Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

India-Pakistan
Displaced Mehsuds to hold jirga in Lahore to seek repatriation
2014-10-14
[DAWN] The elders of Mehsud tribe have decided to hold a jirga in Lahore on Oct 21 to demand return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North and South Wazoo agencies to the areas, which have been cleared of krazed killers.

The decision was made in a jirga of Mehsud elders, held at Bagh-e-Naran here on Sunday to discuss future strategy for pressing the government to pay heed to the issues of IDPs.

Senator Saleh Shah from South Waziristan, Advocate Kareem Mehsud, former DIG Rehmat Khan, Abdullah Khan Mehsud, Haji Ataullah and other elders of Wazir and Dawar tribes also attended the jirga to discuss the issues of IDPs.

The displacement from South Waziristan was started in 2008 and many families were dislocated by 2009 owing to a military operation code-named 'Rah-e-Nijat' to rid the area and its people of the menace of militancy. The displaced tribal families still wait for an announcement by the authorities concerned that they can go back to their area, which has been cleared of krazed killers.

About 56,228 families were displaced from South Waziristan in 2009 but so far only 7,455 families have returned to their homes and some 45,178 families are scattered in different parts of the province and the country.

The displaced tribal people claim that they are not living in any government-run camp or shelter but are left to fend for themselves.

The participants of the jirga said that they were told by the authorities after the launch of military operation that they would return to their homes after three weeks. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
many families were still waiting for a green signal from the authorities to return to their homes, they added.

Senator Saleh Shah said that Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) was given about Rs2.64 billion for rehabilitation of the South Waziristan IDPs. Instead of spending the amount on the purpose, the FDMA embezzled the funds, he alleged.

The Senator said that people of tribal areas were used during war against Russia and tagged as 'smugglers' and 'warriors' but in reality tribal people wanted peace. It's the reason they gathered to hold a jirga and demand of the government to arrange for their return to the areas, which were cleared of krazed killers.
Link


India-Pakistan
Swat attack on Malala: War of words in Senate over policy about militancy
2012-10-12
[Dawn] Political rivals in the Senate on Wednesday used the debate on the terrorist attack on Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
girl Malala Yousufzai to blame one another's policies about militancy.

Though, all the senators belonging to major political parties were unanimous in condemning the dastardly attack, a clear divide was visible in the house between those supporting the ongoing war on terror and those opposing it.

Senator Mushahidullah Khan of the opposition Pakistain Mohammedan League-N (PML-N) joined the religious-minded senators in declaring that the war on terror was not in the country's interests and that it had been imposed on Pakistain by the US.

On the other hand, the PPP senators said that those who believed that it was not Pakistain's war were "living in the fool's paradise".

When some senators, particularly those belonging to the Awami National Party (ANP) and Hasil Bizenjo of the National Party (NP), opposed the role of religion in state affairs and called for propagating secular views in the country, they were bitterly criticised by members belonging to the religious parties.

The two stalwarts of the ruling Pakistain People's Party (PPP) -- Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani -- held the state responsible for the rising tide of militancy and extremism in the country because it always made compromises and never stood firmly against the forces exploiting religion.

Giving an example, Mr Ahsan flayed the government's decision of blocking YouTube website, and said if there was one "filthy book" in a library containing 10 million books then it did not mean that the whole library should be closed.

Mr Rabbani was of the view that the country was facing the present confusing situation due to the "failure of the democratic, progressive and political forces which have always made compromises and digressed from the ideological path set by the Quaid-e-Azam".

An independent senator from tribal areas, Saleh Shah, and Hasil Bizenjo of the NP in their speeches took the ANP -- the ruling party in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
(KP) -- to task for entering into an agreement with Maulana Sufi Muhammad for enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl in Swat in 2009 which, according to them, provided an opportunity to the Taliban to get hold of the area.

ANP's Afrasiab Khattak and Ilyas Bilour, however, defended their provincial government's decision and said that it was actually done to provide an opportunity to the fighting Taliban to come to the negotiating table, They said when the agreement brought no results, a massive operation was launched in Swat and the gun-hung tough guys were expelled from the area.

Mr Khattak alleged that it was the five-year rule of the religious parties' alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in the province that allowed the gun-hung tough guys to propagate their views through 30 FM channels. It was during the MMA's rule that the Taliban were allowed to transport arms and ammunition by using roads.

ANP's Haji Adeel warned that if the political parties did not take a clear stance on the issue of terrorism, the country would become a fundamentalist state.

Another ANP Senator Shahi Syed claimed that the Taliban had forced the party to close a number of its offices in the city of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
. Without naming the MQM, he said that those who were celebrating the closure of their offices would be the next target of the Taliban.

Senator Nasreen Jalil of the MQM said the political parties which had allowed the Taliban to stay in their strongholds should be asked to clarify their stance whether they supported the vision of the Quaid-e-Azam or that of the Taliban.

Senator Hasil Bizenjo held the policies of former military dictator Gen Zia ul Haq
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
responsible for the rise in extremism and sectarianism, saying that it was Gen Zia who had made the religion a state property. He alleged that the state even today was promoting religious extremism. "You cannot stop extremism without separating religion from state," he said.

Referring to the recent sectarian killings in Quetta, Mr Bizenjo alleged that the city was witnessing a war between the groups backed by two countries. He claimed the group backed by Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
was killing those who were believed to have their origin from Iraq.

Mufti Abdus Sattar of the JUI-F said that Islam was the state religion under Article 2 of the Constitution and those who spoke against Islam were actually anti-state people.

Senator Saleh Shah said that everyone was condemning the attack on Malala but regretted that no one talked about other similar girls being killed in drone attacks in Fata and Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province.
Link


India-Pakistan
Police fire hits three students in Parachinar
2011-09-14
[Dawn] Three of the scores of students protesting the closure of Thall-Parachinar Road were maimed in Parachinar after levies fired gunshots at them on Monday.

The students enrolled in the country`s educational institutions have been stuck in the area for many days. They had come home to spend summer vacations.
"Ma! The road's closed and I can't get back to school!"
"Don't worry dear, the same people who closed the road will burn your school."
These students had set up a camp in front of the political agent office three days ago to press the administration for early opening of the road or provision of helicopter service to help them reach their respective destinations. Personnel of levies on Monday turned up in large numbers at the camp to disperse the students. They fired gunshots in the air prompting students to march towards the main office.

The levies fired tear gas shells and bullets at protesters to block their movement. The bullets hit three students wounding them, while five fainted due to tear gas shelling.

The angry mob later attacked the nearby main post office and set a portion of it on fire. It however, dispersed later. The bullets had gun sex by levies damaged high transmission line. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
no damage to human life was reported in it.

Students told Dawn that faceless myrmidons had taken over the Thall-Parachinar Road and the administration and security forces had failed to secure the control of the road to their misery. They said students of cadet colleges were also stuck in the area but were taken away in military helicopters, while no help was offered to them.

Meanwhile in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
, hundreds of students belonging to the Mahsud and Barki tribes held a protest demonstration and blocked the road outside the political katchery on Tank road here on Monday to demand early start of the cadet college in their area in the South Wazoo Agency.

The protesting students, led by Zahir Khan Mahsud, Gul Nawaz and others said that the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
, during his visit to South Waziristan had announced establishment of a cadet college in Wana and another one in the area inhabited by the Mahsud tribe, but the projects were delayed.

They demanded of the administration to take steps to set up the college and save future of the students, who were deprived of education facilities due to the spread of militancy in the area.

They said that the protest demonstrations would continue until the project was initiated at the earliest.

Senator Saleh Shah from South Waziristan, when asked about the project, said that college would be established in the Mahsud area without further delay.
Link


India-Pakistan
Mehsud elders ask govt to stop operation
2009-08-07
A delegation of the elders of Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan has arrived in the federal capital in an effort to persuade the government to stop military action against the people of their area.
A pity they picked the very day Baitullah Mehsud shot through to the Great Beyond, isn't it?
The 45-member jirga led by Senator Saleh Shah has met several leaders, including JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi and parliamentarians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. They discussed the situation in Waziristan and the plight of the Mehsuds as a result of the action by security forces. The issue of displaced people was also discussed.
Did they, perchance, discuss the plight of innocents and even of various flavors of guilties at the hands of the Baitullah organization?
The jirga opposes military operation in the area, warning that such measures will result in a 'catastrophe'. The delegation's spokesman Salahuddin Mehsud said the elders had informed the parliamentarians of hardships being faced by the people of the tribe.
Life's tough. Being Islamic zealots makes it tougher.
Link


India-Pakistan
Army denies talks with Mehsud
2009-08-04
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] With sections of the foreign media reporting that the government was again holding peace talks with Baitullah Mehsud, a high-ranking military official refuted the reports by categorically stating that the time to seek a truce with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) head was past.

Reports have recently appeared in the British and US media about renewed contacts between the government emissaries and Baitullah. The reports claimed that Baitullah had agreed to halt suicide bombings in return for a government promise not to launch a big military operation against him in his native South Waziristan. It was suggested in these reports that Afghan Taliban were mediating between him and the government.

The Army officer, who wished not be named, told The News such reports were being spread by pro-militant sources to create confusion in the country and abroad. He felt Baitullah and his supporters might be wishing that the government and the military approach him again for peace talks.

"This cannot happen now. Both the civil and military authorities have concluded that Baitullah is an enemy of Pakistan and must be dealt with accordingly," he stressed. He argued the armed forces had disrupted the militants' network run by Baitullah and his allied groups by arresting key figures, seizing weapons and taking control of some of their training centres and safe houses. He said the terrorists' ability to carry out suicide bombings in urban areas had diminished. He thought Baitullah and his commanders did not have an endless supply of suicide bombers. "Besides trying to bottle up Baitullah's men and area in South Waziristan from three sides to prevent his supplies, the Army also carried out action against his allied groups in different places, including Shah Hasankhel village, in Lakki Marwat district. Better security in cities and on roads had also affected the mobility of Baitullah's men," the military official said.

He pointed out people like Baitullah wanted to control the territory and enhance their power. He said it was futile to talk to someone whose demands keep growing and who is irreconcilable. "Let me assure you that there have been no talks recently with Baitullah. It is now out of question," he maintained. He added the Army would carry out a major offensive against Baitullah at the time of its choice.

A senior bureaucrat looking after Fata also said no peace talks were taking place with Baitullah. He said he checked with the military authorities after hearing reports that the two sides could be holding talks again. "But I was assured that it was a closed chapter as there was no need for holding peace talks with Baitullah," he added.

Maulana Saleh Shah, a senator from South Waziristan belonging to Maulana Fazlur Rehman's JUI-F, said he was unaware of any peace talks with Baitullah. "Every day 20 to 25 people, mostly tribesmen from South Waziristan, ask me if these reports were true. Our people have left their homes fearing fighting in the area and they are keen to find out if peace talks with Baitullah were taking place," he told The News. Senator Saleh Shah has been part of a tribal Jirga in the past that mediated between the government and Baitullah.

However, another Maulana from South Waziristan said on condition of anonymity that he was aware that contact was made with Baitullah by certain mediators but no peace deal could be struck.

The fact that a number of displaced Mehsud tribal families had recently gone back to their villages in South Waziristan also contributed to speculations that the expected ground offensive by the military in the Baitullah-controlled areas had been put off due to peace talks between the two sides. But Mehsud tribal elders argued that those families decided to return to South Waziristan after facing harassment at the hands of law-enforcement and intelligence agencies in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

"Some of them said they were willing to die in bombing by fighters in South Waziristan than getting kidnapped and harassed in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan," a Mehsud elder recalled. Though the Army hasn't launched a ground offensive in South Waziristan yet, bombing by air force jets and shelling by artillery guns against Baitullah's hideouts is continuing. Reports from the area said jets again carried out bombing of some places in the Mehsud tribal territory in South Waziristan on Saturday.
Link


India-Pakistan
90% tribesmen have left South Waziristan: Saleh
2009-06-08
Around 90 percent of the local tribesmen have left South Waziristan and are now living in settled districts, South Waziristan Senator Saleh Shah said on Sunday. He said the government had not made any arrangements for those who had relocated. The senator said a committee of political functionaries and tribal elders has estimated that the previous military operations had cost around Rs 1.30 billion in damages to different areas and more than 4, 500 houses and shops had been damaged in the current operation.
Link


India-Pakistan
Committee to mediate between Taliban, govt
2009-05-30
A 15-member peace committee of the Mehsud tribe will step up mediation to defuse tension between the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban and the South Waziristan political administration, a tribal mediator said on Friday. "We have decided to play a role in defusing the tension," Senator Saleh Shah told reporters. "We are contacting the Taliban in this regard," he added. The committee members had suspended peace efforts following clashes between the Taliban and the security forces.
Link


India-Pakistan
Lack of compensation for tribesmen will hurt peace accord: Senator Saleh
2008-12-21
The government not providing compensation to the people affected by military operations in the Tribal Areas may set back the peace agreement between the government and the Mehsud tribe, Senator Saleh Shah said on Saturday. The senator from South Waziristan said the government would be responsible if the peace accord failed. Talking to journalists, Saleh said a committee, which included representatives of construction department officials, was formed in February in the presence of the political agent to conduct a survey of losses in Mehsud area. The survey, which covered more then 4,500 houses, was carried out in Kot Kai, Mandana, Kalkana, Murgheban, Spin Kai, Raghzai Bazaar, Chakmadai Bazaar, Nanoo Khail and Laddah areas, Shah said. He said the committee had estimated losses of Rs 1.35 billion in a report presented to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, but no government response has been received so far. The senator said the report was currently with the Finance Ministry and the delay in provision of compensation showed the government's reluctance to facilitate the tribesmen. Shah said the peace accord's continuation now depended on the government's response.
Link


India-Pakistan
Army to remain in Swat, Tribal Areas, says Rehman Malik
2008-05-21
The army will not be withdrawn from the Tribal Areas and the Swat district as long as the law-enforcement agencies are unable to take control of the situation, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.

Talking to media with NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani after meeting Mehsud tribe elders at the Governor’s House, he said the army would stay in the region unless the writ of the state was enforced. He told the elders that the people affected by the military operation would be compensated for damages to their houses, APP reported. Malik also announced the re-opening of the Makin-Ladha-Tiarza Road.

Innocent people: He said the Pakistan People’s Party-led government believed in bringing peace and progress through negotiations rather than force. He said that all the innocent people arrested during operations in the Tribal Areas would soon be released.

He also alleged that neighbouring countries that did not like Pakistan’s nuclear programme were behind most of the militancy in the region.

The Mehsud elders told the governor that some of their tribesmen had been apprehended on basis of suspicion and not actual criminal activity. “Some families and tribesmen were targeted not because of any involvement in the situation, but because of family feuds or personal vendettas,” they added.

Tribal elder Senator Saleh Shah said the Mehsud elders had presented seven demands for the government’s consideration. “We want the immediate re-opening of Speenkay Raghzai road, release of detained people, compensation to affected people and resumption of development schemes,” he told Daily Times after the meeting.
Link


India-Pakistan
Mehsud offers conditional talks
2008-02-03
Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud has extended a conditional offer to the government to stop his aggressive activities, a private TV channel reported. Geo News quoted official sources as saying that Mehsud has told the government that he could halt terrorist actions if the key commanders and militants arrested by security forces were released. Senator Saleh Shah told the channel on Saturday that Mehsud had authorised him to negotiate with the government, adding that he would discuss the matter with the government at NWFP Governor’s House today (Sunday). Separately, the Interior Ministry did not confirm or deny any such contact between Mehsud and the government.
Link


India-Pakistan
Baitullah sez boomers waiting for Benazir
2007-10-05
Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud has threatened suicide attacks against PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto, saying his bombers are waiting in the wings to “welcome” her when she returns, FATA Senator Saleh Shah told Daily Times on Thursday. Shah is a close friend of Mehsud and is currently trying to broker a deal between the Mehsuds and the government to secure the release of around 250 abducted soldiers.

“My men will welcome Bhutto on her return. We don’t accept President General Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto because they only protect the US interest and see things through its glasses. They’re only acceptable if they wear the Pakistani glasses,” Shah quoted Baitullah as saying. He said that Mehsud, who killed three soldiers out of the hostages and has threatened more executions, had a following of 35,000 highly trained and organised fighters, including a ‘suicide squad’.

Shah said he was not optimistic about succeeding in negotiations for the release of the hostage soldiers. He said Baitullah had asked the government to release 30 of his men, but that was difficult because some of them were being tried in courts. “When I tell Mehsud that his men are in legal custody, he asks what bars Gen Musharraf from going above the law and releasing his men when the president can violate the law and the constitution for his re-election,” Saleh said.
Link


India-Pakistan
Baitullah executes three soldiers
2007-10-05
  • Letter left with bodies threatens three executions a day
  • Tribal senator says Baitullah killed troops to avenge 'Mehsuds' humiliation'
Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud on Thursday executed three soldiers from a group of more than 250 taken hostage last month in South Waziristan and vowed to carry out more executions if the government continued the “Mehsud tribes’ humiliation”, officials and a tribal senator said.

“Two types of persons can do such a thing – a terrorist or a coward,” military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said in reaction to the soldiers’ execution.

Security sources in Tank city told Daily Times that the bodies of the three soldiers were found on Thursday morning on the Wana-Jandola road in Jandola near the border with South Waziristan. “They (the soldiers) were shot in the chest from close range,” the sources told Daily Times, asking not to be named. Unofficial reports said that a letter left with the soldiers’ bodies said: “We will gift three bodies everyday.”

Around 300 soldiers including eight army officers went missing near Ladah on September 30, and Baitullah Mehsud claimed that he had taken them hostage.

Mehsuds’ humiliation: Tribal Senator Saleh Shah said that Baitullah Mehsud carried out the executions to express his anger at the government’s “inhumane treatment of the Mehsud people during interrogation”. Senator Shah said he wasn’t sure about the safety of the other abducted soldiers. “God knows what the future holds for them,” he added.

Gen Arshad said he had heard that the people of South Waziristan do not harm unarmed people, but such actions had proved otherwise. Asked how the government would react to the executions, the military spokesman said: “We will see what we need to do.” He refused to disclose if any operation was being planned for the soldiers’ recovery. He said the army exercised restraint so that the jirga could make efforts for the soldiers’ release, but the militants had disrespected the jirga by executing the three soldiers.

Rockets fired at checkpost: Militants fired several rockets at a checkpoint in Speen Wam, wounding three soldiers, officials said, AP reported.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More