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September 25:
Although Afghanistan’s first democratic election is scheduled for October 9th, the Taliban continue to gain strength, and women who attempt to exercise their rights are subject to rapes, beatings, kidnapping and other forms of intimidation, reports the
Washington Times. In an Asia Foundation survey, 87 percent of all Afghans interviewed said that women would need their husband’s permission to vote and 72 percent said men should advise women on their voting choices. The 89 percent illiteracy rate among women also remains a substantial concern. “Women will vote what their husbands or some militiamen told them to vote. Or they will vote for President Hamid Karzai because they recognize his picture.”
October 2:
A suicide attacker entered a Shiite mosque filled with hundreds of worshippers in Sialkot, Pakistan and killed at least 25 people and left more than 50 wounded after he detonated a bomb he carried
in a briefcase, reports the Washington Times. Shiite Muslims make up only 20 percent of Pakistan’s 150 million people, most whom are Sunni Muslims. No group has claimed responsibility but speculations are that the bombing was in retaliation for the security forces’ killing of a Sunni militant Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a top Pakistani al Qaeda operative accused in the beheading of American reporter Daniel Pearl.
October 4:
“Arms for Peace,” the concept for this year’s Pakistani IDEAS 2004 arms conference, has attracted delegations from North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Sudan and Zimbabwe, reports Joshua Kucera on
msn.com. The delegations viewed heavy weaponry, including conventional weapon shells advertised for use against “soft targets,” i.e. humans. For the first time U.S. companies such as Raytheon, United Defense, and Lockheed Martin are exhibiting at IDEAS. After September 11 and the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. lifted sanctions they imposed on Pakistan in the 1990s, due to the discovery of the country’s secret nuclear bomb program. Over the next five years, Pakistan will receive $1.5 billion in
military aid from the U.S.
An announcement made at IDEAS 2004 revealed that the United States might also supply Pakistan’s military with F-16 fighter jets equipped with top-of-the-line air-to-air missiles and navy surveillance planes to fight against the Taliban. However, the missiles are little use against a guerilla insurgency, though quite useful in a war against India.
October 5:
Beginning on October 2nd, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, terror struck for three consecutive days in the Northeastern region of India, leaving 60 people dead and more than 200 others injured, reports
South Asia Intelligence Review [www.SATP.org]. The string of attacks included serial bombings and gunfire in Dimapur, the State of Nagaland, and Assam.
The two groups that claimed responsibility are the outlawed National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) and the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). The groups are likely sending the message that they will not give up their intractable postures or engage in peace negotiations. The attacks in Assam may be tactics for the rebels to overstep the Government’s peace overtures, although the targeting of civilians has been a new development. Coordinated counter-terrorism has been difficult because in various northeastern states, the police, army, and intelligence agencies have different means, modes, and approaches for interacting with security and law enforcement agencies in neighboring states.
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