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India-Pakistan
Cop martyred in attack on Charsadda police post
2023-01-23
[Dawn] One cop was martyred and two others were maimed when person or persons unknown attacked a police post in Dheri Zardad locality of Charsadda on Saturday.

Officials and residents said three attackers riding a cycle of violence shot up the police post within the remit of Nissata cop shoppe before sunset.

The attack left three on-duty constables injured. They were identified as Imran, Yousaf and Rameez. One attacker was injured in the retaliatory fire by the police but was whisked away by his accomplices. The injured coppers were shifted to the district headquarters hospital and later moved to 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 Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
at death's door, where constable Imran departed this vale of tears.

The area was cordoned off after the attack and a police contingent, led by District Police Officer Sohail Khalid, launched a search operation to arrest the attackers.

Since the talks with the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Pakistain (TTP) broke down in November, the holy warrior group has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan.

On Thursday, three persons, including two coppers, were martyred when forces of Evil attacked a check post in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber tribal district.

Khyber DPO Mohammad Imran told journalists that the forces of Evil conducted a three-pronged attack at Takhtabeg check post on Peshawar-Torkham Highway.

Last week, a deputy superintendent of police and two constables were martyred when holy warriors, armed with automatic assault weapons, targeted the Sarband cop shoppe on the outskirts of the province’s capital, Peshawar late at night.

Officials said the holy warriors, equipped with advanced weapons, including thermal weapon sights, carried out a ’coordinated’ attack.

On Jan 10, unknown murderous Moslems attacked the Yarik cop shoppe in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
with rifles and missiles. However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
no loss of life was reported.

In November, the outlawed TTP called off its ceasefire with the government and ordered its murderous Moslems to stage attacks across the country.
Al Ahram adds:
button men fled after shooting three officers at the post in Zardad Dahri, which is in the Charsadda district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. He said two of the officers died before reaching the hospital while the third was being treated.

The shooting came two days after a similar attack in Khyber district that killed three coppers and maimed two.

No one claimed responsiblity for Saturday's attack.

The outlawed Pak null-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:gray;' title='Taliban'>Taliban
...Arabic for students...
bully boy group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, or TTP, grabbed credit for the Khyber attack. The group is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban.

The TTP restarted attacks in recent months on security forces in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern 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...
provinces, both bordering Afghanistan, after its talks with the government failed.
Link


Afghanistan
Three Taliban Terrorists Killed In Sar-E-Pul
2019-10-11
[MOI.GOV.AF] Last night, three Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Death Eaters killed and six others maimed following a clash with Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in Sar-e-Pul
...a city and eponymous province in northern Afghanistan, population about 500,000. Demographically it is majority Tadjik and Uzbek. There are small Pashtun, Arab, and Hazara communities, of which the Hazaras mostly don't bother anyone...
City of Sar-e-Pul province. A senior member of Taliban terrorist group expert of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was among those killed.
Related:
Sar-e-Pul: 2019-08-23 Balkh: 20 Talibs airstruck, provincial police chief says Talibs plan to overrun districts
Sar-e-Pul: 2019-08-14 Interior Ministry rejects Taliban’s claims regarding the release of 76 security personnel
Sar-e-Pul: 2019-08-11 Security In Balkh Highway Concerning: Residents


11 Taliban Terrorists Killed In Helmand
11 Taliban terrorists killed and six others wounded in two separate clearance operations carried out by Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in Yakhchal region, Nehr Saraj district of Helmand and Wazir Manda region, Helmand highway. During the operations, several Taliban hideouts were also destroyed.

Taliban Bomb Making Factory Destroyed In Helmand
A Taliban bomb making factory was destroyed following an Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) joint clearance operation in Wazir Manda region, Helmand highway.
ANDSF discovered and defused 18 various types of roadside bombs.
Related:
Helmand: 2019-10-09 Taliban: Claims about death of Al Qaeda leader in Helmand are false
Helmand: 2019-10-09 ANP Foils IED Attack In Herat
Helmand: 2019-10-08 Asim Umar, Chief of AQIS Reported Toes Up in Afghanistan


ANP Foils Three IED Attacks In Nangarhar, Khost & Logar
Afghan National Police (ANP) discovered and defused a roadside bomb, planted by terrorists along a road between Khogyani and Jalalabad City of Nangarhar.

In a separate report, Afghan National Police (ANP) detected an explosive- rigged motorcycle in Khost City of Khost province. ANP had prior information that a motorcycle carrying explosives would enter the City.

It’s worth mentioning, Afghan National Police (ANP) discovered and neutralized a landmine in Zardad Qala region, Pul-e-Alam City of Logar. The terrorists had planted the bombs to target the innocent civilians.

Afghan National Police (ANP) encourages all citizens to report suspicious activities and criminal acts by dialing 119 and their identity won’t be disclosed.
Related:
Jalalabad: 2019-10-09 Seven Daesh Affiliates Arrested In Nangarhar
Jalalabad: 2019-10-09 ANP Foils IED Attack In Herat
Jalalabad: 2019-10-04 Airstrikes kill 11 Taliban and ISIS militants; destroy 3 car bombs in 4 provinces
Related:
Khogyani: 2019-10-09 Seven Daesh Affiliates Arrested In Nangarhar
Khogyani: 2019-09-30 Prominent Taliban leader Mawlavi Abdul Hanan killed in Ghazni airstrike
Khogyani: 2019-09-25 3,300 Civilians Killed By Afghan Conflict In 12 Months: Ministry
Related:
Khost: 2019-10-08 Taliban release 3 Indian engineers, insurgents say
Khost: 2019-10-04 4 Pakistani militants killed after crossing Durand Line and engaging in gunfight with NDS forces in Khost
Khost: 2019-10-01 Afghan Forces Repulse Taliban Attack In Taluqan,Takhar
Related:
Pul-e-Alam: 2019-08-26 Afghan Special Forces kill at least 16 Taliban militants in Logar province
Pul-e-Alam: 2019-08-16 Taliban commanders among 7 killed in Logar, Wardak operations: Thunder Corps
Pul-e-Alam: 2019-08-10 Airstrikes, Special Forces raids inflict casualties on Taliban militants in 3 provinces
Link


Afghanistan
Zardad’s Deportation From UK Poses Threat To Witnesses: HRW
2016-12-17
[Tolo News] The deportation of Commander Zardad Faryadi from the United Kingdom to Afghanistan on December 14, poses a clear danger for witnesses who testified against the former warlord in his 2005 conviction for torture and hostage taking, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Friday.

The watchdog called on the UK government to take immediate measures to protect witnesses, including by expediting asylum procedures and relocation outside Afghanistan.

The organization called on the Afghan government to impose parole restrictions on Zardad and the UK and Afghan authorities should scrupulously monitor his compliance in order to protect those witnesses who remain in Afghanistan.

"Zardad’s trial and conviction in the UK was a landmark case ‐ demonstrating that torturers cannot find safe haven by fleeing to another country," said Patricia Gossman, senior researcher on Afghanistan at Human Rights Watch. "But by failing to take measures to protect witnesses, the UK government risks betraying those who made that conviction possible. They owe it to them to take immediate steps to protect those most at risk."

"Those who testified at Zardad’s trial have expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
s for the safety of witnesses and their families. Some witnesses learned of Zardad’s imminent arrival only days before he returned," she said.

According to the statement, Zardad, who was prosecuted by UK authorities under English law implementing the Convention against Torture, for the crimes of hostage taking and torture committed in Afghanistan in the 1990s, was recently paroled after serving 11 years of a 20-year prison sentence. He arrived in Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
on December 14, and was reportedly taken into custody by the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
(NDS). A crowd of supporters, at least one armed, assembled inside the security perimeter of the airport carrying signs welcoming him home as a hero.

"Relocation of witnesses outside the country is likely to be the only way to protect those most at risk of reprisals," Gossman added.

Link


Afghanistan
Hekmatyar’s notorious colander in Afghan intelligence custody
2016-12-16
I checked the original article -- that's just an interesting typo, thank goodness.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] One of the most notorious commanders of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e-Islami, is in the custody of the Afghan intelligence, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).

A source in Afghan intelligence confirmed to RFE/RL that commander Zardad has been detained and is serving in the custody of the National Directorate of Security.

Commander Zardad, accused of grave human rights violations, returned to Kabul on Wednesday as scores of his supporters gathered in the airport to welcome him home.

The notorious Hez-e-Islami commander was reportedly running a check post and a cell to torture the Afghan civilians during the devastating civil war for which Hekmatyar is believed to have a major role along with the other notorious jihadi leaders.

Apart from his supporters, the ordinary Afghan civilians were shocked with Zardad’s return who are pessimistic regarding Hezb-e-Islami’s role to ensure stability in the country by joining peace process as they believe Hekmatyar’s party is no more a prominent insurgent as compared to Taliban who are accused of the major stakeholders in the ongoing violence.

According to reports, commander Zardad was deported after serving in UK jail for several years for his involvement in the devastating Afghan civil war.

Link


Afghanistan
Notorious commander of Hezb-e-Islami, Zardad, returning to Kabul: Report
2016-12-15
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Reports have emerged regarding the possible return of a notorious commander of Hezb-e-Islami, Zardad, is returning to Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
today.

The issue became viral in social media shortly after scores of people gathered in the airport to welcome the notorious commander who is believed to be returning from London.

Dozens of photographs purportedly showing the supporters of the notorious commander have been shared in the social media.

There are mixed reactions regarding his return to Kabul with majority recalling the grave human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
violations Zardad committed while he was fighting during the devastating Kabul war.

Reports regarding the return of Zardad come as the Afghan government is busy requesting the UN Security Council to lift sanctions against the leaders of Hezb-e-Islami.

Link


India-Pakistan
Bullet-riddled body of BRP leader found
2012-02-14
QUETTA: The bullet-riddled body of a missing Baloch Republican Party (BRP) leader, Sangat Sana, was found on Monday in Murgap area of Turbat, some 900 kilometres from Quetta. Police said some passers-by spotted the body of Sangat Sana and informed them.

Sangat Sana, a resident of Mastung, was also a former chairman of Baloch Student Organisation (BSO-Azad). “Sana Sangat was whisked away from Kolpur area in Bolan on December 4, 2009,” said Nasurllah Baloch, the chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons.

“The victim was brutally tortured before being killed. The body had more than 30 bullet wounds,” police Constable Barkat Baloch said.

The BRP, Baloch National Movement (BNM) and BSO-Azad announced a three-day shutter-down strike and 40 days of mourning to protest the killing of Sangat Sana.

Separately, Zardad, a resident of Kohistan’s Battagram area, was also found dead in Mand Bolo area of Turbat district. Unidentified people had shot dead Zardad, said Balochistan Levies Constable Abdul Qadir Baloch
Link


India-Pakistan
8 killed in clash between rival groups near Bara
2008-03-04
At least eight people were killed and about a dozen injured on Monday during a clash between members of militant organisation Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and residents of the village of Bara Shaikhan on the outskirts of Peshawar.

According to AP, the trouble began when dozens of LI activists, who are led by Mangal Bagh and support Mufti Munir Shakir, tried to demolish the shrine of an Islamic saint in Shaikhan village. Local police officer Zardad Khan said the LI men claimed it was un-Islamic to worship at the shrine. He said villagers who revere the tomb resisted, sparking a shootout that led to the death of at least eight people.

The firing stopped when contingents of police and Levies were deployed to the region. Later, area residents staged a protest demonstration by placing the dead in the middle of the Ring Road. The locals’ initial attempts to march towards Peshawar city were blocked by police, angering the protesters. They chanted slogans against the government and Mangal Bagh and asked for action against the attackers. Eventually, the police relented and the protesters were allowed to march towards Peshawar along with the dead.

LI chief Mangal Bagh told journalists in Shaikhan that his men had attacked the region after the political administration failed to take action against drug smugglers of the area. He rejected the reports that LI activists had attempted to raze a shrine to the ground. Police officials at Sarband and Badh Bher police stations were unable to confirm the death toll.

Locals told Daily Times that Shaikhan is home to supporters of Pir Saifur Rehman, who was expelled from Bara last year under immense pressure from the LI. Clashes between his followers and those of Mufti Munir Shakir had killed dozens of people in recent years, AP reported.
Link


India-Pakistan
Afghans resist camp closure, forced return to Afghanistan
2007-06-26
Afghans living in the Jungle Pir Alizai refugee camp are resisting the government’s enforced closure of the camp because many are reluctant to return to a country at war while others claim they are Pakistanis.

The authorities want to shut down the refugee camp and send its residents to Afghanistan, because they say the camp is infested with militants, guns and drugs. The camp in southwest Pakistan was first setup in 1979 during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and according to the government has lately become a haven for the Taliban. It is one of four such camps scheduled for closure this year.

The UN refugee agency, which is running a voluntary repatriation programme for Afghans, refused to help the camp in 2005 after its lost its “humanitarian value”, an agency official said. “It could no longer be considered, by UNHCR standards, a humanitarian camp. There was trafficking of arms, drugs and miscreants were living there,” said the official.

However, the closure of the camp is facing resistance. Many Afghans say they don’t want to return to a country at war, while other inhabitants say they are not even Afghans, but Pakistanis – and they have the identification to prove it. One resident, Ahmedullah, has spent his entire life as a refugee in Pakistan and says he desperately wants to go him. But the war is preventing him from returning. “Give us peace and we will go home,” he said.

Abdul Ghani, 65, said many people had been killed, including hundreds of Taliban militants, by NATO forces in his home region of Panjwai, in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

Another problem facing the authorities is many of the inhabitants claim to be Pakistanis and not Afghans at all. According to a 2005 UN census, the camp was home to 35,000 Afghans, but thousands of Pakistani villagers fleeing drought and tribal feuds have moved to the camp, raising its total population to more than 100,000, residents say.

Some residents said up to 80 percent of inhabitants were Pakistani ethnic Pashtuns. “We’re Pakistanis. I have as much right to be in Pakistan as you do. Why are you forcing me to Afghanistan?” said Haji Zardad Kakozai, head of a 25-member residents’ committee that manages camp affairs. He showed his Pakistani identity card to Reuters to prove his statement. “All of us have decided that if the government wants to send us to jail, we will go to jail. If it kills us, we will die, but we will not leave,” Kakozai added.

However, officials say many Afghans have acquired identity cards through marriage and other means. Many Afghans live and run businesses in Pakistani cities and towns across the country. “They carry both identities. They show their Afghan cards when they get aid meant for refugees, otherwise they show themselves as Pakistanis,” said a government official in Quetta.

Kakozai also denied there were any Al Qaeda or Taliban guerrillas hiding out in the camp. “I have told authorities that if you find a single Al Qaeda man or training camp for militants you should slaughter all 25 of us,” he said, referring to the committee.
Link


Britain
Afghan warlord awaits sentencing
2005-07-19
An Afghan warlord convicted over a "heinous" campaign of torture and hostage taking in his homeland is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey. Faryadi Zardad, 42, of Streatham, south London, was found guilty at a retrial on Monday of pursuing a reign of fear at checkpoints between 1991 and 1996. It is thought to be the first time a foreign national has been convicted in a UK court for crimes committed abroad. Zardad had denied conspiracy to torture and conspiracy to take hostages. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
...more at link...
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
2 journalists killed in ambush, one injured
2005-02-08
WANA: Two journalists were killed and one was seriously injured when unidentified men ambushed their vehicle on Monday evening. The journalists were returning from the peace deal between tribal militant Baitullah Mehsud and the government at Sararogha in South Waziristan Agency. When their vehicle approached Civil Hospital, several men started firing at them. Amir Nawab Khan, an APTN cameraman, and Allah Noor Wazir, a correspondent of The Nation and Nawa-e-Waqt were killed instantly. Anwar Shakir, a correspondent of Urdu daily Islam, was shot in the abdomen and was taken to the Agency Headquarters Hospital. He is in stable condition. Two other journalists including Zardad Khan of Al Jazeera television were unharmed in the ambush.
Link


Britain
Former Afghan warlord to be tried in UK court
2004-10-03
A British court is to try an alleged former Afghan warlord in the first case of its kind since Britain ratified a 1988 convention allowing it to try crimes of torture committed abroad, a legal source told AFP Saturday. Zardad Khan, now running a pizza parlour in a London suburb, will face charges of murder, kidnapping, theft and torture in the 1990s when he appears in court Monday, the source said.
[KNOCK KNOCK!]
"Maudette! The pizza man's here! He's got a gun! And a bludgeon!"
"Hmmm... Why don't you get it, dear?"
Zardad Khan, a Pashtun, also known as Commander Zardad and Zardad Faryadi Sarwar, was in charge of roadblocks preventing access to the Afghan capital Kabul during the siege of the city. From 1992 to 1996 he and his men controlled the town of Sarobi on the road between Kabul and Jalalabad.
Link


Afghanistan/South Asia
Zardad's Dog gets 1-round splitting headache
2004-04-27
Afghanistan has carried out its first execution since the fall of the hardline Taliban, putting a bullet to the head of a former military commander convicted of more than 20 murders. The government did not acknowledge the April 20 execution of Abdullah Shah at a jail just east of the capital until it was revealed by Amnesty International in an e-mailed protest letter Tuesday. The international human rights group accused the government of carrying out the sentence without affording the accused "even the most basic standards" of fairness, ...
That sounds familiar. Didn't some other group in Afghanistan used to behave that way? I think AI might have whispered something about that. Once.
... and said the suspect was likely silenced so he could not testify against commanders allied to the government who have allegedly carried violated human rights. "Amnesty International fears that Abdullah Shah's execution may have been an attempt by powerful political players to eliminate a key witness to human rights abuses," the group said. "During his detention, Abdullah Shah reportedly revealed first hand evidence against several regional commanders currently in positions of power against whom no charges have been brought." The group did not name the commanders.
"It's, um, someone. Lots of 'em. Trust us."
Jawed Ludin, a spokesman for U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai, said the Afghan leader signed the death warrant reluctantly, in the interest of justice. "The president felt compelled by the need to ensure justice to the victims, especially in view of the nature of the crimes he committed," Ludin told AP. "He personally, obviously, was extremely reluctant, and regrets having to do this, but it was the nature of the case." Ludin said Karzai has personally commuted two prior death sentences, but was compelled by the heinousness of the crime. Shah was convicted of killing one wife by pouring boiling water over her body and murdering his infant daughter by banging her repeatedly against a wall.

Abdul Mahmood Daqiq, the director of the Attorney General's office, said Shah was executed in Pul-e-Charkhi jail with a bullet to the back of the head. He said the death sentence was carried out in front of witnesses including representatives of the Afghan police and the Attorney General's office. Doctors were also on hand.
Whatever for? "Legume! Is he dead yet?"
"I do not know, Inspector, I must consult with the doctor!"
Ludin said Karzai ordered a review of the case after Shah was first found guilty, and that a further investigation also confirmed his guilt. He said the death sentence was delayed for months while the government addressed concerns of local and international human rights groups. "Justice demanded it be delayed no further," Ludin said.
Tell that to the 9th Circuit.
Abdullah Shah was first convicted of more than 20 counts of murder in special court proceedings in October 2002. Nine people testified against him at the trial, including another wife he tried to burn to death by dousing her with gasoline and setting her on fire. The bodies of many of Shah's victims were found in a well in Paghman district, just east of the capital. Shah served under another commander, Zardad, who was a deputy of former prime minister and warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He earned the nickname "Zardad's dog," because he was known to have attacked people "like a dog" in Zardad's company. In the early 1990s, the two reportedly robbed passers-by on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad.

Amnesty said it was "shocked" that the execution was carried out, and said it contravened an assurance that Karzai gave the group for a moratorium on such punishments. It said Shah was not provided a defense attorney at a secret trial, and that the first judge in his case was dismissed for taking a bribe. The second judge, the group said, came under pressure from the Supreme Court to impose the sentence. Shah claimed during trial that a confession was obtained under torture, but Amnesty said those charges were not properly investigated.
If so, I hope it was by pouring boiling water over him and banging his head against a wall...
At least two other people, suspected Taliban wanted in the November 2003 killing of French U.N. worker Betinna Goislard, have been sentenced to death in Afghanistan. They are appealing the verdict. Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime used to carry out executions in public, many of them at the war-shattered Kabul stadium, but the practice stopped after they were ousted from power by the U.S.-led coalition in late 2001. Ludin dismissed any comparison to the old regime
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