Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2008

A bomb disposal squad defused a 40-kilogramme locally-made remote-controlled bomb planted on Kalam-Mingora Road, near Charbagh in Swat district, APP reported. Read less...

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 on January 1, according to Daily Times. Read less...

An explosion damaged a portion of the house of a villager in the Bachkan Ahmadzai area of Lakki Marwat district on January 1-night. Read less...

Unidentified militants blew up a CD centre at the old bus stand in Kohat city of NWFP on January 1-night, according to Dawn. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has given another two days to the government to end the military operation in the Swat district of NWFP 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, told Dawn by telephone on January 2 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. Read less...

Security forces (SFs) launched a search operation against militants in the Swat district of the NWFP on January 3 and arrested more than 70 suspected militants, including local Taliban Commander Ikramuddin. Sources told The News that 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. Read less...

Three policemen and their driver were injured when their vehicle hit a remote-controlled explosive device near the Rawalpindi Interchange of the Indus Highway in Kohat on January 3-night. Read less...

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 North West Frontier Province (NWFP), on January 6, The News reported. Unidentified terrorists, according to the police, 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 kilometers south of the provincial metropolis. Read less...

Troops targeted militant positions in the Totano Bandai and Manja areas on January 6-night, but no Taliban casualties were reported. Col. Nadeem said security forces (SFs) were consolidating their positions at Venai Bridge and Chaparyal, where a junction point has been established to block the re-entry of militants in the areas. SFs also engaged miscreants in a gun battle in areas close to Peochar on January 7-night. There are reports of heavy militant casualties and demolition of their hideouts, APP reported. Read less...

A suicide bomber blew himself up in an explosive-laden vehicle near a military base camp at Kabal in the Swat district of the NWFP on January 7, injuring 10 people, including eight soldiers. According to official sources, 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. On January 6, TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, through his FM radio, had asked his followers to launch attacks against security forces. Read less...

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 told Daily Times. However, Colonel Nadeem, the head of the Media Information Centre, rejected the eyewitness accounts as baseless. Read less...

The militants fired two rockets on the Police Line in Tank on January 7-night. However, no damage or loss of life was reported. Read less...

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 on January 8. 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. Read less...

Suspected militants abducted seven security force (SF) personnel from a hotel in Darra Adamkhel, Dawn reported. 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. Read less...

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 late on January 8-night. However, no loss of life was reported. Following the attack, security forces arrested the 18 suspects. Read less...

The security forces shelled suspected militant hideouts in the Peuchar and Namal areas of Matta subdivision in Swat district on January 8, destroying several targets. However, there were no reports on the fatalities. Read less...

Unidentified terrorists fired 11 rockets on the Army Officers Colony on Warsak Road in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), on January 8, slightly damaging a few buildings. No casualty was reported in the attack, The News reported. Read less...

Owners of various video centres in the provincial capital Peshawar on January 9 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. Read less...

Security forces on January 9 pounded with artillery positions occupied by militants in the upper reaches of the Swat valley and claimed to have arrested 18 suspected militants, according to Dawn. 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. Read less...

Militants bombed a music centre inside Durant Gate by detonating an explosive device near the shop at Tank on January 10-night. Read less...

security forces fighting the Fazlullah-led militants in the Swat district of NWFP on January 10 suspended military action due to persistent heavy snowfall and rain in the valley. Security forces, during a search operation in the Fatehpur area of Khwazakhela, arrested 12 suspected militants and shifted them to an undisclosed location. Similarly, military officials said four suspected militants were arrested on Ayub Bridge near Kanju. Read less...

Police and security forces on January 11 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 in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Daily Times reported. 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. Read less...

sources also said that 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. Read less...

Tank police officials said that militants attacked a garrison, the police lines and a picket with rockets and heavy gunfire, Dawn reported. The building of a vocational college where troops had been stationed also came under attack. The security forces retaliated with gunfire and the clash went on for two hours. A policeman, identified as Latifullah, who suffered injuries died later. Read less...

According to Daily Times, unidentified gunmen killed the brother of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah’s spokesman Sirajuddin at Imam Dheri in the Swat district of NWFP late on January 13-night. 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. Read less...

A low intensity bomb exploded at a billiard club in the jurisdiction of Gulbahar police station in the provincial capital Peshawar, according to Associated Press of Pakistan. However no causality was reported. Separately, the Bomb Disposal Squad defused another explosive device planted in another billiard club in the same area. Read less...

Elders of six major tribes of the Frontier Region of Kohat and local militants in Darra Adam Khel reached an agreement on January 14 to ensure safety of the Indus Highway, Dawn reported. 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. Sources said that Maulana Syed Sher Ali Shah of the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in Akora Khattak visited the town two days ago and held a meeting with local militant leaders. Militant commander Tariq Afridi was replaced with Momin Khan Afridi at the meeting, the sources said. It was decided that the militants would not cover their faces, and would stop extorting money from and killing innocent people. Kohat district coordination officer Kamran Zeb said that the tribal elders had met representatives of local Taliban to ensure safe passage of passengers and vehicles through Darra Adam Khel, especially during Muharram. Read less...

Maulana Fazlur Rahman and former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao are among the politicians from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) who are the likely targets of suicide bombers, sources in intelligence agencies told The News. "The Frontier Police and law enforcement agencies across the country have been tipped off about threats to the lives of Sherpao and Fazl. Around 20 cops each, mostly trained commandos have been deputed to guard both the politicians. Sherpao has also been provided a bullet-proof car," sources said. Read less...

Three children were injured in security forces’ artillery fire on suspected Taliban hideouts in the Dewlai and Totano Bandai areas in Swat on January 14. Sources said the shelling followed intelligence reports that important militant commanders were holding a secret meeting at a house. Locals said six houses were partially damaged and three children were injured. Read less...

A bomb blast occurred near the house of one Babrak in the Bachkan Ahmadzai village of Lakki Marwat district in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on January 13-night, according to Dawn. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property, police said. This was the second explosion in the village in a fortnight. Read less...

Four persons, including three children, were killed in a bomb blast near the Chashma Right Bank Canal in Dera Ismail Khan in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on January 16, according to The Post. Read less...

Security forces foiled an attempt by the militants to blow up one of their caravans at Nangolai in the Swat district on January 16. 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 News reported. Read less...

The Director General Military Operation (DGMO) Major General Ahmad Shuja Pasha said on January 16 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, according to Daily Times. "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. Read less...

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, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on January 17, according to Dawn. 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). Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Imtiaz Shah told reporters that a policeman had attempted to frisk the suspect but he pushed him aside and detonated the explosive vest he was wearing. "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. Read less...

A bomb exploded outside a CD shop in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), in the early hours of January 18, but no casualties were reported and the blast caused minimal damage. An official told Daily Times that the explosives were placed outside the Gulab CD and Music Centre located within the Pandu Police Station jurisdiction. Read less...

SFs have started search operations in the Taliban dominated Tank city and its adjacent areas. They reportedly raided several houses and suspected hideouts of the militants. While more than 100 people were reportedly arrested, most of them were released after a brief interrogation. Troops also detained 17 suspected militants who have been shifted to an undisclosed location for further investigation. Read less...

In the province, a bomb blast damaged a bridge on the Kohat-Hangu road without causing any casualties on late January 19-night. The explosives packed in a pressure cooker had been planted under the Parachao Bridge close to the residence of district official Gohar Saifullah Khan. Read less...

Security forces have taken control of the Namal, Shor and Sardan Top areas in the Matta tehsil (administrative division) of Swat district on January 19, reports Daily Times. Militants have vacated the areas of Manja, Totanoo Bandai, Shah Dheri in Kabal tehsil and Puchar, Namal, Sardan Top and Shor in Matta tehsil, which were strongholds of Fazlullah, sources added. 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 told Daily Times that the security forces had also recovered a police van belonging to the Matta Police Station. Read less...

Security officials in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) said on January 19 that they had arrested a teenager allegedly involved in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, according to Daily Times. AP reported that 15 year-old Aitezaz Shah told investigators that he had been part of a five-man squad deployed that day in Rawalpindi, an unnamed intelligence said. Aitezaz was arrested on January 17 in Dera Ismail Khan with another militant identified as Sher Zaman. The duo have confessed their involvement in the plot to kill Benazir Bhutto, ARY Television quoted Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah as saying. Read less...

The security forces said they arrested 10 militants and found 2.5 tonnes of explosives hidden in a mosque in Swat. Read less...

A rocket fired from unknown location exploded near Shalman Park in the Hayatabad area of provincial capital Peshawar on January 20-night, Dawn reported. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

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 on January 20-morning, according to Daily Times. Police said Khan was going home after dawn prayers when the men fired at him from inside a car. Read less...

A jirga (council) of the Mehsud tribe held in Tank on January 21 has urged the government to free seven supporters of Baitullah and halt the military operation. It also called for lifting a ban on supply of food to the Mehsud area. Read less...

According to Dawn, a bomb exploded near the Tajazai area in Lakki Marwat, close to an army base camp set up in the District Headquarters Hospital, on January 22. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property. “It seems that the device planted along a road near the Tajazai graveyard was set off by remote-control,” said the district police officer of Lakki Marwat. He said a military convoy had passed through the area two or three minutes before the explosion. Read less...

Security forces on January 22 conducted a search operation in the Shakardara area of Swat district and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition, according to a press release of the military’s Media Information Centre. The seizure included rifles, pistols, rockets of RPG-7, explosive and rounds of different bores, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Read less...

According to Dawn, six militants were arrested and a large cache of arms and ammunition was seized as security forces resumed a search and cordon operation on January 23 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. Read less...

Owners of CD shops in the Karkhano market in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, had received threats from militants asking them to wind up their businesses or ‘face consequences’. Earlier this month, some CD shops in the market known for smuggled goods were reportedly destroyed by bomb blasts. Read less...

The caretaker NWFP Health Minister Syed Kamal Shah survived a firing incident while driving on the Mardan-Bakhshali road on January 23, The News reported. The Taliban militants operating in the area are suspected of involvement in the attack on the life of the minister. Police sources said Health Minister Kamal Shah was returning to his hometown Mardan from Bakhshali village where he had gone to offer condolences to a government employee, Zafar, on the death of his mother. Near Mardan, unknown armed men apparently sitting in ambush started firing on his official car. However, they were unable to hit the minister’s car but instead shot at the police vehicle and wounded a policeman. Read less...

Three persons, including two female students, sustained injuries on January 23 when a landmine, planted in front of a house in Bahadur Khel village in Karak, exploded, Daily Times reported on January 24. According to police, the explosion injured Gul Shahib Jan and two schoolgirls. Read less...

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 on January 24-night, Dawn reported. Read less...

Police in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), defused a roadside time bomb just minutes before Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, was due to pass the spot on January 24, Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Imtiaz Shah told Daily Times. The former premier was traveling in a convoy to address a lawyers’ convention and a political rally in Peshawar in connection with the February 18 general elections. He said, "The NWFP police found the time bomb weighing 400 grams around 20 minutes before Nawaz’s caravan was to reach Suray Pul (bridge). The bomb was placed under the bridge. The police stopped the caravan near Gulbahar Chowk for 25 minutes because of security reasons." Shah said the bomb was without a detonator and was only meant to harass the people. Read less...

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. Read less...

Suspected militants in the Swat district of NWFP shot dead the Matta sub-division naib (deputy) nazim (elected government official) Shakir Khan, his brother and an aide in an ambush near Kalakot on January 24, according to Dawn. 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. Read less...

The Interior Ministry has warned the provinces that 13 suicide bombers have entered Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and may carry out attacks in these cities, Daily Times reported. According to Geo News, the ministry revealed in a letter written to the provinces and security agencies that terrorists have formed a new group by the name of Al-Quds Army and that 13 of its newly trained suicide bombers have entered major cities for subversive activities. The ministry has also warned security agencies and the provinces that two extremists of Maulana Fazlullah’s Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) have entered Sindh and Balochistan. Read less...

Unidentified militants fled with four weapon-laden army trucks in Dara Adam Khel on January 24, Aaj TV reported. 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 trucks were seized on their way from Peshawar to Bannu but the drivers had been released. The Dara Adam Khel political administration arrested 32 tribesmen after the incident and seized nine vehicles, the channel said. Read less...

Around 34 militants and two soldiers were killed during a military operation in Darra Adam Khel, a town in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan (NWFP), located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), sources said on January 25, reports Daily Times. Gunship helicopters were used to target militant bunkers in the formerly stable region. Read less...

However, ISPR Director General Major General Athar Abbas said around 25-30 militants and two security forces personnel were killed, adding that 10 personnel were injured. He denied militant’s claims of having killed seven soldiers and taken another 15 hostage. “At present, the aim is the recovery of trucks [of food and ammunition] and if the resistance grows, then the operation may continue till the army takes control of the area,” Abbas said. Reports said that the security forces had imposed a curfew in the region. Read less...

The militants claimed to have captured Zarghun Khel check post. Locals said three soldiers had been killed and five others captured. Senator Abdul Razzaq said dialogue collapsed after the Taliban refused to hand over the vehicles and soldiers. “Around 70 percent of the local population has left,” he said. Arms dealers have shifted their stocks to safer places, he added. NNI quoted TV channels as saying that rocket shells hit mobile phone towers on the main road, disrupting phone service in the region. Read less...

The military launched the operation after the collapse of talks between the government and local Taliban for the release of five soldiers and four truckloads of ammunition and food. A Jirga (council) failed to convince the local Taliban to cooperate. Later, tribal elders quoted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omer as saying that the trucks had been shifted to a safe place. Omer also claimed that the ammunition was enough to fight against the security forces for two years. A tribal elder said the trucks had been recovered, but the ammunition and kidnapped officials were still missing. He said the local Taliban and security forces had blocked the Indus Highway at separate points. As reported earlier, unidentified militants fled with four weapon-laden army trucks in Dara Adam Khel on January 24. Read less...

Troops on January 25 combed the mountains in the tribal stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan. The army said it had fired artillery and mortar rounds targeting militant hideouts from which troops had come under fire overnight in South Waziristan. “A house-to-house search operation is underway in the areas where the security forces have consolidated their positions,” Major General Athar Abbas said. No loss of life was reported. The fighting has forced hundreds of families to leave the area and there is a severe shortage of essential supplies, residents said. Read less...

A convoy of army vehicles escaped casualties when a remote-controlled bomb went off in the Badabher area near Peshawar, eyewitnesses said, adding the soldiers opened fire seconds after the blast and blocked the highway for a few hours. People were seen fleeing the Darra area as military action there continued for the second consecutive day. Read less...

Around 20 militants were killed by the troops during clashes in the Darra Adam Khel and Kohat areas of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on January 26, according to Daily Times. Gunship helicopters pounded suspected Taliban positions in the mountains near Darra Adam Khel and Kohat district, eyewitnesses and the military spokesman said. 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. Meanwhile, 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. Reports, however, said the tunnel – also known as the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel – was only attacked and damaged by militants. The extent of damage to the tunnel was, however, not clear. Read less...

According to army sources, clashes were continuing in the Tor Chappar, Tora China, Bostikhel, Sheraki, Kotal hills and Akhorwal areas. Darra Adamkhel administrator Kamran Zeb told Dawn that the top priority of the army was to secure the Friendship Tunnel and the troops would move towards the tunnel once it was cleared. The militants were going to the tunnel in small groups and firing on troops, he said. A jirga (council) and tribal elders continued their efforts to persuade the militants to hand over the ammunition trucks they had seized and vacate the area immediately. “Six attempts have been made through the jirga to broker a peace deal with the militants but they seem to be sticking to their stance. Now the only way is to teach them a lesson and the militants will be wiped out from the area in two to three days. The operation will continue till the entire Darra Adamkhel area is cleared of militants,” Zeb stated. Read less...

According to Dawn, 50 militants, including a local commander, were arrested during a military operation in the Sambat, Bodigram and Matta areas of Upper Swat on January 27. A Taliban ‘commander’, identified as Sher Mohammad Khan, and about 30 of the detained people were hardcore militants loyal to cleric Maulana Fazlullah. Sher Khan, a close aide of the cleric, was involved in attacks on security forces, government installations and several cases of killings. 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. Read less...

In the province, Police in Mansehra have 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. Read less...

In the provincial capital Peshawar, there were two successive bomb blasts in a CD market near Wakho Pul on the Kohat Road on January 27-morning. However, no casualty was reported. Read less...

Local tribesmen said that heavy shelling continued throughout January 27-night and two gunship helicopters bombarded the Khoiwal, Tor Chappar, Bostikhel, Sheraki and Ami Kami areas on January 28-morning. Read less...

Militants in the Swat district have beheaded a local resident of Minglawar, Qayyum Shah, accusing him of spying on militants for the Pakistan Army and the US, The News reported. His beheaded body was found on the main Mingra-Kalam road near Minglawar on January 27. Maulana Omar, a spokesman for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the abduction and subsequently beheading. He said the local Taliban had abducted him two days ago from a hotel near Minglawar, as he was found passing on information to military officials about activities and meetings of militants in Swat. "We left a letter with his beheaded body in which we warned people found in spying on Mujahideen would meet the same fate," the militants' spokesman explained. He also claimed the responsibility for attacking the security posts at Mamad Gat, Sher Makhanao and Eeka Ghund areas of Mohmand Agency on the night between January 26 and 27. Read less...

On January 27-morning, 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. Read less...

Security forces took positions on hilltops around the town of Darra Adamkhel and the Friendship Tunnel on January 27 as 24 militants and five soldiers were killed in clashes, according to Dawn. Sources said firing continued near the tunnel on January 26-night and several blasts were heard in the city. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said security forces (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 North West Frontier Province (NWFP) with capital Peshawar through the Indus Highway. The ISPR claimed that 24 militants had been killed and many others had fled leaving arms and ammunition. Read less...

The tribesmen also said that there was a curfew-like situation in Darra Adam Khel as 80 percent of the population of the semi-tribal valley has fled homes for safer places in Kohat and the provincial capital Peshawar. Taliban had taken control of the guns-manufacturing Darra town, some 40-km south of the provincial metropolis, several months ago. On January 24, they snatched four arms-laden trucks that were en route to South Waziristan to supply arms to the Pakistan Army troops. The incident forced the security forces to launch a massive operation to retrieve the trucks on January 25, which continued till January 28. On January 27, the security forces had recaptured the key road tunnel. Up to 24 militants and eight soldiers were reportedly killed in the clashes on January 27. Read less...

According to The News, kidnappers freed more than 250 students and teachers unharmed after being given safe passage by the authorities on January 28 from a school in the Bannu district of NWFP 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. About eight militants, who had abducted a senior health official, Dr Hussain Jan, and his driver in Karak, took the children and teachers hostage in the high school of Walizar Kallay in the Domel area of Bannu, Dawn reported. One of the kidnappers was killed during an exchange of fire with police. The militants released the kidnapped men and entered the school. They held the students and teachers at gunpoint to avert a police action. Sources said that local elders, including former legislators Qari Gul Azeem and Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz, held negotiations with the militants for the release of the students and teachers. The six-hour standoff ended when the elders persuaded police officers to avoid an armed action and provide safe passage to the gunmen. "They (hostage-takers) were armed with dynamite, hand-grenades, Kalashnikov rifles and other explosive material," Aziz told AFP. He added that "During negotiations they repeatedly warned they would kill the children and blow up themselves if they were not allowed safe passage." Read less...

Amid reports of clandestine talks with the government for durable peace, militants in North Waziristan on January 28 extended their one-sided cease-fire till February 10, according to The News. The announcement was made by militants’ spokesman in North Waziristan, Ahmadullah Ahmadi. He called reporters from an undisclosed location and said the Shura or council of militants, headed by ‘commander’ Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur, held a crucial meeting somewhere in the region and agreed to extend the truce, as it helped restore peace to the militancy-hit tribal agency. Read less...

Asking not to be named for fear of reprisal, the Mazeedkhel resident told Daily Times that the militants had set up around eight training camps in different parts of Darra Adam Khel, adding that foreign militants were imparting training to members of the local Taliban there. "In these training camps, basic military training is imparted, and they send potential suicide bombers to South Waziristan for further four-months of training," said the resident who traveled to Peshawar to flee the military operation targeting militants. Read less...

Five civilians, including two women, were killed during military shelling in the Aka Khel area of Darra Adam Khel in NWFP on January 28, according to Frontier Post. Read less...

In a separate military action, one civilian was killed and two sustained injuries when a chopper opened fire on them near the Kohat Tunnel on the same day. 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. Read less...

Officials in Peshawar confirmed the presence of the militant groups in Darra, adding that the groups had focused on "extending sway" to Peshawar. They said, "Today, both the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad have a strong presence within 20 kilometers of Peshawar." The unnamed officials said, "The fact of the matter is that some of the groups, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, are very active around Peshawar and Kohat district, especially in areas close to the Kohat-Rawalpindi Highway." The officials also stated that the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was the "most active group" in Darra. Read less...

On the night between January 28 and 29, militants reportedly fired several rockets on the Ladha and Serwakai forts where the paramilitary Frontier Corps and the Pakistan Army troops are based, but the soldiers remained unhurt. Four soldiers, however, sustained injuries in the Razmak military camp in North Waziristan, when militants allied with Baitullah Mehsud fired 35 to 40 rockets on the base from the adjoining Makin area. Read less...

Security forces (SFs) on January 28 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, Dawn reported. The militants occupied the fort after over 100 besieged troops of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) had surrendered. The FC soldiers were later released in groups. Read less...

Six militant outfits appear to be operating in Darra Adam Khel, with two having extended their sway to within 20 kilometers of Peshawar, officials and residents fleeing the area said on January 28, according to Daily Times. Darra Adam Khel, 40 kilometers south of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is well known for illegal arms dealing. The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (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. Read less...

Suspected militants in the Swat valley of NWFP beheaded on January 28 another policeman, the second incident of its kind in the last two days. Sources told The News that suspected militants, numbering 100, intruded into the house of the policeman, Habibullah, in the Sakhra Fazl Garhi area of Matta sub-division. "They dragged the cop out of the house, beheaded him in the field and escaped with impunity," added the sources. Suspected militants had beheaded on January 27 a local resident, Qayyum Shah, in the Minglawar area after accusing him of spying for the Pakistan Army and the US. Read less...

The militants also set ablaze two vehicles of a forest officer, Zamir Khan, of Aghal village in Matta, according to Dawn. Read less...

The security forces on January 28 claimed purging Darra Adam Khel and the surrounding hills of the militants amid reports of heavy shelling and artillery fire that continued till afternoon. "The troops are in full control of the town and the adjoining mountains. Besides, the Friendship Tunnel is also under control and will take some time to be reopened for general traffic," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told The News. Read less...

Tribesmen reaching the Tank district from the far-off and troubled Serwakai and Tormande areas due to excessive bombings and artillery shelling on civilian localities complained that seven minors had died of severe cold on January 28 when people were fleeing their homes and walking through the unfrequented routes in the mountains. Read less...

14 people, including 10 militants, three Pakistan Army soldiers and a civilian, were killed and several others injured in heavy fighting and bombing by fighter aircraft in South Waziristan on January 29, The News reported. Sources said that fierce clashes continued between the security forces (SFs) and militants in parts of the Mehsud-populated areas of South Waziristan, including Torwam, Tiarza near Shakai, Ladha, Serwakai, Nawaz Kot and Kotkai. Militants loyal to Baitullah Mehsud reportedly suffered significant losses when fighter aircraft targeted their positions in the Torwam area. Around 10 militants were killed and several others sustained injuries in the bombing. Read less...

A hand grenade was lobbed at the residence of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the Dera Ismail Khan-Bannu road at around 9pm on January 29, Daily Times reported. 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. Read less...

A labourer was killed and four of his colleagues were injured when warplanes attacked them at Gabar area, inhabited by the Bhittani tribe near Spinkai Raghzai in Jandola, where they were constructing a road. Two trucks parked on the site were also destroyed in the attack. An unnamed military officer said the pilots might have mistaken the labourers for the militants. Read less...

According to Dawn, army and paramilitary troops, backed by tanks, patrolled the Darra Adam Khel town on January 29 and seized arms and ammunition in different areas. The security forces claimed on January 29 to have captured the hilltops around the town. They said that Sheraki area, considered to be a stronghold of militants, was under curfew, although most of the local people had left the area for safe places. During a search operation, troops seized a truck with heavy weapons in Zarghunkhel area, and a large quantity of arms was found in bunkers vacated by the militants. Troops also continued to target suspected militant locations with artillery on January 29. Read less...

In the province, security forces on January 29 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. Read less...

Officials are reported to have confirmed that 72 militants had died in the five-day operation while the locals said dozens of bodies were still lying in the mountains. Read less...

People continued fleeing their homes for safe places in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan due to bombing by the fighter aircraft and gunship helicopters as well as artillery shelling on the residential areas. The people have complained of shortage of food items in the region as the government imposed a complete ban on the supply of foodstuff to the restive region three weeks ago. Read less...

The ISPR said security forces were in full control of the region and efforts were underway to open the Kohat Tunnel for public use. No incidents of artillery, shelling or small arms fire were reported from the region on January 29-night or January 30. Meanwhile, a convoy of more than 50 vehicles, the first after almost six days, had civilians returning to their homes under tight security. A similar convoy arrived in Darra town from areas adjacent to Kohat district. Around 80 percent of the population had reportedly evacuated the area and taken refuge in areas adjacent to Peshawar or Kohat, following the start of the military operation on January 25. Read less...

Three Pakistan Army soldiers were killed and four others wounded when militants attacked the troops in the Angamal area near Razmak. The troops returned the fire which led to a heavy shooting, resulting in the killing of three soldiers and injuries to four others. Military officials said several militants were also killed in the gun-battle and artillery shelling from Razmak military camp later, but they were unaware of the exact losses suffered by the militants. They added that 12 militants were subsequently arrested from Tiarza. Read less...

Troops also continued attacks in the Tor Chappar area near Jawaki on the fifth day of the operation in Darra Adam Khel. The Zarghunkhel of the Afridi clan has reportedly been cleared of the militants but troops were yet to take control of the area. Read less...

Two commanders of the militants, Tariq and Zahid, are reported to have escaped towards Khyber Agency. Another commander, Momin, has surrendered whereas another top militant who was holding the Kotal hill, died in a helicopter attack. Read less...

Unidentified people on January 29-night fired two rockets from an undisclosed location which landed on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), according to The Post. 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. Read less...

According to Daily Times, an explosion in a house in the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), killed three men who police said were making bombs when the explosives detonated prematurely. The blast occurred at about 5am on January 30 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. Read less...

In the province, police raided a storehouse and recovered arms and ammunition from the Guli Bagh area of Swat district on January 30, 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. Read less...

The bodies of 13 soldiers killed by militants during the military’s ongoing operation in Darra Adam Khel in the NWFP have been found, the army said on January 30. Sources told Daily Times that three of the dead were army personnel that the militants had captured, along with ammunition and food trucks, near the Kohat Tunnel on January 24. They said militants had abducted the remaining 10 personnel. Three bodies could not be recognised, they added. "They [soldiers] were apparently killed last week but their bodies were found today," a police official told Reuters. Read less...

Two music shops were damaged in a bomb blast at around 3am 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. Read less...

Unidentified miscreants fired rockets at a police mobile team in the cantonment area of Bannu on January 30-night. Officials said that three rockets were fired at the mobile team from undisclosed locations that landed in different places and caused no damage. Read less...

A roadside bomb blast damaged a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) truck at Akora Khattak in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on January 31, but there were no casualties, according to Daily Times. "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. Read less...

Four prominent militant commanders and close aides of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah surrendered to the government in Swat on January 31 and promised to give up militancy in future, The News reported. 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. Read less...

Security forces and political administration on January 31 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. Read less...

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 North West Frontier Province (NWFP), sources told Daily Times on February 1. Tazamin alias Abu Mursad, Sher Nawaz alias Abu Sufian and Matiullah alias Abu Zar were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation, they added. A day earlier, 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. Read less...