FATA Situation

[ejaz007]

TTP, TNSM ban political parties in Bajaur

KHAR: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) announced to ban political parties and politics in the agency after talks on Monday, sources said. Both the organisation also banned the assembly of more than three people at a place. The ban was enforced following a jirga, after four persons were killed in a clash between the activists of the both the parties.Meanwhile, those who died in the clash were laid to rest on Monday. hasbanullah khan

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[muse]

So, lets see, Bajaur therefore belongs not to Pakistan but others - and so TTP and TNSM are political parties? In Pakistan surreal is all there is. Political parties where in there is no requirement for representation? And these are political parties that supposedly represent citizens of a country of which the polical party does not wish to be a part of and indeed rejects the very system of governance of that country -- !? Does it make any sense to anyone?

 

[S-2]

As the fight was among their supporters, are they banning each other?

Now, amazingly, your air force and army aviation had a solid target within 24 hours of the checkpoint bombing. Any chance you could have reached this guy before he bombed a checkpoint?

Sorta... live and let live, I'm sensing.

 

[Anwar2]

Its back to the Forward Frontier policy of the British Indian Empire! In response to each attack on the Royal British Indian Army, Royal Air Force warplanes used to launch punitive strikes against Pushtoon tribesmen.

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah abandoned the Frontier policy, and brought the Tribal areas into the fold of Pakistani nation. 60 years later Gen. Musharraf re-enacted the British Colonial policy because he wanted to split Pakistan at any cost. Unfortunately Pakistan did itself in by supporting the US occupation of Afghanistan and facilitating US strikes against Pakistani territory.

I guess by now the US has realized that stupid friends are a lot bigger liability than smart enemies.

 

[Bill Longley]

LOST IDENTITY: TALIBAN THREAT 1????

Pakistan is Passing through a crucial Phase of its history. At one side there is a racial conflict going on in Balochistan and on other hand A religous insurgency going in NWFP especially FATA. Internation media is createing hue and cry over advancement of Taliban and is predicting soon Pakistan will fall in the hands of Taliban.

Intrestingly People like Bill Reggio of Long War Journal type people are falling in hands of consipricy theories. a Map which he has posted on his site
Terrorists rally in Swat, march through region - The Long War Journal

gives an impression that Taliban has enveloped whole NWFP and soon Peshawer along with NWFP will fall in Taliban Hands and then Punjab and rest of Pakistan... Such kind of Projections only show their lack of information and Ignorance about prevailing situation. or they are intensionally tring to create anti Pakistan Impression.
I as a Journalist have talked to different people liveing in NWFP and can give you my words not to belive these out siders who dont know any thing about the region and are tring to create conditions which benifit their governments or Parties strategic intrests.

Where were Taliban before US invasion of Afghanistan??? Baitullah was live, so did Gul Bahader, Nazir and Haqqani etc.... But there was no Insurgency in Pakistan...No Suiside blasts etc...
If you look at recent history there was nothing wrong and there was peace .... Then After 911 US attacked and Started killing Pashtuns indiscriminately... then suddenly there we started hearing news about Insurgency in Balochistan and in NWFP...
I think and belive America wanted to attack Afghanistan ,911 insident only gave excuse...The map produced By Major Ralf Peter which showed divided Pakistan in Armed forces journal was not a new idea.... They were working on scheme from dacades.... Atomic Pakistan is and will be always a thorn in US eyes....because it makes US ambitions for Central Asia and South Asia difficult...
Pakistan can only be effectively neutralized by promoteing secterianism and subNationalism.... India have no Guts to fight war with us...It sacrifised more men in 2002-3 emergency then its 4 wars with Pakistan.... It knows the price of fighting war with Nuclear Pakistan.... So it has come to help US and both allies are doing what ever nacessery to damage pakistan ....

Comeing back to subject Taliban are getting stronger I agree but situation is not same and intense as US and Indian media is projecting.... for example Longwarjournal gives Chitral , Lakki Marwat, Bannu , etc completely to Taliban where as according to sources there is no presence of Taliban in Chitral and Only FR bannu, FR Lakki all bordering ares of FATA have some troubles but not main land NWFP....
The main reason for advance of Taliban is
1) US Presence in Afghanistan and indiscriminate killing of Pashtuns
2) drone attacks which kill innocents and rarely Kills Militants....Khalid Rauf was suposed dead in one drone attack in south waziristan but now they are saying he is Alive
3) The gap between rich and Poor .... TTP is exploiting class rift and injustice in Society.


The reasons for Taliban Sucess is only US and its Allies both in Pakistan and outside Pakistan. US has stolen hope from Pakistani Nation... and Frustrated masses are Opposeing every thing which as US mark on it...

Taliban will end if our leaders come out of American Camp....Our incompetant elite has made all the nation Begger.... They beg on our miseries....

Its Time for masses to wake up...its time intellectuals to come forward to give leadership... All things which Have written American or Indian wants to distroy US... on other side 7th century dwelling Mullah is no less threat.... We have to open eyes and come forward.... Islam is Blessing...But that islam which is of Our Master not of any Takfiri Kharji or illiterate Mullah who take help from outsiders to implement his version on poor week masse

Pakistan was Made in the Name of Islam ....Only Islam can Unite us in this Black era.... Our enemies are exploiting the beliefs of Mullahs who him self is Alien to soul of Islam...They want us materialistic like they are.... AS an Ummah we are differetiated from others due to our Values system....our enemies wants to take away our values . Our values are not Saudia Arab, Taliban or Iran ...we follow the Values of Master Muhammad(PBUH) and his Ahle Bait and his Sahaba and Aulia Karaam.... Which are Love of Allah and his creations.... Knowledge and Humbleness...


A LOOK AT TTP

Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan(TTP)

Name of Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan’s came forward in 1998. A Group was made in Aurakzai agency in 1998. when group even made its own Shariat Courts(The Herald [Karachi], February 1999.)
In Oct 2007 an alliance of Militant groups was formed in Mohmand Agency with goal to flush out criminal gangs
Present TTP was formed in Dec 2007 after declaration of Taliban Alliance of Mohmand.
A shura of 40 senior Taliban leaders established the TTP as an umbrella organization. Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was appointed as its amir, Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan as senior naib amir (deputy) and Maulana Faqir Muhammad of Bajaur Agency as thethird in command(Mushtaq Yusufzai, “Militants Seek End to MilitaryOperations,” The News, December 16, 2007)
The shura not only has representation from all of FATA’s seven tribal agencies, but also from the settled North-West Frontier province (NWFP) districts of Swat, Bannu, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohistan, Buner and Malakand.
20 to 22 Militant organizations are Part of TTP


AIMS OF TTP

· Enforce Shari`a, unite against NATO forces in Afghanistan and perform

· “defensive jihad against the Pakistan army.”

· React strongly if military operations are not stopped in Swat District and North Waziristan Agency.

· Demand the abolishment of all military checkpoints in the FATA area.

· Demand the release of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) Imam Abdul Aziz Ghazi)

· Refuse future peace deals with the government of Pakistan.



TTP POLITICS

1. Hafiz Gul Bahader(decendent of Haji Faqir APPI) , Molvi Nazeer Ahmed and Haqqani Network Broke away from TTP on orders of Mullah Omer who Adviced them that there was no need to Target Pakistani Forces…He Ordered them to concentrate on Afghanistan.(Profile of Hafiz Gul Bahader. Jamestown.org)

2. in 2007 Molvi Nazeer and his men Started compaign to flush out Ozbeks and other out siders.

3. These were given refuge by Baitullah Mahsud

4. Hafiz Gul Bahader and Haqanni Group made alliance with Molvi Nazir from South against Baitullah popularly named as form the Muqami Tehrik-e-Taliban (Local Taliban Movement), or the “Waziri alliance.” (Asia Times Online, January 24, 2008).

5. there is also rift in Baitullah Ranks. A group of 200 to 300 fighters fighter broke from Baitullah and formed Abdullah Mahsud group. With Aim of fighting in Afghanistan and fighting against Takfir of TTP



Some Important Groups in TTP

· Herket e Jehad e Islami

· Harkatul Mujahedeen

· Harket e jehad e Islami Al alami

· Leshker Tayba

· Leshker e Jhugnvi

· Tehrik e Nifaz e Shariat e Muhammadi





AGENCIES AND Main GROUPS



1. North Waziristan: Molvi Gul Bahader and Haqqani Group

2. South Waziristan : Molvi Nazir , Baitullah Mahsud , Haji Turkistani Group

3. Tank, FR Lakki Marwat, FR Bannu: TTP Baitullah

4. Kurram: Baitullah Mahsuds TTP under Zulifqar Mahsud Aka Hakeemullah Mahsud.

5. Orakzai and Dara Adamkhel ,Hangu, : Baitullah Mahsud group Under his Nephew Zulifqar Mahsud Aka Hakeemullah Mahsud.

6. Khyber agency: Lashker e Islam , TTP Baitullah Mahsud group Under his Nephew Zulifqar Mahsud Aka Hakeemullah Mahsud.

7. Mohmand Agency: Harkatul Mujahideen Under Molvi Omer Khalid .He Flushed out Lashker e Tayba and killed LeT leader Shah Khalid in sep last Year

8. Bajor Agency: TTP Lead by Molvi Faqir Muhammad who is ex Member of Tehrik e Nifaz e Shariat e Muhammadi (TNSM). And TNSM

9. Dir, Malakand, swat Sangla, TTP TNSM )Fazalullah Men
LOST IDENTITY: TALIBAN THREAT 1????

 

[sohailbutt]

Two Afghan suspects arrested in Kurram Agency​

PESHAWAR: Security agencies have arrested two Afghan nationals from Kurram Agency in connection with suicide attack on senior provincial minister Bashir Ahmed Bilor and other terror activities.

The suspects, aged between 20 and 30, have been identified as Afghan nations. They hail from Lughman province of Afghanistan.

According to the security agencies, they have admitted to carrying out several terror acts in different parts of NWPF.

Both suspects also admitted that they were involved in planning of suicide attack on NWP senior minister Bashir Bilor.

Two Afghan suspects arrested in Kurram Agency - GEO.tv

 

[RescueRanger]

KOHAT: A pro-government group of militants clashed with Darra Taliban on Wednesday and set a 24-hour deadline for them to leave the area.

The two groups took positions in Shna Kalay, Bostikhel and Tora Chinna and attacked each other with heavy weapons. No report of casualties was received.

The pro-government Taliban, led by Momin Khan Afridi, had raised a Lashkar of 300 tribesmen against his arch rival Tariq Afridi, who controls Taliban in Darra Adamkhel and Orakzai Agency. The group of Momin Khan Afridi parted ways with commander Tariq over the killings of security men during military operation last year.

The chief of Taliban in Orakzai Agency, Hakeemullah Mehsud, had already asked commander Tariq’s men to stop their activities in the area and live peacefully.

Tariq Afridi is the most wanted member of Darra Taliban, who is blamed for killing the Polish geologist and dozens of innocent persons and security men.

Sources told Dawn that Momin Khan Afridi also distributed pamphlets in the area on Wednesday asking tribesmen to stand against their common enemy for restoration of peace. He asked them not to provide shelter to Tariq’s men.

DAWN.COM | NWFP | Taliban asked to leave Darra in 24 hours

 

[sohailbutt]

Security forces enter Sufi Mohammad’ village​

DIR: Security forces entered Kalpani, the ancestral village of TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad on Saturday.

Meanwhile, security forces have started consolidating their positions and military gunships continued flying over the Tehsil. According to well-placed sources, the area has been declared sensitive by the government due to increasing cases of kidnapping for ransom and other crimes.

Fear gripped the area people soon after the arrival of security forces.

Security forces enter Sufi Mohammad’ village - GEO.tv

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

16 militants, 2 troops dead in Mohmand gunbattle​

By Our Correspondent
Saturday, 02 May, 2009 | 05:53 PM PST |

​

The incident early Saturday in the region also injured three troops, a senior administrator in Mohmand said.
GHALANAI, May 2: A fierce gunbattle between security forces and militants in Khwazai Baizai area of the Mohmand Agency on Saturday morning left 16 attackers and two soldiers dead.

Officials said that about 100 militants launched a pre-dawn attack on the Spinki Tangi checkpost, along Afghanistan’s border province of Nangarhar. Troops retaliated and killed 16 militants. Three soldiers were injured.

Sources said that three soldiers who went missing after the fighting had returned to their base.

Militants contradicted the official claim. Their spokesman, Ikramullah Mohmand, told journalists by phone that eight soldiers had been killed and five others wounded in the clash.

He claimed that only one of their men was killed. He said the checkpost was still under the control of militants as ferocious fighting raged on.
Local military spokesman Major Fazal Khan said that two soldiers from the Mohmand Rifles had been killed and five wounded, adding that 16 Taliban fighters had been killed.

Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior administrator in Mohmand, said: ‘Our security forces returned fire after coming under attack, and when the insurgents escaped they left the bodies of 13 of their comrades.’

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | 16 militants, 2 troops dead in Mohmand gunbattle

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

19 killed as troops, militants clash in Mohmand​

Tuesday, 05 May, 2009 | 08:38 PM PST |

GHALANAI: Two security personnel, 15 militants and two civilians were killed in clashes between security forces and Taliban militants in Mohmand tribal region on Tuesday.

Suspected militants attacked a security post in Spinki Tangi area of tehsil Khwaizi along the Afghan border at 3:00am on Tuesday, killing two paramilitary troops while six more are missing.

Security forces responded by targeting the militants’ positions in Spinki Tangi area, some 40 kilometers from FC camps headquarter Ghalani and Bhai Dag. As a result fifteen militants were reportedly killed. The heavy artillery shelling started from 3:00am and continued till 11:00am on Tuesday.

In Qandaharo area of tehsil Safi a stray shell hit a house killing two inmates identified as Bahadar Khan and Khan Gul. Telephone system was also disrupted in the areas due to the shelling.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan targets militant-held valley​

By ZARAR KHAN and CHRIS BRUMMITT

TAKHT BAI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan launched air and ground attacks against up to 7,000 Taliban militants entrenched in a northwestern valley Wednesday, killing dozens holed up at emerald mines and on forested hillsides following urgent U.S. demands to step up the fight against the insurgents.

With militants fighting back and weary refugees lining up at camps, the operation will be a test of whether the army has the will, capability and political support to defeat an enemy that had three months under a now-shattered peace deal to rest and regroup.

"It is an all-out war there. Rockets are landing everywhere," said Laiq Zada, 33, who fled the Swat Valley and is living in a government-run tent camp out of the danger zone. "We have with us the clothes on our bodies and a hope in the house of God. Nothing else."

Washington has said it wants to see a sustained operation in Swat and surrounding districts, mindful of earlier, inconclusive offensives elsewhere in the Afghan border region. Eight years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the area remains a haven for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters blamed for spiraling violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Uprooting the insurgents from the valley will mean unpopular civilian casualties, property damage and massive disruption to public life. That combination could tear at the resolve of government, which is struggling to convince the nuclear-armed Muslim nation that fighting the militants is in its interests as well as those of the U.S.

But there have been signs recently of a shift in the national mood against the Taliban after it got most of the blame for the collapsed peace process in Swat. A series of bloody terrorist attacks in the country's heartland province, Punjab, and the wide broadcast last month of a video clip showing the insurgents beating a women in Swat, also appear to have hardened the stance of politicians, clerics and ordinary Pakistanis toward extremists.

