Nato attacks 'rebels in Pakistan'

Nato-led forces in Afghanistan say they have fired into Pakistan after coming under attack from there by suspected militants.

Troops used attack helicopters and artillery to fire from Paktika province after the militants fired rockets.

Nato said it had closely co-ordinated with Pakistan's military, who agreed to help if firing from Pakistan continued.

Nato rejected reports of a build-up of international forces on the Afghan side of the border in recent days.

Blame

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says Pakistan's army has also downplayed the reports of a build-up of troops on the Afghan side of the border.

Increased activity on Tuesday by forces across the border from the Waziristan tribal region in Pakistan sparked fears of clashes between them and Taleban militants hiding in the region.

But the Pakistani army says it was part of the coalition's routine exercise to rotate and reposition its troops.

The exercise led to the temporary closure of at least two main border crossings in the Waziristan region, witnesses say.

Taleban attacks on Afghan and international forces in Afghanistan have increased in recent months.

Both Afghan and Western officials say the Taleban are operating out of sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas that border Afghanistan.

On Monday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai directly blamed Pakistani intelligence apparatus for organising last week's suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Pakistani Prime Minister Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hit back on Wednesday, saying Pakistan had time and again declared that it wanted Afghanistan to be stable.

'Routine'

Witnesses said Tuesday's movement by coalition troops in several areas along the Waziristan border was "shocking".

They said hundreds of troops moved with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery pieces and repositioned very close to the border.

The movement was accompanied by increased overflights by coalition helicopters and fighter jets, they said.

Pakistan army spokesman, Maj Gen Athar Abbas, told BBC News it was "routine movement and repositioning by the coalition forces, which is not unusual".

"We are watching the situation and are in touch with the coalition commanders in the area," he said.

Witnesses and administration officials in South Waziristan said a larger concentration of Afghan and coalition troops near Angoor Adda town on Tuesday led to the closure of the border crossing.

The main market of the town, which is located on the Pakistani side, remained closed because most shopkeepers live on the Afghan side of the border and were prevented by the coalition forces from crossing over.

The border gate on the Lwara Mandai crossing in North Waziristan tribal region also remained closed for traffic, witnesses said.

They said coalition forces had set up an outpost close to the border in the Lwara Mandai area.

Both border crossings were open to traffic on Wednesday however, witnesses said.

The Wazir tribe lives on both sides of the border, and controls the Lwara and Angoor Adda trade routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The army spokesman confirmed that the Angoor Adda crossing remained closed for nearly three hours on Tuesday "on the orders of the Afghan army", but said he had no information about the closure of Lwara Mandai.

He also rejected reports that coalition troops had deployed "too close" to the border.

"There is no coalition deployment that violates an agreed distance from the border which both sides have been observing," he said.

World's richest brothers feud again

By Shantanu Guha Ray, Delhi

They are the world's richest brothers with a combined wealth of $85bn - and they are fighting again.

Two years ago, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, who control India's Reliance group of industries, accused each other of lying, misleading shareholders and delaying the process of dividing the businesses between them.

The latest rivalry between chief of Reliance Communications Anil Ambani and his elder brother Mukesh could upset a $70bn (£36bn;45bn euros) merger between Reliance Communications and the South African mobile telephone company, MTN.

There have been suggestions that Anil Ambani would sell a stake in Reliance Communications to MTN.

But Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, says he has the first right to buy a stake in his younger brother's firm.

He says this is laid down in a family agreement. Anil Ambani says the agreement was never ratified.

One-upmanship

India's corporate observers say central to the fresh round of rivalry is the issue of wealth and one-upmanship between the two brothers.

In the Forbes list of billionaires, Mukesh Ambani holds the sixth position, followed by Anil Ambani.

Anil Ambani's personal wealth stands at $42bn, just $1bn short of his elder brother's. And if the MTN deal goes through, he may well leave his brother way behind.

When the Reliance empire was divided in 2005 after a bitter seven-month feud, Mukesh Ambani, who built the world's largest refinery at Jamnagar in India's western Gujarat state, was described in the media as the hard-working son whose worth was thrice that of his flashy younger brother's.

Newsweek magazine quoted his employees calling Mukesh, The Boss, who reportedly bought his wife a Boeing jet as birthday present and is building a $1bn, 27-storey home in Mumbai that many claim is the world's most expensive house.

Hollywood deals

Younger brother Anil Ambani has not lagged behind.

A vegetarian and teetotaller, his Reliance Communications is one of India's top telecom companies.

The junior Ambani has expanded his energy interests through Reliance Energy that distributes power in parts of the Indian capital, Delhi, and Mumbai.

And his media company, Reliance Big Entertainment, has announced production deals with Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Nicolas Cage. One recent report said Anil Ambani was putting his money in Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks.

Anil Ambani has recently signed a mega deal to fund new ventures with some of India's biggest actors, Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.

