Acts of Terrorism in Pakistan

[williamgeorgemic]

The unusual outburst, later toned down, revealed the depth of tensions between General Musharraf and Washington over what administration officials say have been inadequate efforts by Pakistan in combating Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
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williamgeorge
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[RabzonKhan]

The unusual outburst, later toned down, revealed the depth of tensions between General Musharraf and Washington over what administration officials say have been inadequate efforts by Pakistan in combating Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
----------------------
williamgeorge
ad.drivenwide.com

Welcome on board, Williamgeorge! I am sure you meant General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani.

 

[muse]

Villagers kill two militants, foil bid to seize children




By Syed Zahid Jan

UPPER DIR, Sept 18: Two militants were killed and one was captured in a shootout with local residents on Thursday after their attempt to hold 300 schoolchildren hostage was foiled in Nihag Darra area of upper Dir.

Police said the militants were going to Swat to join their comrades in Peuchar area when they confronted the villagers in Maskari area. The militants were asked to surrender, but they ran towards a government school.

Announcements were made from mosques asking people to take up arms against the militants. Hundreds of armed people from 10 villages took part in the action.

Two militants, identified as Mohammad Ali and Gul Mohammad, were killed. Malang Jan, an Afghan national, was handed over to police.

However, there were conflicting reports about how the militants died.

Locals said two of the militants were suicide bombers who blew themselves up when their attempt to enter the school was foiled.

An eyewitness said that one of the three militants had reserved three seats for women in a vehicle in Wari. The driver was told that the women would get on board in Shahi Bagh, a village three kilometres from Wari.

However, instead of women three armed men got into the vehicle, triggering an exchange of harsh words between the driver and the militants.

“When other passengers intervened the militants ran away,” the witness said, adding that people asked them to surrender but they opened fire and tried to enter the school premises.

He said that local people returned fire and killed one of them while the one, besieged by the residents, blew himself up. One militant was arrested and the other escaped

 

[muse]

Same Story different paper:


Two militants blow themselves up in Dir Upper




Friday, September 19, 2008
Attempt to make 300 schoolchildren hostage foiled

By Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: Two militants were killed when they attempted to cross over to the Taliban-controlled Peuchar area of the militancy-plagued Swat Valley while another was detained during a gunfight with the villagers in Nihag Darra area of Dir Upper district on Thursday.

The gunbattle ensued after the militants refused to surrender and instead tried to hold hostage some 250-300 children in a school building in Maskari area of Dir Upper.

Locals said an unknown person requested the driver of a pickup to reserve three seats for women to Shukan, a Nihag Darra village. He said the women were waiting at Shahi Bagh, some two kilometres from Wari, and would be picked up from there.

However, the person loaded three unknown armed persons on the vehicle to which the driver resisted. The non-local terrorists warned the driver to remain silent or he would be blown up. The driver stopped the vehicle and other people present there also came to the help of the driver.

After exchange of hot words, the militant who had reserved seats jumped out of the vehicle with his cap and shoes in his hands. The other three militants equipped with explosives also followed him. The four-member group was ostensibly going to militant-infested Peuchar area of the Swat valley to carry out terrorist activities. The locals said that the Imam (prayer leader) of Maskari mosque and his son tried to resolve the issue peacefully and asked the terrorists to show their identity, but they refused and opted for a gunfight.

They opened fire on the people and made an attempt to hold students of a school hostage, but the villagers foiled the bid.

The residents said when the militants opened fire on the villagers, people made announcements from mosques asking neighbours to come to the help of the villagers engaged with the militants.

Eyewitnesses said that people of nearby 20 villages came to fight against the Taliban militants. The district police officer, Khursheed Khan, while talking to The News put the number of armed villagers at around 400.

During the fight, a militant was killed while his one colleague was surrounded by the villagers who was asked to surrender, but he blew him up with explosives fastened around his waist.

Two other members of the group, however, tried to run away, but the villagers chased them and one of them, Malang Jan was nabbed while the other one escaped.

There were also reports that the two were would-be suicide bombers who detonated themselves when felt besieged. The two killed were identified as Muhammad Ali and Gul Muhammad.

Police have taken bodies of the militants into custody and the samples of their bodies were sent for DNA test.

Some reports suggested that the militants’ commander in Maidan, Lower Dir, who identified himself as Hafizullah, said the killed militants were Taliban and were being sent to Swat for militant activities, but the locals in Nihag Darra killed them.

He warned if the people behind the killing of the militants were not handed over to them, they would be targeted.

It is to be mentioned here that the people of Upper Dir strongly opposed the deployment of security forces and said they would protect the district themselves and would not allow the militants to slip into the district.

 

[third eye]

Good show !!

 

[Flintlock]

Bomb kills 5 at Pakistani religious school

By ABDUL SATTAR – 1 hour ago

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb exploded at a religious school run by a pro-Taliban Islamist party in southwestern Pakistani on Friday, killing five people and wounding 10 more, police said.

Television footage showed a gaping hole in the external wall around the seminary on the outskirts of the city of Quetta and one partly demolished adjacent room.

A police official said the blast seemed to have occurred inside the wrecked room. However, a witness claimed it was caused by a suicide bomber intercepted at the main gate.

Officials declined to speculate about the possible motive for the attack in a city with a rich cast of violent groups.

The capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, Quetta is a hub for Taliban militants fighting in neighboring Afghanistan and has a history of sectarian violence. The province is also the scene of a low-level insurgency waged by ethnic Baluch nationalists seeking more autonomy.

Police officials said the school was run by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, a hardline Islamist party that is part of Pakistan's ruling coalition government.

City police chief Wazir Khan Nasir said five people died and 10 more were wounded. One of his officers, Raja Ishtiaq, said the blast occurred inside the room and that police were investigating how the bomb got there.

However, a witness who identified himself as Shahbaz Ahmad said students had been scuffling with a man who tried to push past them after they asked him why he wanted to enter the compound.

"When they barred his way, he blew himself up," Ahmad told reporters at a city hospital.

Ahmad had no visible wounds, but moments later, he collapsed unconscious and doctors rushed to revive him.

Later Friday, unknown gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a police patrol vehicle in Quetta, killing one officer and wounding one policeman and a passer-by, Ishtiaq said. It was unclear if the two incidents were related.

The Associated Press: Bomb kills 5 at Pakistani religious school

 

[RabzonKhan]

Pakistani women legislators ask US to stop attacks

By Masood Haider

NEW YORK, Sept 19: A delegation of Pakistani women parliamentarians now visiting the United States has pleaded with US lawmakers and the Bush administration to stop US attacks inside Pakistan and provide free trade opportunities to women.

At an Iftar hosted by Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Abdullah Husain Haroon on Thursday, MNA Azra Pechuho of the Pakistan People’s Party said the US-sponsored “Reconstruction Opportunity Zones” in the tribal areas were specifically discussed during their meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

These zones, she said, would play a major role in promoting long-term economic development in the region.

“We believe ROZs will provide the crucial economic component that complements our military and political strategies.”

Tehmina Daulatana of the PML-N said she had bluntly conveyed the outrage of the people of Pakistan over repeated violations of Pakistan’s sovereignty by American forces in Afghanistan.

“I told our counterparts that Pakistan is our country and only we can resolve the problems,” she said.

The terrorists, now reported to be operating in those areas, were not there before 9/11, she pointed out.

“We’ll deal with them in our way... it’s our war.”

Ms Daulatana said the Americans had told them that they worried about a repetition of 9/11 from that region.

“But what about Pakistan: we have 9/11 every day.”

She called for upholding Pakistan’s dignity and said that self-respect demanded sacrifice.

“Pakistan is our country; Let’s make it strong.”

Khushbakht Shujaat of the MQM said they had done their best to project a correct image of Pakistan. She said she completely agreed with what her colleagues had stated.

The delegation members also exchanged views with their counterparts on the situation in Afghanistan, the peace process with India, the Kashmir dispute as well as women’s empowerment.

The nine-member delegation is visiting the United States at the invitation of the government.

 

[RabzonKhan]

2,800 Pakistan families flee to Afghanistan’

September 20, 2008. KABUL: Twenty-eight hundred Pakistani families have fled to Afghanistan over the past two months to escape fighting between the Taliban and security forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, an official said on Friday.

The families, which could number up to 20 members each, were mostly living with relatives across the border in Kunar province, Afghan Deputy Refugees Minister Abdul Qader Ahadi said.

“They escaped from fighting between Pakistani Taliban and the Pakistan government,” Ahadi said.

The families had gone mainly to the Shigal, Marawara and Dangam areas near Pakistan’s Bajaur region, the minister said. “They are not permanent and will leave,” he said.

Emergency assistance had been delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations and more aid is planned, Ahadi added.

Those fleeing clashes in Pakistan last year crossed into Afghanistan’s Khost area but later returned to their homes, he said. afp

 

[Neo]

List of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, 2008​

January 10: Twenty people, mostly policemen, killed in suicide bomb attack outside Lahore High Court.

January 14: Bomb kills 10 people at a market in Karachi.

February 9: Suicide bomber kills 25 people at an opposition election rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda.

February 11 : Nine killed in suicide bombing at an election meeting of an independent candidate in North Waziristan.

February 16 : Suicide car bomber strikes a rally of Pakistan People’s Party in the northwestern town of Parachinar, killing 37.

February 22: Roadside bomb hits wedding party in Swat, killing at least 14.

February 25: Suicide bomber kills army surgeon Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig and seven others in Rawalpindi.

February 29: Forty-four killed in a suicide blast in Mingora in northwest Swat valley during the funeral of three policemen killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day.

March 2: Suicide bomber kills 43 at tribal elders convention in the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel.

March 4: Two suicide bombers attack Pakistan Naval War College in Lahore, killing five people.

March 10 : Suicide truck bombings target Federal Investigation Agency building in Lahore; 26 killed.

March 15: Bomb blast at a restaurant in Islamabad kills a woman and wounds 10 others, including four FBI men.

July 2: Suicide car bomb outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad kills eight.

July 6: Fifteen killed in suicide attack on policemen during a rally to mark the anniversary of Lal Masjid raid.

August 12: Roadside bomb attack targets Pakistan Air Force bus in Peshawar, killing 13.

August 19 : Twenty-three killed in suicide attack on a hospital in northwestern Dera Ismail Khan town.

August 21: At least 78 killed in twin suicide attacks outside Pakistan’s main ordnance factory in Wah.

August 28: Nine persons, mostly policemen, killed in roadside bombing in North West Frontier Province.

September 6: Thirty people were killed and 70 injured in suicide bombing near a police check post in Peshawar.

September 20: 53 people killed over a 100 injured in Marriott hotel Islamabad by India and U.S

 

[DarkStar]

I am quite surprised and disturbed by the simplistic assumptions about this militancy problem.
Are the "Taliban" monolithic?
Is it some sort of structured organisation, with thousands at its becking call? I would think otherwise.
The different militants in this so called organisation have different agendas, goals, and motivations. Wouldn't grouping them all together in fact be a self fulfilling prophecy and make them unite against us, when they normally wouldn't?
We know that there is a disconnect between the Taliban who wish to fight in Afghanistan and those who wish to terrorise the Pakistani population. Is it wise to get all of the Taliban groups united against us?
The recent successes of the United States in Iraq have proven that peace deals work, as long as you know who to approach, with what carrot, and with what assurances.

The situation in Anbar is a great example. The US was able to isolate Al Qaida like people, by instead backing the very Sunni Tribals that they were recruiting.The US armed and funded them, gave them a political voice. Awakening councils they are called.

We should take our queue from the US, and actually try to isolate the type of militants who are beyond redemption.
As for previous peace deals, those who observe cannot have noticed that they were mostly sucppered by drone missile attacks exactly before or after a major peace deal was about to be agreed.
These groups think that Pakistan and US are in the same boat, so their distrust towards us is apparent when they are bombed while on the verge of a cease fire. It's not like our govt. actually condemned the attacks carried out on the very people they are negotiating peace with.
Imagine Gerry Adams being assasinated by British Intelligence the day after a peace deal in Northern Ireland is signed? Now how long would that peace last?
Another lesson to be learnt is the Bangla experience. Sometimes sending an army can be counter productive, and in fact incite passions, or even revenge attacks in the case of civilian casualties.
There are recorded instances of suicide bombers being from a family member of an innocent victim. When people are brutalised by bloodshed, their only response is more violence.

Why should our army become the recruiting sergeant for these terrorists?

 

[muse]

Seven injured seminary students disappear




By Our Staff Correspondent

QUETTA, Sept 21: Seven seminary students who were injured in a blast on Friday disappeared on Saturday from the Civil Hospital where they were under treatment, apparently to avoid arrest and interrogation.

“The injured students admitted to the surgical ward left the hospital without informing the medical staff,” hospital sources said.

They said disappearance was noticed when police officials came to the hospital to record their statement about the explosion which killed six people and injured a dozen of others.“We are questioning all students and teachers of the madressah to find facts about the blast,” Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Akbar told Dawn, adding that the nature of the blast shows that it was not a simple grenade attack.

“Such a powerful explosion cannot be caused by a grenade,” he said.

He said initial investigations revealed that destruction in the seminary was the result of a huge blast which occurred inside a room. “We expect to resolve the mystery of the blast soon,” he said.

The madressah administration said that some people had hurled an explosive device while some other students informed police that two men had come to the madressah and left after Juma prayers. The blast took place in the afternoon.

Sources said that police were looking for the students who had fled from the hospital. Now a police party had been deployed in the hospital to keep an eye on other people injured in the blast.Four out of the six people killed in the blast have been buried near the madressah.

The madressah was established in 2006 and around 50 students were studying there. It is located in a deserted area some 30 kilometres west of Quetta

 

[bhangra12345]

I was wondering if any one could provide with info regarding the various tribes in the area, their affliation like sunni/shia, pro/anti pak, pro/anti us etc and exactly on which tribes is the PA fighting, which tribes are helping PA - sort of a quick idiots guide.

Thanks in advance.

 

[IceCold]

One killed, 19 injured in Quetta suicide blast​

Updated at: 1356 PST, Wednesday, September 24, 2008
QUETTA: A girl student was killed and 19 others injured including 13 personnel of Frontier Corps in a suicide attack at the airport road near Askari Park here on Wednesday.

Talking to Geo News, IG Balochistan, Asif Nawaz said that a suicide bomber blew himself up near the convoy of Frontier Corps, killing one girl student and injuring 19 others including 13 FC. Three FC personnel are said to be in critical condition.

The injured were shifted to CMH hospital. DIG Operations Waheed Khan said security forces have cordoned off the area.

 

[IceCold]

How come no one pasted this act of terrorism which happened in Quetta? But anyways this unfortunate event of suecide attack happened again.

 

[kingofdarkness77]

you can say that the attacks are still there because our friends dont want stability and for sure you cannot balme every thing on alqaida..... for sure there is some thing wrong some where