DTN News: Pakistan TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ 15 Killed As Twin Bombs Target Police In Bannu

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY February 12, 2010 ~ 15 Killed As Twin Bombs Target Police In Bannu *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (Daily Times) (NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - February 12, 2010: A double bombing targeted policemen in Bannu on Thursday, killing 15 and wounding 24 others, in the third attack against security personnel in the country’s northwest in 24 hours. Pakistani officials look at victims of a suicide bombing in Bannu, Pakistan Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010. Two suicide bombers struck outside a police complex in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing 15 people and underscoring the relentless security threat despite army operations and U.S. missile strikes against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Two explosions, at least one of which was caused by a suicide bomber, went off in quick succession outside a police training centre in Bannu just as a patrol headed by local District Police Officer Iqbal Marwat was returning, said officials.

“Iqbal Marwat is seriously injured. We are trying to arrange a helicopter to evacuate him to Peshawar ... there are 15 dead,” a doctor told AFP over the telephone from the local hospital. Eight policemen, a child and six civilians had been killed, the doctor told AFP, having adjusted an earlier toll of 12 policemen. He said another 24 people, including two children, were brought in wounded, and four of them were in critical condition.

There were scenes of panic in the hospital as medics struggled to cope with the numbers of victims, said the doctor. An AFP photographer said a curfew was imposed in Bannu after the attacks. “There were two blasts. The first one was near the gate. The second was a suicide attack. We have confirmed reports it was a suicide attack,” said Sardar Abbas, the city’s senior administrator, and put the death toll at 13.

However, the APP news agency, citing sources, described both attacks as suicide bombings. The agency’s sources said the bombers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies as they were being searched by police at the checkpost ahead of the main gate of the police lines.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks, which were carried out outside a gate to the police complex, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani have condemned the attacks. Zardari said such “cowardly acts” would not deter the government’s resolve to root out terrorism.

Gilani ordered the authorities to provide the best medical facilities to those injured. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber targeted a police patrol and killed 18 people in Khyber Agency.

A group of militants attacked soldiers leading a rescue team to the site of a crashed military Cobra helicopter in the same district, killing a senior army commander and wounding two other officers. agencies

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DTN News: Pakistan TODAY September 29, 2009 ~ Pakistanis Flee As Army 'Tightens' Grip On Militants

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY September 29, 2009 ~ Pakistanis Flee As Army 'Tightens' Grip On Militants *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - September 29, 2009: As the Pakistani army dispatches fresh troops to Waziristan tribal areas to launch a major offensive against local militants, residents of the area begin migrating to safe places. Local residents stand beside the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of a suicide bombing in Baka Khel area near Bannu, Pakistan on Monday, Sept. 28, 2009. A suicide car bomber attacked a vehicle in Baka Khel killing five people, including Maulvi Abdul Hakim, a tribal leader who was instrumental in allowing security forces to pass through the area and gain access to the North Waziristan tribal region, official said. "The military, backed by gunship helicopters is fully prepared for a major offensive against insurgents in Waziristan. The fresh contingents of security forces have been dispatched to South Waziristan to launch a full scale assault against the militants," a senior Pakistan military official told a Press TV correspondent on Sunday on condition of anonymity. The military reported Monday that five security forces and some 15 militants were killed as Pakistan's army and militants traded rocket and mortar fires in North Waziristan in a pre-dawn attack. Meanwhile, the local administration has issued indefinite curfew in Tehsil Razmik, a region in North Waziristan, urging people to take refugee in safer areas as the operation is looming. In recent months, an increasing number of people have fled the Makeen and Ladha regions in South Waziristan to relatively safer towns. More than 2 million people were displaced by the fighting in the Swat Valley and more than 230,000 of them live in refugee camps. International agencies say the emergency could become much worse if there is a further exodus from Waziristan.

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY July 16, 2009 - Seven Killed In Waziristan Air Strike, Rocket Attacks

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY July 16, 2009 - Seven Killed In Waziristan Air Strike, Rocket Attacks

*Source: DTN News

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - July 16, 2009: Five militants and two civilians were killed and seven others injured in air strikes and rocket attacks in South Waziristan and the adjacent Jandola region on Wednesday. According to security officials, planes shelled two compounds occupied by militants in Sararogha and Laddha areas of South Waziristan, killing five militants and injuring six others. A Pakistan Military patrol travel past an army tank destroyed by Taliban militants during the recent battle for control of the village of Sultanwas on July 16, 2009 near Dagar in Buner, Pakistan. Thousands of IDPs have started their journey to their homes, under encouragement of the Pakistan government. The Pakistan military is playing a large role in screening returning IDPs and ensuring their safety in the areas that have now been cleared. The village of Sultanwas was the Taliban stronghold in Buner, which according to the Pakistan Military, the scene of a 3 day bloody clash between Pakistan Army and the Taliban. Militants fired several rockets in the village of Khechi in Frontier Region of Jandola. Two women were killed and one child was injured when one of the rockets hit the house of a tribesman. Our Correspondent in Miramshah adds: Columns of infantry units with tanks moved into North Waziristan and a curfew was clamped on several parts of the agency. Witnesses said that hundreds of troops had reached their base in Miramshah, the headquarters of the agency, from Mirali, along with 25 tanks and armoured personnel carriers and over 100 other vehicles. All bazaars and markets in the two towns remained closed. Fifteen tanks were deployed in Mirali. The heavy movement of troops sparked fear in the area. ‘Two helicopter gunships flew over the area and troops fired at every suspected location on their way,’ local people said. According to officials, one soldier was injured when a bomb exploded near the Banda checkpost. Troops defused four improvised explosive devices planted on the Mirali-Miramshah road. The situation in North and South Waziristan agencies started deteriorating after militant groups scrapped peace agreements with the government. Militant commanders Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Maulvi Nazir, who were in the good books of the authorities, have also severed relations with the government. Our Correspondent in Bannu adds: Two security personnel were killed and seven injured when a joint police and FC patrol hit an explosive device near Bakakhel Mandi in Bannu on Wednesday. According to officials, one FC man was killed on the spot and other died in the district headquarters hospital. They were identified as Rayatullah Khan and Khalid Khan. The security personnel who were injured are: Sher Ayaz, Mohammad Rehman, Ihsanullah, Riffatullah, Shafiq, Munsif Shah and Fahimullah. Three of them were shifted to Peshawar in critical condition. The officials said that security forces had cordoned off the area and launched a search for militants. It may be mentioned that the local administration and the Bakakhel tribe signed an agreement a few days ago to maintain peace and security and prevent attacks on security forces in the area. Tribal elders said the attack on the FC-police patrol was a conspiracy to sabotage peace efforts. Meanwhile, the Bannu DCO and the assistant political agent convened a jirga of the Bakakhel peace committee to review the situation arising out of the attack. They told the elders that the attack was a violation of the peace agreement.

DTN News: Pakistan Army Make Gains In Swat And South Waziristan

DTN News: Pakistan Army Make Gains In Swat And South Waziristan

*Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - June 21, 2009: The army claimed that 38 militants had been killed and six captured during operations in different areas of Malakand division and South Waziristan on Friday and Saturday. A Pakistani soldier takes aim in a hilly area of the Biha valley in upper Swat on June 20, 2009 where the military launched an operation against Taliban militants. At least 38 militants were killed in fierce clashes in northwest Pakistan's Swat valley and the tribal region of South Waziristan, the military said on June 20 as troops continued an offensive against the Taliban. Six soldiers, including an officer, lost their lives. Seventeen soldiers, a junior commissioned officer among them, were injured. According to the ISPR, security forces secured Kotlai, Chungai and Zara Khela areas of Swat and launched an operation in Dagai. Three terrorists, including a brother of militant commander Yousaf, were arrested near Peochar. A complex of four tunnels was destroyed. Troops cleared the villages of Babu and Shakardarra, captured three terrorists and defused three improvised explosive devices. Militants ambushed a vehicle of security forces on Udigram-Akhun Kalle road in Swat. Three soldiers lost their lives and seven suffered injuries in the attack. Terrorists fired rockets in Shahdand Banda, Devolai and Totan Banda areas and injured three soldiers. Six militants were killed in the exchange of fire with security forces. One soldier lost his life during a clearance operation from Malakand to Thana. An army major and a soldier were killed and six injured when militants ambushed a convoy of security forces in Hilal Khel area of Bajaur. Our Correspondent in Wana adds: Security forces made further inroads into Mehsud territory in South Waziristan on Saturday. The Army claimed that 32 militants had been killed in the offensive. According to sources, reinforcements reached Serwekai Fort from Madejan, a Mehsud territory secured on Friday. Troops have secured hilltops and key locations between Madejan and Serwekai. Helicopter gunships shelled suspected militant hideouts in Barond, Serwekai and Gul Serai areas. The sources said that security forces were trying to take control of the Wana-Jandola Road to establish link with Wana, the regional headquarters. Pakistani army soldiers react for TV cameras, not seen, in a military base on top of a hill in Chupria, in the upper Swat Valley, Pakistan, Saturday, June 20, 2009. Pakistani troops backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed about 50 militants in a volatile northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan where the country's top Taliban leader is believed to be entrenched with thousands of his fighters, officials said Saturday. A soldier was killed and seven others were injured when their vehicle was hit by a rocket in Bakakhel area of Bannu. Our Correspondent in Khar adds: Seven militants were killed and five injured during an operation in Charmang area of Bajaur tribal region. Security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, pounded militants’ positions in the villages of Babara, Kohi, Chinar, Matak and Manogai. Six explosive devices were defused. According to sources, troops arrested Gul Zarin, a militant commander of Taliban’s Bajaur chief Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, during search at a checkpost in Omarai area of Mamond tehsil. Weapons and explosive devices were recovered from him.Security forces demolished a number of houses of suspected militants in the villages of Kotkai, Tangai, Chinar and Asghar in Charmang.

DTN News: Pakistan ~ Janikhel Area Of FR Bannu Cleared

DTN News: Pakistan ~ Janikhel Area Of FR Bannu Cleared *Sources: Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BANNU, Pakistan - June 16, 2009: Security forces cleared FR Bannu’s Janikhel tehsil, set up checkpoints and started action against the Gorbaz tribe on the Miramshah Road on Monday morning. Militants had used the area to cross into Waziristan after kidnapping students of the Razmak Cadet College early this month. Security forces set up checkpoints on Miramshah Road to stop militants from using the area to cross into Waziristan. - AP/File photo The forces, it is learnt, are planning to take over the Rocha fort from where militants had once kidnapped 22 FC personnel. District Coordination Officer Kamran Zeb and police chief Iqbal Marwat visited the Frontier Region to assess the security situation in Janikhel. Security personnel have not yet moved into the Hindikhel tehsil and Bakakhel area. Militants fired six rockets on a police station and an airport on Monday morning. Five rockets landed in a field and one damaged a seminary in Kotka Khan Zaman in Norar area, injuring a youth. At least seven militants were injured in an exchange of fire with security personnel. During a curfew break, police arrested 19 people under the FCR and took them to the Bannu central jail. Upper Dir Villagers killed four militants and destroyed three houses owned by them in Shatkas area of Doog Darra. They also attacked militant positions in Ghazigay village. The villagers have killed at least 19 militants over the past 10 days. The militants have been pushed towards Kandao which is believed to be their last bastion in the area. Security forces have deployed artillery, but people of Doog Darra have urged district officials to stop possible shelling of their area. Lower Dir Two security men were killed and four others injured in a clash which followed an attack by militants on troops near Galgot village in Maidan. The Dir media centre of the armed forces claimed that nine militants had been killed in the clash but said their bodies had been taken away. A military spokesman in Timergara said one security man had been killed and five others injured. After the clash, security forces intensified shelling from Timergara and pounded militants’ hideouts in Galgot, Chinargay and surrounding villages. Mohmand Agency Three militants were killed and three security personnel injured in a clash in Mattai area. Troops continued the hunt of militants in Ghanam Shah, Chamarakabd, Suran Darra, Sheikh Baba and Mattai. The road up to Ghanam Shah has been cleared and forces have advanced 1km from Dag to Mulla Kalley. Three security men were injured when militants fired shells in Mattai and the three militants were killed when troops fired back. The forces seized five rockets, 250 mortar shells, 200 rounds and explosive devices from a house in Ghanam Shah. At least 22 houses of suspected militants were destroyed. An official said in Islamabad that five terrorists were killed and six others injured and three houses were destroyed when a lashkar launched a counter-attack in Dir. In Bannu, police destroyed a car believed to be on a suicide mission when it did not stop for checking in Zandi Janikhel village between Bakakhel and Janikhel. The suicide bomber driving the car was killed. Security Forces consolidated their positions at Janikhel Fort and Sara Bangal.

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY June 12, 2009 - Pakistani Police Official Misusing Authority By Punishing Innocent Young Victim In Bannu, NWFP

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY June 12, 2009 - Pakistani Police Official Misusing Authority By Punishing Innocent Young Victim In Bannu, NWFP

*Source: DTN News

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - June 12, 2009: Pakistani police officers punish a boy who violates curfew imposed in Bannu, Pakistan on Friday, June 12, 2009.

The military sent jet fighters to bomb suspected militant strongholds in the Bajur tribal region extending its military operations against the Taliban in the northwest.

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY June 12, 2009 - Pakistani Army On The Offensive Against Taliban In Bannu, NWFP

DTN News: Pakistan TODAY June 12, 2009 - Pakistani Army On The Offensive Against Taliban In Bannu, NWFP *Source: DTN News (NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - June 12, 2009: Soldiers of Pakistan army get ready to transport a tank in Pakistani tribal area, in Bannu, Pakistan on Friday, June 12, 2009. The military sent jet fighters to bomb suspected militant strongholds in the Bajur tribal region _ extending its military operations against the Taliban in the northwest.

DTN News: Pakistan Military Operation Intensifies In Bannu, South Waziristan

DTN News: Pakistan Military Operation Intensifies In Bannu, South Waziristan

*Sources: Int'l Media / AP

(NSI News Source) BANNU, Pakistan - June 12, 2009: The Pakistan army attacked an area bordering a militant stronghold near the Waziristan tribal region on Thursday, killing scores of Taliban fighters with helicopter gunships and artillery shelling, officials said. Pakistani army troops patrol on a road during curfew in Bannu, Pakistan on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew in Bannu, a town near South and North Waziristan regions, two major strongholds for al-Qaida and the Taliban, amidst the probability of a security operation. Meanwhile, dozens of militants attacked three army posts in South Waziristan, triggering shootouts that left 20 insurgents and three soldiers dead early Thursday, intelligence officials told The Associated Press. Army officials say Taliban fighters are attacking soldiers in South Waziristan to distract the military from its operation in Swat, where they say they have killed more than 1,300 militants since late April. The coordinated attacks early Thursday targeted bases in Jandola, Chakmalai and Splitoi towns in South Waziristan, said two intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. The militants used rockets and guns, prompting troops to return fire, the officials said. ‘Late last night about 400 terrorists attacked Siplatoi and Jandola Fort...three soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and five were injured, while 22 terrorists were killed and a large number injured,’ the army said. In Swat’s Taliban stronghold of Peochar, 10 suspected militants were killed in the past day, the army statement said, while operations also continued in Dir and Buner districts. Also on Thursday, Lashkars (militia) continued an exchange of fire with Taliban in two Upper Dir villages, said the officials. ‘This is a war, but the people of this country will not bow to the cowardly acts of terrorists. People are now seeing the real face of those who have been exploiting them in the name of Islam,’ North West Frontier Province senior minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour Bilour told reporters on Wednesday. Already in the final stages of an operation to clear militants from the Swat valley, the military said it went on the offensive in Bannu after up to 800 militants infiltrated from Waziristan. There has been speculation that once that was over the focus would switch to Waziristan, long regarded as a hub of Taliban and al-Qaeda activity. The military said it went on the offensive in Bannu after up to 800 militants infiltrated from Waziristan. —AP/File photo According to local military officials and a senior civilian official in Bannu well over 100 militants have been killed since the army swung into action on Wednesday. ‘The operation is going on very well. Helicopter gunships, artillery, everything is being used,’ Kamran Zeb, the top administrator in Bannu, told Reuters. ‘Yesterday, around 100 militants were killed in the operation,’ Zeb said, adding that there had been more killed on Thursday. Security forces also used artillery and warplanes to obliterate a militant compound in the tribal region of Orakzai, killing at least five people, but probably more, according to the the region’s mayor. ‘It’s been heavy bombing and there must be many more casualties, both militants and civilians. We’re trying to collect the numbers,’ mayor Gul Khitab said. A pro-Taliban cleric, Maulvi Jameel, said several militants’ positions and hideouts had been struck during the raid. He didn’t have information about casualties. In South Waziristan, militants fired rockets at a paramilitary base in Jandola killing two soldiers. The military have bottled up the main forces of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in rugged mountains close to Jandola. A soldier was killed in another attack by the militants in the same region, while Taliban officials said four of their fighters were killed in the fighting in South Waziristan.

Pakistani PM: Most Of Tribal Areas 'