North West Frontier Province Timeline- 2005

Month/Date

Incidents

A wanted militant from South Waziristan, identified as Maulvi Bashir, is reported to have surrendered in Peshawar.

January 17

Police in Swat region of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) arrested a man who is said to have confessed to his role in high-profile terrorist attacks, including an attempt to kill President Pervez Musharraf and a suicide bomb attack on the US Consulate in Karachi. Deputy Inspector-General (Malakand) Attaullah Wazir, who commands the police in the northern districts of the NWFP, stated that Mohammad Jamil Memon had been detained in Swat in December 2004 on some suspicion, but his interrogation led investigators to believe that he is not an ordinary criminal. Son of Usman Ghani Memon of Nazimabad, Jamil belonged to the militant Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-alami organization and had received training in terrorist activities in Afghanistan, the official said.

Security agencies in Peshawar are reported to have arrested a Tunisian national for his alleged links to al Qaeda. The suspect, identified as Abdul Qayum, was arrested while shopping at a market in Peshawar, said an unnamed intelligence official.

Former Afghan Mujahideen 'commander', Haji Munjay, survived yet another assassination attempt, while two of his cousins accompanying him were wounded during a shoot-out in Peshawar. This is reportedly the third time that Munjay, younger brother of the assassinated deputy governor of Nangarhar, Haji Shomali Khan, was attacked on Pakistani soil. "We were coming from Attock to Peshawar when armed men in two cars chased us and opened fire near Hayatabad," said Munjay.

Six foreigners, suspected to be Afghans and Central Asians, were arrested from Abdara in Peshawar for their alleged links to al Qaeda. "Two hand-grenades, a pistol, computer disks and literature glorifying militancy were seized during the raid," said an unnamed official. "These people have been under surveillance for some time and we have credible information that they are linked to al Qaeda… They had been living in a rented house in Peshawar's University Town neighbourhood for a few weeks," he added.

Security Forces (SFs) in Peshawar arrested four Iraqi nationals for their suspected links to al Qaeda. They were detained during two separate raids on the outskirts of Peshawar. An unnamed official said one of the detainees, identified as Abdul Aziz, is a fluent speaker of the local Pashtu language and was caught with computer discs and other documents.

SFs arrested two Arabs for their alleged links with al Qaeda from the Charsadda area. The troops launched an operation against some four Arab families at Dosehra in the Charsadda area and subsequent to an exchange of fire between the two sides for about three hours, two suspects managed to escape. Two suspects were arrested consequent to the encounter.

Police arrested two al Qaeda suspects, identified as Noor Ayaz and Wali Muhammad, from the Bhana Manri locality. Sources said intelligence agencies had received reports that some al Qaeda suspects have shifted to the Bhana Manri area and they were staying in a rented house.

July 21

At least two members of a Tablighi Jamaat (fraternity of traveling Muslim preachers), Salahuddin and Muhammad Rahman, are killed and four persons sustained injuries when some unidentified people hurled a hand grenade at them in a mosque in the Khapyanga village of Kurram Agency in NWFP. 15 Afghan refugees have reportedly been arrested subsequently for their alleged links to the killing. It is for the first time that Tablighi Jamaat members have been targeted in Pakistan.

July 29

In the NWFP, Police reportedly set free 39 men arrested in the crackdown against members of banned militant organisations. They are "innocent," said an unnamed police official in Peshawar. "They are released after we are unable to find any evidence against them," he disclosed.

September 6

Parts of a railway track are blown up by unidentified saboteurs in the Dera Ghazi Khan district of NWFP. The track between Dera Ghazi Khan railway station and Shadan Lond was blown up by two bombs, which had been planted on both sides of the track.

Security agencies in Peshawar foiled a bid to smuggle arms and ammunition for terrorist activities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Senior Superintendent of Police Jaffar Khan informed that the Police recovered six rocket launchers, six fuse detonators, eight hand grenades, and some narcotics. However, no arrests were made from the incident site.

A senior Taliban 'commander' and former governor of Afghanistan's three Northern provinces and his aide were killed in the outskirts of Peshawar. Mullah Abdul Manan Hanafi and Mullah Mohammad Akbar were killed in front of the Badhber High School on Kohat Road when they were going to Dara Adamkhel from Peshawar. Hanafi was an important commander of the Taliban militia and served as Governor of the Badghis, Samangan and Sara-i-Pul provinces during the Taliban rule. An unnamed senior official said that Hanafi was also an arms dealer in the Chaman town of Balochistan province.

Three foreigners with suspected links to al Qaeda were arrested from an Afghan refugee camp at Jalozai near Peshawar. An unnamed security official said they arrested the suspects from a bus they were traveling in following an intelligence tip off.