Karachi: Terrorist attack on stock exchange

In a militant attack on Pakistan stock exchange Karachi, at least seven people got killed, including four terrorists on Monday 29th June 2020. A twitter account associated with the terrorist group; Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. BLA claimed that members from Majeed brigade took part in the attack. Initial details reveal the attack took place around 10 am local time. The terrorists use hand grenade to enter the premises of the building through the parking lot.

A Karachi police spokesman said a police sub-inspector of Karachi police on duty and two stock exchange guards killed in the firing and grenade attack at the entrance. According to a spokesman, the four terrorists got killed in a crossfire with the police, two civilians, including three policemen, and two security guards, and a stock exchange employee got injured. An earlier statement from police stated ten dead.

According to police surgeon Dr. Qarar Abbasi, they have so far received seven dead bodies, including four militants, two security guards, and a policeman. The militants also had modern weapons, grenades, and other items in their possession. 

A heavy force of police and rangers remained outside the building after the incident. The building and surroundings were searched.

Sindh Additional IG Ghulam Nabi Memon stated that the militants came in silver corolla and stopped at the gate by the police where the crossfire started. He said two militants were killed outside the gate while the two managed to reach inside but also killed. The militants could not enter the main building.

Stock exchange MD Farrukh Khan said that the attackers did not manage to enter the building and remained on the premises. He also said that business activities were not affected on the trading floor. The chief minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah condemned the incident and demanded a detailed inquiry report. 

CTD In-charge Raja Omar Khattab

The counter-terrorism department (CTD) in-charge, Raja Omar Khattab said that today’s attack at the stock exchange is somewhat similar to the attack on the Chinese consulate in 2008. The vehicle used was registered by the concerned agencies and is registered, against one of the terrorists killed in today's attack named Salman. The militant Salman belonged to the ketch district of Baluchistan. 

Raja Omar Khattab said, “the vehicle used in the Chinese consulate attack was also not stolen and cleared, suggests that terrorist have enough funds which are why they buy vehicles from the market and use them,”

While answering a question he said that no explosive was found form militants possession but weapons, grenades, launchers and food items were recovered form them. Further he said he can not immediately reveal the identity of militants. One militant is identified as Salman. The details of the other will be revealed soon.

DG Rangers Sindh

DG Rangers sindh Major General Omar Bukhari says that this terrorist attack could not have taken place without the help of any enemy foreign agency in which according to him India’s secret agency “RAW” is at the top.

In a press conference along with Karachi police chief, he said that we are aware of the uneasiness of enemy foreign agencies, especially RAW, in this regard. While talking about operations against militants, he said that joint operations by law enforcement agencies over the last few years, narrowed the terrorist’s operation scope.

Responding to a question, DG Rangers said that he would not call today’s incident an intelligence failure. Ghulam Nabi told the press conference that it was pointed out by the intelligence agencies that stock exchange could be under attack, and the security agencies were ready for today’s attack.

DG Rangers included that the four terrorists had come with the determination to; not only target the people but also to take them hostage at the stock exchange. Maj. Gen. Bukhari said we say this based on the items recovered from militants including, AK’s, grenades, and food items.

The two policemen from Sindh police who killed terrorists

According to Maj. Gen. Omar Bukhari stock exchange is a symbol of Pakistan’s economy and the purpose of the attack was to intimidate the investors and portray Pakistan as an insecure country.

PM Imran calls bin Laden "Martyr"

A few years earlier during an interview given to Indian television NDTV, Imran khan, as the leader of opposition quoted the founder and first head of Al-Qaeda; Osama bin Laden a martyr. In that interview he said; the way in which he (Osama bin laden) was killed has made him a martyr in the eyes of few.

Many years later of this interview, Imran Khan as the prime minister of Pakistan, mentioned the death of Osama bin laden. During his address on Thursday 25th of June 2020, to the lower house of parliament, in such a way that made Osama bin laden a trend in Pakistan.

While he was talking about different issues where the Pakistani nation had to be embarrassed at the international level, he pointed out the incident of Abbottabad. He said, “This is the incident that embarrassed Pakistanis. They came to Abbottabad and killed Osama bin laden, martyred him. After which, the whole world cursed us.”

