3 F-16 jets arrive from US

ISLAMABAD: Second batch of three F-16 C/D Block 52 aircraft arrived at the PAF Base, Shahbaz (Jacobabad) on Saturday, whereas two more would arrive during the next week. Brigadier General Michael Nagata, deputy commander, Office of Defence Representative in Pakistan handed over the aircraft on behalf of the US government to Air Marshal Muhammad Hasan, deputy chief of the Air Staff (Operations). Pakistan had signed a contract with the US government in 2005-06 for the acquisition of 18 F-16 C/D Block 52 aircraft. Under this arrangement, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) would receive these state-of-the-art aircraft from the US in staggered batches. In this connection, the first batch of three similar aircraft arrived in Pakistan in May 2010. The deliveries of the rest of the aircraft would be completed by December 2010. The F-16 C/D aircraft is a high tech fighter aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art avionics suite and latest weapons with Night Precision Attack capability. These aircraft are part of the bid by PAF to modernise and enhance its air defence capabilities.

Read More

Pakistan’s nukes are safe: Indian army chief

Indian Army Chief Gen VK Singh said on Sunday that concern remains over Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of terrorists, but he feels these weapons are secure.

“Probably Pakistan also has (such concerns) and they are taking extra measures….I don’t think, there is any reason to say things are not secure. Things are secure,” the army chief told the Press Trust of India in an interview.

He, however, added that this will remain a concern given “the way internal dynamics (of Pakistan) are”.

Recently, Gen Singh was criticised in Pakistan for his comments that Pakistan and China are “major irritants” and India was ready to fight a conventional warfare in a nuclear scenario.

Rejecting Pakistan’s contention that his recent comments were “jingoistic”, he said such views were not only his but of the entire world. The army chief said that both Pakistan and China were nuclear armed countries and “who uses (such weapons), we don’t know. As armed forces, we should always keep this in mind that there is somebody who can use it.”

Elaborating on his contention, he pointed out that Pakistan has done “sabre-rattling” on behalf of nuclear weapons and “we, as a force, are prepared to fight anytime.”

Turning to China, he said the borders are calm and confidence building measures are in place and “things are not as bad as we look at the western side (Pakistan).”

He, however, said no one knows “when its intention will change” and “it remains a cause of worry.” Commenting on China’s capability building, Gen Singh said it is engaging a lot of India’s neighbours and it impacts “our overall security scenario”.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2010.

Read More

4,000 Baloch inducted in Pakistan Army - Tribune

Four thousand young Baloch men were inducted into the Pakistan Army after their passing out parades in five towns of the province.

Parades were held in Quetta, Sibi, Zhob, Khuzdar and Kashmore.

The newly inducted soldiers will serve in fighting, technical and support wings of the army.

The army will also induct another 10,000 Baloch men, who are currently undergoing training, in the coming months.

Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Magsi and Corps Commander Lt Gen Javed Zia were the chief guests on the occasion, while the Pakistan Army also announced to convert its Sui cantonment into an education city.

Read More

ANALYSIS: Is Orakzai Agency cleared of the Taliban? —Farhat Taj

The IDPs say that both the Taliban and the Pakistan Army have bombed their empty houses in Orakzai. The authorities are now handing them tents so that they go back and erect tents on the sites of their bombed out homes

Recently, the Pakistani media reported that security forces have cleared 90 percent of Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Frontier Corps Inspector General Nadir Zeb reportedly said that a limited operation would continue in Mamuzai area, the stronghold of the Taliban in the Agency. He further said that clues pertaining to al Qaeda’s presence were found in Orakzai, but most of their operatives had been killed and others had fled the area. Moreover, he also said that internally displaced people (IDPs) from the area would start coming home in a few days.

Any notion of Orakzai being cleared of the Taliban without the elimination of the Taliban leadership in the area is meaningless. All the prominent commanders in Orakzai are still alive. None of them have even been arrested so far. They include Hakimullah, Toofan Mullah, Aslam Farooqi, Tariq Afridi, Gul Zaman Mullah, Salam Mullah, Zia-ur-Rehman, Nabi Mullah, Hafiz Saeed and Saif-ur-Rehman. The military spokesmen are not explaining how Orakzai can be secured without the elimination of the Taliban leadership.

A viewpoint of the Orakzai IDPs is that the military leadership does not wish to eliminate these Taliban commanders. The commanders are the ‘strategic assets’ of the intelligence authorities and will be used for terrorism in Afghanistan and the ‘managed chaos’ engineered by the intelligence agencies in FATA. To counter this perception, the military will have to eliminate the entire Taliban leadership. The people of Orakzai, who have suffered human rights violations at the hands of the commanders, want to see them killed. There seems to be no one in Pakistan willing to grill the military authorities over their failure to eliminate the Taliban leadership.

There are Taliban in the area between Ghiljo and Shahu Khel, who kill and kidnap people from Hangu and its surrounding areas. The area from Ghiljo to Yakh Kandaw has also not been cleared and, only a few days ago, some soldiers were killed there. Mamuzia is still under the control of the Taliban. Feroz Khel, Utman Khel and Bezot, the areas supposedly cleared several weeks ago, are still under the influence of the Taliban.

Only three areas, Mishti Khel, Shaikhan and Kalaya can be viewed as cleared of the Taliban. Kalaya is a Shia area in Orakzai and has never suffered Taliban occupation, therefore the army cannot claim to have cleared it of the Taliban.

The military authorities are putting pressure on the Orakzai IDPs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to go back to their areas. The IDPs are apprehensive because they believe that upon return they might be trapped in clashes between the Taliban and the army. They believe that clashes between the two are inevitable since the Taliban leadership is intact.

Moreover, the IDPs are afraid that the Taliban will assault them with a vengeance upon their return. The Taliban, they argue, are more dangerous than before. They consider the IDPs to be their enemies because they fled and left the Taliban alone in Orakzai to fight the army. The Taliban wanted the IDPs — especially the able-bodied men — to fight on their side against the army. The men refused the Taliban request and preferred to flee.

The IDPs say that both the Taliban and the Pakistan Army have bombed their empty houses in Orakzai. The authorities are now handing them tents so that they go back and erect tents on the sites of their bombed out homes. They complain that first they were forced to live in homelessness in the scorching heat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and now they are being forced to spend the snowy winter of Orakzai on the debris of their destroyed homes. Moreover, both the Taliban and the Pakistan Army have bombed schools, healthcare centres and the electricity system. People’s businesses have been destroyed. How do the authorities expect the IDPs to live a normal life in such conditions? There seem to be no arrangements in place to rebuild the necessary infrastructure in Orakzai.

The military authorities should share with the nation the ‘clues’ related to al Qaeda that they found in Orakzai. They should release the information about al Qaeda militants killed in Orakzai. They must also explain why and how the other al Qaeda militants fled from Orakzai, whether or not the military chased them, where they are now and whether the authorities have any plan to kill them in the areas to where they fled. Above all, they must inform the nation about when are they going to kill or capture the Taliban leadership in Orakzai. They must also inform the masses about what security arrangements have been made for those Orakzai residents who offered armed resistance to the Taliban before the army’s arrival in the area.

Similarly, the political authorities in Orakzai must elaborate what compensation they intend to make to the IDPs for the damage to their properties caused by the Taliban and Pakistan Army and what arrangements have been made to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure in Orakzai.

Read More

Japan says succeeds in missile shield test

TOKYO -- A Japanese naval destroyer fired an interceptor missile to shoot down a mock ballistic missile off Hawaii in a test of Japan's missile-defense system, the defense ministry said Friday.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency in a statement called the test a “significant milestone in the growing cooperation between Japan and the U.S. in the area of missile defense.”

The target was launched from a U.S. navy facility on Hawaii at 0306 GMT, the Japanese defense ministry said in a statement.

The destroyer Kirishima, equipped with the Aegis radar system, detected the target and fired a SM-3 interceptor missile three minutes later, the statement added. The interceptor struck the target in outer space.

It was the fourth SM-3 launch tests Japan has conducted since 2007, using in turn four Aegis-equipped destroyers which have been upgraded with missile-defense functions. Three of the intercept tests were successful.

Washington and Tokyo have been working jointly to install a missile shield, citing the threat of attacks from North Korea, which fired a missile over Japan's main island in 1998 and tested an atomic bomb in 2006.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has been urging its NATO allies to build a missile defense shield in Europe using the SM-3 interceptors and the Aegis radar system.

The latest test took place hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in Hawaii at the start of her two-week tour of the Asia-Pacific region.

Clinton and Maehara reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Japan security alliance in the face of China's growing military strength and vowed to diversify sources of rare earths imports dominated by China.

Read More

FROM IRAN TO GAZA? Nigeria intercepts 13 Iranian missile containers

LAGOS, NIGERIA – Three men have been detained for questioning in the Nigerian capital Lagos after Nigerian national security agents intercepted and seized 13 containers of smuggled Iranian missiles and weapons camouflaged as building materials, possibly destined for Gaza.

Rocket launchers, grenades, 120mm and 60mm bombs and other explosives were concealed among crates of floor tiles in the containers which arrived by ship from Iran, docked at Apapa port in Lagos, where they were unloaded and after a few hours the ship sailed on.

Nigerian state security agents were alerted to the port where they ordered the containers to be opened for inspection, after the clearing agent in charge of their unloading attempted to bribe customs officials to allow the containers to be transferred to an off-dock terminal for screening outside the port, according to The Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday.

