Abbottabad | Pakistan

• Al Qaeda leader had agreed in writing to relocate by September 2011 • Two brothers sheltering him sought separation, citing exhaustion • Agency claims to be entirely unaware of the relocation plan, says delayed raid would have missed the opportunity WASHINGTON: A decade after the operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, a fresh Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) account reveals that the Al Qaeda leader nearly slipped out of his hideout months before the US raid. The CIA’s official record, updated with newly posted documents and released on Friday, shows that Bin Laden was actively planning to leave his hideout in Abbottabad months before the American operation, while simultaneously continuing to direct al-Qaeda operations from within the compound. According to letters recovered from the compound, Bin Laden had agreed in writing to a relocation plan after sustained pressure from the two brothers who had sheltered him for years. On Jan 14, 2011, he wrote a formal letter acknowledging tensions and e...

Abbottabad’s streets mostly dissolve into a mundane blur but Circular Road has a way of catching you by the sleeve. This stretch of town is as silent as silence allows, lined with government offices leaning into one another, until a weathered gate interrupts the monotony. Behind its rusting iron, sits a house that doesn’t belong to the modern world. It is only when you begin to press the locals for answers that its name is spoken: Shahzada House. It is a name that carries an old-world grandeur the hushed street can barely support, with its roots stretched across borders and centuries back to Bukhara. A prince’s journey The story of Shahzada House is one of a man in open rebellion. Mir Syed Abdul Malik Tura may now be a footnote in history, but he was once the North Star of Bukhara, an heir to a lineage entrenched in power and learning, one that traces its foundations to the Timurid Era, a golden age of culture and science in Central Asia and Persia. His story is Bukhara’s. Records prove that the city was shap...

Police on Monday recovered the body of a doctor who had been missing since Thursday in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Abbottabad from a nearby forest. Police sources told Dawn that the body of Dr Warda Mushtaq was recovered from the nearby forests of Thandiyani. Her body has now been shifted to the hospital for an autopsy. Police also arrested a friend of the deceased and her husband in relation to the case. Mushtaq — a doctor at the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed hospital — had been missing since Thursday, prompting her colleagues and the leaders of the Provincial Doctors Association and Grand Health Alliance to stage a demonstration and boycott hospital duties. They had announced that if she was not found by Monday, protests would be extended to hospitals across the province. Following the news of the death, the hospital staff staged a protest and blocked the main Karakoram Highway (KKH) road from Fawara Chowk, assailing the police for “delayed action.” FIR As per the first information report (FIR), filed by her father under...

The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Saturday arrested three people suspected of gang-raping and blackmailing a minor in Abbottabad, according to a police official. Haripur Sub-Inspector (SI) Basit Ashraf said in a statement that the suspects were part of a gang who allegedly raped a minor boy at gunpoint and filmed the assault, using the footage as blackmail. “The NCCIA carried out an operation in Abbottabad,” he was quoted as saying. “The NCCIA registered a case against nine suspects … they assaulted the victim multiple times and blackmailed him and his family with the videos.” SI Ashraf said that the suspects allegedly shared the videos on WhatsApp and used them to blackmail the victim’s family. “Mobile phones and pornographic videos were recovered from the suspects during the raids,” he stated, adding that they would be used as evidence. In July, Haripur police arrested a seminary teacher for allegedly sexually abusing a visually-impaired five-year-old child in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hari...

A man allegedly shot dead his brother, sister-in-law, and their two daughters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Abbottabad district on Wednesday, according to the police. Abbottabad Police Spokesperson Azam Mir Afzal told Dawn.com that the incident took place in the Bandi Attai area of Havelian. “The suspect allegedly killed his brother along with his family members, but the motive behind the murders could not be immediately ascertained.” He said a police team had been dispatched to the area and a first information report (FIR) was being registered at the Havelian police station. According to the spokesperson, the suspect killed his brother, his sister-in-law, and two nieces before fleeing the scene. The spokesperson added that police had reached the spot and the bodies of the victims were shifted to the Havelian hospital for post-mortem. More to follow

Three children lost their lives and five were injured as a dumper truck ran them over in Abbottabad on Friday at around 8am, police said. Abbottabad police spokesperson Azam Mir Afzal told Dawn.com, “The accident took place as the school children were crossing the road near the Lady Garden public park.” Afzal said a first information report was registered against the driver who fled the scene. The dumper had also been seized, he added. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi said, “A rescue team was immediately dispatched to the accident site after receiving information about the incident. The bodies of the deceased, as well as the injured children, were taken to the district headquarters hospital.” Following the incident, family members of the children and local residents staged a protest and blocked the Old Karakoram Highway, police spokesperson Afzal said. They were demanding the arrest of the dumper truck’s driver, Afzal said, adding that the protest ended after negotiations and...

A spell of heavy downpour lashed various parts of Abbottabad district on Thursday, triggering flash floods that severely disrupted traffic flow and caused damage to infrastructure. Monsoon rains, which fall across the region from June to September every year, continue to lash many parts of the country. Starting in late June, Monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across the country in the past month by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas. The torrential rains led to the blockage of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) at multiple points within Abbottabad city, leaving commuters stranded for hours. According to local authorities, all major nullahs and ravines in the district, including the River Door, swelled beyond their banks, creating dangerous conditions for nearby residents and motorists. The sudden surge of water from the upper catchment areas inundated low-lying localities and washed debris onto the KKH, making several stretches ...

Police on Monday arrested three suspects who allegedly gang-raped a woman last week in the Bakot area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Abbottabad district, springing into action after the incident sparked social media outrage. Abbottabad police spokesperson Azam Mir Afzal told Dawn.com that the suspects had allegedly gang-raped a woman from Rawalpindi on Wednesday. “District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Tufail took action and ordered the immediate arrest of the suspects after the incident was highlighted on social media, including Facebook and TikTok,” Spokesperson Afzal said. He added that the Bakot station house officer (SHO), Arshad Khan, was sent to the village, where he had also found the local community angered over the incident. On the SHO’s complaint, a first information report (FIR) was lodged at the Bakot police station yesterday under sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 375A (rape) and 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, a copy ...

ABBOTTABAD: In a major crackdown against document fraud, Abbottabad Cantonment Police have arrested a group allegedly involved in helping Afghan nationals illegally obtain Pakistan’s Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC). The crackdown was launched on the special directives of District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Tufail (PSP) and led by SHO Cantt Police Station, Cadet Abdul Ghafoor […]

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police said on Saturday they had arrested a suspect after a 13-year-old maid was allegedly raped and murdered in Abbottabad last night. Azam Mir Afzal, public relations officer (PRO) for the Abbottabad district police officer (DPO), told Dawn.com today that the victim was working as a maid in the house where she was allegedly raped and murdered. “The house owner has been arrested, and further investigation into the case is underway,” the PRO said. “The incident took place in Habibullah Colony, within the limits of Mirpur Police Station,” the PRO said. “According to the initial reports, the victim’s body was brought to the hospital last night, where doctors examined it and found evidence of torture and rape.” Afzal added that a postmortem was conducted at Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad. According to the initial investigation, the victim’s mother was separated from her husband for the past 12 years and was living in Mansehra, Afzal noted. “The girl had been working as a household maid...