Tag: Military

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey have launched a week-long tripartite military exercise at Tuzla in Turkey, said an ISPR statement issued here on Friday. "The three countries decided to hold joint exercises at the conclusion of the 5th Trilateral Summit in December 2010," the statement added.
The joint exercise involves military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) against terrorists. The events include basic and battle order training, MOUT demonstration by the Turkish

ISLAMABAD - Renowned Indian journalist and peace activist Kuldeep Nayar on Tuesday urged his country to cut the military budget. "Both India and Pakistan should cut their military budget and former should take initiative in this regard," Kuldeep Nayar said here at a ceremony organized by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).
He was heading Indian visiting delegation comprising Journalists and peace activists. Kuldeep Nayar said that people of both sides of divide wanted

TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi warned the West against military intervention in Libya, describing any such act as "clear aggression", a government spokesman quoted him as saying on Saturday.
"This is injustice, this is clear aggression," the spokesman, Mussa Ibrahim, quoted Gaddafi as saying in a letter addressed to France, Britain and the United Nations. "You will regret it if you take a step towards interfering in our internal affairs."
He also quoted Gaddafi as

LONDON - Oil rose above $116 a barrel on Friday after the United Nations authorised Western-led attacks in OPEC member Libya and tension stayed high across the oil-producing Middle East. Efforts to subdue inflation in China, the world's second biggest oil user after the United States, only briefly wiped out gains. Brent was up $1.19 at $116.09 a barrel by 1202 GMT, after earlier climbing above $117. U.S. crude for April gained $1.67 to $103.09.
Oil markets reached their highest

WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday the world must make clear that Iran would face "credible military action" if sanctions do not shut down Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Netanyahu, in an interview on CNN, said it was clear Iran was pursing its nuclear ambitions despite international sanctions and was getting a lot closer to obtaining nuclear arms. "They have enriched enough material now almost for three nuclear bombs," he said. "They still

SANAA - Heavy gunfire was heard south of the Yemen capital on Monday and soldiers deployed in force in Sanaa itself, with a new wave of rallies reported across the country demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh quit.
The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been shaken by weeks of protests that have undermined Saleh's 32-year grip on power, with the president appearing increasingly willing to deal more violently with his many opponents. Seven demonstrators have died in

SANAA - Yemeni protests demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule spread to a tribal area considered his political stronghold on Tuesday, and military vehicles deployed in the capital. Around 10,000 protesters marched in the city of Dhamar, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Sanaa, residents said by telephone.
Dhamar is known for its ties to Saleh and is the hometown of Yemen's prime minister, interior minister and head judge. "Leave! leave!" the protesters

BEIJING - China announced a renewed double-digit hike in military spending on Friday after funding slowed last year, but insisted the nearly $92 billion outlay posed no external threat despite concerns abroad. The defence budget will rise 12.7 percent in 2011 to 601.1 billion yuan ($91.7 billion), said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for China's national parliament, citing a budget report to be submitted to the rubber-stamp legislature.
"China has always paid attention to controlling the

CAIRO - Egyptian military has set a vote on constitutional change provisionally for March 19 as a prelude to a parliamentary election in June followed by a presidential poll to usher in full democracy, army sources said on Tuesday.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, running the Arab world's most populous nation since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak on February 11, is sticking to a short timetable to open a new chapter in modern Egyptian history.
"The timeframe the

WASHINGTON - The US military has begun pulling soldiers out of the Pech valley in eastern Afghanistan, a location once said to be vital to the war effort in the region, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The commander of US-led forces in eastern Afghanistan, Major General John Campbell, is "repositioning" forces "within the province to achieve greater effect and allow for more flexibility," said Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Robbins, a Pentagon spokesperson.
Campbell, "is moving

HONG KONG - A top US naval commander on Monday said Washington plans to boost its military presence in Asia, while warning that China should expand its own forces in a "responsible and constructive" way. The US has expressed concerns about Beijing's military build up, with the Pentagon saying this month that China was developing "counterspace" weapons that could shoot down satellites or jam signals.
Beijing has become increasingly assertive in its ambitions on the high seas in

VIENNA - The UN atomic watchdog may soon spell out in more detail its concerns about possible military aspects to Iran's disputed nuclear programme, Western diplomatic sources say. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is considering including an annex on the issue in its next regular report on Iran's atomic activities due this month, ahead of a meeting in early March of its 35-nation governing board, one source said.
Such a move would signal the UN body's growing

CAIRO - Troops took control of Tahrir Square, the fulcrum of protests that swept Hosni Mubarak from power, to allow traffic through central Cairo on Sunday as military rulers struggled to get life in Egypt back to normal.
There were heated rows in Tahrir Square on whether to keep up protests or comply with army orders to help put Egypt back on its feet. "The people want the square cleared", one group chanted. "We will not leave, we will not leave," replied another.
The Arab

ISLAMABAD - Dr Abdul Basit, counsel for two dysfunctional judges of the Lahore High Court - Justice Shabbar Raza Rizvi and Justice Hasnat Ahmed Khan - facing contempt charges for taking oath in violation of Supreme Court orders, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to take steps to prevent military interventions in future. A four-member bench of Justices Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Jawwad S Khawaja, Khilji Arif Hussain and Tariq Parvez was hearing contempt of court cases against the

SEOUL - South Korea on Thursday accepted North Korea's offer of high-level military talks to ease months of tension, but said the North must admit responsibility for two deadly border attacks. The offer came earlier in the day in a message from defence minister Kim Yong-Chun to his counterpart in the South, Kim Kwan-Jin.
Seoul's unification ministry said the North suggested that the two sides exchange views on both incidents and on "military tension reduction" on the peninsula.

ISLAMABAD - Ruling out a military operation in North Waziristan, ISPR Director General (DG) Athar Abbas on Monday said the Pakistan Army could not currently open another front as the security forces were in the process of consolidating their current gains.
"Whenever any operation is launched, a state devises a strategy after assessing the dangers involved. Now we are in the phase of consolidating the control in the troubled areas after successful operations there and cannot

ISLAMABAD - Frank J Ruggiero, the acting US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Friday urged Pakistani authorities to accelerate anti-terrorism efforts in the country's Tribal Areas, saying it was vital for the success of the counter-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
The US special representative called on Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani at General Headquarters. The visiting dignitary remained with him for some time and discussed matters of mutual