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India-Pakistan

Federal minister escapes attack on life in Bannu

2015-11-27

BANNU: Federal Minister Akram Khan Durrani narrowly escaped an attack on his life after an improvised explosive device hit his convoy in Bannu on Thursday, killing two policemen. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Bakakhel police station said that Akram Khan Durrani, a JUI-F stalwart and the federal minister for Housing and Works, was on his way to Bannu after holding a political rally in Bakakhel area when his convoy came under attack. “Five more people were injured in the blast but the minister remained unhurt,” confirmed the SHO. Security forces reached the blast site soon after the attack and cordoned off the area, while the injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu. Police said the killed were identified as Ehsan s/o Ghulam Daud and Arif s/o Ejaz. The injured were identified as Abid Khan, driver of an ambulance, Shireen Khan, tubewell operator, and Abdul Rauf dispenser. This was the first such attack on Durrani. However, party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been previously targeted thrice in suicide attacks. Last year, the JUI-F chief survived a suicide attack on his convoy in Quetta but an activist of his party was killed and 22 others wounded. Back in October, a similar IED blast killed a tribal leader Syed Ali in Nullah Tochi area of the district. Syed Ali and his son were passing by the area in a vehicle when a remote-controlled IED detonated. President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned attack on the convoy of Durrani. In a statement, the president said a decisive action was being taken to overcome the unrest despite cowardly attacks by the terrorists. He prayed for forgiveness of those martyred in the attack and courage for the bereaved families to bear the loss with fortitude. He also directed the authorities concerned to provide best possible medical facilities for treatment of the injured persons. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also strongly condemned the attack. The prime minister, who is in Malta to represent Pakistan at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also expressed sorrow over the death of two men in the attack.

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India-Pakistan

Zarb-i-Azb: Ground assault delayed

2014-06-23

[DAWN] An extension in curfew delayed a ground operation in North Wazoo, which was expected to be launched on Saturday. The human dimension continued to aggravate as the number of registered displaced people swelled to over 300,000. According to the ISPR, air strikes against faceless myrmidons have been extended to Khyber Agency. "The ground offensive will begin as soon as the evacuation process is completed," an official told Dawn. The military operation against faceless myrmidons in North Waziristan was launched on June 15 with air strikes on their hideouts. Security officials claimed that over 200 local and foreign faceless myrmidons had been killed in the bombings. Fata Additional Chief Secretary Arbab Muhammad Arif said at a press briefing here that the curfew would be relaxed on Sunday to ensure evacuation of civilians. "This is a big human tragedy, especially for those who have fled their homes for the sake of the country," he said. The ISPR said 30 bad boyz were potted in targeted strikes by jets in Khyber and North Waziristan Agencies in the small hours of Saturday. Jets destroyed two hideouts close to the Afghan border in Khyber Agency, killing 10 terrorists, it said. Three hideouts were destroyed in Hassu Khel area of North Waziristan, killing 20 terrorists. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... the official claims could not be confirmed from independent sources. The Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) said 307,501 people, among them 132,973 children, had been registered at Saidgi checkpoint by Saturday afternoon. Mobile teams of the National Database and Registration Authority have been deployed to provide computerised national identity cards to the displaced people. A mass exodus from North Waziristan continued and thousands of displaced men, women and kiddies were waiting in scorching heat on the Bannu-Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... road for security clearance. Security personnel give clearance to displaced people to cross into the settled area after verification. On directives of the government, the FDMA began distribution of Rs7,000 grants for each displaced family on the spot. Another Rs5,000 is given to each family for buying non-food items. Arbab Arif said the government machinery had been mobilised to facilitate the internally displaced persons (IDPs). He said 20 registration desks, four health mobile units backed by five ambulances and six mobile units of Nadra had been deployed at Saidgi post. He said health workers were administering polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccine drops to children. He said only 19 families had reached a relief camp in Bakakhel area of North Waziristan.