 “That means our ally came to our country, without telling us and takes action. By that time, seventy thousand of our Pakistanis had died in this war”, he said while pointing out on the United States Navy SEAL’s action in Abbottabad on the 2nd of May 2011.

The US claims that in operation code-named “Operation Neptune Spear”; the US DEVGRU or the SEAL team six; raided Osama bin laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on 2nd May 2011, shortly after 1:00 am PST, and killed bin laden. The US military officials said that after the operation, the forces took Osama bin laden’s body with them to Afghanistan for identification.

While the raid was welcome by the European Union, NATO, and the United Nations, it was condemned by the Pakistani public. Others including, Amnesty international, questioned the ethical and legal aspects of killing. The decision about not to release any evidence or photograph of Osama bin laden’s death was also controversial.

After the very moment of PM's address, the clip went viral in Pakistan as well in abroad. PM Imran Khan said this while he was talking and expressing his government's foreign policy. Where he called the current foreign policy as the most successful foreign policy, he also enlightens the current government's relations with the US and that of previous governments. 

“We cooperated with the United State’s war on terrorism. The humiliation that Pakistan had to endure because of this, I don’t think any country has sided the United States in war, and the United States contrary accused her. Even if the United States did not succeed in Afghanistan, Pakistan was held responsible for this.” said PM Imran Khan.

He mentioned the Abbottabad incident and the humiliation the Pakistani nation faced. Prime Minister Imran Khan said that another embarrassment as a nation was the US drone strikes in Pakistan.

Imran Khan quoted that the previous government’s claims that they don’t know about these drone attacks, but then the US officials said that these attacks were carried out by the Pakistani government’s permission. The US officials also said that they don’t know why the government was lying to its people.

He addressed that his government had adopted the policy not to take part in any war and would help to bring peace. “Today, no one says Pakistan is cheating. Our relations are now such that no one humiliates us, rather we are being asked to help on Afghanistan issue,” said PM Imran Khan.

Dexamethasone: the light of hope for Covid-19 patients

It's an extraordinary and welcoming moment that we can say something positive about Covid-19 treatment. A week ago, no life-saving drug was confirmed, but now we have dexamethasone. It can reduce death risk up to one-third for patients on a ventilator and 20% for those who are on oxygen. 

It has been made possible by the persistence and accord of a team from Oxford University and the cooperation from hospitals across the United Kingdom, the approval of thousands of patients and their families.

Dexamethasone is a part of a study named 'recovery'. The medical trials usually take time. Sometimes it lasts months, sometimes it lasts several years, involving hundreds or up to thousands of patients. But this trial named recovery lasts only nine days, involving 11500 patients from 175 hospitals across the United Kingdom.

It was necessary to show some speed before the number of patients and workload on doctors increased. Remember that the United Kingdom is one of the most affected countries by the corona virus in Europe. That also means that there was the number of patients required for the immense medical trial for the treatment.

This medical trial was led by Professor Peter Horby, who have spent many years in finding out and learning the cause of epidemic by an unknown bacterium. He said that he was so disappointed with the previous H1N1 swine flu, had resulted in a "massive failure to properly administer the drug" he said he had zero evidence that any treatment was effective.

His co-researcher professor Martin Landre and Horby; were determined that this would not be the case with the Covid-19.  He kept this trial very simple. He would try very few experimental drugs and try to find an answer to only one question “if it can reduce the death risk?”.

One of these was the low-dose steroid drug dexamethasone. It has been in use since the 1960's. In the beginning, it was considered as dangerous from the start of the pandemic. It was discouraged by most of the international guidelines.

In the beginning, there were concerns about dexamethasone that it could intensify the disease or increase its duration. Professor Landre said, “the fact was, no one knew if dexamethasone would be beneficial or harmful”. There was a lack of medical trials, and only then could the tangible result be achieved. This means that the condition of patients dosed with dexamethasone should be compared with the patients without dexamethasone.

The corona virus has two different stages. Most people go through the first stage, where the virus enters the body. But in some cases, the disease begins to change after a week of infection. The overreaction of the immune system causes inflammation. At this stage, it is not the corona virus but the immune system’s overreaction, which causes damage to the lungs.

The World Health Organization called it a “life-saving breakthrough” as it is affordable and is widely used for many diseases around the world.