The two brothers inherited their multi-billion dollar conglomerates from their father, Dhirubhai Ambani, who died in 2002.

Since the late Mr Ambani left no will, the business was divided by their mother, Mrs Kokilaben Ambani, after it became obvious the two brothers would not be able to run the sprawling company together.

So will Mrs Ambani step in again to resolve the latest dispute between her sons?

Earlier this month, she helped her younger son host a dinner at Christie's and sat next to MTN chairman Phuthuma Nhleko - widely interpreted as her blessing for the deal.

Observers say she visited family friends in the US and skipped the elder son-controlled Reliance Industries' annual general meeting.

Time will tell whether she will intervene again to solve the latest row between what the Indian media describes as the "squabbling siblings".

The writer is business editor of Tehelka magazine.

US investment in Indian airline

US-based private equity investor WL Ross has agreed to invest $80m in Indian low-cost airline SpiceJet, the carrier has said.

SpiceJet is India's second-largest domestic low-cost carrier with 10% of the market share.

India's fast-growing airline industry is under pressure because of the rising cost of aviation fuel.

Analysts say some airlines may be forced to suspend some short-haul routes to reduce losses.

SpiceJet director Ajay Singh said WL Ross had "extensive experience of investing in the aviation sector".

"With this investment, we have no doubt that SpiceJet will fulfil its promise of emerging as India's leading airline," he said.

Wilbur L Ross Junior, the chairman of WL Ross, is expected to join the SpiceJet board of directors.

This is WL Ross's second investment in India - last year, it acquired textile firm OCM India for about $37m.

India reality TV show goes wrong

By Faisal Mohammad Ali
BBC News, Bhopal

Three employees of an event management firm in India have been arrested for putting the life of a reality TV show participant in danger, police say.

Anjar Khan, 22, took part in the show in the central Indian city of Indore where contestants were asked to stay under water for as long as possible.

He collapsed and is in hospital in a "serious condition", doctors say.

Reality TV shows have become huge hits in India with thousands queuing up to take part in them.

Something wrong

Mr Khan participated in a programme at a shopping mall in Indore on Sunday to publicise a new reality TV show "Khatron Ke Khiladi" [Dare devils] where participants were dared to remain under water in a huge glass tank.

He was inside the water tank for some minutes before the organisers realised there was something wrong and he was pulled out.

Reports say he lost consciousness in the tank and had water in his lungs.

He managed to walk a few steps but then collapsed. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he has been on artificial respirator ever since.

"He was brought to the hospital with a major part of his system such as pulse and blood pressure in an extremely critical condition," Dr GMR Shah of Mayur Hospital told the BBC.

Dr Shah said Khan would continue to be on ventilator for some more days although his condition had shown some improvement.

According to reports, no doctors or paramedics were present at the mall when the incident took place.

Officials say the organisers did not have permission to hold the contest.

Senior police officer Mahesh Chandra Jain said the arrested employees would be charged with "gross negligence which put a person's life in danger".

US troops abandon Afghan outpost

US and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote village in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine US soldiers and wounded a dozen more on Sunday.

A statement said the outpost had been temporary and that "regular patrols" in the area would be maintained.

Afghan police are continuing to fight insurgents after the pullout on Tuesday, local officials say.

The attack caused the biggest American loss of life in battle in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.

Nato says the rebels also suffered heavy casualties.

It did not name the attackers but there has been a sharp increase in Taleban attacks in the country, and in that region in particular, although other rebel groups are also known to operate there.

'Disestablished'

At least 100 - some reports say 200 - insurgents stormed the small combat outpost in the village of Wanat on the border of Nuristan and Kunar provinces on Sunday.

Some militants briefly broke through defences and into the temporary base.

"We are confirming that we have vacated our combat outpost at Wanat," said Nato spokesman Mark Laity.

The outpost had only been constructed days before it was attacked.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) announced the camp had now been "disestablished" but said there would be a "continued presence" in the area - namely patrols and the use of Afghan security forces.

Omar Sami Taza, a spokesman for the governor of Nuristan, said US troops had withdrawn from the area, "leaving the district in the hands of only 20 policemen".

"American troops have taken all heavy weapons out of the district," he told the BBC. "This is why we have lost the district to the Taleban because our police couldn't defend it with one AK-47."

However, the local police chief, Hazarat Ali, told the BBC: "Our police are still in the district, the elders are backing us. We have not lost our district."

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says there are many of these small outposts scattered across eastern Afghanistan as part of the US counter-insurgency strategy which is being followed to the letter in this area.

Our correspondent says the idea is to get small groups of international troops and Afghan security forces out on the ground as a permanent presence to instil more confidence in the local people and show they can provide security, rather than just visiting the area on patrol.

The danger for Nato is they risk being outnumbered and attacked, or even overrun, as almost happened in the raid at the weekend.

There had been reports from Afghan local officials of civilian casualties caused by bombing in the aftermath of the attack on the base, but Nato also put out a statement denying this.

They said the only bombs dropped were more than 40km (25 miles) away from the villages named by local officials.

Drama highlights Afghan war crimes

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Bamiyan

A blood-curdling scream rings out over the Bamiyan valley as the man in the white mask, his hands tied with red wire, tries to free himself from the voices in his head which speak of death and of torture.

The backdrop to the play is what's left of the Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taleban in 2001.

The schizophrenic prisoner acting on stage is battling the ghosts of those who were killed with scant regard for their human rights.

The open-air theatre audience knows the pain of losing husbands and fathers - when the Taleban came to Bamiyan in central Afghanistan they were brutal and ruthless.

'Revenge?'

Surrounding him are hunks of meat split by an axe and an AK-47 wound in barbed wire.

"Most of the victims, especially women, spoke out about their desire for justice to be done with regard to the past"
Musa Sultani, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission

Calling all Bamiyan tourists

He is tied to seven chairs each containing a jar of blood to represent the victims of war crimes and human rights abuses.

In the play, an adaptation of a Northern Ireland story on reconciliation, the character is desperate to know what the ghosts want - knowledge or information, justice or peace.

"Do you want revenge?" he screams again, and it's a question ringing in the ears of those watching.

How do millions of Afghans come to terms with all the terrible things that happened in nearly three decades of war when an insurgency is raging and those responsible are still free and in positions of power?

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the United Nations is backing the touring theatre project which is designed to start people thinking about how to deal with their own ghosts.

But the UN is in a difficult position in Afghanistan when it comes to human rights.

It has produced a document which highlights, from contemporary records, all the various war crimes and abuses through the Soviet occupation and the civil war of the early 1990s at the time of the Taleban.

But it has not been published because, the UN says, the Afghan government believes it will do more harm than good.

Many of those named as responsible in its hundreds of pages are in positions of power in Afghanistan today - some are even members of parliament.

Naming and shaming them, the argument goes, puts the country's fragile democracy at risk.

Meanwhile, those in the audience are struggling to have their voices heard to help them come to terms with the past.

There's Fatima whose father was a rich businessman murdered at midnight outside his home by the Taleban.

Baqir Ali's father was also killed, but by the Soviets in the 1980s - the abuses go back decades.

'Traumatised and depressed'

And Qureish lost six close family members to the Taleban and had to drag the bodies into a makeshift grave on her own as her male relatives had been killed.

She took us to their grave at the huge war cemetery so close to the village that it is a constant reminder of what they have been through.

"People lost hope," she said. "Everyone was mentally affected, everyone has been left traumatised and depressed."

She described in detail the day the Taleban came: "We didn't know them, they were wearing masks when they came here, killed and then left. People lost the heads of their families and children were orphaned.

"We don't know our enemies so we cannot take revenge. May Allah do justice and take our revenge."

Musa Sultani is from the Bamiyan branch of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

He sees this as a conflict between the need for justice and maintaining the little peace which the country has achieved in the last six years.

The idea of the play was to spark discussion and he was pleased with the way it went.

"Most of the victims, especially women, spoke out about their desire for justice to be done with regard to the past," he said.

"We had a very constructive dialogue - even representatives of factions who were involved in the past conflict were there and expressed their viewpoints."

But it's been just one part of a much larger process, and even after six and a half years there are few outlets for expressing grief and anger here.

For now there's little chance those responsible will be forced to face their past.

Tamil Tiger sea base 'captured'

The Sri Lankan military says it has captured a key coastal town in the north-west from Tamil Tiger rebels.

The military says Vidattaltivu, about 20km (12 miles) from the town of Mannar, was used by the rebels' naval wing to smuggle in supplies from India.

The Tigers, who retain control of other bases further up the north-west coast, have not commented on the claims.

The rebels have been fighting for a separate state for the island's ethnic Tamil minority for a generation.

Fighting continuing

The defence ministry said Vidattaltivu had been captured by advancing soldiers on Wednesday morning.

It is the first time since Indian peace keeping forces left Sri Lanka in 1990 that troops have been in control of the town, a statement said.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said some fighting was continuing and troops were carefully searching the town for remaining rebels.

Independent confirmation is impossible because the government has barred journalists from the war zone.

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Colombo says Vidattaltivu has been a strategic goal of the military.

Our correspondent says it has been a base for the rebels' naval wing, the Sea Tigers, and a hub for smuggling in supplies from India on the other side of the narrow Palk Strait.

Fighting has intensified in Sri Lanka as soldiers continue a slow advance, aiming to crush the Tigers' de facto mini state in the north.

Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on the other.

The rebels have fought for a generation for a homeland for the ethnic Tamil minority who have faced marginalisation by successive governments dominated by the majority Sinhalese.

Sri Lanka's army chief, Lieutenant-General Sarath Fonseka has said it will take another year to capture territory held by the Tigers - and even then an insurgency could last forever.