Timber Smuggling With Rockets in Chitral, Pakistan

23 March 08


Appeal for Financial Assistance:

Aurangzeb S/O Fazal Dad is a poor fellow. He suffers from kidney failure. The treatment of this disease costs more than 3 lac rupees which the poor patient cannot bear on his own.

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June 7, 2008


On the northwest tip of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan's Nuristan province, the inaccessible Chitral district has long been thought to be a possible refuge for Osama bin Laden. With the high peaks of the Hindu Kush range and its narrow valleys, it's easy to dodge through secret mountain routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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According to locals, bin Laden lived with a Kalasha family in Chitral for some time during his first Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

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23 June 08


Looks like the Cuckoo (Asian Koel) has managed to cross over the Lowari pass even before the tunnel has been completed. The bird has been spotted in Chitral for the first time this season.

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The new comer to Chitral however has to find a place for itself as it has been seen jealously pecked away by the Golden Oriole, which rules the melody roost up here and wants no competitor in this regard.

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26 June 08


There is a great rush for erecting mobile phone towers in Chitral and the city's erstwhile clear skyline is littered with ugly steel structures in the form of mobile towers. All the big cellular companies have landed here and are engaged in a race to capture a rapidly growing market, ahead of others.

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2 July 2008


Pakistan long ago gave Washington the right to launch an immediate Predator drone strike on Osama bin Laden, without first notifying Islamabad, if he is located in Pakistani tribal areas, The Washington Times reported Wednesday.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf granted this exception to other limits on US counterterrorism operations in his country "early" in the war against Al-Qaeda, launched in Afghanistan in October 2001, the Times said, citing "a knowledgeable official."

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But military officials believe that if bin Laden's exact location were determined, a missile-equipped Predator drone could be airborne or redirected in flight "in a matter of minutes."

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