"Finally, it seems the authorities have realized the intensity of the threat and the mortality of danger," said Ishtiaq Ahmad, professor of international relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. "That is why we can expect the military to be a little more courageous and resolute this time."

Wednesday's clashes followed the collapse of a three-month-old truce in Swat that saw the government impose Islamic law. It was widely criticized in the West as a surrender to the militants, who had fought the army to a standstill in two years of clashes that saw hundreds of civilian casualties.

The fighting came hours ahead of meetings between President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Washington to explore ways to boost the country's anti-terror fight, seen by many as the most pressing foreign policy issue facing the administration.

"Pakistan's democracy will deliver," Zardari said in Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the military offensive against the Taliban was a positive sign.

"I'm actually quite impressed by the actions the Pakistani government is now taking," she said. "I think that action was called for and action has been forthcoming."

Swat is seen as an especially significant battleground. Rather than a remote badlands along the Afghan border, it is only 100 miles from the capital, Islamabad, and is a relatively wealthy former tourist resort famed for its striking mountain views.

The accord there began unraveling last month when Taliban fighters moved from the valley into the nearby district of Buner, even closer to Islamabad, prompting a military operation that the military says has killed more than 150 militants. It is unclear how many remain in that district, but the army says the operation is "progressing smoothly."

The militants, who never laid down their weapons, resumed armed patrols in the main town of Mingora on Sunday and occupied public buildings, attacked security forces and blew up police stations, effectively ending the deal, according to officials and witnesses.

Sustained fighting broke out Tuesday, triggering a mass exodus from the town. Up to 40,000 people have fled the region, according to officials, who have warned that 500,000 could leave. Half a million out of a peacetime population of 1.5 million already fled two earlier army offensives and a Taliban reign of terror.

The United Nations said it was preparing six camps, but that most of those who had fled were living with relatives.

Witnesses said Mingora's streets were largely deserted, with people too scared to leave their homes, as helicopters and mortar crews pounded militant positions in the town and outlying districts.

The military said about 35 militants positioned near emerald mines and in hillside bases above the town were killed — the most reported casualties there since fighting resumed. It reported another 50 enemy fighters killed in Buner in artillery strikes and clashes.

The Swat militants had moved down from the hills into Mingora and were occupying public buildings, robbing banks and planting bombs to hinder any army advance, according to a statement. Four soldiers were killed in a bomb attack and an assault on a power plant, it said.

The militant casualty figures could not be verified independently, and there was no official word on deaths or injuries among civilians.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas declined to say whether the events heralded the start of major, sustained offensive, adding only that "all the contingency plans are worked out" for carrying one out.

An Associated Press reporter saw a long column of army trucks carrying heavy artillery pieces on the main highway that leads to the northwest late Wednesday. However, it was not clear whether the army was planning to send significant reinforcements to the valley.

The Swat Taliban are estimated to have up to 7,000 fighters — many with training and battle experience — equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, explosives and automatic weapons. They are up against some 15,000 troops who until recent days had been confined to their barracks under the peace deal.

The military has fought about a dozen operations in the border region since 9/11, killing scores of militants and sustaining more than 1,500 casualties — something it says proves it is serious about cracking down on the insurgency.

But many have doubts about its commitment, chiefly because it previously cultivated ties to militants to use as proxy fighters in Afghanistan and Kashmir, a territory disputed with rival India.

Matthew Lee in Washington and an AP reporter in Mingora who was not identified for security reasons contributed to this report.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

With all the focus on the military operations in Malakand Division, some incidents in South Waziristan and Mohmand have slipped under the radar:

19 die as militants, troops clash near Wana
​

Sunday, May 10, 2009

By our correspondent

WANA: A clash between the Taliban militants and security forces in the South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on Saturday left 19 people, including a soldier, dead and four others injured seriously, tribal and official sources said.

The sources said the militants attacked a convoy of security forces in the Tanai area, 20 kilometres from Wana, with sophisticated weapons.

