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

India-Pakistan

Pakistani Taliban spokesman denies peace talks

2011-12-12

[Dawn] A Pak Taliban front man and another commander have denied the group is in peace talks with the government. The faceless myrmidons contacted The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone Sunday, a day after Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, recognised by many as the Pak Taliban's deputy chief, announced the group was negotiating with the government. He was the first named commander to confirm talks. Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan denied the claims, saying there would be no negotiations until the government imposed Islamic law, or Shariah, in the country. He has previously denied reports of peace talks by unnamed commanders and intelligence officials. "Talks by a handful of people with the government cannot be deemed as the Taliban talking," Ehsan told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location. Maulvi Faqir Mohammed has long been identified as the group's Bajaur head. But he reportedly decamped to Afghanistan in recent years to escape army operations. He has long been identified as head of the Pak Taliban in Bajur and said a deal with the government there could be a "role model" for the rest of the border region. But another commander, Mullah Dadullah, also now claims to be Taliban chief in Bajur. Dadullah contacted the AP on Sunday and denied the group, also known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban, or TTP, was negotiating with the government. "As TTP chief responsible for Bajur, I am categorically saying there are no talks going on between the government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban at the Bajur level or the central level," Dadullah said, also speaking from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location. Ehsan, the front man, said Dadullah rather than Mohammed was the head of the Pak Taliban in Bajur.

Link

India-Pakistan

Taliban commander back on the air in Pakistan

2011-07-08

[Dawn] One of Pakistain's most notorious Taliban radio voices is back on the air after the army raided his stronghold last year and drove him across the border into Afghanistan. The resurgence of Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, also one of the Pak Taliban's top commanders, illustrates the resilience of Orcs and similar vermin fighting to topple the US-allied Pak government and the growing problem of sanctuaries in eastern Afghanistan that allow fighters to elude the army's grasp. "We will return and enforce the golden system of Islam," Mohammed said in a recent radio broadcast from his new base in Afghanistan. "All of those who have turned their backs on us, like we are gone for good, should seek forgiveness from Allah." Militants and their supporters in Pakistain have long used illegal FM radio stations to spread their message and incite violence against the government. The tactic is hard to counter because the equipment needed is cheap and easily transportable. Mohammed was one of the most prominent cut-thoat radio personalities before the army invaded his enclave early last year in the Bajur tribal area, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of the Pak capital of Islamabad. Many of the Orcs and similar vermin in Bajur, including Mohammed, simply slipped across the border into Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral... , an area of Afghanistan where the US has largely withdrawn its troops. Kunar has turned into a staging ground for large-scale attacks inside Pakistain, according to the Mighty Pak Army. The most recent such assault in Bajur occurred Monday when around 60 Pak Talibs sent by Mohammed stormed a paramilitary checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding three others, said local officials. Mohammed grabbed credit for the attack, as well a similar one by at least 100 Orcs and similar vermin on several border villages in Bajur in mid-June that killed at least five people. "Our fighters carried out these two attacks from Afghanistan, and we will launch more such attacks inside Afghanistan and in Pakistain," said Mohammed over the Voice of Sharia radio in his measured, matter-of-fact style. His on-air reply after the June attack: "Don't dare stand in the way of those who are following the path of God." Radio is the main connection to the outside world for most rustics in Bajur and other areas along the Afghan-Pakistain border because they can't afford satellite television dishes, and the infrastructure needed for cable TV is usually nonexistent. Mohammed and his associates transmit for two and a half hours every day beginning at 8 p.m., although sometimes the broadcast is overpowered by a station run by the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said Gul Ahmed Jan, the owner of a grocery store near Khar, the main town in Bajur. Mohammed gives half-hour sermons three times per week in which he encourages locals to participate in jihad, or holy war, and warns them against cooperating with Pak authorities. "This war is between Islam and infidels, and every Mohammedan is duty-bound to take part," said Mohammed on his show "The Leader Says." His brother, Gul Mohammed, who claims to have been tortured by Pakistain's security forces, often rails against alleged mistreatment of rustics by the Mighty Pak Army and Frontier Corps. The station also plays songs praising jacket wallahs, even though some radical Islamists, including the Afghan Taliban, have denounced music of any kind. "Look, the lucky guy is on the way to heaven," said one song. "Young man, how great you are." Militants from the 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... Valley in nearby Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province are often invited to participate as guest speakers. Their leader, Mullah Fazlullah, was Pakistain's most active Taliban radio personality before the army invaded Swat in 2009, earning him the nickname "Mullah Radio." He is also believed to be in Kunar, according to the Mighty Pak Army and Bajur residents, but he hasn't resurfaced on the radio. The Mighty Pak Army has complained that US and Afghan forces have done nothing to address the growing number of Orcs and similar vermin who have holed up in Kunar after fleeing military operations on the Pakistain side of the border. The US withdrew many of its troops from Kunar in the past year so it could focus on more populated areas that it deems more strategic. "There is no effort to act against these strongholds or sanctuaries," said Pakistain army front man Major General Athar Abbas ... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General... . "Many terrorist leaders are gathered there, and there is no pressure on them to leave." The army claims that groups of up to 300 Orcs and similar vermin have staged at least five cross-border attacks in the last month, killing 55 paramilitary soldiers and tribal police. A senior Western intelligence official, however, expressed doubt about Pakistain's figures and whether all the attacks came from bases in Afghanistan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence matters.

Link

India-Pakistan

Faqir Mohammad believed killed

2010-03-06

ISLAMABAD -- A top Pakistani Taliban commander close to al-Qaida is believed to have been killed in an army airstrike, officials said Saturday, in the latest apparent blow to insurgents who have attacked Pakistan and threatened U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Maulvi Faqir Mohammed was believed to be among a number of insurgents killed Friday at a sprawling compound in the northwest Mohmand tribal region, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. He said authorities had not identified the bodies of Mohammed or his fellow commander Qari Ziaur Rehman, but all the militants hiding at the site were killed after the helicopter gunships were dispatched on "real-time" intelligence. "If Faqir Mohammed and Qari Ziaur Rehman are alive, then I will be surprised," he told Pakistan's Express news channel after receiving a briefing from the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Mohammed was a deputy commander in the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan -- Pakistan's Taliban Movement -- leading the network's operations in the Bajur and Mohmand tribal regions. He also was close to al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri, who along with Osama bin Laden is suspected of using Pakistan's tribal badlands as a hide-out. Two intelligence officials also said that Mohammed was believed dead and that about two dozen insurgents had died in Friday's airstrike. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said they were confident of their information, but warned that the remote, dangerous nature of the region made it nearly impossible to offer a definitive confirmation at this stage. Over the past two months, Pakistan has captured several Afghan Taliban leaders hiding on its soil, intelligence officials have said. Among them is Mullah Baradar, the top deputy to Mullah Omar, the Afghan Taliban's supreme chief. The U.S. has relied heavily on missile strikes to take out targets in the tribal areas, often aiming for al-Qaida operatives, but also broadening its targets to include Pakistani Taliban leaders. A January U.S. missile strike is believed to have killed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. The Taliban have denied that, but have not provided any evidence to prove he is still alive. Last year, after then-Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was reported killed in an August U.S. missile strike, Mohammed declared that he was taking over the group on a temporary basis. There were suggestions, however, that the move rankled others in the Pakistani Taliban, making Mohammed's final status in the network somewhat murky after Hakimullah Mehsud was selected as the heir to Baitullah.

Link

India-Pakistan

Security forces kill nine militants in Bajaur tribal region

2008-08-16

Authorities were investigating whether a senior Taliban leader was among nine suspected militants killed near Khar, the main town in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region, officials said Friday. Helicopter gunships fired Thursday on the group, said Mohammed Khan, a government official. The firing struck two vehicles. Khan said the targeted vehicles had previously been in the use of Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, who is believed to be an associate of Ayman al-Zawahri. But he added it had yet to be confirmed whether Mohammed was there at the time. Late Thursday, Mohammed's spokesman claimed he had escaped the attack. The spokesman could not immediately be reached Friday.

Link

India-Pakistan

Official: 460 militants, 22 troops die in Pakistan

2008-08-15

Pakistan's top civilian security official vowed Friday to "wipe out" Islamic militants in a volatile tribal region where the government says more than 460 insurgents and 22 troops have died in 10 days of fighting. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Pakistani intelligence have reports that about 3,000 armed militants are present in the northwestern region of Bajur, which borders Afghanistan. He said they included Pakistanis, Afghan Taliban and Central Asians. "We will wipe them out," Malik told a news conference in Peshawar. "We will not surrender before them." Pakistani army helicopter gunships and jets have been pounding militant positions in Bajur since the fighting broke out Aug. 6 when scores of insurgents attacked a military outpost. The region is regarded as a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaida. The insurgent attack followed a Taliban threat to retaliate against the government for launching military operations in other frontier regions where it has earlier sought to use dialogue to reach peace with militants — a controversial policy that appears in danger of collapse. Alongside Malik at a news conference, provincial Gov. Owais Ahmed Ghani said some 219,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting in Bajur and promised to provide them food and shelter. Ghani gave the details of the latest toll from the fighting. With some 480 killed, it is one of the bloodiest episodes since Pakistan first deployed its troops along its volatile border with Afghanistan in support of the U.S.-led war on terror nearly seven years ago. It has not been possible to independently confirm the casualty figures, which are more than double the number given by the army in recent days. Insecurity and the remoteness of the region prevent journalists from covering the fighting. Also telecommunications in Bajur are poor. On Thursday, nine men died when troops backed by helicopter gunships destroyed their two vehicles near Khar, the region's main town, said Mohammed Khan, a local government official. Malik said he could not confirm reports that the local Taliban chief, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed, was among the dead. Mohammed is believed to be an associate of al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri. Pakistan has faced a blizzard of criticism that its policy of negotiation with militants has allowed more freedom for Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters to operate and launch attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Malik, however, claimed that the militants were receiving rocket launchers, missiles and other munitions from across the border. "We have evidence to prove what we are saying," he said, without elaborating on who was supplying them.

Link

India-Pakistan

Bajaur tribals announce support for Lal Masjid mullah

2007-07-10

Tribal elders and local Taliban leaders on Monday pledged their support to Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and urged him to prefer martyrdom to surrendering himself to the government. The leaders condemned the Lal Masjid operation at a large public gathering held on the call of local Siddiqabad Taliban in the Bajaur Agency. Thousands of tribesmen and around 400 armed local Taliban attended the gathering. Addressing the participants, Maulana Inayatur Rehman, Salar Malik Abdul Aziz Mehsud, Farooq Abdullah, Maulana Said Muhammad and local Taliban commander Faqir Muhammad said President General Pervez Musharraf had ordered the Lal Masjid operation to appease the Americans and prolong his rule. They said innocent children had been killed in the Lal Masjid operation, adding that law and order in Pakistan was deteriorating because of President Musharraf’s flawed policies. The tribal elders also defended the Lal Masjid administration’s policies and assured them their full support. The speakers said it was obligatory upon all Muslims to wage jihad, adding that it would continue in Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iraq. They urged the government to change its policies before the situation spiralled further out of control. Maulana Faqir Muhammad said the Taliban and tribal elders would honour the agreement with the government and the peace accord would stay intact. He said the Bajaur mujahideen had defeated the former Soviet Union and would also defeat America. Outraged tribesmen also burnt an effigy of President Musharraf and shouted slogans against him. AFP adds: The gathered tribesmen, numbering around 20,000, vowed to take revenge on President Musharraf for the siege on Lal Masjid. “We beg Allah to destroy Musharraf and we will seek revenge for the atrocities committed at Lal Masjid,” Maulvi Faqir Mohammed said. Mujahideen commander Inayatur Rehman said, “You [tribesmen] must all be trained for jihad because it is binding on every Muslim, just like prayers and fasting.” The gathering also passed resolutions in which Friday was declared a weekly holiday instead of Sunday, and demanded the closure of all music shops in the tribal district.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-6 More