Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2018

Military authorities on April 10 transferred their responsibilities to civil administration after 10 years in Lower and Upper Dir Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a function held in this regard at the Dir Scouts Fort in Balambat, reports Dawn. Malakand General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major General Ali Aamir Awan was the chief guest on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, the GOC said that all check-posts in Lower and Upper Dir were being handed over to Police and Security Forces (SFs) would remain present in border areas. He, however, said the SFs would fully cooperate with the civil administration in maintaining peace and order.  Appreciating the role of local elders, media men and civil administration, the GOC Major General Ali Aamir Awan said that complete peace in the region had been restored. He said 10 years ago the militants had challenged the writ of the Government in Swat and Dir and troops were sent to the areas to control the deteriorating situation. He said the militants had been bombing schools, hospitals and markets at that time. A total of 470 soldiers, including officers, embraced martyrdom during the military operation against the anti-state elements. He said that 300 schools in Malakand division were rehabilitated, while 32 new schools were built. The Police and Levies forces were imparted capacity building trainings and they were made capable to cope with any untoward situation. Read less...

Meanwhile, authorities on April 25 hanged four militants involved in attacks on civilians, police and troops after they were convicted by the country’s military courts, an army statement said, reports Daily Times. It said the four, who were hanged at a prison in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, belonged to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Those executed were identified as Rehmanuddin, Mushtaq Khan, Zafar Iqbal and Obaidur Rehman. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) all the TTP militants had confessed to their involvement in murdering innocent persons and carrying out attacks on armed forces and law enforcement agencies. The Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had confirmed death sentences passed by military courts on 30 militants, some of whom were involved in the country’s worst-ever extremist attack. The military courts – in which the army can try civilians on terror charges in secret, despite strong criticism from rights groups – were established in the wake of the 2014 attack, which traumatised the country. They were seen as an “exceptional” short-term measure to give the government time to reform the criminal justice system, as the military targeted militants in the tribal areas of the northwest. The law expired in January 2017, but was shortly extended for another two years. Read less...

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on April 25, wrapping up a petition submitted by the father of an Army Public School (APS) attack victim, ordered that former Jama’at-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ‘spokesman’ Ehsanullah Ehsan remain imprisoned while he is undergoing trial, reports Dawn. In the petition, the victim Fazal Khan's father had asked the court in 2017 to ensure that Ehsan is not pardoned as he had claimed responsibility for the 2014 attack on Peshawar's APS in which at least 144 people, mostly children, were killed. Ehsan, a TTP spokesperson until 2014, joined the splinter group JuA following a split in the TTP. The Army in April 2017 announced his surrender to Security Forces and released a 'confession video' of Ehsan in which he claimed that terrorist organisations were being "used" by India and Afghanistan. Read less...