PESHAWAR: The now almost month-long fighting between two militant groups in South Waziristan has made the situation more puzzling, particularly in the context of the on-again, off-again peace talks.
The fighting between Khan Said alias Sajna and Shehryar - both Shobikhel Mehsuds - has raised questions of whether what is essentially a turf war for leadership and territorial control of the Mehsud heartland will spread to other tribal regions, and engulf the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), causing further fissures in Taliban ranks.
The TTP as an organisation has so far refrained from taking sides and SOS signals sent by one or the other group to rally support, government official’s claim, have failed to evoke any response for a variety of reasons.
Focus on media code of conduct
ISLAMABAD: Columnist Irfan Siddiqui, special assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been appointed to spearhead a special committee which will work on “removing ambiguities in code of conduct for media,” official sources here confirmed yesterday.
On Sharif’s directive, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has constituted a committee with the mandate to devise a mechanism with a revised composition of complaints commission, says an official statement issued by the office of the principal information officer.
Sources say Information Minister Senator Pervez Rashid on Thursday discussed the matter with APNS President Hameed Haroon, CPNE President Mujeeb Shami and Executive Member PBA Mian Amir.
Anti-polio steps satisfy WHO
ISLAMABAD: World Health Organisation (WHO) is satisfied with the initial steps taken by the government of Pakistan to stop the spread of the wild poliovirus outside its borders, its polio chief Dr Elias Durry has said.
Dr Durry told Dawn newspaper in an interview published yesterday that he knew that Pakistan was “doing a lot to prevent” the export of polio.
“Pakistan should continue to take steps to ensure that the international community is not affected by the poliovirus,” he said.
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