict Islamic laws and earning him the nickname "Mullah Radio".
The shooting of Malala Yousafzai in October 2012 sparked outrage in Pakistan and across the globe.

Continue reading the main story

Mullah Fazlullah

• Leader of Taliban in Swat in north-west Pakistan
• Ousted from Swat by troops in 2009 - now based on Afghanistan-Pakistan border
• First Pakistan Taliban leader not from tribal areas - all were from Waziristan so far
• His fighters shot schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai
• Known as Mullah Radio for his fiery broadcasts

• Meeting Mullah Fazlullah
• Profile: Mullah Fazlullah

The teenager had spoken out against the Taliban's restrictions on girls' education.

She was airlifted to the UK for hospital treatment and now lives in Birmingham with her family.
This year Malala, now 16, addressed the UN General Assembly and won the European Union's Sakharov human rights prize.
Prior to the latest Taliban announcement, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad said that Mullah Fazlullah was not a member of the Mehsud clan and, if appointed, would face a challenge to control the Mehsud fighters, who make up the bulk of the Taliban's manpower.
The Taliban's ruling council took seven days to reach a decision.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had come to power in May pledging a negotiated settlement to the insurgency, but militant attacks continued.
The government said a delegation had been due to fly to North Waziristan to discuss peace talks with Hakimullah Mehsud but he was killed in the drone strike the day before.
There had been some hope a new leader of the Taliban would be more open to the peace initiative.
Regional Taliban commander Khan Said Sajna, said to favour such a move, had been touted as a favourite before the latest announcement.

 

India must repeal black law: Amnesty International

AFSPA leads to gross abuse of fundamental rights
New Delhi, November 08 (KMS): The world rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has urged the government of India to repeal the black Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and grant full reparation to victims of human rights violations committed by government forces.
Shashikumar Velath, Programmes Director of Amnesty International India in a media briefing titled “The Armed Forces Special Powers Act: Time For A Renewed Debate in India on Human Rights and National Security,” in New Delhi said that a recent spate of domestic and international criticism of the AFSPA and continuing human rights violations enabled by the controversial law must lead to its immediate repeal.“From the Justice Verma Committee to the Justice Hegde Commission to several UN Special Rapporteurs, several expert bodies have now pointed out that the AFSPA enables serious human rights abuses wherever it is in force,” he said. “As these bodies have noted, the AFSPA has not made these areas safer, but has instead led to gross abuse of fundamental human rights of ordinary people. Authorities cannot simply continue to trot out arguments about national security any longer to defend the AFSPA,” the statement said.
The Justice Santosh Hegde Commission, appointed by the Supreme Court of India to investigate six cases of fake encounters in Manipur, said that “the continuous use of the AFSPA for decades in Manipur has evidently had little or no effect on the situation” and described the law as a “a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high-handedness”. It also said that Indian forces have been “transgressing the legal bounds for counter-insurgency operations.”
“Amnesty International, India, has also found evidence of continuing violations of international law under the AFSPA,” said Shashikumar Velath. “These include continuing use of lethal force in both Northeastern areas and in Jammu and Kashmir, lack of accountability in cases of alleged human rights violations, and denial of justice to victims,” he added.
The AFSPA provides sweeping powers to Indian forces including the power to shoot to kill in situations where they are not at imminent risk, and to arrest people without warrants, and even detain them illegally, often leading to cases of extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances.