Pakistani police opened fire on pro-Taliban protesters yesterday, killing three people. The incident is part of a nationwide crackdown on a general strike called by Islamic parties against government support for the war on Afghanistan.
Police charged with batons and lobbed tear gas at about 4,000 protesters blocking a train at Shadan Lund railway station, 150km from the central Punjab city of Multan, before opening fire, doctors and officials said.
Dr Khalil ur Rehman Lund at the Rural Health Center in Shadan Lund said three people died of bullet wounds and four were wounded.
PHOTO: AFP
"The people have dispersed but there is still tension in the area as people are very angry," Lund said.
Elsewhere in Pakistan, a pivotal ally of the US in its attacks on Afghanistan, police fired tear gas and warning shots to scatter anti-government protesters.
Roads were almost deserted and shops shuttered, but because the government also declared yesterday a national holiday to mark the birthday of Pakistan's national poet, Allama Iqbal, it was difficult to gauge the extent of the strike.
Police said they were on alert for possible trouble after traditional Friday afternoon Muslim prayers when thousands of worshippers come out from the mosques.
About 100 protesters who were blocking a national highway near Sibi, 100km southeast of Quetta in Baluchistan province, were detained by police. Police fired into the air and used tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowd.
Police also fired tear gas at protesters in the biggest city, Karachi, and in the northwestern city of Peshawar, gateway to the Khyber Pass and Afghanistan.
About 100 Taliban supporters, chanting "Osama will rule" and "Taliban, Taliban" marched through the bazaars of Peshawar, shutting down shops, witnesses said.
Pakistan's Islamic parties have vowed to bring the country to a halt in a pro-Taliban show of force yesterday, despite a government crackdown against their leaders, two of whom were detained this week.
The shutdown of bazaars and transport called by the 35-party Afghanistan Defense Council is in protest against the Pakistani government's support of the US raids targeting the Taliban and their guest Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Pakistani President Pervez Mu-sharraf was due to arrive in the US yesterday after a visit to Europe.
Pakistani air space is the main route for US bombing raids, but most Pakistanis oppose the bombing, and Musharraf has urged a pause in the attacks during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts next week.
"We want Pervez Musharraf to tell Bush that he must stop the bombing, the killing of civilians," said Aslam Farooqi, secretary general of the Sunni militant Sipah-e-Sahabah group in Peshawar.
In the capital, Islamabad, almost all markets were shut.
In the neighboring city of Rawalpindi, several small groups of stone-throwing youths played cat-and-mouse with riot police. The protesters burned tyres before being chased away. The streets of the southwestern city of Quetta near the Afghan border were deserted, in contrast to the usual traffic chaos. Most vehicles on the road were pick-ups laden with armed police and militia, witnesses said.
Police had set up machine gun posts on top of houses at major intersections. Shops were shuttered.
In Lahore, capital of populous Punjab province, streets were empty and almost all markets were closed.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned