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Mullah Nazir

Mullah Nazir

Waziri Taliban

Afghanistan/South Asia

20040619

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India-Pakistan

11 ‘militants’ killed, five cops injured in KP terror spate

2023-01-06

[Dawn] Eleven, including key TTP commander and would-be suicide bombers, said to be among dead Locals, police repulse attack on Lakki Marwat police station A day after Pakistain vowed to take pre-emptive measures to avert terrorist attacks, security forces killed 11 holy warriors, including a key commander of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban ...Arabic for students... Pakistain, in a raid in South Wazoo, while two separate attacks targeting police in Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... left five officials injured. In an intelligence-based operation in Wana, the security forces raided a hideout of TTP murderous Moslems and killed at least 11 terrorists, including TTP commander Hafizullah alongside two would-be jacket wallahs, said the military’s media wing. The operation "foiled a major terrorist activity", the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement issued on Thursday evening. "During intense exchange of fire, 11 terrorists, including terrorist commander Hafizullah alias Tor Hafiz, and two suicide bombers were killed. "A huge quantity of weapons and ammunition was also recovered from the killed terrorists," the military’s media wing said. It added that the murderous Moslems had remained "actively involv­­ed in terrorist activities against security forces and murder of police in the district". SLAIN TTP COMMANDER Local officials said that TTP commander Hafizullah had been involved in attacks on cop shoppes in Azam Warsak, Raghzai, and Wana as well as extortion and kidnapping of locals. The 40-year-old holy warrior, who belonged to Tojay Khel, a Wazir sub-tribe, had joined Uzbeks in Wana before 2007, when Mullah Nazir, a local holy warrior, and local people joined hands against Uzbek murderous Moslems to force them out of the area. "Hafizullah stayed quiet for a while but later joined the banned TTP and went to Afghanistan. He returned to Pakistain after Mullah Nazir was killed in a drone attack, local officials said, claiming that the TTP affiliates had gone to Afghanistan but those who belonged to Wana were allowed to return. Sources said that those who had returned to Pakistain grouped together after some time under Hafizullah’s leadership. "Hafizullah is believed to have been involved in attacks on security forces after the peace talks bet­ween the government and the banned outfit failed," the sources said. They added Hafizullah escaped an attack following his return from Afghanistan when some unknown persons shot up him, leaving him seriously maimed. After his recovery, he started terrorising the district, they added. DI KHAN AND LAKKI MARWAT ATTACKS In Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan districts, murderous Moslems attacked police in separate incidents, resulting in injuries to at least five coppers. The attacks, however, were repulsed by police forcing the Lions of Islam to flee the scene. In DI Khan, a police team deployed for the protection of an anti-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. Currently the disease is only found in Pakistain and Afghanistain... team came under a gun attack in a remote part of town, resulting in injuries to five officials. "Unknown murderous Moslems armed with sophisticated weapons opened indiscriminate firing on the police party assigned to protect a team of the polio workers," a police official said, adding that condition of all the injured police personnel was satisfactory. The official said that District Police Officer Muhammad Shoaib Khan along with a heavy contingent of the police immediately rushed to the spot; however, the murderous Moslems had managed to escape the scene before the police arrived. "A search operation was launched by the law enforcement agencies in the area [to arrest suspects]," he said. On Wednesday, a similar attack on polio workers left one police guard maimed in the district. Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible... an attack launched by murderous Moslems on the Wargarey cop shoppe late Thursday night was repulsed by police officials and residents of the area. Police said that murderous Moslems attacked the cop shoppe located in the Bhittani ...a Pashtun tribe centered on Jandola, in Tank district. They are the hereditary enemies of the Mehsuds, unless there are furriners or infidels around, in which case they share ammunition and targeting data... sub-division of erstwhile Fata with heavy weapons. However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... local residents and police repulsed the attack, forcing the murderous Moslems to flee. Police and local fighters remained unhurt in the attack.