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India-Pakistan

Panic-gripped Waziristan tribesmen fleeing to Afghanistan

2014-05-27

[DAWN] MIRAMSHAH: Panicked by the ongoing military action in North Wazoo Agency, the tribal people have preferred to take refuge in neighbouring Afghanistan instead of shifting to settled areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province. According to reports, many families have migrated to Khost and Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... provinces of Afghanistan from different areas of the volatile tribal region. Eid Mohammad Khan, a local primitive, told this correspondent that many foreigners also moved to Afghanistan from Waziristan before the launch of military action. He said that the foreigners sold their belongings in the local market before the military action was started. "Many foreigners belonging to Uzbekistan, China, Middles East and European countries who were settled in Mirali, Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... and the adjoining areas have shifted to border areas of Afghanistan," Mr Khan said. Officials say site has been selected in FR Bannu for establishing a camp for displaced people The elders of Ahmadzai Wazir tribe and local Taliban capo Hafiz Gul Bahadur ...a member of the Madda Khel clan of the Uthmanzai Waziris. Educated in a Deobandi madrassa located in Multan, he is affiliated with the Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) political party. Upon the formation of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in December 2007, he was announced as the group's overall naib amir under Baitullah Mehsud, who was based in South Wazoo, but has largely distanced himself from the TTP due to rivalries with the Mehsuds and disagreements about the TTP's attacks against the Pak state.. had already announced that people would migrate to Afghanistan in case security forces launched operation in the area. "It will be better to take refuge in Afghanistan instead of living miserable life in tents in Pakistain," said Gul Abbas Khan, a tribal elder. He also criticised the local political administration for its attitude with the tribal people. He said that political administration imposed curfew the moment helicopter gunships and jetfighters started shelling as a result civilians were caught in the conflict. Sources said that residents of Sherkhel, Gulkhel, Gurbez and Sidgai tribes migrated to Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... where they took shelter with their relatives. The residents of Ghulam Khan area said that 500 families had already gone to Afghanistan and more were on their way to Khost. The displaced Mehsud families, who had shifted to North Waziristan Agency after military operation was launched against proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) in South Waziristan in 2009, also moved back to their ancestral area. TTP former chief Hakimullah Mehsud and commander Asmatullah Shaheen, who was also killed in targeted attack, were also residing in Miranshah. Security forces launched targeted operation in the agency on Wednesday last and Panic-gripped rustics fleeing to Afghanistan bombed suspected positions in Mirali, Miranshah and Datakhel areas. Inter-Services Public Relations had claimed that about 80 turbans were killed in air strikes. Sources said that displaced families, mostly nomads, were shifting from Mirali to Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The displaced tribal people, who reached Bannu, were not registered because the area was not declared as conflict zone, they added. Officials said that Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) had selected site for relief camp in Bakakhel area of Frontier Region of Bannu, but it was unable to start registration of the displaced people. "Unless the area is notified as conflict zone, the authority or any other agency can't start formal registration of displaced people," said an official. Sources said that tents, food and non-food items were dispatched to Bakakhel and proper site was identified for establishing a relief camp. "Relief items and staff are on the ground in Bakakhel area and the authority is waiting for a green signal," the official said. Sources said that the proposed relief would accommodate around 200,000 individuals. Provincial Disaster Management Authority has also chalked out a contingency plan for expected exodus from North Waziristan Agency.

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India-Pakistan

'Germans among Dead' in Pakistan Air Strikes

2014-01-23

[An Nahar] Three Germans were among 40 people killed when Pak jets and helicopters bombarded suspected Taliban hideouts in a northwestern tribal district, a senior security source said Wednesday. That'd be Hans und Fritz und Karl-Heinz, right? The air strikes in the North Wazoo tribal region on Tuesday followed two major Taliban attacks on military targets in as many days. "Most of (the) forces of Evil killed are imported muscle including 33 Uzbeks and three Germans," the source told Agence La Belle France Presse. Uzbeks, many affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, make up one of the largest groups of imported muscle in Pakistain's tribal northwest. There was no immediate confirmation from the countries concerned. Independent verification of casualties was not possible because media and aid workers are not allowed to visit the area. The source added that Wali Muhammad, a Pak Taliban capo and trainer of jacket wallahs, was among the dead. This was confirmed by a senior bully boy source. Tuesday's operation was one of the heaviest bombardments in recent years in North Waziristan, a key stronghold of gunnies linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Officials said some of those killed were linked to an attack on Sunday on paramilitary troops in the northwestern city of Bannu that killed 26, and a double suicide kaboom on a church in September that killed more than 80. Another military official said a few families had fled the fighting and moved out of the tribal areas, but so far there has been no mass migration from the area. The government officials said that around 500 families fled to Bannu district from North Waziristan after the bombardment. "Some 500 families from Mir Ali sub-division of North Waziristan have migrated to Bannu. They are living with the local host tribes of Mamashkhel and Bakakhel in Bannu," said Arshad Khan, head of the Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA).

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India-Pakistan

Three killed, eight injured in Bannu convoy attack

2013-10-07

[Dawn] Three security personnel have been killed and eight others injured as a security forces convey was attacked in Bakakhel area near FR Bannu on Sunday morning. The security vehicle was targeted nar Mirzal Checkpost and the blast destroyed the vehicle killing one solider on the spot and injured ten others, Two security personnel later died on way to hospital. The official sources has confirmed that three soldiers have died and the eight others injured in the attack early morning. The injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital Bannu. The Ansarul Mujahideen myrmidon group of Taliban has grabbed credit for the attack. Spokesman for the Ansarul Mujahideen myrmidon group Abu Baseer speaking from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location told that their fighters have targetted the convoy. "As long as drone attacks are carried out in Pakistain, they would continue their attacks and targetting of security forces and the administrative machinery of the Pak government," he remarked.

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India-Pakistan

Preacher killed, three hurt in Swat attack

2013-09-05

[Dawn] Armed persons rubbed out a member of Tablighee Jamaat and injured three others inside a mosque in Bahrain tehsil of 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... district on Monday night. Police said that four assailants entered a mosque in Gatt Sar area of Bahrain and opened firing on the preachers after Esha prayer. They said that Mian Jan was killed on the spot while three other preachers identified as Abdullah, Bakht Omar and Juma Gul sustained injuries in the attack. The dead and injured were shifted to civil hospital in Madyan. The assailants managed to escape after the incident. Police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against Momin, Noor Wahib, Hazrat Hussain and Muqadar and started investigation. In North Wazoo Agency, a convoy of security forces narrowly escaped a roadside blast, which led to imposition of curfew in the tribal region on Tuesday. The convoy was targeted with a remote controlled bomb on main Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... -Dattakhel Road. However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... no loss of life or property was reported in the blast. The security forces defused another remote controlled bomb on the same road. The security forces and political administration set a 24-hour deadline to the tribal people to hand over the accused to them or face stern action under territorial responsibility clause of FCR. The political administration has also imposed curfew for indefinite period soon after the roadside blast in the area. The educational institutions, government offices and bazaars remained closed owing to imposition of curfew. Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on Bannu-Miranshah Road, causing hardships to passengers. The traders also suffered losses as their vehicles loaded with fruits and vegetables were stuck in the traffic jam. Meanwhile, ...back at the desert island, Bert was realizing to his horror that he'd had only one bottle for one message, and he'd forgotten to include a return address... electricity remained suspended to the entire South Waziristan Agency on the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday after Bakakhel rustics of Frontier Region of Bannu put chains on the main transmission line. The residents of South Wazristan complained that political administration of FR Bannu and police authorities were not taking action against Bakakhel rustics.

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India-Pakistan

Taliban, elders join hands against 'criminals' in N. Waziristan

2012-11-24

[Dawn] The local Taliban and elders of Uthmanzai tribe have formed a joint lashkar to take action against those elements, who are involved in murders, kidnappings and attacks on security forces. The 100 men strong lashkar was formed at a jirga held at Anghar Kallay near Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... here on Thursday. The jirga was attended by Taliban and Uthmanzai elders. Local Taliban capo Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Maulvi Gul Ramazan, Malik Nasrullah Khan, Malik Misal Khan and others addressed the jirga. They said that peace agreement inked with the government was still intact. They also urged security forces not to violate the peace agreement inked with the tribal people. "Kidnappers, forces of Evil and those involved in attacks on security forces should leave North Wazoo Agency immediately," the jirga decided unanimously. The lashkar would patrol markets and other public places in Miranshah and its adjacent areas. The jirga authorised the lashkar to launch an action against criminals, kidnappers, hit mans and those, who were attacking security forces. Sources said that the decision was taken keeping in view the growing incidents of kidnappings, and killing of tribal elders and attacks on security forces during the past few weeks. Recently, two tribal elders -- Malik Mashar Khan and Malik Noor Din Darpakhel -- were targeted killed. Besides, a military tank was destroyed in a roadside kaboom on Sunday last. A newspaper hawker, Omar Daraz, was also kidnapped in the area. The elders asked the administration to allow the lashkar to man the checkposts along with security personnel. Hafiz Gul Bahadur asked political administration not to misuse Frontier Crimes Regulation and stop bombing of civilian targets. "The political administration should not misuse its powers as we are aware of our responsibilities under the FCR," he said. Later, the jirga members headed by Malik Nasrullah Khan and Maulvi Gul Ramazan, called on Political Agent Siraj Ahmad Khan and apprised him of the decisions taken at the joint jirga. The political agent appreciated the decisions of the jirga and urged the elders to play their role in lifting ban on polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination in the area. Taliban had banned polio vaccination in the area that deprived thousands of children of immunisation during the last few months. Taliban say that they will allow vaccination in the area if drone attacks are stopped. The jirga also discussed the issue of suspension of electricity to North Waziristan Agency and demanded of the administration to allow the joint lashkar to take action against Bakakhel tribe for disrupting the power supply. Power supply to North Waziristan was suspended on Thursday when people of B Power supply to North Waziristan was suspended on Thursday when people of Bakakhel tribe hooked the 132,000kv transmission line with a chain. akakhel tribe hooked the 132,000kv transmission line with a chain. The power suspension paralysed life in the tribal agency. The jirga elders said that few gunnies of Bakakhel tribe had disconnected the electricity supply while Bannu administration failed to take action against them. The elders threatened that the tribal lashkar could take up arms against the Bakakhels but they were waiting for the administration to initiate action in that regard. They held the Bannu administration responsible for the power crisis in North Waziristan Agency.

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India-Pakistan

Car Bomb at Pakistan's ISI Kills Eight

2009-11-13

A homicide car bomb devastated Pakistan's main spy agency building in the northwest Friday, killing at least 8 people and striking at the heart of the institution overseeing much of the country's anti-terror campaign. Parent/child conflict? Or, reap what you sow Think this will be enough for the ISI to turn on the Talibunnies? Nah, me neither ... Perhaps the next attack on an ISI stronghold will lead to the epiphany, or the one after that, or the one after... The blast in Peshawar was the latest in a string of bloody attacks on security forces, civilian and Western targets since the government launched an offensive in mid-October against militants in the border region of South Waziristan, where Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding out. Teen-age rebellion? ISI parents have got to be in shock! They are coming for us The early-morning blast, heard across the city, destroyed much of the three-story building belonging to the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and many cars on the street outside. An Associated Press reporter on the scene within minutes saw several dead or badly wounded bodies being taken away. So glad that AP reporter could get there so fast --- probably his/her first scoop -- dead bodies always brings attention Seven bodies and 35 wounded people were admitted to the nearby Lady Reading Hospital, police officer Ullah Khan said. Peshawar Police chief Liaqat Ali Khan said a car bomber attacked the main gate of the complex. Just over an hour later, another homicide car bomb wounded 10 people at police station in Bakakhel, a town in the semiautonomous tribal regions, intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because of the nature of their work. Hum -- seem to be going after those who are charged with protecting the population. Isn't that the root of a revolution? The government has vowed that the surging militant attacks will not dent the country's resolve to pursue the offensive in South Waziristan, where officials say the most deadly insurgent network in Pakistan is based. The army claims to be making good progress in that campaign. The ISI agency has been involved in scores of covert operations in the northwest against Al Qaeda targets since 2001, when many militant leaders crossed into the area following the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan. The region is seen as a likely hiding place for Usama bin Laden. Let's see --- they have billions and billions and billions of our money, our military goodies, and they can't get control of some mountain tops? Its offices in Peshawar are on the main road leading from the city to Afghanistan. The agency was instrumental in using CIA money to train jihadi groups to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Despite assisting in the fight against Al Qaeda since then, some Western officials consider the agency an unreliable ally and allege it still maintains links with the militants. The insurgents are waging a war against the Pakistani government because they deem it un-Islamic and are angry about its alliance with the United States. Duh The insurgency began in earnest in 2007, and attacks have spiked since the run-up to the offensive in South Waziristan. Areas in and around Peshawar have experienced the brunt of the recent militant attacks. A car bomb exploded in a market in Peshawar at the end of October, killing at least 112 people in the deadliest attack in Pakistan in over two years. Wonder if anyone emailed the local florist and wanted to send a dozen Texas yellow roses? On Oct. 10, a team of militants staged a raid on the army headquarters close to the capital, Islamabad, taking soldiers hostages in a 22-hour standoff that left nine militants and 14 others dead. Another hummmmm. 22 hours stand-off -- since these "militants" are the Masters of Pull and Spray -- must have been lots of down time between the pullings. Maybe they were sampling the locally grown products. Those poppies are so pretty.

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India-Pakistan

Troops kill 8 Taliban in Swat, 4 in S Waziristan

2009-07-17

Security forces have killed eight more Taliban in Swat, said the ISPR on Thursday as the Online news agency reported that troops had killed four Taliban in South Waziristan. At least two soldiers were also killed and seven security personnel injured in an explosion in Bannu. "Security forces a conducted search operation in the area around Loe Namal and Pansarat, and killed eight Taliban, including local commander Bilal," said the ISPR, adding that forces destroyed 20 hideouts and seized eight machine guns, a rifle and other arms. The blast near a police van in Bannu's Bakakhel areas killed two Frontier Constabulary soldiers. Troops arrested four Taliban from the area and seized two rifles and a pistol during a routine search. The forces also conducted a search operation in Gamkot and Nimogram areas of Swat and arrested four suspected Taliban. In Darra Adam Khel, troops arrested 11 suspects and seized explosives, 16 boxes of machine gun ammunition, 38 mortar bombs, two rockets, one RPG-7 along with 25 shells, two mines, 82 mortars and three grenades. The military also destroyed six Taliban hideouts in Swat's Gwalerai area. During an operation in Kalagai, troops destroyed two tunnels each 20 feet long and four bunkers. The security forces also seized 45 rifles and 12 pistols in Ningolai and Bara Banda. At least 10 Taliban hideouts were destroyed in Tutan Banda. According to Online, four Taliban were killed in an intense clash with security forces.

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India-Pakistan

Convoy attack leaves four soldiers dead in N. Wazoo

2009-06-28

[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Seven people -- four of them Armymen -- were killed and 33 others, including 21 soldiers, injured in attacks on a military convoy in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and air strikes in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on Friday. The attack on security forces' convoy jeopardised the Feb 17, 2008 peace accord between the government and Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Taliban militants in the volatile North Waziristan Agency, bordering Afghanistan's restive Khost province. Military officials based in the North Waziristan Agency blamed the local militants for the attack. They claimed to have intercepted conversations of senior militant commanders, asking their fighters to continue attacking security forces and government installations, as their peace accord with the government had already been scrapped. They said militant commanders, however, decided not to make public their decision of scrapping the peace deal, as they could lose sympathies of tribesmen. "We were aware of their terrorist activities and attacks on security forces but we kept silence in the larger interest of poor tribesmen. But now I must say the government might launch a full-scale operation in the North Waziristan Agency," said an official, wishing anonymity. Official sources told The News a military convoy, which had left Miramshah, headquarters of the North Waziristan Agency, for Bannu came under attack near an abandoned flourmill in the town. Militants had planted heavy explosives material close to the wall of the roadside factory, which went off when the heavily-guarded military convoy was passing through the area. Four soldiers died on the spot while 18 others were injured, some of them critically. The injured soldiers were later airlifted and shifted to a military hospital in Bannu. Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and blocked the Bannu-Miramshah road for all kinds of traffic for four hours. Later in the day, security forces arrived in large numbers and started demolishing the factory building with the help of bulldozers so that the militants could not use it for terrorist acts in future. The owner of the flourmill had closed it several years ago and portions of the building had been demolished by tribesmen. The same military convoy again came under attack when it reached the Naurak village in Mirali subdivision. Suspected militants attacked the military convoy through an improvised explosives device (IED). Three soldiers were injured in the blast, which caused damage to a few vehicles. The military officials finally decided to stop their journey on the dangerous Bannu-Miramshah road when another IED was recovered near the Kajhori post in Mirali. The military convoy was then taken to a nearby FC camp and ordered not to leave the area till the situation became normal. The violence-stricken Utmanzai Wazir tribesmen in the North Waziristan Agency were in great shock over the attack on the military convoy. They condemned the attack and termed it an invitation to disaster. "Like the rest of the areas, the militants will remain safe but we will suffer in case of a military operation," a seemingly-terrified tribal elder remarked when approached by The News in Miramshah. Sources close to the militants said though the Taliban in the North Waziristan Agency had not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, they were demanding an end to the ongoing military operation in Janikhel and Bakakhel villages of FR Bannu. Meanwhile, three suspected militants, including an Uzbek national, were reportedly killed and 12 others injured in air strikes carried out by PAF planes and gunship helicopters on alleged hideouts of Baitullah Mehsud in the adjoining South Waziristan Agency. Official sources, however, claimed higher death toll in the bombing and artillery shelling. Three fighter jets pounded suspected positions of the Taliban commander at Ladha, Seegagarai, Ladha Sarai, Ashanki Gudawai, Makeen, Dwatoi and Piaza villages. According to the sources, the PAF planes after making a few rounds of flights over the region started heavy bombing on the militants' positions. The tribal region reportedly echoed with two dozen explosions. Tribesmen in Miramshah said they heard heavy explosions when the planes pounded Makeen in the South Waziristan Agency. However, they were not aware of any human losses as communication to the area was suspended since the military operation was launched. Military officials said three militants, including an Uzbek, were killed in Makeen. According to the sources, 12 injured militants were brought to a private health centre in Makeen, five of them in serious condition. The sources among the militants said they had now started burying their dead during night time after the recent drone attack on the funeral procession of slain militant commander Khwaz Wali Mehsud in Makeen. Tribal sources said several shops were destroyed in Shamankhel village of Ladha subdivision in the bombing.

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India-Pakistan

BBC: Pakistan 'to target Waziristan'

2009-06-09

A curfew has been imposed in an area bordering the Taliban stronghold of Waziristan ahead of a military operation there, officials say. "It's 9 o'clock! Time for bed, curse you!" Pakistan's army and paramilitary forces have deployed troops in the semi-tribal area between the northern Bannu district and Waziristan. "We have imposed an indefinite curfew," local police in Bannu told the BBC. Waziristan is controlled by Taliban militants and is said to be where al-Qaeda leaders have found safe haven. The tribal region has been described by US officials as "the most dangerous place on earth". It is said to harbour some of the world's most wanted men including al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. Ayman, probably. Binny I think is in Chitral, when he's not traveling. Bannu shutdown Police told the BBC that they had imposed the curfew in six of the 12 police station districts in Bannu. Local authorities there have sealed also businesses and properties belonging to members of the Janikhel and Bakakhel target=_blank>Bakakhel tribes. "The entire region has been sealed off from all sides. Most of the locals have already left the area and gone to their relatives in Lakki Marwat and Bannu," he said. Taking with them, likely, the bad guy head cheeses and leaving naught but cannon fodder and Uzbeks for the coming operation. Local officials said the military was waiting for the arrival of helicopter gunships before launching the operation. "Just you wait until the gunships get here! You'll be toast!" The army's move comes days after dozens of college students and teachers on their way to Bannu were kidnapped in North Waziristan. Security sources earlier told the BBC that the operation in the Janikhel and Bakakhel area is a prelude to a larger operation within the Waziristan tribal region. "They're really gonna get it this time, by Gum!"

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan: Kidnapped students and staff still missing

2009-06-04

[ADN Kronos] Around 40 students and teachers kidnapped from a Pakistani military college early this week are still in Taliban captivity, a day after the military said they had been rescued. The students were among 80 students and teachers captured by militants in North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Monday. We figured that, since we're pretty good at counting... "More than 40 students and two teachers are still missing. Militants have abducted them," said Sardar Mohammad Abbas, the top administration official in the northwest town of Bannu where the students had been headed. Tribal elders on Wednesday were mediating with militants to secure their release, the commissioner said. A convoy of about 30 vehicles carrying staff and students from the college was ambushed in northwest Pakistan on Monday. Pakistan's military said Tuesday it had recovered 80 students and staff when militants moved them from North Waziristan to South Waziristan -- lawless tribal zones on the Afghan border where Al-Qaeda is known to be active. But staff of the college at Razmak in North Waziristan confirmed Wednesday that more than 40 students and two teachers were still missing. According to Pakistan's GeoNews, a tribal jirga, or tribal council had been held with local Janikhel and Bakakhel tribes and commercial centres had been sealed off in the area in a bid to locate the students and staff. Police have given the tribal jirga a deadline for information about the kidnap victims.

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