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

India-Pakistan

Key Fazlullah commander killed in Swat offensive

2007-12-13

A key commander was among several other militants killed as security forces continued bombing Taliban positions in Piochar and adjoining areas of the troubled Swat district late on Tuesday night. Local commander Ibne Amin and several other close associates of Maulana Fazlullah were killed in an overnight bombing by the security forces, sources told Daily Times. Ibne Amin was a key militant commander, who also remained involved in the Afghan jihad. Stopping short of confirming the killing of the commander, spokesman for Swat Media Centre Major Amjad Iqbal said, “We have received reports about his (Amin’s) death through local media. The matter is being investigated and nothing can be said at the moment.” 16 suspects apprehended: The spokesman said a number of other militants were also killed, while 16 suspects had been apprehended at various security checkposts last night. However, he would not mention the exact number of those claimed to be killed in the overnight shelling. Locals said a woman, whose family was leaving the Chaparyal area of Matta for a safe location, was killed as the vehicle the family was travelling in came under fire from the security forces near Sangota. Two other family members sustained injuries. Major Amjad confirmed the woman’s killing, but said the troops opened fire at the vehicle after it violated the curfew. He said that people who had suffered losses during the ongoing military operation against the militants should submit their applications with the district coordination officer by December 14 to get compensation. He also informed reporters about an uprising against the militants in Nihak Dara and Lok Dara areas of the valley. Meanwhile, shops and business centres in Matta, Khwazakhela and Mingora remained opened and people were seen shopping for the upcoming Eidul Azha. Residents of Ghat Piochar, Shaur, Namal and Venai, on the other hand, continued fleeing their areas for safer locations due to the ongoing operation against the militants. Local administration has imposed a curfew in Swat from 6pm on Wednesday till 7am on Thursday. The curfew will be relaxed from 7am today (Thursday) till evening in Mingora, Kabal, Matta and other areas of Swat. However, there will be no relaxation in curfew hours from Fiza Ghat checkpost to Khwazakhela, the sources told Daily Times.

Link

India-Pakistan

Mullah Fazlullah's brother held: Stray shell kills 11 civilians, 40 militants arrested

2007-11-30

Around 11 civilians were killed and 9 wounded when a stray army shell hit a residential area in Swat District, officials said on Thursday. Meanwhile, around 40 suspected militants, including a brother of the pro-Taliban militant leader, Maulana Fazlullah, were arrested, officials told AFP. The shell destroyed a house in Allahabad, a village in the Swat valley, as security forces continued an offensive against the followers of Fazlullah late on Wednesday, a police official said. Eleven members of the family died, while nine more were wounded, said the official, Mohibullah Khan. However, military spokesman Major Amjad Iqbal told Reuters that he had no information about civilian casualties in the village but confirmed that a clash had taken place there on Thursday after militants fired rockets at troops. “We responded and fired into the area from where the fire came. People should not shelter any militants in their residences,” Iqbal said in Mingora. Cheeze. The voice of sweet reason in Pakistain. Who'da thunkit? Police and residents said a two-year-old boy and his mother were among the dead, who otherwise were mostly males aged 16 to 22, AFP reported. The shredded bodies of two victims were covered in white sheets, witnesses said, adding that residents were protesting against the deaths. Protest and be damned. Hospital official Jamil Khan said 12 injured people, including three women, had been brought to the hospital and around six were in a serious condition. Top Military Spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said security forces had arrested Maulana Fazal Ahmed along with other militants at a checkpost located between Chakdara and Mingora, Online reported. Were they disguised as girls? They usually are. They included a nephew of Maulana Sirajuddin, the militants’ main spokesman, and a 20-year-old student carrying a suicide vest, both of whom were traveling in the same car when they were detained, Amjad said. "You there, in the suicide vest! Stickem up!" "Hokay." The bodies of six militants, including two Uzbeks, were found on Wednesday, Arshad said. Up to 220 militants and 15 soldiers have been killed in the last 10 days.

Link

India-Pakistan

Food supplies cut to militants in NW Pakistan

2007-11-23

Pakistani troops have cut food supplies to pro-Taliban militants mounting an uprising in a northwestern valley, as they targeted rebel positions on Friday to flush them out of their strongholds, officials said. "All the checkposts set up on routes leading to militant (controlled) areas have been ordered not to allow any food items," said Major Amjad Iqbal, a military spokesman. The food blockade comes as militants continued to put up fierce resistance with rockets and mortars against a fresh military push in the adjoining districts of Swat and Shangla. On Friday, police foiled a suspected suicide attack in Swat's Kabal town, firing on two militants heading towards a police station after they ignored signals to halt, the military said. "One individual got killed and the other, believed to be wearing a suicide belt, managed to escape from the scene," the military said in a statement posted on its official Web site.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-3 More