The containers had actually arrived in Lagos in July, and were immediately suspect because the bill of lading was unaccompanied by a required Risk Assessment Report (RAR), the paper disclosed.

Nigerian National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoye Azazi declined to say what ship carried the weapons into the port. But the federal government, he said, would destroy the weapons.

“A lot of information was still needed about the authenticity of the containers’ port of origin, the actual importers and other vital information relevant to the interception of the containers,” General Azazi said.

In Israel, which maintains close security, trade and diplomatic ties with Nigeria, a senior Israeli defense source suggested that the weapons’ seizure has exposed a possible new arms smuggling route from Iran to Gaza around the African Horn, wrote the daily Haaretz.

The Iranians may have run into difficulties sending arms to Gaza via the Arabian and Red Seas and Sudan following improved intelligence sharing and supervision in the last year by a Western maritime work team on the prevention of Iranian arms smuggling in the region, the Israeli defense official said.

Read More

Passing out parade of Pakistan Army’s 4000 Baluch recruits held

A grand ceremony was organized on the occasion of the passing out parade of 4000 Baluchi soldiers. Governor Balochistan Zulfiar Magsi was the chief guest at the occasion while Chief minister Balochistan Aslam Raisani, Corps commander Balochistan Lt General Javed Imtiaz were also present there, along with other distinguished guests families of the soldiers were are present there. ISPR in a message has congratulated the soldiers and also informed that in the future 10,000 Baluch soldiers will be inducted in Pak Army.

Read More

PAF fully capable of defending aerial frontiers of Pakistan: General Wynne - APP

PESHAWAR Oct 28 : General Khalid Shameem Wynne, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee said on Thursday that PAF remains a potent force, fully capable of defending the aerial frontiers of Pakistan.The innovations carried out by PAF leadership have enabled it to make very meaningful contributions in the success of land forces in their fight against terrorism.General Khalid Shameem Wynne, CJCSC said this while addressing the Graduation Ceremony held at Pakistan Air Force Academy Risalpur as chief guest.



Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was also present on the occasion.
Addressing the Graduating Airmen, General Wynne said that, “Today Pakistan is facing the aftermath of catastrophic floods, which in its wake has brought bereavement and devastation, surpassing records of last hundred years.
Pakistan Air Force has once again come on the forefront in collaboration with Pak Army and Navy for flood relief and rehabilitation efforts, he maintained.
On his arrival at the parade ground, General Salute was presented to General Khalid Shameem Wynne by the Aviation Cadets.
Later, the Chief Guest reviewed the parade and presented Qaid-e-Azam Banner to No 3 Squadron, the new Champion Squadron. This was followed by award of flying badges and branch insignias to graduating officers and aviation cadets.
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee’s trophy for best performance in General service training in College of Aeronautical Engineering was awarded to Pilot Officer Husham Muhammad, while Pilot Officer Salman Shair lifted Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee’s Trophy for Best Performance in General Service Training in College of Flying Training.
Chief of the Air Staff’s Trophy for best performance in Engineering Discipline was awarded to Pilot Officer Adeel Anwar, while Pilot Officer Ali Hassan lifted Chief of the Air Staff trophy for best performance in flying.
The coveted Sword of honor for best all round performance in College of Aeronautical Engineering was awarded to Pilot Officer Adeel Anwar, while Pilot Officer Salman Shair won Sword of Honour for best all round performance in College of Flying Training.
In Air Defence branch, Aviation Cadet Sharjeel Ahmed received best performance trophy and in A&SD branch, Aviation Cadet Naveed Umar was awarded best performance trophy. Significant event of the ceremony was the formation aerobatics performed by “SHERDIL” formation of nine K-8 Jet Trainer aircraft.
At the end of the ceremony, cadets of PAF Academy displayed aerobatics on Para Motor Gliders.
Parents and relatives of graduating cadets, senior civil and military officials were also present on the occasion.
Pakistan Air Force Academy, Risalpur imparts training not only to aviation cadets of Pakistan Air Force but also to the friendly countries and sister services.

Read More

Pakistan Military: Stabilize Gains Before New Operations

Meredith Buel | Islamabad VoA News: North Waziristan is inside Pakistan, but outside the law. Located along the border with Afghanistan, North Waziristan has become a crossroads for terrorism.

It is a mixed cauldron of armed jihadi organizations including the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaida and one of the deadliest insurgent groups, the network of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The United States wants Pakistan's army to attack these insurgents in the North Waziristan region who are staging deadly assaults on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, calls North Waziristan the "epicenter of terrorism."



Pakistani officials say they will not be rushed into military action there.

Mohammad Kamran Khan represents North Waziristan in the Pakistani Parliament.

"The situation in North Waziristan is not good," Khan says. "Because everyday there are gun attacks, and there is target killing, kidnapping."

Khan estimates there are 5,000 to 6,000 foreign militants currently in North Waziristan.

Local tribal leaders say Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens and fighters called "white jihadis" - meaning European militants - have come to North Waziristan to fight American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has indicated it will consider mounting a military offensive in North Waziristan, but only when other tribal areas are stabilized, which military officials say could take another six months. Pakistani Lieutenant General Asif Yasin Malik is the top military commander in the region.

"What we have to do is we have to stabilize the whole area. I have a very large area in my command. So I must stabilize all the other areas, and then maybe look at North Waziristan," Malik says.

South Asian analysts say when it comes to militants in North Waziristan, Pakistan and the United States have potentially conflicting interests.

They point out Haqqani has close ties to Pakistan's intelligence and security establishment and is viewed as a potential ally who can help Islamabad regain control of territory on its side of the border in a post-NATO Afghanistan.

Haqqani and his network of fighters are not currently a threat to Pakistan says Kamran Bokhari, who is from Pakistan and is director of South Asia analysis at Stratfor, a private U.S.-based global intelligence company.

"Despite having the relationship with the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida, he is not part of their joint efforts to wage war in Pakistan, Bokhari says. "His view is that the war, the real war is in Afghanistan and we should limit ourselves there."

Tucked in the valleys of North Waziristan, families survive in mud houses behind 10-foot walls, cooking over open fires and sleeping under the sky. Most are poor and uneducated.

North Waziristan's representative in the Pakistani Parliament, Mohammad Kamran Khan, says residents there are widely sympathetic to the Taliban, who are waging the insurgency to oust Western soldiers from Afghanistan. He believes if Pakistan and the international community want more support they should provide essential services to the people who live there.

"There is no education, no health facilities, no road infrastructure, no electricity, no drinking water," Khan points out. "So they should provide these things so that common people should say that we are Pakistanis."

North Waziristan's population is mainly Pashtun, the same ethnic group in Afghanistan that forms the backbone of the Taliban.

Rugged mountain paths lead across the unguarded border into Afghan provinces that are Taliban strongholds.

The United States has greatly increased drone attacks in North Waziristan in an effort to deny the militants a safe haven. But both Washington and Islamabad know that such strikes alone are not likely to stop the militant activity in what is becoming known as the epicenter of terrorism.

Read More

PAKISTAN: How To Extract Protection Money From US - B.Raman

The third US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue for the year 2010 concluded at Washington DC on October 22, 2010. The two sides fielded high-power delegations for the dialogue as they had done for the first two rounds held earlier this year in Washington DC and Islamabad. The US delegation was headed by Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, and included, among others, Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary. The Pakistani delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and included among others Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Chief of the Army Staff.

Apart from the formal talks at the delegation level, where hype pushed the cruel ground realities under the carpet, there were other opportunities for frank interactions which the Americans utilised to tell the Pakistanis what they really thought and expected of them.

To quote from the "Dawn" of Karachi of October 22: "Pakistan’s Ambassador Husain Haqqani later told the Pakistani media that President Obama’s decision to ‘drop in’ during a meeting of the ‘core group’ of Pakistani officials with the incoming US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon was “not pre-announced but it was pre-planned”. He described it as “the best ever” meeting between a US President and a Pakistani delegation during which President Obama conveyed his “unequivocal support to Pakistan and its democracy”. President Obama, he said, regretted the mistakes the US had made in the past while dealing with Pakistan and assured the Pakistani delegation that Washington would not repeat those mistakes. The US media, however, gave a different version of this meeting. Foreign Policy, a prestigious online magazine for global issues, reported that President Obama “personally delivered the tough love message that other top administration officials have been communicating since the Pakistani delegation arrived”. Earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dropped in unannounced at another meeting between Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. She delivered “the message that Washington’s patience is wearing thin with Pakistan’s ongoing reluctance to take a more aggressive stance against militant groups operating from Pakistan over the Afghan border”, the report said. “A similar message was delivered to Gen Kayani in another high-level side meeting on Wednesday morning at the Pentagon, hosted by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm Michael Mullen,” the magazine said. “The message being delivered to Pakistan throughout the week by the Obama team is that its effort to convince Pakistan to more aggressively combat groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba will now consist of both carrots and sticks,” the report added. “But this means that the US administration must find a way to incentivise both the Pakistani civilian and military leadership, which have differing agendas and capabilities,” the report added, “The Obama side is calculating that Pakistan’s military can deliver on subjects important to the US but doesn’t want to, while the civilian leadership in Pakistan wants to, but isn’t able,” said one high-level participant who spoke with the magazine in between sessions. "

It is apparent from the reports on the dialogue that came out of Washington DC that the US has not been able to find a way of making Pakistan act to destroy the GHQ (General Headquarters) of Al Qaeda led and inspired terrorism located in the Pakistani territory. One is increasingly confused as to where this GHQ is located. Previously, one thought it was located in North Waziristan. The fierceness of the retaliatory action by the Pakistan Army in response to a recent strike by a NATO helicopter in the Kurram area has created suspicions that at least part of the GHQ may be located in the Kurram Agency. There have been other reports speculating about the possibility of its location in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa Province.

Wherever it may be located, one thing seems certain -- the Pakistan Army knows where it is and is not prepared to act against it. The Pakistan Army uses the Punjabi Taliban against India in an attempt to force a change in the status quo in Jammu & Kashmir. It has been using Al Qaeda, the Pashtun Taliban and their global jihadi allies for extracting money out of the US by dangling the threat of another 9/11 over the US head if it does not pay protection money to the Pakistan Army.

Despite the blunt words reportedly used by Obama, Mrs.Clinton and Gates in more restricted interactions, more protection money was forthcoming in the form of a five-year commitment (2012-16) of US $ 2.29 billion in military aid euphemistically called counter-terrorism assistance. This will be in continuation of the allocation of US $ 1.5 billion provided by the George Bush Administration in 2005 and of the civilian aid of US $ 7.5 billion over a five-year period already being provided by the Obama Administration since last year under the Kerry Lugar Act.

According to the “Dawn”, Pakistan also receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year from the so-called Coalition Support Fund, which reimburse Pakistan for its military operations against militants. The US reimbursed Pakistan $1.3 billion between January and May for Pakistani operations conducted in 2008 and 2009, but has not yet paid for operations in 2010. Announcing the military aid package, Mrs. Clinton said that the US had full confidence in Pakistan’s commitment to the anti-terrorist fight.

The ambivalence in the US policy marked by blunt speaking in restricted sessions and the failure to follow it up with punitive action to make the Pakistan Army act as it frequently promises to has convinced the Pakistan Army over the years that US leaders may warn privately regarding its transgressions but will not act against it. So long as this conviction does not change, Al Qaeda and its associates will remain where they are and will continue to plot and act against US nationals and interests.

More money was not the only carrot that Pakistan got during the dialogue. It made other gains in the form of the US commitment to uphold Pakistan’s interests in Afghanistan, the promise of a separate visit to Pakistan by President Obama next year and an invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari to visit the US. With the carrots continuing to flow from the US in spite of its inaction against Al Qaeda and co., why should it act against the terrorists?

Unless and until the US picks up the courage to tell Pakistan “thus far and no further. Either you act or we act”, things are not going to change. The pathetic apologies from the US for a recent raid by a NATO helicopter into Pakistani territory to neutralize terrorists who had attacked NATO positions in Afghanistan have shown to the Pakistan Army the Achilles Heel of the US----- its dependence on Pakistan for logistic supplies to the NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan.

The confidence of the Taliban that the US would not act against it for sheltering Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders in Afghan territory contributed to the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US. The present confidence of the Pakistan Army that the US will not act against it for its inaction against Al Qaeda and its allies now sheltered in Pakistani territory will encourage more acts of terrorism against the US and other NATO countries in their respective homelands.

The Pakistan Army literally blackmailed the US before the Strategic Dialogue by stopping the logistic supplies to Afghanistan. Instead of teaching it a lesson for its blackmailing tactics, the US not only apologized, but followed it up with more favours for Pakistan. This is not the way the US is going to prevail over Al Qaeda, the Talibans and their allies.

Read More

VIEW: Unable to understand —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organisation that believes in the implementation of the caliphate all over the world. It is banned in most countries including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and even Saudi Arabia. It was, for a short stint, banned in Pakistan

Newspapers are awash with reports about leaflets being distributed in North Waziristan by militants warning against any military action. The leaflets proclaim that if the Pakistan Army is allegedly bending over backwards for $ 2 billion in aid from the US, the militants will collect this amount from North Waziristan. It is amazing that this collection drive can be organised to ward off a military operation but not to address the poverty and development issues of the agency.

While these leaflets have been covered in the media and analysts are rightly raising alarm about them, there are other leaflets, websites, rallies, blogs and press releases that are lethal in the venom they produce but are below the radar screen. Or perhaps, one should correct oneself. Not below the radar screen but in a sense even ‘allowed’ by at least the judicial authorities. One such poster that adorns the locality right next to Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) ground in Islamabad declares, “Cut off NATO supply lines. Let the US die its own death.”

About five years back, an honourable judge of the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled about the activities of such an organisation as, “...has shown dissatisfaction on the policies of the [Pakistan] government that is the right of each and every citizen...I am unable to understand as to how distribution of these pamphlets in the general public was termed as terrorism or sectarianism.”

The organisation in question is the Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) and what the honourable judge was ‘unable to understand’ was HT’s stance on democracy, Islamism and Pakistan’s foreign policy. Since space is limited to really present the HT in its imagined saviour avatar, I will attempt to only focus on its stance on democracy, Islamism and our relationship with our allies.

On democracy, HT declares that “democracy as a system is the rule of people, for the people, by the people. The basis of the democratic system is that people possess the right of sovereignty, choice and implementation. It is a kufr [disbelief] system because it is laid down by man and it is not from the shariah laws.”

HT is an organisation that believes in the implementation of the caliphate all over the world. About its interest in working in Pakistan, HT declares on its website, “We do not plan on establishing the khilafat [caliphate] in a weak or small country. We believe the starting point should be in a country that should have certain prerequisites and that includes the ability to sustain itself militarily, based on Ghalaba-tuz-Zan (most probably). One should also understand that for any country to exist, it is not necessary that it should be stronger than all the countries; rather it should be sufficiently strong so that the superpower cannot immediately annihilate it. Pakistan, with its missile capability and strong professional army, is not a soft target. The US knows that Pakistan is capable of retaliating and hurting it more than it is willing to sacrifice. CENTCOM in Doha is within the reach of Pakistani missiles and the Pakistan Air Force. Similarly, the US Army in Afghanistan is virtually surviving on the supplies of petrol and food coming from Pakistan. One should also remember that it took the US a full year of military build up before they could go into Iraq. The Pakistani army is capable of sending more body bags to the US than they could ever imagine. Also, currently, the US army is stretched thin and they cannot recruit people to fight insurgencies let alone a full-fledged war with a nuclear state.”

HT is banned in most countries including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and even Saudi Arabia. It was, for a short stint, banned in Pakistan but since the honourable judge of the Multan bench of the LHC was unable to understand the reasons for the ban, it was lifted. The HT is now free to spread its venom against non-Muslim Pakistanis and states. It has also not spared the Pakistani state and government and is openly challenging the writ of the state. It publicly declares that, “unjust taxes like income tax will be abolished”.

We immediately get defensive when we, as a nation, state and government, are urged to “do more”. Our indignation might hold some water if we were able to understand the consequences of allowing such organisations to spread their venom. By way of an example, on November 5, 2010, the HT will be organising rallies that “will inform people that the real change is only possible through the establishment of khilafat. Khilafat will sever NATO supply lines within hours of its establishment. It will suffocate the US by joining hands with the people of the tribal areas and Balochistan.”

Why the HT has been allowed in the past, and undoubtedly will be allowed in the future, to spread such venom is because their modus operandi involves recruiting extremely well connected and influential people through the opium of Islamism. In such a scenario, one is unable to understand why we continue to be surprised when places of worship, state agencies, government personnel and innocent civilians are continuously targeted in senseless terrorist attacks. If the judiciary is so fond of activism, how about ‘understanding’ the consequences of this dangerous game and banning such outfits, making it at least at least difficult for them to operate.

Read More

Settlement of Kashmir issue not far away, says OIC aide

JEDDAH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) believes that the people of Jammu and Kashmir, after so many years of suffering, deserve full respect for their legitimate right to self-determination.

“Surely, it’s (settlement) not far away,” Abdullah Alam, assistant secretary general and special representative of the OIC secretary-general on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, told a “Kashmir Black Day” event organized by Pakistan International School-English section at Pakistan Consul General Abdul Salik Khan’s residence on Wednesday night.

“As we all acknowledge the great importance of a peaceful solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, we commend the commitment of Pakistan to the peace process and hope that India will show the same attitude in order to give the peace process a significant and positive push forward,” Alam said.

He added that the OIC is examining all existing possibilities and authorities to help people gain their rights. “The permanent inclusion of the Jammu and Kashmir issue on the agenda of OIC’s summits and ministerial sessions is a clear indication of the Islamic organization’s strong support and continuous solidarity with its people.

“We are now trying to explore, through the OIC offices in New York and Geneva, the Human Rights Council, international human rights groups and humanitarian organizations to prevent further violations of the human rights of the Kashmiri people and work toward helping them realize their right to self-determination,” Alam said.

Other speakers, including Muhammad Umar Badahdah of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, the consul general and members of the Kashmir Committee, explained the significance of commemorating the Kashmir Black Day every year on Oct. 27 and said in recent months there had been an alarming increase in violation of human rights and indiscriminate use of force against Kashmiris in Indian Kashmir, which has resulted in the killing and injury of dozens of people. “It was on Oct. 27, 1947, two months after the end of British occupation of South Asia, that Indian forces entered Jammu and Kashmir and they have since been violating all established principles of law, justice, morality and politics,” the consul general said.