Security forces retaliated and the crossfire continued for some time, leaving 18 people dead and four others injured.

Five schoolteachers were caught and killed in the crossfire. They were identified as Baitullah Burki, Javed, Ziauddin, Muhammad Hashim and Saifur Rehman.

SWA Political Agent Syed Shahab Ali Shah, when contacted, confirmed the incident. He, however, did not give any details about the casualties in the clash.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces killed 18 militants in an exchange of fire in the Spin area, northeast of Wana town in the SWA. It did not confirm the death of civilians in the firing.

It said the militants attacked a security forces’ convoy, but the troops retaliated with full force.

The ISPR claimed that one militant was apprehended during the clash, while security forces took bodies of the militants into custody.

The ISPR said one soldier embraced martyrdom in the exchange of fire, while two sustained injuries.
19 die as militants, troops clash near Wana

and earlier today:

Security forces kill 25 militants in Mohmand skirmish
​

Sunday, 10 May, 2009 | 02:43 PM PST |

PESHAWAR: At least twenty-five militants were killed as security forces repelled an attack by over 200 militants in Mohmand, DawnNews reported.

The attack, which targeted a paramilitary check post in Anbar Tehsil along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Mohmand, was carried out by heavily armed militants early on Sunday morning.

Vicious gun-battles continued from 02:00 am to 06:00 am in the Had Kor area, before the attackers withdrew.

The violence also left 16 militants and seven security men injured.

Security forces targeted militant hideouts in Ghalanai as the operation in the restive Swat valley continues to gather steam, DawnNews quoted official sources as saying.

DAWN.COM | Provinces | Security forces kill 25 militants in Mohmand skirmish

The Mohmand incident especially, in terms of the size of the force that attacked, seems to indicate a strong attempt to take pressure of Swat, or possibly take advantage of operations in Swat to regain lost ground.

On another note, it is reassuring to see that the assaults that frequently overwhelmed 'checkposts' a year or two ago have come down dramatically. IMO it indicates the Army learned its lessons well and evolved to face that challenge.

 

[JK!]

That has been on of my concerns with this operation in Swat.

Will their comrades in FATA try to open up a second front to support them?

 

[S-2]

How did five schoolteachers get caught in a crossfire? Was the ambush laid near a school? Are classes commonly in session then? We've reports of dead, to include the teachers, but not of the militants.

I'd hate to see militants begin capturing people like schoolteachers and initiating ambushes then with these prisoners either in their possession or deliberately killed during the battle by the militants.

Would these forces be Frontier Constabulary or Frontier Corps troops?

Thanks.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Taliban trying to broaden the battlefield​

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The Taliban are stepping up their campaign across the Tribal Areas to divert forces from the battle in Swat, a senior commander has said.

“They are trying [to spread the fighting], but it’s not significant enough to divert our attention,” Major General Tariq Khan, commander of the Frontier Corps, told the Guardian newspaper. “We were caught by surprise,” Khan admitted however, describing how he shifted forces from the tribal belt to an area where he never imagined having to fight.

On Sunday, 200 Taliban swarmed an outpost in Mohmand Agency, triggering a battle that killed 25 Taliban and wounded 11 FC soldiers, Khan said. Moments later, he learnt of a suicide bomber who rammed his car into a checkpost at Darra Adam Khel. Khan said Al Qaeda mercenaries were training the Taliban. “They are experts in IEDs, sniper fire and explosives. Mostly Tajiks and Uzbeks, basically. They get paid for their expertise,” he added.

“I don’t think the Taliban are going to fight once they see a consolidated effort against them. Their effort at getting into Mingora is to melt into the crowd, to move out with the exodus of refugees,” he said. He believed that a core of fighters would retreat into valleys north of Mingora and try to sue for peace, saying this was their best option. “They will get into the caves and seek a negotiated settlement. That’s their best bet at the moment. I don’t think they are capable of a hardcore fight.”

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan