North Waziristan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2007

According to Dawn, one paramilitary solider was killed and three others wounded when militants fired rockets on the Ghazlamai check-post in the Datakhel area of North Waziristan on October 1-night. Two militants were killed when the security forces retaliated. Read less...

An unnamed official said militants targeted check-posts in the Sargardan, Amin and Gora Qabristan area of Miranshah. Read less...

Clashes also occurred at various other check-posts and the headquarters of a paramilitary base in Miranshah came under a rocket attack. Local people said the clashes started at about 1am and continued for more than two hours. Missiles and rockets were used by both sides. They said 10 houses were partially damaged when artillery shells hit residential compounds in a Miranshah village. One woman was killed and another woman and three children were injured. Read less...

According to Dawn, 14 civilians were killed and five others sustained injuries when their bus hit a landmine in the Bulandkhel area of North Waziristan on October 3. The bus, going from Thall to Shewa, struck the landmine near the Tauda Cheena Bridge at about 5.30pm (PST). AFP added that the blast targeting the bus occurred hours after pro-Taliban militants raided a security check-post near Mirali in a pre-dawn attack, killing two soldiers and injuring four more. “Ten miscreants were killed in the resulting clash,” military spokesperson Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. Read less...

In another incident, a soldier was injured in an attack by militants on the Datakhel Fort in North Waziristan. Read less...

According to Daily Times, a civilian was killed, eight soldiers sustained injuries and a house was blown up on October 5 in various incidents in North Waziristan. Read less...

Militants attacked a military convoy at Chashma, 5-km east of Miranshah, with remote-controlled bombs, injuring two soldiers. The same military convoy was attacked again at Kurram Kot, 18-km east of Miranshah. When the convoy reached Pathahi Adda near Mir Ali, soldiers opened fire at a petrol pump and blew up an oil drum. In the Mir Ali bazaar, troops reportedly shot dead Noor Saleh, son of Stoori Khan. Read less...

Militants attacked Frontier Corps personnel near the Match Factory from a house with bombs. The attack left two soldiers injured. The security forces reportedly blew up the house in retaliation. Read less...

Militants fired 14 missiles at a military base in Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan, wounding four soldiers. They also fired missiles at the Ghulam check post, 15-km north of Miranshah. However, no causalities were reported. Read less...

A spokesman for the militants, Ahmadullah Ahmadi, told Dawn that they were fully prepared to face the onslaught and denied the military’s claim of 30 militants being killed in the clashes. The spokesman had warned on October 6 that they would step up attacks on the troops and government installations if SFs were not pulled out from check-posts. Read less...

One soldier was killed and 18 others injured when an army convoy was ambushed in North Waziristan on October 6, officials said, according to Daily Times. The ambush on the military convoy was carried out at Babari Adda, 10-kilometres west of Miranshah, with the attack “bearing the hallmark of al Qaeda”, an unnamed tribal elder said, adding, “They first detonated IEDs, then fired on soldiers and badly damaged five vehicles, including trucks and pick-ups.” He also said the security forces returned fire and killed one civilian who was looking out of his window to see what was happening. According to security officials, the military convoy was returning to Miranshah from the Data Khel region. Military spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad confirmed the militants’ ambush on the army convoy. Read less...

Taliban militants claimed to have kidnapped 28 Frontier Corps (FC) personnel. Local Taliban spokesman Ahmedullah Ahmed said, “We have kidnapped 28 Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers from different checkposts in Speenwam near Mir Ali during the last 36 hours.” He did not say whether the kidnapped soldiers had put up any resistance before being kidnapped, as earlier reports have alleged that soldiers have surrendered without resistance. Military spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad, however, termed the Taliban spokesman’s claim as wrong and said no FC personnel had been captured. Read less...

The fighting began on October 6-night when militants ambushed an army convoy in Mir Ali, 24 kilometers east of Miranshah, on the Miranshah-Bannu road, Daily Times reported. The SFs launched an operation against the militants, said military spokesperson Major General Waheed Arshad. Ten army soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in the incident. Later at around 6:00 PM (PST), militants attacked another army convoy in the same area near Sokhail. Major General Arshad disclosed that the SFs killed 18 militants and injured 15 in the subsequent fighting. Ten soldiers were killed and 12 injured. Pakistani fighter jets also reportedly bombed the area. The military operation was continuing and helicopters were hovering over the area. Read less...

Security forces (SFs) assisted by heavy artillery and helicopter gun-ships killed 65 militants but lost 20 soldiers in two encounters in North Waziristan on October 7, Reuters quoted officials and witnesses as saying. According to Dawn, fierce clashes occurred between the SFs and militants at Mirali and Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan. Read less...

The military said they had arrested two militants in North Waziristan, AFP reported. Read less...

Three civilians were also killed when an artillery shell fired by the SFs hit their house in the Sokhail village of North Waziristan on October 7. Read less...

Pakistani helicopter gunships and troops have killed 130 militants during clashes near the Afghan border, while 45 soldiers have also died, the army sources said October 8, reports Associated Free Press. "The clashes broke out after militants set off IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and conducted ambushes on the security forces" on October 7, military spokesperson Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. He added, "The forces retaliated and killed 130 militants in air strikes and ground attacks. Forty-five security personnel were also martyred." Arshad also said that contact had been established with a group of around 50 soldiers reported missing earlier and only 10 or 12 had not been accounted for, but it was not clear if any of those had been killed. Most of the fighting has been near Mir Ali. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that four civilians, including three women, were also killed during the clashes. Around 30 houses were destroyed or badly damaged as troops and militants exchanged heavy weapons fire, they said. Read less...

At least 50 people were killed and 200 others injured on October 9 after fighter jets bombed a village market near Mirali town in North Waziristan, according to Dawn. Two planes made six sorties around 3pm (PST) and dropped 12 bombs on Ipi village, three kilometers east of Mirali. Military spokesperson Major General Waheed Arshad said the bombing had targeted militant hideouts in the Ipi, Khedherkhel and Khushali Torikhel villages of Mirali sub-division, adding that he had no confirmation of the number of fatalities. He, however, put the number of militants killed in three days of fighting at 150 and the army’s casualties at 45. "Security forces have also turned down the ceasefire request of militants as their demand cannot be met," the military said, adding that security forces would "continue punitive action till complete peace is restored in restive North Waziristan". Reuters reported that families were streaming out of Mir Ali town of 50,000 people and outlying villages, making their way on foot, in tractor trailers and cars. "Eighty to ninety per cent of families of Mir Ali have gone. Just one or two people are staying behind in each house to guard their belongings," said Sher Khan, a resident. Read less...

Two soldiers were killed in a bomb blast in Mamoon Panga in North Waziristan on October 9, according to Daily Times. Separately, two more soldiers are reported to have died and four wounded in an attack on Gharlamai check-post west of Miranshah. Read less...

A driver suffered injuries when armed men fired on a vehicle carrying women staff of an NGO in the Pulrah area where the self-proclaimed Amir (chief) of Lashkar Ababil, Maulana Mujid Muideen, had recently issued a decree calling for attacks on women workers and vehicles of non-governmental organisations. Source told Dawn that the women working for the Tarraqi Foundation were going back to Mansehra from Lasain Nawab, when three masked men intercepted their vehicle and opened fire. Read less...

Militants fired two missiles on the military camp in Miranshah, according to The News. However, no casualties were reported. Read less...

Seven persons who were seriously injured in the October 9 bombings and artillery fire succumbed to their injuries on October 10. The attacks were launched from military camps in Miranshah and Mir Ali in which 100 rockets were fired from the army base. Read less...

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) warplanes continued attacking localities of Mir Ali subdivision in North Waziristan on October 10, killing 15 more persons, according to The News. Officials of the political administration and tribal sources said that the PAF planes targeted Haiderkhel, Ipi, Hasukhel, Musaki, Mullagan, Hurmaz, Zeeraki, Khushali and other villages of the area, mostly peopled by non-combatants. They said eight persons were killed in Haiderkhel, four in Hurmaz and three in Hasukhel villages. Besides, dozens of others were injured in these and other villages including Ipi, Musaki, Mullagan, Zeeraki and Khushali. However, military spokesperson Major-General Waheed Arshad claimed that no air strike was launched against the militants since October 9-afternoon. Meanwhile, about 90 percent of the people in the area reportedly shifted to safer places on October 10. Read less...

An improvised explosive device was detected and defused by troops on the Miranshah-Bannu road at Pattasi Adda near Mir Ali. Read less...

The military spokesperson Major General Waheed Arshad said that the Jirga (council) which met military authorities told them that the 200 militants killed in ‘Operation al-Mizan’, included 50 foreigners, 25 of them Uzbeks and the rest from Tajikistan, Afghanistan and of Arab descent. Read less...

Troops retaliated when militants fired rockets at the army’s Amin picket No 1 in Miranshah, headquarters of the North Waziristan, on October 11, Daily Times reported. There were no reports of casualties. Read less...

Two soldiers were injured when an improvised explosive device struck a military convoy coming from North Waziristan near Bannu in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on October 11, reports Daily Times. Read less...

The Hindu reports that pro-Taliban militants on October 13 released 30 of the over 200 security force (SF) personnel they had abducted over a month ago in the South Waziristan region. The SF personnel were on their way from Wana to Laddah in South Waziristan. Tribal elders had been making attempts to get the abducted troops released. President Prevez Musharraf, in an interview with BBC had said the unprofessional conduct of the troops had resulted in their capture by the militants. Read less...

Security force personnel killed two pro-Taliban militants, including an Uzbek, on October 14 after they fired on a paramilitary checkpoint near the Mir Ali town in North Waziristan, according to Reuters. "One Uzbek and one local militant were killed in retaliation while two wounded militants escaped," army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said. Read less...

Militants blew up a girl’s High School in Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan, on October 20, Daily Times reports. However, no casualties were reported. Sources said that pro-Taliban militants were behind the blast at the school – the only high school in the area. Read less...

Militants fired rockets at the Mera Din check-post in North Waziristan late on October 21. Troops retaliated, but no casualties were reported. Read less...

A rift has developed between the locals and Uzbeks in North Waziristan as "the locals believe foreign fighters are responsible for the recent killings of villagers", sources told APP on October 22. The locals are planning to call a jirga to announce a deadline for the foreigners to leave the area. "The locals say they will use arms to flush the foreigners out of the area if they fail to meet the deadline," the sources said. Read less...

Paramilitary soldier Naik Waris Khan was killed when militants attacked the Tall check-post, 20 kilometers south of Miranshah on the Miranshah-Razmak road in North Waziristan, according to Daily Times. Another soldier was killed when a remote-controlled bomb hit a military convoy near Eidak village, 18 kilometers east of Miranshah on the Miranshah-Bannu highway. The same convoy had earlier escaped a similar attack in Bannu. The security forces retaliated, but no militant was killed. Read less...

Two soldiers were killed and an equal number of them were wounded on October 24 in a roadside bomb blast near their convoy as it was traveling to Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan, AFP reported. Read less...

Four civilians were killed when militants and security forces exchanged gunfire on October 31 in the Miranshah city of North Waziristan, Daily Times reported. Two shells hit a local hotel, killing Faqir Zaman, Masood Rehman, Hareef Shah and Walayat Khan and damaging the hotel. At least four others were injured, AP reported. The militants also reportedly blew up a security post in front of the Government High School for Boys and fired three missiles at an army camp in Miranshah. However, no loss of life was reported. Read less...