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India-Pakistan

Tribal elder killed in Pakistain's tribal region

2008-07-22

(Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen shot an eminent tribal elder Malik Shah Jehan and wounded three others in northwestern Pakistan's tribal area on Monday. Malik Shah Jehan, accompanied by Malik Ayaz Khan, his driver and guard, was going to Peshawar, capital city of North West Frontier Province when unknown gunmen fired bullets at their vehicle near Shandor Mor in Bajaur tribal agency. As a result, Malik Shah Jehan was killed while Malik Ayaz Khan,driver Basmillah Khan and a passerby Aajab Khan sustained critical injuries, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment.

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India-Pakistan

Tribes make deal with government

2007-03-27

KHAR: The Salarzai and Utmankhel tribes on Monday entered into an agreement with the government that the two tribes would not shelter foreign militants in their areas, an official said. The official said that the deal was signed between elders of the two tribes and government officials in a jirga in Khar. He added that the government had earlier made a similar accord with the Mamoond tribe. Tribal elder Malik Shah Jehan said that the government had assured the tribesmen that it would support tribal traditions.

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India-Pakistan

Mamoond tribe vows not to shelter foreign militants

2007-03-18

KHAR: A jirga of Mamoond tribal elders and senior administration officials warned tribesmen on Saturday against sheltering foreign terrorists in Bajaur Agency, elders said. “Anyone sheltering foreigners will be punished heavily,” tribal elder Malik Shah Jehan told the jirga of the Mamoond tribe in Khar. Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal MNA Maulana Muhammad Sadiq was among the key participants. The jirga, according to elders, is a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord. The jirga, according to elders, is a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord. Bajaur Agency overlooks Afghanistan’s Kunar province, where US forces are battling Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Bajaur Agency Political Agent Shakil Qadir also attended the jirga from the Mamoond area, where a suspected Al Qaeda hideout and training centre in a madrassa was bombed last year killing around 84 people. The jirga vowed to work together for peace in Mamoond, adding that the tribesmen are “loyal citizens” of Pakistan. The Mamoond area is considered a stronghold of the banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who had mobilised some 10,000 volunteers to fight alongside the Taliban against the US-backed Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in 2001. The Mamoond area is considered a stronghold of the banned Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who had mobilised some 10,000 volunteers to fight alongside the Taliban against the US-backed Northern Alliance in Afghanistan in 2001. “Foreign hands are disturbing the peace in Bajaur and whoever helps the foreign hands will be hanged to death,” Maulana Abdul Aziz told the jirga. “Foreign hands are disturbing the peace in Bajaur and whoever helps the foreign hands will be hanged to death,” Maulana Abdul Aziz told the jirga. Tribal sources told Daily Times that the government was trying to reach a North Waziristan-like peace accord with Bajaur militant leader Maulana Faqir Muhammad. The deal was under negotiation for a while but the madrassa airstrike jeopardised it. “We hope that a North Waziristan-like deal is also reached between the government and tribal militants, led by Faqir Muhammad,” sources said on condition of anonymity.

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Afghanistan/South Asia

2 clerics' houses destroyed on jirga's orders

2005-05-21

Armed tribesmen on Friday destroyed the houses of two clerics for allegedly sheltering Al Qaeda suspects in Bajaur Agency besides fining them Rs 1 million each after a jirga (tribal council) decided to act against them, a tribal elder said. Hundreds of armed tribesmen burnt the houses of Mulla Muhammad Amin and Mulla Faqir Muhammad to punish them for protecting suspected Al Qaeda members, the tribal elder told Daily Times. The clerics were punished for violating the decision taken by a jirga on January 28, 2004. Security forces in a raid early this month arrested around a dozen terror suspects including an Uzbek, from the houses of Mulla Amin and Mulla Faqir and seized weapons from them. Tribal councillor Malik Shah Jehan said the punishment was announced "without evidence against the two accused", adding that the government had not given them proof that the arrested men were foreigners, but they were carrying out the exercise according to their tribal customs. "The government did not make any formal announcement about the arrests, but press reports suggested the arrest of a foreigner from their (the clerics') houses," he told the jirga. Witnesses said families of Mulla Amin and Mulla Faqir did not resist when the houses were destroyed. However, a remote-controlled bomb went off when the armed tribesmen were going to damage the house a cleric after doing the same to another's.

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