WANA, May 7: Four tribesmen were killed and one was injured on Saturday when a rocket they were trying to dismantle exploded in Wana, an official said. Meanwhile, the authorities in Peshawar have declared high security alert after saboteurs attacked two check posts of paramilitary forces near Miramshah on Friday night.
The tribesmen had found an unexploded rocket in a forest near Lalayzai village, which blew up when they tried to dismantle it, a local administration official told AFP. The injured had been admitted to a hospital, he said.
Our Correspondent from Miramshah adds: Miscreants fired missiles on Friday night at two check posts of paramilitary forces near the Pak-Afghan border. Officials said three missiles had been fired from an unknown location at about 2pm, which landed near Sidgi and Girgat checkpoints some 15 kilometres west of Miramshah, the agency headquarters.
The missiles fired at Sidgi check post missed the target and landed at a close distance whereas two missiles fell Girgat checkpoint near the Pak-Afghan border. The attacks created fear in the locality. However, there were no reports of injuries or loss of life. The paramilitary forces did not retaliate the fire.
Peshawar Bureau adds: The authorities have declared a high security alert in Peshawar and installed surveillance equipment at foreign missions and other sensitive places in the city, police officials said.
They said extensive security arrangements had been made across the city after the dramatic arrest of Al Qaeda key leader Abu Faraj Al Libbi and other suspects from Mardan and the tribal areas a few days ago.
Senior Superintendent Police (operation) Mohammad Saeed Wazir told Dawn here on Saturday that additional police force had been provided to all foreign missions in the city, including offices of the United Nations, diplomatic missions, banks and their residential areas.
“Though situation is normal, but there is apprehensions about sabotage,” the SSP said, adding that fresh arrangements was part of the countrywide security alert. He said surveillance cameras had also been installed at various sensitive places in the city and foreign missions had been directed to improve their internal security arrangements while police also beefed up security in public parks and business centres.
An official told Dawn that they had been directed by the UN security agency to avoid unnecessary movement. He said they had been receiving directives from time to time to exercise extreme caution while on duty and the use of UN vehicles, especially outside the city.
WASHINGTON, May 7: There’s a serious possibility of Al Qaeda trying to steal nuclear weapons in Pakistan, says a report released recently by a Harvard University study group. The report, launched by a former US senator Sam Nunn, tries to persuade the United States and Russia to work together to prevent terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Mathew Bunn, who co-authored the report titled “Managing the Atom Project” with Anthony Weir, warned that the United States and Russia will become vulnerable to nuclear terrorism if they don’t focus on securing weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Bunn warned that Pakistan’s arrest of suspected Al Qaeda operative Abu Farraj Al Libbi, announced on May 4, highlights that vulnerability. He said two assassination attempts against President Pervez Musharraf are believed to have been orchestrated by Al Libbi, with the collaboration of some military officers.
“The danger of nuclear theft is a global problem, not just a Russia problem,” said Mr Bunn while urging the United States and Russia to “forge a common nuclear standard for the world because terrorists are going to get nuclear material wherever it is easiest.”