“The occupying power must realize that bullets and batons are not an answer to the demand of fundamental rights. Kashmiris can never accept their subjugation. It’s time to start a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan for the resolution of this longstanding dispute,” the consul general added.

“On its part, Pakistan is fully committed to a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and, most importantly, the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”

Read More

US to provide Pakistan RQ-7 shadow 200 spy drones

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: US would provide Pakistan Army with 12 RQ-7 Shadow 200 spy drones for monitoring of Pakistan-Afghan border and tribal areas and intelligence gathering.

These shadow drones would be provided from next year and in this regard US Defense secretary Robert Gates has issued directives to the Pentagon

Defense sources told Online that during the 3rd round of strategic dialogue Pakistan had put forward two options for drone technology either they should be given Shadow 200 or C Eagle spy drones. Pakistani delegation had demanded that they should be given the drone technology so that they could themselves target hideouts of militants and the US should stop attacks in tribal areas. However the US did not accept the demand after which Pakistan expressed its willingness to take RQ-7 shadow 200 which are better and lighter than C eagle drones.

The UAV drones are being used in Afghanistan and Iraq by the US and they are capable of not only targeting up to 125 kilometer but also have the capability to identify their target. They can fly up to 6 to 8000 feet. However they need a technical operation center from which they can be flown. The drone is capable of providing fast intelligence information and would keep the field units continuously updated.

Read More

China’s presence in PoK worries India

New Delhi feels that Islamabad cannot undertake project in the territory under its illegal occupation.

While the Sino-Pak nexus has always been a matter of concern for India, what has exacerbated the matter further is the degree of seamlessness the two countries are fast acquiring in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) region. This prompted journalist Selig S Harrison to comment that “Islamabad is handing over the de facto control of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region in the northwest corner of the disputed Kashmir to China.”

The article further mentioned that there has been an influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the People’s Liberation army. One need not have to depend on the veracity of the article to discern the growing foot-prints of China in the PoK which is getting robust over the years.

It is against this backdrop that the meeting proposed to be held between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao assumes importance. As far as physical occupation of Jammu & Kashmir is concerned, while India is in possession of 45 per cent and Pakistan 35 per cent, China occupies about 20 per cent of Jammu & Kashmir territory (including Aksai Chin and the Sakshgam valley ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963.) The Karakoram highway, which connects China’s Xinjiang region with Gilgit-Baltistan region, was constructed by Chinese engineers over a period of time and was completed in 1986.

China is currently involved in several infrastructure projects in the disputed region. China and Pakistan signed a deal in 2006 to upgrade the Karakoram highway. Once the projects are completed, the transport capacity of the strategically significant region will increase significantly. It will facilitate China free access to the oil-rich Gulf through the Pakistani port of Gwadar in Balochistan.

It is significant to note that during the visit of Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari to China in August 2010, Beijing declared Kashgar, in north-west Chin’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, as a special economic zone like the Shengzhe which borders Hong Kong.

The strategic significance of Kashgar for China is that it is the hotbed of Uighur separatists indulging in sporadic violence to press for their demands for an independent East Turkmenistan nation. China has been seeking both intelligence and military support from Pakistan to keep the Uighur separatists in check, and cut off their links with pro-Taliban forces.

China and Pakistan have worked out anti-terrorism programmes under which Pakistani security forces push back Uighur fighters trying to cross the border to seek sanctuary in terrorist camps in Pakistan in a fashion the ULFA militants were flushed out by Myanmar to India few years back.

Anti-terrorism exercise

China and Pakistan have held anti-terrorism exercise in 2004 and 2006. The third round of such joint military exercise was conducted in the month of July this year to crack down on Islamic militant groups like East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
ETIM regarded as a pro-Al Qaeda group is active in Xinjiang, the Chinese Muslim Uyghur majority province bordering Pakistan and the Chinese officials have complained that their cadres are being trained in terrorist camps in Pak-Afghan border.

The Sino-Pak collaboration in hydro-power project in the PoK region is also a matter of concern for India. During Zardari’s visit to China last year, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on construction of a hydro-power station at Bunji in Northern Areas.

New Delhi is of the view that Islamabad cannot undertake any project in the territory under its illegal occupation. Besides this MoU on hydro power project, there were MoUs for cooperation in education, fisheries, agriculture, dams and investment. However, the most important of them was the construction of the hydro power project on ‘build, operate and transfer’ basis, which means that all the investment will be made by Chinese entrepreneurs.

The dam is estimated to cost between $ 6-7 billion and will have a capacity to generate 7000 MW of electricity. During the visit, the Pakistani president also invited Chinese companies to bid for construction of small and medium sized dams in all the four provinces of Pakistan.

Sino-Indian cooperation and friendship can be taken to greater heights only when there is trust and understanding and both respect each other’s core interest. The sidelines meetings have acquired a new dimension in recent times providing very good opportunities to share and exchange views.

In the recent past, the two prime ministers have met on the sidelines of SCO/BRIC summit, held in Yekaterinburg on June 15, 2009, and later at in Hua Hin, Thailand, on the margins of the East Asia/ASEAN summit in October 2009. Given the excellent chemistry between Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao, it is hoped that the frost in the bilateral relationship between the two countries is likely to melt, opening up fresh impetus.

By Rup Narayan Das
(The writer is a senior fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi)

Read More

Taliban in peace talks with Pakistani tribe

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Taliban are negotiating a peace deal with a Pakistani tribe in the northwest, tribal elders said on Thursday, that could give militants access to remote strategic areas on the Afghan border.

The talk of a deal between members of the Haqqani network -- one of the most dangerous Taliban factions -- and the Turi tribe in the Kurram region is likely to raise concerns in the United States which has been demanding Pakistan get tough with the militants fighting Western forces across the border.

"We are holding talks to end violence and fighting in the region. People have become fed up with fighting," Sajid Hussain, a member of parliament involved in the talks, told Reuters.

Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between the Turi tribe and their rivals backed by the Taliban in recent months.

The deal, which has not yet been finalised, could lead to the lifting of the siege of the Turi tribe and release of its members kidnapped by militants and their allies.

But tribal sources said the militants would likely demand the use of roads passing through their territory to the Afghan border though Hussain said Taliban had not yet made any such demand.

"Even if they do so, we will not accept it," Hussain said.

Kurram is one of the seven Pashtun tribal regions in Pakistan on the Afghan border, an area widely considered the headquarters of al Qaeda militants and their allies from all over the world.

CONTINUE READING

Read More

Russian navy has seaplane deficit

MOSCOW, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A shortage is looming for the Russian navy of maritime patrol seaplanes.

Russian Navy Air Force and Air Defense Forces head Lt. Gen. Valeriy Uvarov confirmed the deficit due to a lack of funding, Rossiyskaia Gazeta reported Wednesday.

Uvarov told journalists: "We need to commission the A-40 seaplane system as planned. Other navies have gotten rid of them (seaplane patrol craft) altogether. They have all been scrapped because they are simply obsolete, because aircraft of this type date back to 1963.

"With regard to the A-40, we still have to complete all the work that precedes mass production. We must verify the rescue system first and foremost and get it licensed. The Northern Fleet could make do with somewhat fewer because its theater is not as scattered as the Pacific Fleet's. Five aircraft would be enough. Three aircraft are enough in the Baltic, and three in the Black Sea Fleet."

Read More

US strips IAF plane - India Today

In just over four weeks from now, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will take delivery of its first American-built C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft at a facility in Georgia, US. Part of a 2008 deal worth $ 964 million for six aircraft, the IAF C-130J will be the first US military aircraft India has procured in over four decades since it flew the American Douglas Dakota and Fairchild Packet in the 1960s.

But there is something amiss. The contract document, a copy of which is with Headlines Today, reveals five specific pieces of high-end equipment, that the US has stripped from the aircraft, being sold to India. This is a direct consequence of New Delhi's reluctance to enter into a contentious technology inter- operability agreement with Washington.

The equipment kept off the Indian aircraft includes its advanced communications equipment. The equipment includes the AN/ ARC- 222 SINCGARS combat net radio, the KV- 119 Identify Friend- Foe digital transponder, the TACTERM/ANDVT high frequency secure voice terminal, the VINSON KY- 58 secure voice module and parts of the Rockwell- Collins AN/ ARC-210(V) SATCOM transceiver.

The equipment facilitates secure, encrypted communication - facilities that would be deeply useful in covert or special forces operations. Such operations form the secondary mission profile ascribed to the C-130J in India.

The US has refused to fit these items on the Indian C-130J fleet unless India enters into a bilateral pact that the Indian military leadership is deeply suspicious about. It is called CISMOA - short for communications inter- operability and security memorandum of agreement.

Last month, defence minister A. K. Antony is understood to have told his counterpart in Washington that the agreement would not be signed any time soon - certainly not during US President Barack Obama's visit - because India was far from convinced about the benefits that would accrue to its Indian defence forces.

Strangely, even though the IAF had specifically asked for the high- technology items mentioned above, the C- 130J contract suggests that there is a chance the equipment won't be made available even if India signs the CISMOA. Referring to the stripped items, the contract says: " These items may be added when CISMOA is signed between" the US and India.

Lockheed-Martin officials indicated that the IAF C-130J configuration was frozen before the contract was signed and that there were no last- minute surprises, a point conceded by the IAF. "There could be implications for operational autonomy at play here, which is something a service as large as the Indian Air Force cannot afford," Air Marshal (retd) A. K. Singh, former commander of the IAF's Western Air Command, said. A substantial part of the IAF agrees with that view.

An extreme view is that fitting advanced communications gear on Indian aircraft, and having them governed by an agreement like CISMOA, would allow the US remote power over the equipment through satellite- relayed " kill switches" that could render equipment unusable, not to mention leaving doors open to electronic espionage.

But the IAF put on a brave face.

"The government had asked for our opinion.... It [ not getting the equipment] will not make any substantial difference to our operational capability," Air Chief Marshal P. V. Naik said A section of the IAF, however, believes that if India is resolved to deepen its ties with the US, then agreements like CISMOA are simply enablers of more nuanced, meaningful exchanges in operational theatres. For now though, the armed forces are sceptical.

Read More

IAF presses HAL to meet timelines, production quality

New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) The Air Force today pressed for public sector aerospace major HAL maintaining high quality standards of aircraft and helicopters it supplies to the IAF and to meet delivery timelines. On the second day of the IAF's Commanders Conference, the Air Force leadership met with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) top brass, when the two sides thrashed out issues of quality of products and projects' deadlines of Sukhoi fighter jets and Hawks trainer aircraft. IAF sources told PTI here today that the IAF leadership, including Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, sought HAL's support in supply of spares and other equipment for the platforms it delivers to the Air Force. Among other issues flagged by the IAF with the HAL delegation led by its chairman Ashok Nayak included the performance of the MiG complex, where the aging variants of the Russian-origin fighter jets such as MiG-21 and MiG-27 are serviced within India. The IAF also wanted HAL to speed up operationalisation of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft 'Tejas', of which Air Force has ordered two squadrons strength under the Mark I variant and another five squadrons would be ordered under the Mark II variant with a new engine to provide it more power. Apart from the 90-minute review of the HAL's performance, the IAF commanders also made presentation on their assessment of the security scenarios for their theatres and plans to counter these challenges. "Except for the Eastern Air Command (EAC), for which a special presentation would be held later, all other Air Commands made their presentations today," the sources said. EAC's presentation gains significance in view of its areas of responsibility covering the borders with China. IAF has already planned induction of Sukhoi fighter jets at air bases under EAC, apart from strengthening its radar cover and creating new Advanced Landing Grounds for better access to troops. The IAF Commanders also did some crystal-gazing on the future sea-based air operations and over mountainous terrains involving its entire fleet of fighter jets, transport aircraft and helicopters, thereby covering all sides of India's land and maritime borders with its neighbours, particularly Pakistan and China. Among other issues discussed were new air battle concepts and utilisation of existing and future assets in view of the rapid modernisation efforts underway, including the purchase of 126 medium multirole combat aircraft, development of fifth generation fighter aircraft, acquisition of attack and transport helicopters, induction of airborne early warning and control systems and operationalisation of Air Force Net for net-centric operations.

Read More

Indian army opens fire at PPP rally in AJK, five injured

LAHORE: The Indian Army opened unprovoked firing at a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) rally against Indian occupation being held in Rawalakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, leaving six people injured on Wednesday. The PPP AJK chapter was observing ‘Black Day’ to protest the Indian occupation of the region in October 27, 1947 and to express solidarity with Kashmiris. Indian armed forces opened fire in the valley at the Buttel sector of the Line of Control. Minister Pir Ali and PPP AJK Chairman Chaudhry Abdul Majid along with 200 people had been participating in the rally. One of the injured is stated to be in critical condition, a private TV channel reported. The Pakistan Army reacted promptly to the firing and silenced the rival guns, the channel reported. Officials said the firing incident occurred in Rawalakot city of AJK, where Indian armed forces had opened “indiscriminate fire on hundreds of locals staging a sit-in in connection with the Black Day”. The Indian Army, violating the ceasefire, also fired on citizens in the Mundewal, Mendar and Garamshal civil areas alongside the border, the channel reported.

Read More

India accuses Pakistan army of 2nd cease-fire violation in Kashmir in 4 days

SRINAGAR, India — India on Wednesday accused the Pakistan army of firing rockets and mortars on half a dozen Indian army positions in a second violation of their cease-fire agreement in Kashmir this week.

There were no casualties on the Indian side, said Lt. Col. Biplab Nath, an Indian army spokesman. Indian soldiers fired back on Pakistani positions in Poonch sector, he said.

"It was an unprovoked firing, a brazen cease-fire violation," Nath said.

Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Officials earlier said one Indian soldier was killed when Pakistani soldiers fired machine-guns and rockets on an Indian military post late Sunday night in the same sector, 110 miles (180 kilometres) southwest of Srinagar, the region's main city.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since they gained independence from Britain in 1947, but their forces have observed a cease-fire there since November 2003. There have been occasional incidents of shooting by the two sides.

India also accuses Pakistan of helping Islamic militants cross from its portion of Kashmir to the Indian side, which Pakistan denies.

Read More

Seven killed in US drone attack in North Waziristan - DAWN NEWS

This is the third attack in North Waziristan within 24 hours.

PESHAWAR: US drones fired two missiles at a house in Ditta Khel in North Waziristan Thursday, killing seven people, more causalities are feared, officials said.

This is the third attack in North Waziristan within 24 hours.

There have been 16 drone attacks in North Waziristan in the month of October while in September there have been more than 20.

Read More

Pakistan urged to probe Baluchistan killings

Pakistan must investigate allegations that its security forces played a role in the torture and killing of more than 40 activists, student leaders and politicians in its restive Baluchistan province, Amnesty International has said.

Amnesty’s alarm over the killings raises fresh questions over the human rights record of Pakistan’s army just days after the US promised a further $2bn in military aid to support its campaign against Taliban militants.
Pakistan’s military and intelligence services have repeatedly been accused of abuses in Baluchistan, where they have spent decades fighting insurgents demanding greater political power and, more recently, control of the province’s reserves of natural gas.

The conflict in the desolate, thinly populated region has received far less international attention than Pakistan’s US-backed campaign against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the tribal areas on its north-western border with Afghanistan.

Amnesty identified some of the victims of a four-month spate of abductions and killings in Baluchistan as a poet, a former senator, two lawyers and several students. Many of the bodies showed signs of torture.

The human rights group said the killings reflected a new trend of “kill and dump” operations in Baluchistan, where the bodies of victims are found weeks after their abduction. In recent years, Baluch activists have accused security services of orchestrating the disappearance of hundreds of people.

“The victims’ relatives and activists often accuse the Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies of carrying out these violations,” Amnesty said.

A senior government official in Quetta, Baluchistan’s provincial capital, dismissed calls for an investigation.

“The people cited by Amnesty were not eating ice cream in a parlour. They were directly or indirectly involved with an active conflict,” he said. “This is a war, a conflict, where casualties have taken place on both sides.”

Abdul Basit, a foreign ministry spokesman, said the government was studying the statement.

Sam Zarifi, Amnesty’s Asia-Pacific director, said failure to prevent abuses in Baluchistan had emboldened the perpetrators. “The Pakistani government must show that it can and will investigate the Pakistani military and Frontier Corps, as well as intelligence agencies,” he said.

Pakistan’s weak civilian leaders have proved largely incapable of holding the military to account. Concerns over abuses resurfaced earlier this month when General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief, ordered an inquiry into an internet video that shows men in Pakistan army uniforms executing six young men in civilian clothes.

Read More

Indian BSF delegation arrives at Rangers HQ

LAHORE: Delegation of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) arrived at Rangers Head quarters through Wagha border Lahore on Tuesday.

The Indian delegation, under the supervision of Director General (DG) BSF Shri Raman Srivastav, would attend a bi-annual meeting with Pakistan Rangers. Pakistani delegation would be headed Punjab Rangers DG Maj Gen Muhammad Yaqub.

The Pakistan Rangers DG said that smuggling, illegal border crossing, violation of border, ground rules and other issues would be taken up in the meeting. He said that relations between Pakistan and India could not be improved untill the Kashmir and water issues were resolved.

Srivastav said that Pakistan Rangers had done well to stop border crimes and terrorism. He said that the meeting would be fruitful for both the countries.

Read More

Al Khalid Tank Wallpaper

Read More

Jf 17 Thunder Wallpaper 2

Read More

Wars History : 1st Dynasty of Egypt



The presence of a sign
group looking like a Nebti-
name on the Naqada Label
has led many Egyptologists
to believe that Menes is to
be equated with the Horus Aha


A stone vessel found at Saqqara lists the Nebti-names of the 4 last kings of the 1st Dynasty.
According to the Ancient Egyptian tradition, voiced by the Kinglists, Herodotos and Manetho, the 1st Dynasty was founded by a king named Meni, or, in Greek, Menes. The same tradition has credited Menes with many deeds, among them the conquest of the Nile delta (Lower Egypt) thus unifying Upper and Lower Egypt; the founding of Memphis as the united country's new capital; the building of dams and the founding of many new cults and temples.

There has been a lot of debate as to the identity and even the existence of this seemingly legendary king, as the archaeological record does not mention any king of that name. The basis of this problem lies in the royal titulary and its evolution. The oldest known sources that mention a king only refer to him using his Horus-name. From the Old Kingdom on, however, kings would be identified by their Prenomen and/or their Nomen. As the Kinglist tradition was based on these later additions to the royal titulary, the chroniclers had to come up with a Prenomen for the Early Dynastic Kings. Although from the reign of the Horus Den on, they often took the kings' Nebti-names as their Prenomen, the relationship between the names in the Kinglists and those mentioned on the archaeological sources is not always clear. This is the case for all kings preceding the Horus Den, the first four kings of the 1st Dynasty.




Detail from the Macehead of
'Scorpion', showing the king
with the White Crown


Several sources have been interpreted as providing the link between a Horus-name and the name Men(es), but every interpretation is questionable at the very least. The Naqada Label was once believed to show that Men(es) was the Nebti-name of the Horus Aha. The absence of any further Nebti-names during the reigns of Aha and his two successors, however, makes this interpretation unlikely.

The interpretation of a type of seal combing a Horus-name with some additional hieroglyphic signs as a Prince's Seal, which would show that the Horus Narmer had a son named Men(es), is too far-fetched to be taken serious. The additional signs on the seal need not per definition refer to a name and even if they do, this name can have belonged to any high official or member of the ruling elite.

The archaeological sources have not allowed us either to relate any of the deeds traditionally credited to Menes, to one single archaeologically attested king. Several of these deeds actually belong to the repertoire of the ideal king who was supposed to ensure the regular flow of the floods by building dams, to appease the gods by creating cults for them, to destroy Egypt's enemies, ...

The Narmer Palette has long been interpreted as evidence that the Horus Narmer was the one who conquered the Nile delta and united Upper and Lower Egypt. Indeed, Narmer is shown wearing the White Crown, traditionally associated with Upper Egypt, while striking down an enemy identified as living in the marsh-lands (image to the left). On the other side of the Palette, Narmer wears the Red Crown, traditionally associated with Lower Egypt (the Nile delta), while inspecting the bodies of decapitated enemies.

A mace-head shows Narmer wearing the Red Crown during a census in Lower Egypt. This representation has often been viewed as further evidence that Narmer seized control on this part of the country and imposed his authority on it.


The presence of a sign group looking like a Nebti-name on the Naqada Label has led many Egyptologists to believe that Menes is to be equated with the Horus Aha (more...).

Narmer's presumed predecessor, the Horus Ka (or Sekhen), however, levied taxes in the Nile delta and must therefore have had at least partial control over this part of the country. The mace-head of a king identified as 'Scorpion', assumedly a predecessor or perhaps a contemporary of Narmer, has also been brought into the debate, as one reconstruction might show that 'Scorpion' too may have worn both the White and the Red Crowns .

The assumption that king's before Narmer may have ruled over a united Egypt, and their tentative identification of Menes as the Horus Aha, has led several authors to believe that there was a Dynasty '0' before the rule of Menes. This hypothetical dynasty would have been composed of 'Scorpion', Ka, 'Mouth' and Narmer. 'Scorpion', however, has only been attested at Hierakonpolis and 'Mouth' may not even have been a king at all.

It must also be noted that the identification of Menes as the Horus Aha is not supported by any evidence and that the Red Crown may initially have been of Upper Egyptian origin before it became the symbol of Lower Egypt, at the latest during the early 1st Dynasty. A pot-shard found at Naqada in Upper Egypt and dated several generations before the reign of Narmer bears the representation of the Red Crown. This is now believed to be an indication that the Red Crown was of Upper Egyptian origin.

But perhaps to learn more about the beginning of the 1st Dynasty, we should first have a look at its end. A palace vessel found underneath the Step Pyramid of the Horus Netjerikhet at Saqqara lists the Nebti-names of four kings. These names correspond well to the last four kings of Manetho's 1st Dynasty.



A stone vessel found at Saqqara lists the Nebti-names of the 4 last kings of the 1st Dynasty.


From other archaeological sources, we know that these four kings correspond to the Horuses Den, Anedjib, Semerkhet and Qa'a respectively. It is thus safe to conclude that these four archaeologically attested kings correspond with the last four kings of Manetho's 1st Dynasty.

The next clue to the identification of Menes and a confirmation of the chronology of the 1st Dynasty is provided by two seals found in 1985 and 1995 at the royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa'ab. The first, dated to the reign of the Horus Den, lists the kings Narmer, Aha, Djer, Djet and Den. The list ends with the mention of the royal mother Meretneith, the mother of Den who took up regency of the country during Den's childhood. The names of the first three kings in the list are preceded by the name of the god Khentamentiu, the protector of the cemetery.

The second seal is dated to the reign of Qa'a, the last king of the 1st Dynasty. It starts with Khentamentiu and then lists Qa'a, Semerkhet, Anedjib, Den, Djet, Djer, Aha and Narmer. The royal mother Meretneith is no longer included, probably because her regency was no longer viewed as an independent rule.

More at http://www.ancient-egypt.org/

Read More

Army chief returns from US visit

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has returned home Tuesday on conclusion of his official visit to US.

Military sources told his visit to US remained productive and he represented Pakistan in working groups related to defence and military matters during Pak-US strategic talks. He also held meetings with US defence secretary Robert Gates, admiral Mike Mullen, US army chief George Cassey on the sidelines of strategic talks.

Gen Kayani held talks with US military authorities with reference to requirements of Pakistan army which remained successful.

Amy chief has succeeded in seeking categorical assurances from US top leadership in regard to acquisition of high tech equipments, modern technology and weapons for Pakistan army.

Read More

Pakistan air force pounds militant hideouts, 13 killed

Pakistani fighter aircraft on Saturday targeted alleged militants in northwestern tribal region, killing at least 13, officials said. The airstrikes were carried out in Maomazai area of Orakzai district, one of seven tribal regions, and a known hotbed of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. A security official said on the condition of anonymity that air power was mobilised after an attack against a military vehicle in the area on Friday.

"Yes, the jets have hit the militants hideouts and our information shows that at least 13 miscreants have been eliminated in the targeted strikes," he said.

On Friday, a roadside bomb hit a Frontier Corps vehicle in the restive region, killing one officer and five soldiers. Three troops were also injured.

Khalid Khan Omarzai, senior civilian administrator in neighbouring Kohat district, confirmed the airstrikes but did not confirm the death toll.

"They have suffered losses in the air attacks but I cannot give you the exact figure of their deaths," he said by phone.

Pakistan troops launched an offensive against the militants in Orakzai in March to uproot Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Read More

Dam may hold promise for peace in wild Pakistan region

Engineer Liu Zhangteng says he feels "very comfortable" when he walks to work at his construction site in the mountains of northwest Pakistan. It takes the presence of 1,500 soldiers to sustain his tranquillity.

Liu's employer, China's Sinohydro, is completing the biggest building project in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border, where the army is fighting Taliban militants.

The U.S.-funded Gomal Zam dam is a key part of Pakistan's effort to undermine the appeal of Islamic guerrillas in Waziristan, whose northern region U.S. military chief Adm. Mike Mullen calls the world's "epicenter of terrorism."

The dam's troops are among tens of thousands keeping control in South Waziristan and other areas that the army seized back from Taliban rule last year.

Pakistan's government has failed to establish firm civilian authority or genuine popular support in the areas it recaptured, said political analyst Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani lieutenant general, and Ashraf Ali, executive director of the FATA Research Center in Islamabad.

Its army has stayed close to the main roads and failed to engage Taliban who have re-infiltrated South Waziristan, according to a White House report.

The dam will generate electricity and irrigate farmland for residents whose support the government needs for its fight against militants. A more peaceful south may free Pakistani troops for an offensive in North Waziristan sought by the United States.

Construction began in 2002 and was delayed for three years after Taliban fighters kidnapped two Chinese engineers in 2004. One died in a Pakistan army rescue operation.

The dam is 92 percent built, its project director, said Col. Muhammad Zaheer, of the army's Frontier Works Organization.

Its completion, plus the army's construction of 137 miles of roads, will represent "the first time the government has actually implemented any of its many promises to bring development to South Waziristan," said the FATA center's Ali.

"That's the hopeful part," said Ali, whose center studies Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the border zone with Afghanistan that includes Waziristan and serves as a base for Taliban, al-Qaida and allied militants.
While the army has brought some calm to South Waziristan, it's not clear whether the government can win popular support and undercut militancy, Ali said. After years in which the Taliban have killed 800 traditional tribal leaders in the FATA region, the government has been trying to establish an anti-Taliban leadership among the local Pashtun tribes, he said.

"They have had no success," Ali said. "Candidates are reluctant to come forward because they don't trust the government to protect them and to work cooperatively with the tribes."

During a reporter's visit last month to South Waziristan, a rocky, mountainous district the size of Delaware, Pakistani troops patrolled the roads in pickups mounted with machine guns.

Taliban gunmen have killed at least 10 Pakistani soldiers in small-scale attacks this month, according to reports in the newspaper Dawn, a toll that the army's media office declined to confirm.

The army's presence in South Waziristan has reduced Taliban attacks across the border into Afghanistan's Paktika province, its governor, Mohibullah Samim, said in an Oct. 11 phone interview.

On Oct. 16, 2009, the army moved into South Waziristan to clear about 10,000 Taliban guerrillas based in the homeland of the Mehsud tribe. While other Pakistan-based Taliban mainly fight U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the Mehsud faction had led a domestic insurgency, hitting Pakistani government targets.

More than 200,000 Mehsud civilians — most of the area's population — fled before the fighting started and have spent the past year as refugees in nearby districts. While the army and government promise security and development help to those who go home, villages remain sparsely inhabited, tribal elders say.

The U.S. government agreed in July to pay $108 million for the dam. It will generate 17.4 megawatts of electricity starting in April, much of it for communities in and near South Waziristan, the Frontier Works Organization's Zaheer said.

Pakistan's power production this year has fallen 5,000 megawatts or more short of demand, the nation's Water and Power Development Authority has said.

The government's inability to stabilize recaptured areas such as South Waziristan and Swat, northwest of Islamabad, has left the army "literally pinned down," delaying the possibility of any assault on North Waziristan, which is the main base for the Taliban, al-Qaida and other militants, Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an Oct. 16 interview on Bloomberg Television.

An assault on North Waziristan "could easily backfire" and "push militants back into the south," Masood said.

Read More

450 terrorists waiting to enter India, says army - India Times

JAMMU: Around 450 guerrillas are waiting to cross the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian Army officer said Monday, adding that the Pakistan Army resorts to firing and breaches ceasefire agreement with India to facilitate infiltration of terrorists.

Intelligence inputs suggest that there were around 450 terrorists waiting to cross over to the Indian side, Brigadier General Staff of the 16 Corps Satish Dua told reporters Monday.

"Our troops are vigilant. We have set up three-tier security along the LoC and we will frustrate all plans of infiltrators," he said.

However, voicing serious concern over the repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistani Army along the 744-km-long LoC that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, Brigadier Dua said that "the ceasefire agreement is breached as a diversionary tactic to facilitate infiltration".

The motive behind the ceasefire violations by firing across the LoC is to "infiltrate terrorists from a nearby area or elsewhere," Brigadier Dua said.

Indian and Pakistani armies had halted their hostile operations Nov 26, 2003, when the ceasefire came into effect on the border following an agreement between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Brigadier Dua said that most of these violations have taken place in Krishnaghati sector in Mendhar area of Poonch district, and the latest such violation took place Sunday evening in which one Indian soldier was killed.

Read More

‘Pakistan's stand on terrorism uncertain’

NEW DELHI: Ahead of US president Barack Obama’s visit next month, India wants the issue of Pakistan-backed terrorism on the forefront as it complained on Monday that Islamabad’s stand in dealing with terror groups has been ambivalent.


India’s position was articulated by Defence Minister A K Antony who held meetings with Army commanders here where he said Pakistan had still not shed its India-centric posturing and highlighted the policy of differentiating terror groups on its eastern and western borders.

Antony’s remark came just days after US announced another installment of military aid to Pakistan in the name of fighting terrorism overlooking Indian concerns about misuse of this package.

At the Army commanders’ meeting, Antony referred to the proxy war and lamented Pakistan’s inaction in dismantling terrorist infrastructure within its territory.

“Still, as long as the terror infrastructure across the border continues to flourish, we cannot afford to drop our guard,” he said while claiming that 42 terror camps were operating in Pakistan.

“Pakistan does not appear to be willing to leave its India-centric posturing. It will have to shed its ambivalence in dealing with terror groups. Though we are not unduly concerned, we will have to keep constant vigil on the developments in Pakistan,” he said.

India has strongly protested against heavy military aid to Pakistan by the US and has raised its concerns on several occasions about the misuse of money.

New Delhi feels that Pakistan army is diverting this aid to fight against India and the kind of weapons that it was being supplied were not meant for the war against terrorism.

Despite these concerns, US announced a $2 bn military package for Pakistan two days ago. Situation in Af-Pak will be one of the major areas of discussion during Obama’s visit. Antony also raised the issue with Army commanders and said, it continues to be a cause of concern.

“The volatile political situation in our immediate neighbourhood has the potential of having a debilitating impact on the region. India’s role in preserving peace and stability thus, becomes all the more important,” he said.

Read More

Pakistan Infantary Weapons: Sub Machine Gun SMG-PK, PK1

SMG PK is one of the most reliable & compact sub-machine guns in production at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories. Based on the Famous H&K delayed roller locked blowback system, this 9mm sub-machine gun can be employed for Close Quarter Battle (CQB) and is popular among para medics, military personnel, signal personnel, para jumpers, SSG officers on special duty, military police and civil law enforcing agencies. SMG-PK presents complete versatility and mobility coupled with the punching power of 9mm Para.

These SMGs come with universal carrying sling, spare magazines and option accessories.

Calibre: 9 x 19 mm Para
Feed Device: 15 Rounds Magazine
Type of Fire: Single & Automatic
Rate of Fire: 900 RPM
Muzzle Velocity: 375 m/sec
Sights: Rigid Front Sight & Rotary Rear Sight
Length of Weapon: 340 mm
Length of Barrel: 115 mm
Weight of Weapon: 2.0 kg


SMG PK-1
SMG PK-1 is also available with retractable butt stock and a standard pistol grip.

Read More

Interview : Sex related questions in ISSB - Sibtain Afzaal

Candidates who go for issb have to face strange situation when they are asked sex related questions during interview.
Candidates get confused as what to answer to such questions. Time and again they are told to be natural and normal but this situation creates problem as they usually dont discuss or are encountered with such questions especially when the interview decides if you get the job or not stress level increases greatly.

Here are a few tips in this regard.

1. If asked have you seen bp(blue print movie)

These days indian movies have so many partially nude scenes that its seems a lie to say that you dont know anything about it. You may say that you have never seen such a movie if you really havent but you can say that you know whats in it.

2.question regarding girlfriend or boy friend.

It depends on your back ground. If you have been in co education then naturally you must have had interaction with opposite gender. But you can say that they are just friends like anyother classfellow. Others well try to show naturally that its not the case.if he insists you can say that you like some cousin or anyone but you know that you should have a career and work hard for it to be eligible to send formal proposal. It will give a more mature and responsible image.

In short you should know that these questions are not to explore your personal but to know if you are being true to them or have a fake image. Or the candidate has pre prepared answers. Try not to hesitate and give awkward gestures. Dont be too open giving a negative impression.

Here are some other questions frequently asked.

Did you ever had sex?

The answer is obviously NO.

If you are with the girl you love alone, what will you do with her?
(Try to answer this question by your self, try to think over it, use your mind and come up with an answer and post here).

Remember as i said earlier, these questions are just to check if you tell the truth. This topic is also dealt in the story writing and sentence completion tests where questions like "Larki ke tangain .................." What ever a person will write in these sentences will tell about his/her thinking and personality. Interviewer will ask sex related questions to confirm if that candidate gives the same kind of answer during interview or hides his true self by answering a safe question. In other words he writes some vulgar answer in sentence completion and acts like a pious molvi in interview. This contradiction would prove that the candidate is not being honest with the interviewer.

What you need to do is make a clear mindset. Think about it and work on it as what stance you will adopt for such questions in all types of tests and then stick to it. You should have a persistent attitude and set of answers for these sort of questions.

Don't be shy. Be bold. Interestingly sometimes such questions are not asked from many candidates altogether, and some are given real tough time. The reason is same "Contradiction" in their previous test answers.

Although its not hard and fast rule, but it is a myth that usually candidates who go to Kohat are asked such questions more frequently then those who go to Gujerawala. But i say better be prepared then sorry.

Read More

Command tasks in ISSB - Sibtain Afzaal

Command task is one of the most important tasks you have with your GTO. After seeing your performance in the Discussions, GTO by now has made a judgment about you and would like to check you more and verify his decision whether you are to be recommended by him or now.

First of all your whole group would be called for fall in, meaning you would be ask to stand in a straight line. Then GTO would ask who would like to become the first commander. It has been seen that almost all the candidates raise their hand. But its up to GTO to select one among you all. Usually he picks the candidates based on his assumption that guy no 1 is the best among the rest according to his performance in discussion and should be tested first. But this is not a hard and fast rule. He might pick anyone.

Now comes a tricky part. He selects one candidate and takes him to the Command task. During that walk he asks the candidates some questions. He says that this is an "informal discussion and has nothing to do with ISSB" but in reality its also an assessment. He asks you questions like "aj kal kia ker rahay ho?" and other question in very polite and friendly manner as if he is your close friend. Thats a trick to get an insight. BE CAUTIOUS.

When you reach the task, he gives you a briefing, telling you about the time you have, which items you can use like drum, ropes, planks etc. He would tell you which points are "out of bound" marked red , which are "in bound" which are "out of bound for you but in bound for your items" marked with red and yellow strips. Ground is usually out of bound. Out of bound means that if you touch that point it would be a foul and you would have to do it again. More over, some times even jumping and throwing are also declared foul.

NOTE: Listen to his briefing clearly and remember the position of how the items(drums ropes planks) are placed before the task, as you have to put them back in the same position and order after the task. After hearing the entire briefing, call your group and then the you start the task.

After getting the briefing from the GTO , he would give you some seconds to think of a plan as how you would get the people across. After that time you have to call your group. Once they arrive you have to give them briefing as given to you by the GTO. Usually in Command tasks the main objective is to transport the material and the group across a certain piece of land which has some ditches, some ( pi ) shaped wooden stands on which you have to put the plank and cross that particular piece of land.

After giving the briefing to the group you have to ask them if they have any questions. If they say NO, then you should tell them your plan as how you want to get the things done. If some one gives a valuable advise then consider it other wise if some one in your group tries to show efficiency and act as a "smart ass" ignore his points and make the people concentrate on your plan. You should only change your plan if its not working and there is a strong opposition of the group.

In my case the group wanted to opt for a path which I didnt. But when they all said no we should go for their choice I let them. But they failed. So i moved forward my self and showed them what I was planning was actually right, and when i executed my plan my self I actually did it what others could not do.

When your task is over then try to perform well in other's task, dont try to show off efficiency, but actually perform efficiently. GTO will be monitoring each and everyone. And when others would see that you give valuable suggestions, and act efficiently they would even rely on you and that makes a great impression before the GTO.

Some words of Advice and caution:

1. When you are a commander dont think that you are just to give orders and others will execute. When your help is needed, you should work with the group.
2. Avoid using the words "difficult" "impossible" "no" " not" "never" etc. Instead of saying "doing this would be difficult" you can say "doing this would be more TIME CONSUMING".
3. Call everyone with their chest number not by their name. Its a foul to call them by their name.
4. Use the people in your group wisely. Those who are trouble makers , keep them behind or away from the critical work. Those who are physically strong, make them lift loads like drums and planks. Those who are slim, to climb up the plank. Those who are thin and tall are good for jumping. In other words you should use your human resource efficiently.
5. In other's command task when you have a suggestion you should convey it first to Commander "Sir if we do this it would save alot of time" or "it would help us greatly". THis would catch the attention of GTO.
6. Always try to remain at the most critical point of the Task from where u can get the task done.
7. Its not compulsory that the task gets completed in the time alloted, when the GTO sees that the task would get completed or there is no way it would get done in time, he usually tells to stop and finishes it to save time. In my own task just 1st step was done in time and the whole task was still to be done, but when GTO saw that i can do it, he said "your time is up". GTO just wants to check your nerves , your ability to command others, your ability to come up with instant plans to solve some problem or challenge.
8. When the time is UP, put all the planks drums and other stuff back to their original place where they were at the start of the task. In exactly the same order.

Read More

Pyschology test ( Story Writing ) in ISSB - Sibtain Afzaal

The third most important series of tests of ISSB psychology assessment demands the candidates to write stories. These are not the stories what we read in childhood but stories which demand concentration and serious mindset. These stories clearly put our thoughts and perceptions on paper and help psychologist make assessment of what we are.

Story writing tests are divided into two parts. In the first part we are shown an image which is mostly a sketch, consisting of some characters or objects. It is in Pakistani terms called story writing test. But its actual psychology name is "Thematic Apprehension Test." We are asked to look at it carefully for 30 seconds and then we are given 30 more seconds to think of a story which describes the situation in that picture. After that 3 and half min are given to us to write a story on that scene which we have just seen.

Here is an example
Try to write story on this photo

In the other type of story writing test, you are given a statement, a sentence of some sort which is incomplete, giving you a vague idea about some situation, and you have to continue on wards and make a story out of it. I believe this test is a bit tricky and requires more concentration then imagination compared to the above mentioned story writing test. Same way you are given 30 seconds to think and then 3 min to write a story.

Some examples are:

He had suffered many hardships in life and had lost all hope but ___________________

After seeing her, he could not resist and _____________________________

In urdu:

Wo raat ko akaylee sunsaan sarak per ja rahi the k achanak ________________

Bayroozgari aur ghar main fakoon say tang aa kay

Read More

Bio Data Form in ISSB - Sibtain Afzaal

Bio data form is the first thing you encounter when you go for ISSB. Bio data form is a multi sheet form which requires different personal information regarding you. This form is very important.This form is with the interviewer on the third day of I.S.S.B. and he asked questions related to you by reading from that form.

This form contains some general questions which you need to answer. But there are some questions about which most of the candidates dont know about, and they face difficulty while filling that form, I' ll jot down some of those important questions here.

CAST and SUB CAST question:
One question is related to your CAST, which means your "zaat" and its second part is SUB CAST. What Cast means is whether you are "Raja" "Malik" "Chohadry" etc. and subcast means "Awan", " Janua", " chandio". For example if there is a candidate who'se name is "Raja Waqar Ali Awan" This means that RAJA is his cast and Awan Sub cast. If any of you dont know about your cast and sub cast its recommended that you ask your father and prepare the answer .

About your Date Of Birth:
Another question that is a bit tricky is related to your date of birth, you are asked to calculate your age to the day your are at ISSB. Meaning how may years, months, and days old are you today?

For instance my date of birth is 6th May 1982 and today its 4 April 2008, how should i calculate my Age? The answer is simple . Do simple subtraction

4 - 4 - 2008 (minus)
6 - 5 - 1982
gives you 25 years 10 months 28 days. This is what you have to write over there.

About your relatives in Armed Forces:
Another question asked is about your relatives who are in the armed forces of Pakistan. Now thats a bit tricky one, that not only ask for names and ranks, they also ask where they are posted now, and what is their current address, you have to prepare and ask them before going for ISSB what is their current address so that you are not worried over there and scratching your head

A frequent reader of my blog couple of days ago asked a very important question that previously slipped my mind. The question is related to the bio data form, This question is about writing some event in your life. The title of the event is written and you have to write one based on it from your life.

The topic can be "write about the most tragic event of your life" , "write about the unforgettable incident of your life" "the most happiest event of your life" "the most shocking event of your life"

The main purpose of this question is to get to know you better, to see your emotional level, to see what kind of things you can bear, and how eventful your life has been, and if the event is life changing, then how has it influenced your life.

I would highly recommend you to prepare all of these topics in a way that they truely are from your real life, and also off course positive. Tragic event can be the death of some close loved one, unforgettable incident can either be tragic or happy event, the word "unforgettable" has the meaning that its something that was so startling that you just cannot forget about it for the rest of your life, so it can be some happy event, like for example you met someone you take as hero, or you got a chance to be on live TV or something like this. Most shocking as the title says can be both positive or negative but again positive shock and happy shock is advised.

The reason why am I saying is the event should be from your real life is that they might ask you questions related to that event, especially the interviewer if he finds it interesting or has the suspicion that its a made up fake event, if its such an unforgettable event and it really happened then you might give a hint of it in any of the psychological tests, thats natural. You can only defend it if it actually happened, it cant be a mega event, it can be a simple event, like getting first position in 7th grade, or getting something really interesting as winning a debating compitition in your school or college, anything that is appealing and real can be written.

You have to right at most 7 to 10 lines which are more then enough, but it plays a key role in your I.S.S.B

Read More

About Psychology Tests - Sibtain Afzaal

A question has been asked regarding psychology test as how can we prepare for it? What is it that they ask and what kind of answers they want?

The game of psychology is played everywhere, be it US Army, British Army, Indian Army or Pakistani Army. Be it ISSB or CSS, psychology tests are conducted to see if the candidate is suited for the job, whether he is capable to handle the job, whether he is mature and responsible enough or not.

To analyze this series of questions are asked and tests are conducted. Amazingly these questions no matter how well you prepare cant be deceived. They will get what psychologists need and they will provide an XRAY of your entire history, personality and life.

But there are ways by which you can dodge the tests and get the desired results.

What is required is that you practice these tests, get them in synchronization, meaning that if you answer a question in one test you should answer yes to the same type of question in another test. Psychologists analyze you by seeing exactly this whether you are lying or not by comparing the answers of different questions.

Here is a short summery of things to do to prepare for psychology tests.

1. Get to know about the kind of tests ( Ill give detail about it in another post).

2. Get to know about the kind of questions in each test.

3. Don’t cram the answers but develop a story about your self, hiding the few ugly parts which you don’t want to show in ISSB.

4. Make answers from that story so that they support each other.

Psychology test is the most important as psychologist gives his recommendation based on the tests. Meaning its one third of your ISSB relies on it.

Read More

Interview Questions in ISSB ( Part 1 ) - Sibtain Afzaal

Often candidates are asked a simple question during interview,
"why do you want to join army/navy/airforce?"

Guys always get confused and give silly replies like

"Sir: To serve my nation"
or
"I have a passion to join armed forces.."

Although these answers might be your true motives for joining the armed forces and are very noble, but these answers are not appropriate when it comes to ISSB. You have to give a bit more mature and logical answer. Because these questions can result in counter questions like you can serve the nation many other ways...... or you have good marks you can become an engineer and serve the nation...etc

The rule of all the answers should be "give clear and complete answers which would satisfy all his queries."

Here are some of the answers which would be more appropriate:


•Sir, its a good career, with a lot of grace, it can give me great opportunities to rise in ranks based on my abilities, it is a respectable profession,


•Sir, its a dynamic job with lots of field work, not a desk job where you spend rest of your life.in other words its an exciting job,which which would polish my abilities and help me learn alot.

My answer was


•"Sir i read a book about Airforce "pak fizaya ke dastan e shujaat" which had the compete story of the Halwara Mission of Sarfarz Rafique Shaeed, he is my inspiration for whom i am joining air force."

(Note: These examples are just to give you an idea, its highly discouraged that you use them as they are, as your answers, try to think of your answers in the same lines as these...Be original)

Read More