Pakistani Army Accused of Waziristan Killings of Civilians

[Assault Rifle]

Residents Say Scores Of Civilians Killed In Pakistan's North Waziristan.
By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal
December 20, 2013

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Residents of Mir Ali, the key town in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area, say at least 40 people died in army shelling there on December 19.

Locals told RFE/RL by phone on December 20 that the shelling, now stopped, destroyed most shops in the bazaar and prevented people from taking wounded to the hospital.

The residents' reports of civilian deaths come as the Pakistani military said its military operation in the region killed 33 people, all militants.

The army said fighting began late on December 18, when a convoy was attacked en route to a checkpoint, then expanded to target a militant hideout in Mir Ali.

Some 300 people, mostly students from North Waziristan, protested in the northwestern city of Peshawar on December 20 against the military operation and what they said was the targeting of civilians.

With reporting by AP

Residents Say Scores Of Civilians Killed In Pakistan's North Waziristan

 

[Leader]

protest by FATA students in Islamabad against killing of civilians by pakistan army !

 

[Imran Khan]

protest by FATA students in Islamabad against killing of civilians by pakistan army !

why don't they gather like this when fata based fata resident fata made suicide bombers blast our cities ? only fata has humans ?

 

[Assault Rifle]

why don't they gather like this when fata based fata resident fata made suicide bombers blast our cities ? only fata has humans ?

Why doesn't pakistan declare three mourning and all that for this massacare like they declared after peshawar church attacks?

 

[Imran Khan]

Why doesn't pakistan declare three mourning and all that for this massacare like they declared after peshawar church attacks?

job done baat khatam why declare ?

 

[Not Sure]

let them die its their culture and way of life whom born terror and we all suffer local are equally responsible for it . drugs guns war killing terror support and living in stone age was their way of life since 200 years so now they have to taste it more then anyone else .

You should be ashamed of yourself.

 

[Imran Khan]

You should be ashamed of yourself.

but i am not

 

[Not Sure]

but i am not

I know you are not. The key word in my post was "should".

These are the same people whose leader was the non-violent Bacha Khan. Ever even tried to wonder what made these people turn to such level of violence that you now feel it is part of their culture?

 

[Imran Khan]

I know you are not. The key word in my post was "should".

These are the same people whose leader was the non-violent Bacha Khan. Ever even tried to wonder what made these people turn to such level of violence that you now feel it is part of their culture?

lolz when bacha khan was never born they were armed and gay as today and living in caves as today

 

[Not Sure]

lolz when bacha khan was never born they were armed and gay as today and living in caves as today

Please do not start that.

In those times these people were still more civilized than most of the Gulf states that are so wealthy today. Further beyond, and you will see these people were in fact much more quiet and peaceful than the "modern Europeans" of today. Even deeper in the past, and you see how Buddhism and Zoroastrianism flourished in that area - the very religions that preach non-violence.

I do not know where you come from, but god forbid, if the people around you (including your own self) were to live in such dire conditions for so long, they too would become a beast before they even realize it.

Try not to generalize please. Generalizations are nothing but a peek into the lazy mind.

 

[unitedstatesofislam]

This is what my great and bahadur Pak Fauj fails to understand that wars are not won by killing, maiming and venting out your anger on your own people in the name of War on Terror as unfortunately being done in Tribal Areas and Baluchistan.

These troops, tanks, cobra gunships, war machine etc were all purchased so they would be used against India to defend Pakistan but unfortunately they are now being used against the innocent and miskeen Tribals and poor Baloch while when facing India in the battle field my great and brave Pak Fauj either surrenders to save its life and leave behind its benefactors and helpers to face Phansis and treason trials or rot in refugee camps or run away leaving its dead behind and subsequently refusing to accept their dead bodies when India decides to bring some Bofors shofers in.

 

[W.11]

Residents Say Military Took Lives of Dozens of Innocents After Militant Attack on Checkpoint

By: SAEED SHAH
December 19, 2013

ISLAMABAD—Residents in Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan tribal region said Thursday that dozens of civilians were killed in an army operation following a suicide attack at a checkpoint, charges the Pakistani military rejected.

Local residents said that more than 20 men, mostly truck drivers, were shot dead at a restaurant, while shelling claimed several more lives, including women and children, as the army responded to Wednesday's deadly attack on its nearby outpost. Localized military operations continued through the night and into Thursday around the town of Mir Ali.

The Pakistani military's chief spokesman, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, denied the allegations, saying 33 terrorists were killed in the area. "As per ground information, only hard-core terrorists were killed," he said.

North Waziristan, the most dangerous part of the lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border, is the stronghold of militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda, the Haqqani network of Afghanistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other foreign fighters.

Thousands of Pakistani troops are stationed there, but the army has for years resisted U.S. pressure for a full-blown offensive to clear out the militants.

The Pakistani government, led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has made such a major operation even less likely in the near term as it tries to open peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.

Large numbers of civilian casualties in North Waziristan would undermine the government's task of winning the sympathy of local people for any military offensive in the area, which many observers see as inevitable and likely next year.

The scope of the alleged civilian casualties this week and willingness of locals to speak about it is unusual. "I have never seen such injustice done," said Malik Gul Saleh Jan, a tribal elder, speaking by telephone from Mir Ali. "I say that all those killed were innocents, even if they kill me for saying this."

"All those killed were ordinary folk," agreed Abdul Qayyum, a local politician. "When one innocent person is killed like this, his whole family goes over to the other side, to the terrorists."Mr. Qayyum said several villages were shelled, along with the main market in Mir Ali, where bodies were still lying on the ground as a curfew had been imposed.

On Wednesday, a vehicle-borne suicide bomber hit the Khajori checkpoint, close to Mir Ali, just as Pakistani troops were at prayer in the mosque at the site. Five soldiers were killed and 28 were seriously wounded, the army said.

Gen. Bajwa said a military rescue team dispatched to the scene was ambushed by militants in the nearby village of Ippi late Wednesday. The soldiers pursued the attackers and came under fire, including rockets, from a restaurant there.

He said the troops killed several of the assailants in a firefight and then entered the building and killed the remainder.

The army said 23 militants were killed on Wednesday night, while a further 10, mostly Uzbeks, died during what it described as a search operation on Thursday. Gen. Bajwa said that operation "targeted firing on the confirmed locations of the terrorists," and artillery was used only in "extreme" cases.

The area was under curfew on Thursday, with roads in and out sealed off, local people said, making it difficult to confirm the conflicting accounts of what happened there.

Some people were hiding near a river, residents said, complaining they couldn't take the injured to hospital because of the blockade. In one village, Mosaki, local residents said eight people were killed in shelling, including a woman and three children in the household of a man called Dilshad.

Tufail Dawar, whose family owns the Ippi Sherin Mahal restaurant where most of the killings occurred, said the restaurant on Wednesday had been filled with truck drivers from different parts of northwest Pakistan. He said those present were taken outside by soldiers, lined up and then shot in the head. He put the death toll at the restaurant at 23. Most of the bodies were being stored inside a local religious school, residents said.

—Safdar Dawar contributed to this article.

Pakistani Army Accused of Waziristan Killings of Civilians - WSJ.com

bhai is qoum ka koi haal nahi he, let talibans rule pakistan, in kutton ko saab samajh ajaye ge, kuch dinon me

 

[M. Sarmad]

These troops, tanks, cobra gunships, war machine etc were all purchased so they would be used against India to defend Pakistan but unfortunately they are now being used against the innocent and miskeen Tribals and poor Baloch

If Talibani pigs are Innocent and Miskeen Tribals , and BLA is "poor" , then the Indians are "angels" !!!

Shame on you ... If you cant respect the defenders of the nation , dont use green flags ..

 

[airmarshal]

why don't they gather like this when fata based fata resident fata made suicide bombers blast our cities ? only fata has humans ?

Wrong attitude Imran.

But I think someone is really pissed at NATO blockade that planted stories are being used to incite protests.

FATA has suffered a lot due to drones and foreign backed terrorists. Actually its people of rest of Pakistan who should be sensitive to FATA, not the other way round. Our policies have created a hell out of the most peaceful region of the country. Why would they care if citizen are killed in a bombing in rest of the country when we dont care the nightmare they are living in?

 

[forcetrip]

that be fair thing to do.. buy guess what war mongers will still have a problem, all we demand here is to reveal the truth.. we have send our boys not to kill indiscriminately, we have send them to do a reasonable job, and we pay hell lot of good money to them to do this...and as a common pakistani i expect them to do a good job, not the bad, if they do a bad job, they are to be held accountable by their own governing law that they function according to, not to cover up the crimes it commits...

Do you think the Pakistan army is on drugs that they go in to target every innocent civilian. Heck, tell me even if one army has that as the standard protocol to harass and kill innocent civilians. The only army that does that are the ones being targeted by the US, Pakistan and all other professional armies. Please dont bring the Zionist or Indian army into the discussion, we will leave that for another day.