November 10, 2006	Friday	Shawwal 17, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, Nov 9: The death of at least 42 soldiers, most of them young men, in the suicide bombing at Dargai in Malakand Agency is tragic, says the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

“HRCP offers its sincerest sympathies to the families of those killed in this latest act of militancy,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

“The violence unleashed in Bajaur a short time ago and the extra-judicial killing of at least 82 people there, has let loose a new cycle of reprisal and attack. HRCP fears still more lives will be lost as a consequence of these heedless actions and the increased callousness with which the lives of citizens are taken by State agencies.

“We call on the authorities to ensure this chain of death is broken. This can happen only if tactics of force, which bring death and suffering, are abandoned and instead holistic policies, put in place to address the deeply-rooted menace of militancy which continues to flourish within the country.”

Demanding an independent inquiry into the Bajaur killings, the HRCP said the latest act of terrorism exposed the limitations of an authoritarian regime and underscored the fact that the growing problems the nation confronted could be resolved only under a democratic dispersion that had the support of the people.

PBC: The Punjab Bar Council on Thursday condemned the tragedy of Dargai Cantonment in which a number of troops were killed.

In a resolution adopted by the PBC, lawyers said the incident seemed a retaliation of the regime’s pro-US policies and a war on terrorism which was now taking a toll of the armed forces personnel.

The resolution appealed to lawyers across the province to observe a token strike on Monday by abstaining from courts for one hour between 10 and 11am. The resolution called upon lawyers to wear black armbands even when appearing in courts before and after the boycott hour.