South Waziristan Agency (FATA): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2008

At least 20 people were killed as several missiles hit a house in South Waziristan on March 16-afternoon, Daily Times reported. Seven missiles landed on the house of Noorullah in Toog village, located four kilometers south of Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan. Local journalist Sailab Mehsud said 20 people were killed and five others wounded in the missile attack. He said all those who died were Arabs and Turkmen, who had gathered at the house when the attack occurred. It could not be confirmed where the missiles came from, but locals told Mehsud they were fired from two unmanned aircrafts. Local people said that the house had been rented out to ‘non-local’ people about a year ago and about 20 non-local people lived there, according to Dawn. None of those killed and wounded included high-value targets, local residents and security officials said. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said there were reports of blasts and some casualties in the area and the military was checking. He added that Pakistani forces had not carried out any operation in the area and he did not know who had carried out the strike or what type of weapon was used. Major Chris Belcher, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said coalition forces conducted an operation in the Paktika province, which lies just across the border from South Waziristan. He said he had no information about the Pakistan strike and that he doubted the two incidents were related. Read less...

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a military vehicle in front of the brigade headquarters at Zari Noor in South Waziristan on March 20, killing five soldiers and injuring 11 others, Dawn reported. A man claiming to be a spokesman for the pro-government militant commander Maulana Nazir claimed responsibility for the attack. "We have declared that ‘Mujahideen’ will soon avenge the death of their colleagues in the missile strike (on Sunday)," Commander Malang told Dawn by from an undisclosed location. It is for the first time that Maulana Nazir’s group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack. Nine militants were killed and 10 others wounded when three missiles hit a compound in the Shah Nawazkot area near Wana on March 16. Read less...

At least three nomads are feared to have been killed after some rockets fired from the Afghan territory, hit a makeshift house near the Angoor Adda in South Waziristan on March 20. Read less...

A missile allegedly fired on March 30 from across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border destroyed the office of Mullah Nazeer, a pro-government Taliban leader, in Wana in South Waziristan, The News reported. It was the second missile attack on Nazeer's office in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, in a fortnight. The office building was destroyed by the blast but there was no loss of life. However, officials of the political administration said the explosion was caused by a time-bomb planted by unknown people at the office of Nazeer. Read less...

A suspected militant was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces (SFs) at a checkpoint near Tank in South Waziristan on March 31, Dawn reported. Police said that the clash occurred at the Luqman checkpoint on the Tank-Jandola road at about 12 noon. They said that SF personnel were searching passengers at a checkpoint when one of the passengers, Sarwar Khan of South Waziristan, refused to be searched. Read less...