All Pakistan Blog

According to sources, Afridi’s disagreement with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over some issues resulted in his early retirement.

He said it was hard for him to play under a cricket board, which pays no respect to senior players.

“I cannot work with the people who find it difficult to tolerate statements in favour of cricket,” he stated, saying that the duty of a coach is to work for the welfare and in favour of team.

"It is nothing short of an hounour for me that Pakistan played world cup semifinal under my captaincy," he added.

Talking to politician and traders from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who joined the PTI here at the party Central Secretariat, Imran Khan said next few months were crucial, and a big change was about to take place on the national horizon.

He said through ballot box, a historic revolution would take place in Pakistan during the next general election, and he said people looked towards his party for saying goodbye to US slavery and bringing economic stability in the country.

“Future politics will be focused on two major points—how to get rid of the US subjugation and ensure economic stability,” the PTI chairman maintained while welcoming the delegates to his party.

Imran believed without the removal of incumbent rulers, who had bargained for a few dollars on the life and honour of Pakistanis, needed to be removed for which the PTI would hold countrywide demonstrations and also stage historic sit-ins in Lahore and Multan. The PTI chairman continued a final round would be played in Islamabad to send the rulers packing and pressure would also be mounted on fake rulers in Punjab.

The liaison centers, also known as intelligence fusion cells, in Quetta and Peshawar are the main conduits for the United States to share satellite imagery, target data and other intelligence with Pakistani ground forces conducting operations against militants, including Taliban fighters who slip into Afghanistan.

US special operations units have relied on the three facilities, two in Peshawar and one in Quetta, to help coordinate operations on both sides of the border, senior US officials said. The U.S. units are now being withdrawn from all three sites, the officials said, and the centers are being shut down.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the steps are permanent. The closures, which have not been publicly announced, remove US advisors from the front lines of the war against militant groups.

The decision has not affected the CIA's ability to launch missiles from drone aircraft in northwest Pakistan.

The meetings have been facilitated by Germany and Qatar, but American officials have been present each time, meeting with Tayeb Agha, who is a close personal assistant to Mullah Omar, the officials said. The C.I.A. and the State Department have been involved in the meetings, one official said.

Talks have begun before the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2.

The presence of Mr. Agha, a longtime personal assistant of the reclusive Taliban leader, is a sign that the Taliban are serious despite their public opposition to peace talks, the officials said. 

Yet the senior Afghan official cautioned that the meetings might not represent much because Mr. Agha was known to be no longer particularly close to Mullah Omar. Mr. Agha was a much trusted personal assistant, answering phone calls and making appointments for Mullah Omar, for most of the Taliban’s time in power, from 1994 to 2001. 

The meetings have been conducted without the participation of Pakistan.

Germany, which has troops in northern Afghanistan, has led the process with the Taliban and hosted some meetings, while Qatar has hosted another, according to the officials.

"The wreckage of the helicopter destroyed in the bin Laden operation was returned over the weekend and is now back in the United States," Colonel Dave Lapan said.

The helicopter was damaged in a hard landing at bin Laden's compound and US special forces deliberately blew it up after gunning down the Al-Qaeda leader in the May 1-2 raid, officials have said.

Photographs of the tail of the wrecked helicopter fueled speculation among experts and aviation enthusiasts that the aircraft was a secret model with design features to reduce noise or foil radar detection -- most likely a modified Blackhawk.

Pakistan had said earlier this month that it would not share the damaged helicopter with China, which has been accused of buying up wreckage of US military aircraft to get an insight into American defense technology.

Tensions between the United States and its ally Pakistan have run high since bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the world's most wanted man, was found living in Abbottabad, a garrison town near Islamabad.

Relief and rescue teams have rushed to the site and initiated their work. The injured are being shifted to Khyber Teaching Hospital and Lady Reading Hospital.

It is said that the blast was heard across Peshawar city. Windowpanes of the nearby buildings were smashed into pieces in the blast. Security forces have cordoned off the area.