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North West Frontier Province Timeline-
2008


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Month/Date
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Incidents
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January 1
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Unidentified militants blew up
a CD centre at the old bus stand in Kohat city of the North West
Frontier Province (NWFP). However,
no loss of life or injuries was reported.
An explosion damaged a portion
of the house of a villager in the Bachkan Ahmadzai area of Lakki
Marwat district.
Local Taliban commanders Naeem
and Toti Khan were arrested in a raid in the Koza Bama Khela area,
the Media Information Centre said. A huge quantity of arms, ammunition
and communication equipment were recovered from Taliban hideouts
during the operation, it added.
A bomb disposal squad defused
a 40-kilogramme locally-made remote-controlled bomb planted on
Kalam-Mingora Road, near Charbagh in Swat district.
A curfew has been imposed in Swat
and Chakdara for an indefinite period, as security forces said
they detained 27 suspects, four of them Maulana Fazlullah’s close
aides, during an operation.
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January 2
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The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) has given another two days to the government to end the
military operation in the Swat district and pull out all security
force personnel from the area, and warned that it will expand
its actions from Waziristan to Kohistan and settled districts
if their demand is not met. Maulana Omar, a spokesman for the
TTP, said that an earlier deadline for withdrawal of troops had
lapsed on December 15, but they did not resume their activities
because the entire nation was in mourning following the tragic
death of Benazir Bhutto. "Now we extend the deadline for two days
and ask the government to withdraw troops and halt the operation
in Swat. Otherwise, we will attack the government everywhere and
it will be an all-out war," he warned.
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January 3
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Security forces (SFs) launched
a search operation against militants in the Swat district and
arrested more than 70 suspected militants, including local Taliban
Commander Ikramuddin. SFs in an operation at Shakardara in the
Matta sub-division arrested 63 persons and confiscated heavy weapons
from them. The troops also blew up two houses of suspected militants
in the area. The military, however, confirmed the arrests of 44
suspected militants only. Ikramuddin, a close aide of the TNSM
leader Maulana Fazlullah, was allegedly involved in the beheading
of police officials in the Swat valley.
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January 6
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A man was killed and six shops,
including two video centres and two barber shops, destroyed in
two successive bomb blasts in the Shiekh Mohammadi village of
Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. Unidentified terrorists had planted
explosives to blow up two CD centres and an equal number of barber
shops near Tangu Adda in Shiekh Mohammadi village, located 10
kilometres south of the provincial metropolis.
Troops targeted militant positions
in the Totano Bandai and Manja areas, but no Taliban casualties
were reported.
TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah,
through his FM radio, asks his followers to launch attacks against
security forces.
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January 7
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A suicide bomber blew himself
up in an explosive-laden vehicle near a military base camp at
Kabal in the Swat district, injuring 10 people, including eight
soldiers. The suicide bomber was driving a single-cabin pick-up,
which exploded at 11.15am in front of the gate of the Frontier
Golf Club, a military base camp. The blast destroyed the building
of a technical institute and partially damaged the buildings of
the Iqra Academy. Security forces resorted to indiscriminate aerial
fire in all directions after the incident, resulting in the killing
of a college student named Imran Khan, residents said. However,
Colonel Nadeem, the head of the Media Information Centre, rejected
the eyewitness accounts as baseless.
SFs engaged miscreants in a gun
battle in areas close to Peochar. There were unconfirmed reports
of heavy militant casualties and demolition of their hideouts.
Militants blew up 18 shops in
the Jorre area of Buner district. However, no loss of life or
injuries was reported.
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January 8
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Unidentified terrorists fired
11 rockets on the Army Officers Colony on Warsak Road in Peshawar,
slightly damaging a few buildings. However, no casualty was reported.
The Inter-Services Public Relations
Directorate said that militants had fired on a military convoy
while it was moving from Kanju to Kabal near the Ali Grama area.
However, no loss of life was reported. Following the attack, security
forces arrested the 18 suspects.
In Buner district, two shops were
destroyed when a bomb planted at a shop in a women’s shopping
market in the Shalbandi Sharif village exploded. However, no casualty
was reported as no one was around at the time of the explosion,
officials said. This was the 13th bomb blast in the
Buner district and the first one targeting a women’s shopping
market.
Suspected militants abducted seven
SF personnel from a hotel in Darra Adamkhel. Two army men and
five paramilitary personnel were going to Peshawar from Kohat
when they were abducted at gunpoint by a group of 20 to 25 militants.
The security forces shelled suspected
militant hideouts in the Peuchar and Namal areas of Matta subdivision
in Swat district, destroying several targets. However, there were
no reports on the fatalities.
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January 9
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Security forces pounded with artillery
positions occupied by militants in the upper reaches of the Swat
valley and claimed to have arrested 18 suspected militants. Artillery
fire was directed at areas in Gut Peuchar and Shawar localities.
Some shells struck four houses in Manja village but no casualty
was reported. Sources said that one of the houses belonged to
‘commander’ Khalid, an associate of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah,
who had already left the place.
Owners of various video centres
in the provincial capital Peshawar received threatening letters,
asking them to close their businesses. The owner of a video centre
in the Sufaid Dheri area said that militants identifying themselves
as local Taliban had asked him to stop dealing in CDs and video
cassettes business. They threatened to blow up shops selling CDs
in case the instructions were not followed. The letters, he said,
stated that dealing in CDs and cassettes meant spreading obscenity.
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January 11
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Police and security forces arrested
a hospitalised key militant ‘commander’ and five other suspects
in a joint raid at a private hospital in the Saidu Sharif area
of Swat. The arrested were identified as militant ‘Commander’
Dr Khan, Alamgir, Mian Shahnshah, Mian Qamar Ali Shah and Taza
Gul, all residents of Chuparyal Matta. According to police sources,
Khan is an important commander of the militants and is considered
among the top aides of cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
Muhammad Iqbal, district nazim
(official) of the banned Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e Shariat Muhammadi,
who was arrested recently from Fateh Pur area, had been shifted
to an unknown destination for interrogation while his six colleagues
were released after initial investigations. Police seized a large
cache of arms from Iqbal’s residence.
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January 13
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Unidentified gunmen killed the
brother of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah’s spokesman Sirajuddin
at Imam Dheri in the Swat district. Residents said Bakht Bedar
Khan was a leader of the Awami National Party and supported the
government’s peace initiative and distanced himself from Sirajuddin’s
activities.
A bomb blast occurred near
the house of one Babrak in the Bachkan Ahmadzai village of Lakki
Marwat district. However, there was no loss of life or damage
to property. This was the second explosion in the village in a
fortnight.
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January 14
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Three children were injured in
security forces’ artillery fire on suspected Taliban hideouts
in the Dewlai and Totano Bandai areas in Swat.
A low intensity bomb exploded
at a billiard club in the jurisdiction of Gulbahar police station
in the provincial capital Peshawar. However no causality was reported.
The Bomb Disposal Squad defused another explosive device planted
in another billiard club in the same area.
Elders of six major tribes of
the Frontier Region of Kohat and local militants in Darra Adam
Khel reached an agreement to ensure safety of the Indus Highway.
In a related development, the Taliban replaced a senior commander
in Darra apparently to reduce violence on the Indus Highway and
stop extortion and beheading of passengers. Militant commander
Tariq Afridi was replaced with Momin Khan Afridi at a meeting.
It was also decided that the militants would not cover their faces,
and would stop extorting money from and killing innocent people.
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January 16
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Four persons, including three
children, were killed in a bomb blast near the Chashma Right Bank
Canal in Dera Ismail Khan.
Security forces foiled an attempt
by the militants to blow up one of their caravans at Nangolai
in the Swat district. Col. Mohammad Nadeem stated that the caravan
was heading towards Matta when the militants blew up a remote
control device planted at the roadside. The security forces later
cordoned off the area and arrested 19 suspected militants in the
search operation.
The DGMO Major General Ahmad Shuja
Pasha said that the army had achieved a primary target of the
Rah-e-Haq Operation in Swat by clearing the valley of miscreants
and establishing the writ of the government there. "The miscreants
have been pushed to the Peochar area and to the snow-capped mountains,
and peace has returned to the valley," Pasha briefed journalists
in Rawalpindi. He said the Rah-e-Haq Operation started on November
13, 2007 and was jointly executed by the 23rd Division of 10 Corps
and 17th Division of 11 Corps. "The army cleared the valley by
December 24," he said. Pasha said 36 soldiers had died and 72
were injured in the operation, while nine civilians had died and
another 45 injured. Gen. Pasha informed that 10 senior aides of
the militant leader had been arrested and Maulana Fazlullah himself
narrowly escaped arrest on quite a few occasions. He said a total
of 617 suspects had been arrested but most of them were released
after interrogation.
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January 17
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At least 12 persons were killed
and 25 others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in
an imambargah (congregation hall for Shia rituals) in Peshawar.
Police said that the teenage bomber blew himself at the crowded
Mirza Qasim Baig Imambargah in the Mohalla Janghi area at around
6.55pm (PST). "It was a suicide attack," interior ministry spokesman
Brigadier Javed Cheema confirmed, adding that "The bomber was
15 or 16 years old and he blew himself up after entering the gate
leading to the prayer hall." The NWFP Inspector General of Police,
Sharif Virk, told Geo TV that 10 kilograms of explosives
and three kilograms of ball bearings were used in the blast.
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January 18
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A bomb exploded outside a CD shop
in Peshawar, but no casualties were reported. An official said
that the explosives were placed outside the Gulab CD and Music
Centre located within the Pandu Police Station jurisdiction.
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January 19
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Security forces have taken control
of the Namal, Shor and Sardan Top areas in the Matta tehsil
(administrative division) of Swat district. Militants have
vacated the areas of Manja, Totanoo Bandai, Shah Dheri in Kabal
tehsil and Puchar, Namal, Sardan Top and Shor in Matta,
which were strongholds of Fazlullah. They said militants’ bunkers
in these areas were empty, and they took their weapons with them
as they moved to unknown locations. The troops imposed a curfew
during their forward march in the areas from 7pm on January 18-night
and no one was allowed to come out of their houses. The security
forces, during the operation, destroyed the houses of local militant
commanders Sayed Karim, Lajbar Khan, Sahib and Bin Yamin, a close
aide of rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah. During the search operation,
the troops also arrested several militants and shifted them to
an undisclosed location for interrogation. Sources said that the
security forces had also recovered a police van belonging to the
Matta Police Station.
A bomb blast damaged a bridge
on the Kohat-Hangu road without causing any casualties. The explosives
packed in a pressure cooker had been planted under the Parachao
Bridge close to the residence of district official Gohar Saifullah
Khan.
Security forces arrested 10 militants
and found 2.5 tonnes of explosives hidden in a mosque in Swat.
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January 20
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Nisar Ahmad Khan, Deputy Director
of the Intelligence Bureau in NWFP, was shot dead by unidentified
men outside his house in the Charsadda district’s Shabqadar area.
Police said Khan was going home after dawn prayers when the men
fired at him from inside a car.
A rocket fired from unknown location
exploded near Shalman Park in the Hayatabad area of provincial
capital Peshawar. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.
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January 22
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A bomb exploded near the Tajazai
area in Lakki Marwat, close to an army base camp set up in the
District Headquarters Hospital. However, there was no loss of
life or damage to property.
Security forces conducted a search
operation in the Shakardara area of Swat district and recovered
a large quantity of arms and ammunition. The seizure included
rifles, pistols, rockets of RPG-7, explosive and rounds of different
bores.
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January 23
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Three persons, including two female
students, sustained injuries when a landmine, planted in front
of a house in Bahadur Khel village in Karak, exploded.
Six militants were arrested and
a large cache of arms and ammunition was seized as security forces
resumed a search and cordon operation in some areas of the Swat
district of NWFP. Troops reportedly targeted militants’ hideouts
in Biakand and Mian Kalay of the Nellagram area and arrested the
six militants. During a search operation in the Nimgolay area
of Kabal sub-division, they found a large cache of arms and ammunition,
uniform of security forces and searchlights etc, concealed in
a nearby field. The seizure included 32 hand-grenades, six gas
shells, 18 mortars, several RPG -7, about 298 rounds of 12.7 gun,
32 warheads and a large number of Kalashnikovs and MMS riffles.
The caretaker NWFP Health Minister
Syed Kamal Shah survived a firing incident while driving on the
Mardan-Bakhshali road. The Taliban militants operating in the
area are suspected of involvement in the attack on the life of
the minister.
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January 24
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Suspected militants in the Swat
district shot dead the Matta sub-division naib (deputy)
nazim (elected government official) Shakir Khan, his brother
and an aide in an ambush near Kalakot. Two people were injured
in the attack. They were going to the Asharhi area in a car to
attend a meeting of the Awami National Party.
Unidentified militants fled with
four weapon-laden army trucks in Dara Adam Khel. Taliban spokesman
Maulana Umar claimed responsibility while talking to BBC Urdu
from an undisclosed location. He said the trucks and the crew
had been moved to "a safe location". The Darra Adam Khel political
administration arrested 32 tribesmen after the incident and seized
nine vehicles.
Militants abducted an army man
and a vehicle of the Inter Signal Services Unit which was going
from Samana Fort in the Oarkzai Agency to Thall Garrison in Hangu
district.
Security forces have reportedly
regained control of most areas in Swat and pushed the militants
to the remote, snow-covered mountains of upper Swat. Scores of
militants loyal to TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah have either been
arrested or killed during the military operation.
Police in Peshawar defused a roadside
time bomb minutes before the PML-N chief and former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif was due to pass the spot, said Senior Superintendent
of Police (Operations) Imtiaz Shah.
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January 25
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Around 34 militants and two soldiers
were killed during a military operation in Darra Adam Khel. Gunship
helicopters were used to target militant bunkers in the formerly
stable region.
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January 26
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Around 20 militants were killed
by the troops during clashes in the Darra Adam Khel and Kohat
areas. Gunship helicopters pounded suspected Taliban positions
in the mountains near Darra Adam Khel and Kohat district. Security
officials said the militants had taken position at hilltops overlooking
Darra and Kohat and were using long-range rockets to target civilians
in Kohat city.
Abdullah Halafi, a self-proclaimed
spokesman for a Taliban group, threatened the militants would
launch attacks on government forces in the Khyber Agency if attacks
on their comrades in Darra did not stop.
Military spokesman Major General
Athar Abbas said that the Kohat Tunnel was in the control of militants.
Abbas said security forces were progressing and operation for
the control of the tunnel would be launched any time soon.
A convoy of army vehicles escaped
casualties when a remote-controlled bomb exploded in the Badabher
area near Peshawar. Soldiers opened fire seconds after the blast
and blocked the highway for a few hours.
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January 27
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Security forces took positions
on hilltops around the town of Darra Adam Khel and the Friendship
Tunnel as 24 militants and five soldiers were killed in clashes.
Sources said firing continued near the tunnel on January 26-night
and several blasts were heard in the city. The ISPR said SFs had
cleared the area and regained control of the Kohat tunnel and
adjoining areas after fierce fighting. The tunnel connects the
southern parts of the NWFP with capital Peshawar through the Indus
Highway.
The troops used four helicopter
gunships and heavy machine-guns to pound the hideouts of militants
who had taken control of the tunnel on January 25-morning and
occupied the Kohat hills on January 26. After reportedly suffering
huge casualties and surrendering control of the tunnel, the militants
fired five rockets on the Kohat cantonment on January 27-night.
One of the rockets exploded near a military police checkpoint,
another in a house in the Happy Valley, two in houses of army
officers and one in the Malangabad graveyard. However, no casualties
were reported.
Militants in the Swat district
beheaded a local resident of Minglawar, Qayyum Shah, accusing
him of spying on militants for the Pakistan Army and the US. His
beheaded body was found on the main Mingra-Kalam road near Minglawar.
Maulana Omar, a spokesman for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed
responsibility for the abduction and subsequently beheading.
There were two successive bomb
blasts in a CD market near Wakho Pul on the Kohat Road in Peshawar.
However, no casualty was reported.
50 militants, including a local
commander, were arrested during a military operation in the Sambat,
Bodigram and Matta areas of Upper Swat. A Taliban ‘commander’,
identified as Sher Mohammad Khan, and about 30 of the detained
people were hardcore militants loyal to cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
The Media Information Centre in Mingora said a large quantity
of arms and ammunition, including detonators, Kalashnikovs, rifles,
pistols, shotguns and live rounds had been seized.
Police in Mansehra arrested four
activists of the Lashkar-i-Ababeel, an hitherto unknown extremist
outfit, suspecting them of being involved in the bomb attack at
the warehouse of an international relief organisation. Police
arrested Qari Ehsanul Haq, Mohammad Ashraf, Badiuzaman and Ghulam
Yahya a few days ago for their alleged involvement in the blast
at the warehouse of Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies.
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January 28
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Five civilians, including two
women, were killed during military shelling in the Aka Khel area
of Darra Adam Khel.
One civilian was killed and two
wounded when a chopper opened fire on them near the Kohat Tunnel.
Later in the evening, a higher secondary school was targeted by
the Army as they suspected that Taliban militants might be hiding
in the location. However, no report of loss of life or injuries
was reported although the school building was heavily damaged.
Suspected militants in the Swat
valley beheaded another policeman, the second incident of its
kind in the last two days. Suspected militants, numbering 100,
intruded into the house of the policeman, Habibullah, in the Sakhra
Fazl Garhi area of Matta sub-division.
The militants set ablaze two vehicles
of a forest officer, Zamir Khan, of Aghal village in Matta.
Kidnappers freed more than 250
students and teachers unharmed after being given safe passage
by the authorities from a school in the Bannu district where they
were holding the hostages. Though the government insisted that
the kidnappers were a gang of criminals, reports indicated that
some of them were suspected militants. One of the kidnappers,
Gul Jamil, who was killed in the shoot-out with police, was stated
to be a militant belonging to the Karak district. Groups of militants
have reportedly been active in recent months in both the Karak
and Bannu districts. They have been blamed for some of the kidnappings
in the two districts.
SFs regained control of the Durshkhela
fort in Matta’s Bagh Dheri area which had fallen to militants
loyal to TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah three months ago.
Six militant outfits appear to
be operating in Darra Adam Khel, with two having extended their
sway to within 20 kilometres of Peshawar, officials and residents
fleeing the area said. The HuM, LeT, JeM, LeJ, the Muslim United
Army International and the local Taliban have been "active in
the area since mid-2005," said a former Darra resident, who used
to live near a militant stronghold in Mazeedkhel.
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January 29
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A hand grenade was lobbed at the
residence of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the Dera Ismail
Khan-Bannu road. Rehman remained unharmed. Rehman’s servant Muhammad
stated that the explosion caused no damage as the grenade exploded
outside the residence’s boundary wall. The JUI-F chief was at
home at the time of the explosion, having just arrived from Saudi
Arabia.
Unidentified people fired two
rockets from an undisclosed location which landed on the outskirts
of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. However, no casualty was reported.
According to the police, one rocket landed in the fields near
Peshtakhara on Canal Road while another exploded near Akunabad.
Security forces shelled suspected
militants hideouts at Sakhra town of Matta sub-division in Swat
district, while 24 more militants surrendered before the troops
at Koza Bandai - once a stronghold of TNSM chief Maulana Fazlullah.
Military authorities said they received reports that militants
were hiding at Sakhra town, and their positions were targeted
through artillery shelling. However, there were no details about
losses suffered by the militants.
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January 30
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An explosion in a house in the
outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, killed three men who
police said were making bombs when the explosives detonated prematurely.
The blast occurred in the guestroom of a house located in the
Badshah Dak area of Tauheed Colony in Phandu police precincts.
"Initial evidence suggests that they were suicide attackers,"
police officer Farid Shah told AP. Gulbahar Deputy Superintendent
of Police Ijaz Khan said the men were likely involved in an earlier
attack on music shops in the Afridiabad area. He said police had
detained one Ismail, originally from Lakary of Mohmand Agency,
who had rented the house. The dead men included Ismail’s brother-in-law
Saadullah and a cousin identified as Ali Rehman. The third body
could not be identified. An AFP report said the men were 20 to
30 years old. Police seized a hand grenade, 10 kilograms of explosives,
a pistol, three mobile phones, a dairy and religious literature
from the house.
Two music shops were damaged in
a bomb blast in the Afridiabad area of Peshawar. No casualties
were reported. Police officials said that the shops were no longer
selling music CDs. They said the owner of one of the shops had
begun selling kebabs in his shop following violence against video
and music stores.
Unidentified miscreants fired
rockets at a police mobile team in the cantonment area of Bannu.
Officials said that three rockets were fired at the mobile team
from undisclosed locations that landed in different places and
caused no damage.
Police raided a storehouse and
recovered arms and ammunition from the Guli Bagh area of Swat
district, a Media Information Centre (MIC) statement and police
officials said. The storehouse was owned by an alleged militant
commander, Qari Mushtaq, the police officials said, adding that
the seizure included three AK-47s and over 200 rounds.
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January 31
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A roadside bomb blast damaged
a PAF truck at Akora Khattak in NWFP, but there were no casualties.
"It was a remote controlled bomb planted between two roads. When
the vehicle came close, unknown miscreants detonated the bomb,"
senior police official Mubarik Zeb said.
Security forces fired artillery
shells at suspected militant hideouts in Piyochar, Manja and Tota
Bandi when they were informed about militants’ presence there.
While five houses were partially damaged in the shelling there
were no casualties reported.
Security forces and political
administration recovered three truckloads of ammunition that militants
had seized from troops in Darra Adam Khel last week. Political
authorities told Daily Times that three of the four trucks hijacked
by militants were seized in a raid in Kot Chaper. The troops also
raided several militant hideouts, they said. A military statement
said ammunition, batteries and other supplies were recovered from
Tortsakpar, about one kilometer north of the Kohat Tunnel.
Four prominent militant commanders
and close aides of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah surrendered to
the government in Swat and promised to give up militancy in future.
They were identified as Khalil, Fazal, Kabir and Mumtaz. Meanwhile,
the security forces arrested a close aide of Maulana Fazlullah
at the Kanju checkpoint. Identified as Sultanat Khan, he was later
shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
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February 1
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Security forces arrested three
close aides of local Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah during
a search operation at Kanju check post in the Swat district of
NWFP. Tazamin alias Abu Mursad, Sher Nawaz alias Abu Sufian and
Matiullah alias Abu Zar were shifted to an undisclosed location
for interrogation, they added.
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February 2
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At least six persons, including
two civilians, were killed in a gun battle in Mardan after police
raided a suspected militant hideout at 5am (PST). Mardan police
official said that the gun battle ensued when police raided the
house of one Afsar Ali, wanted by police for attacks on music
shops, in the Palodehri area. Two policemen and two militants,
including Adnan, whose brother Kamran was an aide of Baitullah
Mehsud in the district, were killed in the gun battle. Sources
said while a woman passing by was killed in the crossfire, a civilian
Azam Khan was also killed as militants entered his house. Police
seized three Kalashnikovs, eight hand grenades and two suicide
vests from the house. Sources also said that the police had raided
the area a week ago but the militants, 25 to 40 in number, managed
to escape.
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February 3
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Two bomb explosions damaged the
house of Hidayat Ali Khan, a union council nazim (member), in
the Kooza Bandai area of Kabal tehsil (administrative unit) of
Swat district. However, no casualties were reported. The bombs
were detonated with a remote control device, sources said.
Two workers of the ICRC were reported
missing in the Khyber tribal region, according to officials. The
Islamabad-based communication officer of the ICRC, Sitara Jabeen,
said that the workers who were going to the Torkham checkpoint,
near the Afghan border, had disappeared in the Khyber region on
February 2.
Police on February 2 arrested
a 16-year-old boy, from Dera Ismail Khan, who had confessed to
plotting a suicide attack to kill Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)
chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, security officials told Reuters.
"The boy was caught ... with a vest and explosives,"
said an unnamed intelligence official. He said the would-be attacker
had admitted that Fazl was his target.
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February 5
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At least 20 persons, including
three policemen, were injured after cadres of the Tarai-Madhesh
Democratic Party and United Madhesi Front clashed with the police
at Jaleshwor in the Mahottari district. The clash ensued after
the protesters staged demonstration outside Jaleshwor Stadium
where Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba was addressing
workers’ meeting.
JTMM-J cadres detonated six bombs
on the premises of the District Education Office, at Zero Mile
and Sahujipatti area in the Mahottari district.
Activists of Nepali Congress and
CPN-Maoists clashed in the Latinath Village Development Committee
area of Darchula district after the Maoists tried to disrupt the
election campaign of the Nepali Congress. Two Maoists were injured
in the incident after police used force to foil any untoward incidents.
Police arrested two JTMM-J cadres,
identified as Jibat Kumar Mahato and Ram Chadra Mahato, from Lahan
area in the Siraha district and recovered two hand-made guns and
3 rounds of SLR bullets from them.
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February 6
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Several bombs were detonated at
Malangawa, the district headquarters of Sarlahi, where a mass
meeting of the Nepali Congress was in progress. The bombs were
detonated some 100 metres away from the venue of the meeting.
However, no casualties were reported.
Police raided the central office
of the YCL at Balaju in Kathmandu, reportedly, for concealed weapons
inside the office.
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February 7
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Two JTMM-J cadres were killed
by police in the Saptari district. According to the police, Chandreshwar
Kamat alias Sher Singh and Raj Kumar Mandal alias Ranjit of the
JTMM-J were shot dead when they clashed with police at Belichapena
VDC.
Cadres of the JTMM-G shot dead
an elderly person, Keshab Bahadur Gurung, in the Rupandehi district.
Gurung, a canteen owner at Sukha Bandargaha in Bagaha VDC, was
reportedly killed on charge of spying against the JTMM-G.
|
|
February 10
|
YCL cadres set ablaze a post set
up by the Rautahat District Development Committee to collect revenue
near Dhansarpur of East-West Highway.
|
|
February 11
|
Around 100 YCL cadres disrupted
a programme organised by the Nepali Congress in the Rupakot VDC
area of the Tanahu district. They also assaulted the former minister
and Nepali Congress leader, Govinda Raj Joshi, and vandalised
the podium erected there.
|
|
February 12
|
15 militants hailing from different
areas of the Kabal sub-division in the Swat district surrendered
to the security forces along with some arms and ammunition.
|
|
February 13
|
A roadside bomb blast hit an election
campaign convoy in Swat, killing two people and injuring three
others. Mufti Hussain Ahmed, an independent candidate contesting
for the NA-30 and PF-86 seats, was among the wounded. "Ahmed
was travelling in a convoy of 8-10 vehicles on a campaign when
the blast occurred, killing two people," said senior police
official Waqif Khan. The government has reportedly blamed several
recent blasts on Baitullah Mehsud, but Mehsud’s spokesman Maulana
Omar said that the local Taliban would not interfere in the elections
and would not be involved in any attack before or on election-day.
|
|
February 14
|
SFs moved tanks and launched a
massive search operation in Darra Adam Khel after rockets were
fired on telecommunication installations. Subsequent to the militants’
attack on the main telecommunication centre installed on a hill
near the Friendship Tunnel, the SFs backed by five tanks entered
the Darra Adam Khel town and started looking for assailants in
Shini Kali and Zarghun Khel areas, considered to be a militant
stronghold. An unnamed official said that a vehicle used in the
attack had been seized and its driver detained. He said that missiles
and rockets were also found in the vehicle.
The SFs arrested seven suspected
militants, including four foreigners, from Darra Adam Khel and
seized a heavy cache of weapons from them. Troops raided the Toor
Chappar area and arrested the militants. They also seized a missile
barrel launcher gun, an anti-aircraft gun and dozens of shells,
pistols and bullets.
At least 20 militants, including
four commanders, surrendered to the SFs in the Kabal sub-division
of Swat valley. The SFs released the militants after they offered
sureties.
|
|
February 15
|
A junior commissioned officer
of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) was killed and a soldier sustained
injuries when suspected militants attacked a security post close
to Matani, southwest of Peshawar, with mortar shells. "Over 30
armed men first attacked the FC fort on the Kishan Garh Road with
mortar shells and then opened fire on the post, killing Subedar
Abdul Samad of Bara, Khyber Agency, on the spot," said a police
official.
|
|
February 16
|
At least three people were killed
and 18 others injured when a powerful bomb blast rocked the Media
Centre in the Mingora area of Swat district.
|
|
February 17
|
A militant was killed when security
forces engaged some militants who were planting explosives at
a polling station set up in a primary school in the vicinity of
the Kanju police station in the Swat district.
In the Matta area of Swat, Deputy
Superintendent of Police Haroon Babar escaped unhurt when his
car was attacked with a series of remote controlled devices near
Bara Bandai in the Kabal sub-division where he had gone to inspect
polling stations. No casualty was reported.
SFs arrested seven hardcore militants,
including two commanders, during a search operation in the Kabal
area of Swat district. The militants were reportedly hiding in
a house when the security forces launched the operation in the
Kabal sub-division and arrested them after a brief exchange of
fire. The two commanders were identified as Fazle Rehman and Akbar
Hussain. Residents said that the SFs also dynamited the house
of Fazle Rehman and the shops and a clinical laboratory of Akbar
Hussain in the area.
|
|
February 18
|
Elections remained peaceful throughout
the NWFP amid fears of suicide attacks, bomb blasts and violence
from militants. NWFP Special Home Secretary Khalid Khan Umarzai
said that the elections all over the province were held with a
peaceful atmosphere, except for an incident in Karak district
in which one person was killed and another wounded when supporters
of the Awami National Party and an independent candidate clashed
in the PF-40 constituency’s Ghara Khel polling station. Minor
violent incidents were reported from the province. Militants blew
up Middle School Shakardara polling station in the Matta area
of Swat district and set ablaze the election material. Gunship
helicopters later shelled the Shakardara area but no casualties
were reported. Militants also targeted a security forces convoy
with remote-controlled bombs in the Shakar Dehri and Charbagh
areas, while a bomb exploded in the Dheri area of PF-83 constituency.
No casualty was reported in these incidents.
|
|
February 12
|
15 militants hailing from different
areas of the Kabal sub-division in the Swat district surrendered
to the security forces along with some arms and ammunition.
|
|
February 13
|
A roadside bomb blast hit an election
campaign convoy in Swat, killing two people and injuring three
others. Mufti Hussain Ahmed, an independent candidate contesting
for the NA-30 and PF-86 seats, was among the wounded. "Ahmed
was travelling in a convoy of 8-10 vehicles on a campaign when
the blast occurred, killing two people," said senior police
official Waqif Khan. The government has reportedly blamed several
recent blasts on Baitullah Mehsud, but Mehsud’s spokesman Maulana
Omar said that the local Taliban would not interfere in the elections
and would not be involved in any attack before or on election-day.
|
|
February 14
|
SFs moved tanks and launched a
massive search operation in Darra Adam Khel after rockets were
fired on telecommunication installations. Subsequent to the militants’
attack on the main telecommunication centre installed on a hill
near the Friendship Tunnel, the SFs backed by five tanks entered
the Darra Adam Khel town and started looking for assailants in
Shini Kali and Zarghun Khel areas, considered to be a militant
stronghold. An unnamed official said that a vehicle used in the
attack had been seized and its driver detained. He said that missiles
and rockets were also found in the vehicle.
The SFs arrested seven suspected
militants, including four foreigners, from Darra Adam Khel and
seized a heavy cache of weapons from them. Troops raided the Toor
Chappar area and arrested the militants. They also seized a missile
barrel launcher gun, an anti-aircraft gun and dozens of shells,
pistols and bullets.
At least 20 militants, including
four commanders, surrendered to the SFs in the Kabal sub-division
of Swat valley. The SFs released the militants after they offered
sureties.
|
|
February 15
|
A junior commissioned officer
of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) was killed and a soldier sustained
injuries when suspected militants attacked a security post close
to Matani, southwest of Peshawar, with mortar shells. "Over 30
armed men first attacked the FC fort on the Kishan Garh Road with
mortar shells and then opened fire on the post, killing Subedar
Abdul Samad of Bara, Khyber Agency, on the spot," said a police
official.
|
|
February 16
|
At least three people were killed
and 18 others injured when a powerful bomb blast rocked the Media
Centre in the Mingora area of Swat district.
|
|
February 17
|
A militant was killed when security
forces engaged some militants who were planting explosives at
a polling station set up in a primary school in the vicinity of
the Kanju police station in the Swat district.
In the Matta area of Swat, Deputy
Superintendent of Police Haroon Babar escaped unhurt when his
car was attacked with a series of remote controlled devices near
Bara Bandai in the Kabal sub-division where he had gone to inspect
polling stations. No casualty was reported.
SFs arrested seven hardcore militants,
including two commanders, during a search operation in the Kabal
area of Swat district. The militants were reportedly hiding in
a house when the security forces launched the operation in the
Kabal sub-division and arrested them after a brief exchange of
fire. The two commanders were identified as Fazle Rehman and Akbar
Hussain. Residents said that the SFs also dynamited the house
of Fazle Rehman and the shops and a clinical laboratory of Akbar
Hussain in the area.
|
|
February 18
|
Elections remained peaceful throughout
the NWFP amid fears of suicide attacks, bomb blasts and violence
from militants. NWFP Special Home Secretary Khalid Khan Umarzai
said that the elections all over the province were held with a
peaceful atmosphere, except for an incident in Karak district
in which one person was killed and another wounded when supporters
of the Awami National Party and an independent candidate clashed
in the PF-40 constituency’s Ghara Khel polling station. Minor
violent incidents were reported from the province. Militants blew
up Middle School Shakardara polling station in the Matta area
of Swat district and set ablaze the election material. Gunship
helicopters later shelled the Shakardara area but no casualties
were reported. Militants also targeted a security forces convoy
with remote-controlled bombs in the Shakar Dehri and Charbagh
areas, while a bomb exploded in the Dheri area of PF-83 constituency.
No casualty was reported in these incidents.
|
|
February 19
|
A suspected militant was killed
and two others were arrested when the SFs opened fire at alleged
hideouts of militants after an IED explosion near an army convoy
in the Darra Adam Khel town. Sources said that a SF convoy was
passing through Gidaro area when an IED planted on the road exploded,
leading to injuries to one soldier. After the explosion, the SF
personnel opened indiscriminate fire, which resulted in the killing
of one suspected militant.
SF personnel arrested 20 militants
from Bannu district and recovered a huge quantity of rocket launchers
and sub-machine guns from their possession. The militants revealed
during investigation that they were affiliated to the local Taliban
leader Hamid Shah of Bannu, who is reported to have lost the February
18 elections from a constituency in NWFP. The arrested militants
confessed that they were tasked to target Adnan Khan Wazir who
won the polls against Hamid Shah.
Police in the provincial capital
Peshawar arrested an Afghan national, identified as Abdur Rahim,
and also recovered four kilograms of explosives from his possession.
In the NWFP, the ANP won 31 seats
out of 85, while the PML-Q and the PML-N have won six and five
seats, respectively. The PPP won 17 seats in the NWFP.
|
|
February 20
|
Three SF personnel were injured
in a hand grenade attack at a military check-post in the Kohat
cantonment.
Two people were wounded when SFs
opened fire at them in the Mingora city. The victims were identified
as Akhtar Ali, resident of Dakorak and Khalid of Buner district.
The duo was wounded when soldiers in a convoy allegedly opened
fire on pedestrians near Makanbagh in Mingora city.
The SFs arrested 75 suspected
militants in the Charbagh sub-division of Swat district during
house-to-house searches.
|
|
February 22
|
A remote-controlled bomb exploded
at a wedding party procession, killing 14 people and wounding
13 others, mostly children, in the Matta administrative division
of Swat district. The bomb, which was detonated in the Ronial
Takh Maira area of the region, exploded around 4pm (PST) when
the wedding party was travelling from Kandogai village to Pir
Dar Baba village. The bride, four children aged between five and
12 years, and four bystanders died instantly. Following the blast,
the security forces restarted the military operation in Matta
and shelled suspected positions of militants from Kanju.
The Deputy Inspector General of
Police (Malakand Region), Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, said that all
police stations and check posts in the militancy-hit Swat district
had been restored.
|
|
February 23
|
Three SF personnel were killed
and six others sustained injuries when armed militants men attacked
a check-post on the outskirts of Peshawar. A police official claimed
that a militant was also killed and several others were injured
in an exchange of fire. The assailants reportedly took away the
body and their injured colleagues to the tribal area.
One trooper and a suspected militant
were killed in a shootout in the Kabal area of Swat district.
The shoot out occurred when the SFs raided a house. The owner
of the house, Javed, was also killed when the SF personnel returned
fire, officials said. Two people were arrested from the house.
Police on a tip off raided a workshop
and recovered an explosive-laden vehicle and three bombs, to be
used in suicide bombings, from the Mingora area and arrested five
people. The police said the five were ‘involved’ in planting explosives
in vehicles which would have later been used in suicide attacks
on the SFs.
|
|
February 25
|
Five workers of a NGO were killed
while ten others sustained injuries in an attack by a group of
ten militants in Mansehra. The dead included two women workers
of the British non-government organisation, Plan International.
The British-run NGO was actively distributing relief goods, including
food items, blankets and utensils, among the earthquake victims.
Three missiles landed in Peshawar,
including one in the cantonment area which struck the wall of
a motor workshop opposite a hotel and destroyed at least three
cars. One of the missiles landed near a farm near Supaid Dheri
in the Pishtakhara area but failed to detonate. A police official
said another missile, found near the Ring Road, was defused. He
said the location of the third missile could not be immediately
ascertained.
|
|
February 26
|
Two suspected militants were killed
in an encounter with the police at Dildar Ghari check-post in
the Charsadda district. The encounter ensued in the jurisdiction
of Batgram police station when a group of militants started indiscriminate
firing at the police party after the latter asked them to lay
down arms and surrender.
In a suspected sectarian incident,
a Shia leader was shot dead in Peshawar. Police officials said
that Haji Ghulab Hussain was going to his shop at around 9:15am
(PST) when unidentified assailants opened fire and injured him
seriously in the jurisdiction of Khan Raziq Shaheed police station.
He later succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital. He
was a resident of Parachinar in the FATA and was dwelling in Mohallah
Marviha in the old city area of Peshawar.
Three close associates of TNSM
leader Maulana Fazlullah were arrested from Mingora in the Swat
district. Police said that one of the suspects, Sayed Rehman,
was arrested from Koza Banda and two others, Mohammad Ishaque
and Zahid Khan, from the Kadyser Manglawar area. A motorcycle,
a Kalashnikov and a repeater were seized from their possession.
Several national and international
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have suspended their work
in earthquake-hit areas following a terrorist attack on the office
of an international NGO in the Mansehra district on February 25.
The offices of most NGOs remained closed and their field activities
were stopped on February 26.
Over 100 suspected militants attacked
a police post in Badhaber area on the outskirts of Peshawar, set
the two-room building on fire and forced the six police personnel
there out of the post. However, Superintendent of Police for Peshawar’s
rural area Nasirul Mulk Bangash told reporters that the attack
had been carried out by criminals and not militants.
|
|
February 27
|
An improvised device exploded
near an under-construction service station in Kohat. However,
no casualties were reported.
In the provincial capital Peshawar,
the police foiled an attempted act of terrorism and recovered
a remote control bomb that was planted at the Ring Road in the
limits of Peshtakhara police station.
|
| February 28 |
At least five police personnel
were injured when a bomb exploded on the Sawal Dher road in the
Mardan district.
Security forces destroyed four
houses of suspected militant commanders in the Mazeedkhel area
of the Darra Adam Khel town. However, the commanders, Khalid,
Adnan, Zareen and Wazir Gul, had already vacated the places.
Police arrested five suspected
militants during a search operation in the Fizzagut area of Swat
district. Police raided the hideouts of militants in Fizzagut
and arrested Abdul Khaliq, Zafar Ali, Saifur Rehman and Anwar
Ali while another was arrested from the Khwazakhela area.
Three suspected militants surrendered
to the security forces in the Kabal sub-division of Swat district.
|
|
February 29
|
Forty people were killed and more
than 75 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself
up at the funeral prayers of the slain Deputy Superintendent of
Police (Lakki Marwat), Javed Iqbal Khan, in the Mingora city of
Swat district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said the bomber
was among the people taking part in the funeral. The blast occurred
when the funeral concluded and the people had started to disperse.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Javed Iqbal, who died in a bomb
blast along with three other policemen in the troubled southern
Lakki Marwat district on February 29-morning, belonged to Makan
Bagh in Mingora city.
A military convoy escaped a bomb
blast while two shops were destroyed in another attack in Peshawar.
In the first incident, high powered explosives went off in the
limits of Matni police station which blew up a general store and
a computer shop. The second explosive went off near the Sepan
police check post at PAF Road. According to an official, it was
a remote controlled bomb that exploded after a military convoy
passed through the area.
SFs arrested five more suspected
militants from different localities of the Charsadda district
while they also released 20 suspects due to lack of evidence.
According to police sources, seven militants laid their arms and
surrendered before the district authorities in the Kabal sub-division.
Police in the Charsadda district
arrested an accused involved in several terrorist activities,
including launching an attack on former minister Aftab Ahmed Khan
Sherpao. District Police Officer Feroz Shah Khan said that the
accused Dawood, hailing from Afghanistan, was arrested when he
was found lying unconscious in some sugarcane field.
The district government of Bannu
has dismissed 35 Frontier Constabulary personnel from service
for laying down their weapons and refusing to fight the Taliban,
The Post reported.
|
| March 1 |
Taliban militants abducted
and subsequently beheaded a 22-year-old civilian, identified as
Mian Jan, in the Kabal administrative unit of Swat district on charges
of passing information to the security forces. |
| March 2 |
Forty-two people were
killed and at least 58 others sustained injuries in a suicide bombing
at a tribal peace jirga (council) near the Zarghunkhel check-post
in Darra Adam Khel in the NWFP. The jirga of Zarghunkhel,
Akhurwal, Sheraki, Bostikhel and Toor Chapper tribes had been convened
to discuss the formation of a Lashkar (army) to drive militants
out of the area. A severed head was reportedly found at the site
and officials believed it was that of the bomber. Some people identified
the teenager as a youth from the Sheraki area of Darra Adam Khel.
Unidentified persons fired rockets
at the cantonment area of Bannu. However, no loss of life or injuries
was reported.
Three suspected militants were
arrested in the Swat district. Two militants were arrested from
the Fizagut area near Mingora and another from Wenayi Bridge during
a search operation.
|
|
March 3
|
At least 10 people were killed
and six others injured when dozens of armed men belonging to the
Khyber Agency-based Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) attacked Shiekhan village
on the outskirts of Peshawar with rocket launchers and other sophisticated
weapons before bulldozing a shrine and four houses. "Dozens
of armed men of Mangal Bagh-led militant organisation attacked
Shiekhan village at around 11.30 am. The villagers, mostly unarmed
and unprepared, resisted the assault that resulted into a fierce
clash between the rival groups," said a police official.
SFs arrested a key militant, Mirajuddin,
at the Fiza Ghat check-post outside Mingora city in the Swat district.
They also arrested 10 suspected militants, including six key commanders
of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, in the Bamakhela area of Matta
sub-division. Mirajuddin was allegedly responsible for preparing
both cars and suicide bombers for use in suicide attacks.
|
|
March 4
|
Four militants and a villager
were killed in a gun-battle which erupted in the Khankhel area
of Lakki Marwat district after the abduction of a union council
official and his two associates. Two of the militants were Uzbek
nationals while the rest were tribal Wazirs, District Police Officer
Romail Akram said, adding that an Uzbek militant had been arrested.
|
|
March 5
|
Police in the Lakki Marwat district
arrested four militants and recovered some arms and ammunition
after an exchange of fire in the Baistkhel area. The militants
had come to the area for sabotage as a day earlier four of their
accomplices were killed in an encounter with the troops and villagers
near Khankhel.
Police defused two bombs near
a petrol pump in the Chiryal area of Matta sub-division in the
Swat district.
Gunship helicopters bombed the
hideouts of suspected militants in Ghut Piyochar. However, there
were no reports of any casualties.
In the Namal area of Matta, an
unspecified number of militants surrendered themselves to the
security forces.
A peace jirga (council)
held in Swat blamed the intelligence agencies for the prevailing
terrorist threat in the region, alleging that TNSM leader Maulana
Fazlullah was a mere tool that must surrender to the authorities.
"The government [should] hold talks with the intelligence
agencies instead of the local Taliban, as the agencies and Maulana
Fazlullah are one and the same in the Swat conflict, while the
government is their opponent," the peace jirga alleged.
|
|
March 6
|
The security forces arrested six
suspected militants in the Matta sub-division of Swat district
and recovered mortars, rocket launchers and hand grenades. The
security forces are also reported to have attacked hideouts of
militants in the Peochar area on late March 5-night. However,
no casualties were reported. Sources said the troops recovered
a 15-kg bomb from Peochar after suspected militants escaped from
the incident site following an exchange of fire for several hours.
|
|
March 7
|
Militants attacked a police van
with a remote-controlled bomb in the Kabal sub-division of Swat
district, injuring a policeman and damaging the van. Police retaliated
and later also raided the Kabal area and arrested three suspected
militants and seized rocket launchers and other weapons from their
possession.
The police arrested two suspected
militants, identified as Muhammad Humayun and Misbahuddin, during
separate raids in the Matta sub-division of Swat district.
|
|
March 9
|
Militants blew up an oil tanker
in Landi Kotal with dynamite, but the political administration
said the tanker was safe. The tanker, which was to carry fuel
to Afghanistan, was parked near the Michini check-post.
Caretaker Interior Minister Lt
Gen (r) Hamid Nawaz Khan has claimed that around 200 militants
have so far surrendered to the authorities in the Swat district.
He told the PTV that 422 people had been arrested in Swat
for their involvement in terrorist activities. "Six tonnes
of explosive material has also been recovered from the area,"
he added. "Security agencies have averted 20 to 30 possible
incidents of terrorism in the Punjab and Sindh during Muharram
and the elections," the minister said.
|
|
March 10
|
Lal Din, alias Baray Mian, a senior
militant commander escaped a helicopter gunship strike, while
his daughter and another girl were injured in the attack on a
house in Matta’s Piochar area. The strike was executed on intelligence
reports suggesting the presence of Lal Din in the house.
The troops conducted a search
operation in the Dherai area to arrest commander Idrees, one of
the top 10 aides of militant leader Maulana Fazlullah. However,
the operation ended without any arrest, officials said.
The Pakistan army said that it
has arrested six suspected militants in Tank and Swat.
|
|
March 12
|
Policemen Mustafa and Suleman
were killed and two others were wounded when the roadside bomb
they were defusing exploded in the Charbagh area in the Swat district.
Two people, suspected to be Taliban
facilitators, were killed when the bomb they were making exploded
in the Kabal sub-division.
Security forces had arrested five
suspected militants and seized a cache of weapons and ammunition
in Swat.
|
|
March 13
|
SFs arrested seven militants during
a search operation in the Char Bagh area of Swat district. SFs
also reportedly launched a search operation in the Shakar Darra
area of Matta sub-division in Swat. However, there were no reports
of arrests made or weapons recovered.
Militants set ablaze three general
stores in the Kuza Banda area of Kabal sub-division in Swat.
|
|
March 14
|
A 12-year-old boy, identified
as Anees, was killed in a blast while retrieving a ball from a
stream along a cricket ground in the Samay area of the Kabal sub-division
in the Swat district.
A car was blown with a remote-controlled
device planted at the roadside in the Teghak area of Matta sub-division,
injuring a man and his son.
Abdullah Khan, while driving his
car, was also targeted by a remote-controlled bomb, planted at
the roadside near Rahat Kot. He, however, remained unhurt in the
blast which completely destroyed his vehicle.
Six police personnel sustained
injuries when unidentified people hurled a hand grenade at a police
check-post on the Shakar Darra road in Kohat.
The SFs, backed by gunship helicopters,
conducted search operations in the Salanda, Jehanabad, Syedabad,
Ser, Telegram and Badar areas of the Charbagh sub-division and
arrested 42 militant suspects, including three wanted militants,
and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The SFs also
arrested a suspect, identified as Fazl Said Siddiqi, at the Fiza
Gat check-post during routine checking.
|
|
March 16
|
One policeman was killed and eight
others sustained injuries after a police van hit an explosive
device in the Dobai Ada area of Mardan district in the NWFP. The
vehicle of the Choora police station was on routine patrol when
it hit the bomb activated by a remote control.
In another incident, troops shot
dead a woman after opening fire on a vehicle when it failed to
stop at a check-post in a curfew-hit Matta sub-division of the
Swat district. The army has reportedly expressed "deep regret"
over the incident.
Unidentified militants targeted
security posts and government infrastructure in Darra Adam Khel,
Kohat and Khar but no causality was reported. In the first incident,
militants blew up a security post along the Indus Highway in Darra
Adam Khel. Militants also blew up unmanned sales meter station
of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on Dhodha road.
Separately, a remote control bomb, planted by unidentified militants
on a road near Sadiqabad in Khar, exploded but no casualty was
reported.
Militants blew up the building
of a girls’ high school in the Akhurwal area of Darra Adam Khel.
However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Local people
said the school administration had earlier received letters warning
them to close the institution. Handbills purportedly distributed
by local militants two days ago again warned women to stop going
to schools and join seminaries.
Security forces arrested approximately
73 suspected militants during a search operation in different
areas of Swat, including Namal, Matta, Balasur, Ser and Teligram.
|
|
March 17
|
Two policemen, Toor Gul and Aanayatur
Rehman, were killed and five others sustained injuries when a
suicide bomber blew himself in the police barracks in Mingora
in the Swat district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said
that a young man posing as a recruit and holding a police uniform
entered the barracks at Mingora Police Line and subsequently approached
the wireless room and blew himself up.
|
|
March 20
|
The security forces arrested five
suspected militants in the Swat district. The three suspects arrested
at the Fiza Ghat checkpoint were identified as Sharif Khan, Bawar
Khan, residents of Tuha Charbagh, and Akbar Ali, a resident of
Khwazakhela.
The illegal radio station of militant
commander Maulana Fazlullah has resumed broadcasts in the Swat
district. BBC Urdu reported that official sources had confirmed
that Fazlullah’s radio, after a closure of almost three months,
was back on air with his fiery speeches. "The FM radio station
has been broadcasting Fazlullah’s speeches for the last three
days, but it has not yet been fully active," a government official
told BBC.
|
|
March 21
|
A curfew was imposed in the Hangu
district after clashes erupted between Shia and Sunni Muslims
during a Nauroz (Persian New Year festival) procession,
leaving four dead and 28 others injured. The violence erupted
after members of the Shia community of the region came under fire
as they hoisted a flag on a mosque to mark Nauroz. Locals
said the Nauroz celebrations were going on peacefully at a madrassa
(Seminary) when they were fired upon with rockets and mortar
shells.
|
|
March 22
|
Militants blew up two government
girls’ schools and the main transmission line in Darra Adam Khel.
Local people said that the buildings of two middle schools for
girls in Ferozkhel and Bazikhel localities were damaged by the
blasts. A high transmission line damaged in the said area, plunged
the Darra town and parts of Kohat district into darkness.
|
|
March 23
|
Militants blew up a post of Khasaddar
Force in the Sheraki area.
Nine teenagers in the Swat district
are feared to have been kidnapped by suspected militants "to
be trained as suicide bombers".
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March 25
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Unidentified gunmen killed three
people, including a woman, in the Matta sub-division of Swat district.
Police stated that locals had found two unidentified bodies on
a road in Chauta Kalam. In another incident, unidentified assailants
killed Habibullah and his wife and injured his second wife when
they were standing outside their house.
Security forces in Swat arrested
four suspected militants, including Muhammad Yusuf, a militant
commander closely linked to the TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah.
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March 26
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Traffic between Matta and Khawaz
Khela was disrupted after unidentified men blew up a bridge that
linked the two towns of Swat district. The blast damaged a portion
of Gaman Bridge, situated near a security check-post.
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March 27
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Security forces arrested two suspected
militants in the Spina Thana area of Kohat district and also seized
their vehicle. The suspects are said to be members of a gang supplying
arms and ammunition to Taliban in Khyber Agency and the Kohat
frontier region.
The Kohat Police claimed to have
foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge quantity of arms to southern
areas of the country and arrested two people on the Indus Highway.
The Saddar police checked a van on the Kohat-Bannu road and seized
five pistols, one 12-bore gun, one Kalashinkov and 820 cartridges
of different bores. The arrested men were identified as Mohammad
Sultan of Tank and Sher Mohammad of Lakki Marwat district.
At least 50 police personnel in
the Swat district have been relieved of their duties for showing
a "lack of courage" during the last year’s operation
against pro-Taliban militants, District Police Officer (DPO) Waqif
Khan said. "Prolonged absence from duty is another reason
for their dismissal," the DPO said. Khan also said that around
200 policemen were on ‘French leave’ or unauthorised absence,
151 were absent from Sindh (River) Police Lines, Mingora, and
31 were absent from the Mingora Police Station. An official source
said that policemen in Swat were taking leave to avoid any possible
militant attack on them. "The relieved policemen were served
several notices but they did not show up. Consequently, they were
terminated," the source said.
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March 28
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The DPO in Buner, Abdul Ghafoor
Khan Afridi, narrowly escaped while two boys sustained injuries
in a roadside explosion. Police said that as soon as the DPO arrived
to inspect the site of Abubakar Sadeeq Mosque in Pir Baba bazaar,
a remote-controlled bomb exploded. The shrapnel of the bomb hit
a nearby car, causing injuries to two youths, Said Nawab and his
nephew Kamran.
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March 29
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SFs arrested a top militant, Mian
Syed, during a raid at a house in Saidu Sharif in the Swat district
Police defused a bomb planted
on a main road in the Gashkor area of Khawazakhela administrative
division.
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March 30
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Suspected militants blew up two
girl schools in Shiraki and Zargonkhel and one Khasadar check-post
in Darra Adam Khel. However, no loss of life has been reported.
Militants detonated a remote-controlled
bomb near the Saidu Sharif police post, damaging the building
partially. However, no casualty was reported in the incidents.
Militants also blew up a mobile
phone shop in Lakki Marwat with explosives. However, no casualty
was reported in the incidents.
Police defused a bomb that was
planted under a bridge at Pashore-Karachi highway.
The SFs pounded hideouts of militants
in the Matta sub-division of Swat. Sources said that the SFs targeted
the hideouts of militants in Peuchar area with artillery, although
no casualty was reported. Peuchar is considered to be one of the
biggest hideouts of militants in the Swat valley. However, no
major operation had so far been launched in the area.
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March 31
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Three policemen and a civilian
were injured in a roadside bomb blast in the Swat district. The
policemen were returning to the Kanjoo police post after defusing
a bomb in Ningolai when the van they were traveling in hit a roadside
bomb in Dherai. Police said they had arrested a militant commander
after the blast.
Security forces arrested a suspected
suicide bomber, identified as Saqib of Baffa area, from a place
near the Shawal Najif Army Camp in the Mansehra district. They
also claimed to have seized explosives.
An official source said two would-be
suicide bombers – Azeem Khan (31), and Akbar Ali, who is about
16-years-old – had entered Mingora.
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April 1
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At least two people were killed
and 10 others sustained serious injuries in the Swat district.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Matta sub-division,
Haroon Babar, said that militants ambushed a convoy of about 35
elders at the Malikabad area when they were on their way to the
Venai checkpoint. The elders, following a peace deal between the
elders and the forces on March 31, were supposed to hand over
two official vehicles to the force at the checkpoint, which were
earlier captured by the militants during fighting. Military spokesperson
Major Shahid told reporters that two persons died on the spot.
A bridge on the Indus Highway
in Darra Adam Khel was damaged by two explosions. The explosions
also damaged some nearby houses and shops. Ten people sustained
minor injuries in these blasts.
Authorities should only use force
as a last resort against militants near the Afghan border, newly
elected NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haid | |