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Afghanistan

Afghan Special Forces clash with Taliban militants in Faryab province

2018-11-26

[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces clashed with the Talibs in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan with the Afghan military claiming at least 11 gunnies were killed or maimed during the clash. The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said the clash broke out in the vicinity of Sar Hawz village in Pashtun Kot district. The statement further added that four Talibs were killed and at least seven others sutained injuries. According to 209th Shaheen Corps, two key commanders of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... identified as Qari nabi Mukaram and Mullah Nazir were among those killed. The anti-government armed Lion of Islam groups including Taliban have not commented regarding the clash so far.

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India-Pakistan

South Wazoo ‘Peace committee’ slaps Taliban-style curbs on Wana

2017-11-17

[DAWN] WANA: A faction of the Taliban ...Arabic for students... has apparently made a comeback to Wana, South Wazoo Agency, under the guise of a peace committee and placed a ban on cultural and social activities and put restrictions on movement of women outside their homes without male members of their family. The so-called peace committee has issued tough guidelines through pamphlets in Wana town and warned local people to abide by these rules otherwise violators would face repercussions, according to sources. The committee has banned music, athan, a traditional dance which is performed in wedding ceremonies or other festive occasions, and use of narcotics. According to the committee’s guidelines, those activities which promote immorality or violate Islamic teachings would not be permitted on these occasions. Movement of women outside their homes has been restricted. The pamphlets said that women would not be allowed to visit market and clinic or faith healers without adult male members of their family, including husbands and brothers. Salahuddin alias Ayubi, a successor of Mullah Muhammad Nazir ‐ an influential Taliban leader ‐ heads the committee. Mullah Nazir was killed along with his 10 associates in a US dronezap in the Birmil area of South Wazi­ristan Agency in January 2013. South Waziristan Agency became a hotbed of Talibanisation in 2003 that spilled over to other tribal agencies of Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Local leaders of various Taliban factions had established parallel administration in the area. Nek Muhammad emerged as the leader of these factions. Security forces carried out multiple operations in the area to crush Taliban and establish the writ of the state. Finally Nek Muhammad signed a peace deal with the government in Shakai. He was killed in a missile attack in 2004. According to the pamphlets, residents are not allowed to stay outside their homes at public places after 10pm. This step would prevent disturbance and noise in the area, it said. A leaflet issued by the peace committee claimed that elders and Ulema of Karikot, Ghwa Khwa, Sha­heen Warsak, Doog, Dabb Koat, Zari Noor and Sherna had agreed to these steps. A committee comprising elders and Ulema has been set up to ensure implementation of the ’code of conduct’ and to identify violators of the guidelines. A local holy man, identified as Ameer Ainullah, has been appointed head of the committee. The secretary of Fata’s law and order, Hassan Mehmood Yousafzai, when approached in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , expressed ignorance about the activities of the peace committee in Wana. "I do not have such reports. The political agent is in a better position to talk about the matter," he said. Political Agent Zafar Islam and other officials of the administration were not available to comment on the matter.

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Afghanistan

NDS prevents suicide attack in Samangan mosque

2015-09-08

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) -- Afghanistan's intelligence agency has prevented a suicide kaboom in a mosque in northern Samangan province. NDS has placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! three Death Eaters who planned to carry out suicide attack in Sarwar-e-Kaynat mosque as well as target other populated areas in Aibak city. A statement issued by NDS on Monday states that Mullah Nazir S/O Khair Mohammad, Zain-ul-Abadin S/O Sharaf-ud-din and Mullah Rawzatullah S/O Khal Mohammad were arrested red handed with bombs, Kalashnikov, Pistol and ammos. According to the statement Mullah Rawzatullah wanted to carry out the suicide attack in the mosque.

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India-Pakistan

Zarb-i-Azb — Bad news for 'Good' Taliban?

2014-06-20

[DAWN] The North Wazoo military offensive is on. As we all hope, it will change the bully boy landscape of the country besides having a far-reaching impact on the political and strategic dynamics of conflict in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). So far, snuffies in North Waziristan were the ones least challenged by the state's counter-terrorism efforts. The tribal agency is (or was) considered the last resort of bully boys, which is why a comprehensive military campaign was required to establish the writ of the government. But when news of the offensive first broke, one thing many Paks found themselves submerged in was questions: How long, how large will this operation be? What happens to the 'good Taliban', to those who reportedly wanted peace? Will a successful operation mean an end to terrorism? Below, I've sketched a picture of the security scenario which the ongoing operation might create. It may answer the questions above to some extent. Comprehensive and all-out It is an inbuilt compulsion in the North Waziristan operation that Pakistain should go after the snuffies comprehensively and objectively. It will make Pakistain's position difficult both on international and domestic fronts if snuffies continue using the tribal territories for hiding and launching operations both in Afghanistan and Pakistain or elsewhere. The Arclight airstrikes going on in North Waziristan are mainly targeting foreign snuffies but boots will be on the ground soon in the second phase of the operation. Good and Bad now hard to distinguish The operation will eventually lead to termination of all the peace treaties made by the government with some of the bully boy groups in the past and distinction between the good and bad Taliban will become blurred. Most importantly, it will become harder for Haqqani snuffies to stay in the tribal agency as their argument of having sought shelter in uncontrolled territories will no longer be valid. Even during the operation, distinguishing between the good and bad snuffies would be difficult. Just a day before the launch of the military operation, the government was trying to resolve some issues with a so-called good 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.. , who heads local Taliban's council, Shura Mujahideen. He had signed a peace agreement with the government in 2006. Bahadur was not happy about military's surgical strikes, before the launch of operation, and warned the government of revoking the peace agreement. A tribal jirga mediated and tried to convince Gul Bahadur to clear the region of foreign bully boys. Perhaps Gul Bahadur was among the few who were certain that the military was going to launch an operation in North Waziristan. He had asked the residents to leave North Waziristan before June 20. His announcement, which asked people to move towards the Afghan border instead of going to relief camps in Bannu, expressed his anger over pre-operation military strikes, which he declared a violation of the peace treaty. Though considered a "good Taliban" commander, Bahadur is known to have provided sanctuaries to foreign snuffies from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and Al Qaeda. His friendly attitude towards anti-Pakistain bully boy groups and special affiliation with the ETIM was frustrating for the security establishment. Sajna's future hangs in the balance Apart from Gul Bahadaur, the future of Said Khan Sajna has also become uncertain. Sajna was recently trying to emerge as a new good Taliban capo. He was planning to organize a new Taliban alliance to replace Mullah Nazir group, which is currently headed by Bahawal Khan. In 2007, Mullah Nazir successfully threw out Uzbeks from South Waziristan; Uzbeks snuffies again started pouring in after Nazir's death in a drone strike in January 2013. Though Sajna is trying his best to be bracketed with the good ones, his group's network in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... has become a matter of trouble for him. His faction is involved in criminal and terrorist activities in Karachi. The Gul Bahadur episode reflected that the government considers it important to make the anti-state bully boy groups including the TTP weak enough before 2015 so that the Afghan Taliban would not be able to use them as a bargaining lever and should continue to look towards Pakistain for political support. Lots to decide for the Army Eventually it is the military leadership that will have to decide the fate of the bully boy groups based in North Waziristan during the recently launched offensive. On the face of it, it appears as if the security establishment has decided to eliminate or push the bully boy infrastructure towards the other side of the Pak-Afghan border. Now, when the operation has been launched, past peace deals with the snuffies have no legal and moral grounds. At the same time, allowing Haqqanis to live in and operate from Pakistain's tribal belt will not be strategically suitable as it will raise questions about the ability of Pak troops to hold its own areas after clearing them of the bully boys. TTP elimination not guaranteed The military operation in itself is not a difficult task. Pakistain army has capabilities to reclaim and hold the area in a minimum time-frame. The post-operation situation seems hazy and subject to different scenarios. For example, a full-scale operation in North Waziristan cannot guarantee the TTP's elimination. There are two reasons for that: First, the TTP and its local and international affiliates have expanded their networks in other parts of the country, and the number of terrorist sleeper cells is increasing. Secondly, the North Waziristan snuffies can relocate to Afghanistan like Fazlullah did after 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... operation. Some media reports suggest that the foreign and local snuffies from North Waziristan had already started fleeing to neighbouring 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... of Afghanistan, even before the launch of the operation. It is not yet certain if the North Waziristan operation entails a strategic shift in the government's approach. Questions abound plenty, and we'll need more time for more answers.

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India-Pakistan

Fixation over drone strikes -- Kahar Zalmay

2013-11-26

[Pak Daily Times] Analysing Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... 's politics, one notices a clear disconnect from ground realities. His opposition to drone strikes, rather fixation on them, is beyond the understanding of thinking Pak citizens who have started questioning his stance on drones and militancy. Imran Khan's quick fix solution to all the ills of Pakistain is, one, halting drone strikes in the tribal belt, and, two, holding talks with the Taliban without having a 'plan B' if the former two do not materialise. In his speech in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. recently, for the dharna (protest) held against NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... supplies, he said that he would put pressure on the US and that the protest would continue if drone attacks were not stopped. His rhetoric on how the illusory sovereignty of Pakistain has been violated by the drones hardly mentions those foreign gunnies who are sitting in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). One hardly hears him expressing his outrage or condemning the Taliban for carrying out attacks targeting innocent people. He seems to be least bothered about the challenges the people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... are suffering from. Let us first talk about the drones. For some politicians, like Imran Khan, the drones have become an obsession. When 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was attacked by the Taliban for simply going to school, some of our mediocre television anchors -- most are mediocre -- connected this incident to the drone attacks in the tribal belt and had the outlandish temerity to suggest that this little girl was a US agent. Even giving them the benefit of the doubt that such statements were merely meant in jest, they were in extremely bad taste. It is unfortunate that successive governments in Pakistain have been playing the victim, despite the fact that Pakistain has secretly acquiesced to the use of drones in the tribal areas. Instead of owning up to the drone strikes, it propagandises against drone strikes using the media and right wing politicians. The sooner it faces this fact, the better for Pakistain. While sitting in a restaurant in District Tank, which shares a border with South Wazoo, an old university friend from the Mehsud tribe glanced nervously over his shoulder, inched closer to me so as not be heard by other customers sipping their tea, and said, "The drone is the best weapon ever produced by human beings. It never misses the target and the people in North and South Waziristan are very happy with it. It does not uproot whole tribes and communities like gunship helicopters and mortar shells do, it does not destroy our cattle, it does not destroy our crops; it simply hits its target. There is very minimal collateral damage in such attacks. But it happens only if you are present in the room with the terrorists. Stay away from them and you are safe. Remember what we used to say in university, 'a person is known by the company he avoids.'" He winked and burst into laughter. During my extensive travelling recently in the tribal belt, I was told that the only people scared of drones are the Taliban. Consequently, they neither dine together, nor sit together to crack jokes or share stories. The gunnies can neither attend weddings, nor go to burials. They cannot sleep in their houses, nor can they travel together in one vehicle. Locally, drones are called 'da Talibano plaar' (father of the Taliban) as they are the only thing that keeps them on the run for their lives, certainly not the friendly firing of the Pak military. Top Taliban capo, Mullah Nazir, who was killed by a drone strike in the tribal belt of Pakistain, once told a friend of mine that drone strikes had rendered the Taliban completely neurotic, as they could hit them anytime, anywhere, "The drones have traumatised my soldiers. There is no escape from them," he said. In another instance, I enquired of a colleague from the Wazir tribe of North Waziristan, if it was true that drones hit innocent civilians and thus, ultimately, nurture militancy. He replied that this assumption was baseless, "It is simply the media and some politicians that are misguiding people. The same media and politicians are mute when suicide kabooms hit innocent people in our mosques, markets and offices. What about that collateral damage?" And now, about talks with the Taliban even though the Taliban have shown little interest in negotiations. Let us assume that the government initiates such talks -- who will represent the Taliban and what will be the agenda of the negotiations? And if the negotiations succeed, what will this success look like? Will the Taliban lay down arms and reinvent themselves? Will all the Taliban capos become law abiding, good citizens? Will schools re-open in FATA and the bordering districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa? Will the internally displaced people go back to their houses and will the security forces start patrolling these areas? Will thousands of jihadis be given jobs so that they become responsible citizens? I know Mr Imran Khan, US bashing is both fashionable and a part of our national psyche, despite the fact that Pakistain is among the largest recipients of US foreign aid. So here I humbly submit that the difference between a predator Taliban and a Predator drone is that the latter does not intentionally target innocent people but forces of Evil who kidnap children and strap them into boom jackets do purposefully target unarmed civilians.

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India-Pakistan

Mastermind escapes arrest

2013-09-05

[Dawn] The alleged criminal mastermind of a plot to carry out a suicide kaboom in the capital beat feet from his Rawalpindi hideout, sources told Dawn on Tuesday. Outsmarted them, did he? Well, I guess that's why they call 'em masterminds. Islamabad police on Saturday had claimed to have seized a car laden with 170kg of explosives brought from the tribal areas to hit key installations in the city. According to sources, the police were tipped off that the criminal mastermind of the terror plot was hiding in Gulshan Dadan locality of Rawalpindi. In response, the Crime Investigation Department raided the locality. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... when the police team arrived at the place, the accused had already slipped away. He was said to be affiliated with Punjabi Taliban. The police picked a man from the place on suspicion of his link with the criminal mastermind and brought him to Islamabad. Besides, the police also rounded up four other suspects from the twin cities. During interrogation of the suspects, it transpired that the accused had planned to hit high-profile targets in the red zone. The jacket wallah, who was to drive the car bomb, was about to reach Islamabad from Wazoo when the vehicle was tracked down in the city, the sources said. They also said it was yet to be established which outfit - Punjabi Taliban or Mullah Nazir group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TPP) - was behind the plot. Scores of messages were retrieved from a laptop recovered from the vehicle. "The messages were in code words but majority of them have been decoded," they added. The messages contained details of meetings held between the accused persons. There were also mentions of the meeting points, including worship places.

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India-Pakistan

Key TTP commander among five killed in South Waziristan blast

2013-08-23

[Dawn] A Pak Taliban capo believed to be harbouring foreign hard boyz was killed along with four others in a roadside kaboom kaboom in South Wazoo tribal agency, officials said Thursday. Ghulam Jan, believed to be a key commander of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), was killed along with four accomplices when the improvised bomb targeted his vehicle on Wednesday evening in Birmal tehsil, located about 27 kilometres from Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. Assistant Political Agent Shahid Ali Khan confirmed that five people were killed in the blast which completely destroyed the vehicle. Local officials confirmed the incident took place around 7 pm on Wednesday, but access to the area is limited and reports from the semi-autonomous tribal region, infested with Taliban and al Qaeda bad turbans, are difficult to verify. Jan, who had a reputation for supporting and harbouring Uzebk, Tajik and Central Asian bad turbans, was earlier believed to have been ousted from the area by the pro-government Mullah Nazir group. "He was anti-government and well known for his support to foreigners," a official said on condition of anonymity. The Mullah Nazir group had flushed out Uzbek fighters and anti-state hard boyz from Wazir areas in 2008 and 2009. Other people who had died in Wednesday's blast were identified as Jan's uncle, Juma Khan, and his close aides Mir Gul, Asmatullah and Kharote.

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India-Pakistan

Mullah Nazir group summons electoral candidates in Wana

2013-04-04

[Dawn] The pro-government Pak Taliban faction, Mullah Nazir group has summoned the electoral candidates contesting from National Assembly seat of NA-41in South Wazoo's Wana for a meeting on Thursday. Through a pamphlet, issued by Mullah Nazir group's key commander Salahuddin Ayubi in Wana Bazaar, he has asked all the candidates to meet at Taliban capo Ainullah's office in Wana's Kari Kot Bazaar on Thursday at 4 pm. About 53 candidates including nominees of political parties and independents have submitted papers for the said constituency. Local sources told Dawn.Com that the group would likely try to persuade candidates to project the image of the group or to get kickbacks from them. Ayaz Wazir of ANP, Amanullah of PPPP, Ajab Gul Wazir of PTI, Ghalib Khan Wazir of PML-N, Mualana Abdul Malik of JUI-F, Mualana Zar Wali of JUI-S besides independents are vying for the slot. Some sources believe that the Taliban meeting is also likely to discuss the threats issued by the TTP to PPPP, ANP and MQM. Some tribal elders also believe that the religious parties' candidates are likely to have an edge over others as the Taliban hold the religious parties in high esteem as compared to the liberals who are being threatened of dire consequences. The PML-N and PTI are among some other parties who had never been under direct fire of the Pak Taliban. Maulana Abdul Malik, who had won twice in the elections, is likely to win for the third time if supported by the Wana Taliban. Another probable to have a victory is independent Nasirullah Wazir. Some sources say that the Mullah Nazir group will influence the polls in NA-41 as they are calling the shots in Ahmed Zai Wazir area.

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India-Pakistan

US drone attacks unacceptable, Jilani tells Senate body

2013-02-09

[Dawn] Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani on Friday said that US drone attacks are unacceptable as these are violating illusory sovereignty of Pakistain. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, the secretary said dialogue with the United States is the only way forward to resolve the issue of drone attacks. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... he said, around 80 per cent of total 3000 people killed in drone attacks were terrorists. The statement came the same day when in a similar attack at least seven alleged snuffies were killed by the US spy planes in Babar Ghar area of restive Wazoo. The secretary said international community is supporting Pakistain on the issue. He said some Afghani Taliban prisoners have also been released on the demand of the Afghan government. US drone strikes last month killed a prominent warlord, who had sent Islamic fascisti to fight NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. Mullah Nazir, one of the highest-profile drone victims in recent years, was the main cut-thoat commander in South Waziristan, part of the tribal zone where snuffies linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda have bases on the Afghan border. The covert US drone strikes are publicly criticised by the Pak government as a violation of illusory sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against cut-thoats. Legal lobby group Reprieve estimates that up to nearly 900 civilians were among the 2,621 to 3,442 people killed by drones in Pakistain since 2004--

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India-Pakistan

U.S. Drones Kill Nine in Pakistan

2013-02-09

[An Nahar] U.S. drones fired two missiles into a compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt Friday, killing at least nine militants and wounding more than five others, local security officials said. The attack took place in a village on the border of North and South Waziristan tribal areas, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Miranshah. "Six drones were hovering in the sky at the time of the attack. One drone fired two missiles at a house," a security official in Miranshah told Agence France Presse. "At least nine militants were killed and more than five were injured in the strike. Their identities were not clear yet, but there may be some foreigners among them," he said. "The compound was completely destroyed. The militants had surrounded the area after the attack," the official added. A security official in the northwestern city of Peshawar confirmed the attack in the tribal belt, which is a notorious stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants. The covert strikes are publicly criticized by the Pakistani government as a violation of sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against Islamist militants. Few of the victims are publicly identified, but on January 3 Pakistani officials said warlord Mullah Nazir was killed in a strike on South Waziristan. He sent fighters into battle in Afghanistan and was accused of sheltering al-Qaida in South Waziristan.

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India-Pakistan

Body of 'Afghan spy' dumped in South Waziristan: Officials

2013-01-24

[Dawn] Militants on Wednesday dumped the mutilated body of a purported Afghan spy accused of collaborating on US drone strikes that killed prominent warlord Mullah Nazir in South Wazoo this month, officials said. The body of the man identified as Asmatullah Kharoti was found in Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan. Local officials said he had been rubbed out and there were wounds on his neck. Two notes on the body ordered the remains to be left on the roadside until 10:00 am "so that everyone could see the fate of spies", and the second accusing him of being a spy and being responsible for US drone attacks. "He is a spy and was giving information to US and Isaf forces in Afghanistan about our activities," a local official quoted the note as saying. "He is responsible for the killing of five of our senior members, including Mullah Nazir, in drone attacks. He confessed that he installed chips in digital Korans," the note added. Nazir was killed in a US drone strike on Jan 2. He was the main bad turban commander in South Waziristan and was known to be 'pro-Pakistain', focusing his attacks across the border to fight US, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... and Afghan government troops in Afghanistan, and was accused of sheltering Al Qaeda.

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