The “recovery” trial also considering another antivirus, antibiotic, and blood plasma from recovered patients of Covid-19.

The professors emphasize that the “recovery” trial is a work of a team of 20 members from oxford,  include more than 3400 doctors, nurses, admin, and research staff, as well as the patients without whom no medical progress would have been possible.

Remember that it is not a magic drug. Medical tests have shown that dexamethasone only helps patients who need artificial respiration or who are on a ventilator. It lowers the immune system’s response and gives the lungs a chance to recover.

Professor Landre said that he urges everyone to be aware of the results they are giving because this is the way they carry out their research.

Solar Eclipse: The Ring of Fire

June 21 was a solar eclipse around the world. A few hours later the eclipse ended in different parts of the world, including Pakistan. It was partially visible in most parts of the country.  The meteorological department of Islamabad stated that the eclipse begins at 8:46 am local time, at 11:40 am it was at its peak and ended at 2:34 pm local time.

This solar eclipse is called “Ring of Fire” as the moon comes in front (center) of the sun and covers it. In this scenario, the outer part of the sun looks like a ring.

Despite the southern parts of Pakistan, it was visible in China, North India, Central African Republic of Ethiopia, and Congo.   

New Delhi

According to a written statement of the meteorological department of Islamabad stated that the main cities where the eclipse was visible were Karachi, Quetta, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Gilgit, Sukkur, Gawadar and the capital of Pakistan administered-Kashmir Muzaffarabad. 

In Sukkur, it was visible as a full ring, while it was visible as a partial eclipse in other cities. In Islamabad, the partial eclipse started at 9:50 am and ended at 1:06 pm local time. The eclipse in Karachi begins at 9:26 am and ended at 12:46 am local time yesterday.

The solar eclipse started in Lahore at 9:19 am, at 11:26 am, the eclipse was at its peak and ended at 1:10 pm.

Remember that the solar eclipse occurs when the moon; orbiting the earth comes between the earth and sun. People are directed to be careful during a solar eclipse and do not look at the sun directly. It can cause serious harm to the eyes as it contains powerful radiation. Use special goggles to have a sight of a solar eclipse.

Experts suggest during solar eclipse one should:
·         Do not look at the sun without a filter.
·         Do not use eclipse goggles that are three years old.
·         Do not use homemade solar eclipse filters.
·         Do not use ordinary sunglasses to see the eclipse.
·         Do not use cameras without a filter.

  Even the smallest hole in the filter can destroy the human eye within a moment.

California University’s center for disease control stated that the solar eclipse should not be seen directly as it has negative effects on human eye retina. It can completely affect the eye’s visibility.

Cynthia Richie Against Rehman Malik

The police denied registering an FIR against Cynthia Richie’s allegations of rape on Pakistan peoples party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik after which she decided to go to court.

Islamabad police refuse to register an FIR file by Cynthia Richie due to a lack of pieces of evidence, in which she accused PPP leader Rehman Malik for rape. In its investigation report, the Islamabad secretariat police wrote that the allegations made by Cynthia Richie did not give any credible evidence to register an FIR.

Cynthia Richie’s lawyer Imran Feroz said that the police did not register FIR due to lack of evidence. Nowhere in the world, has the applicant brought all the evidence.

“We told the police about the place and time. It is the police’s job to investigate. It is easy to investigate the place we mentioned and the person we accused. There is CCTV footage, the staff could be found as witnesses, why the police are not investigating and asking us for evidence”, said Imran Feroz.

Imran Feroz said that they are done with the police, now they will go to court and file a petition for a police investigation.

Cynthia Richie also claimed that people from PPP were harassing and threatening her. However, the police said no phone number or person’s name was given.

The police further included that Cynthia Richie had not lodged any verbal or written complaint against Rehman Malik related to the 2011 rape allegations on any forum. Further, a report will be lodged on request and further investigations will be carried out.

On the other hand Cynthia Richie claimed that former minister Rehman Malik had allegedly raped her at his official residence. The incident took place when she went there to discuss her visa.

She said she thought that the meeting was about her visa, but she was given flowers, drugs, and drink. She said she was silent as who would help her against PPP’s minister in PPP’s government.

She said that the incident took place at that time when Al-Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad.

She warned in her video message that information she had is “sensitive” and only adults should watch it.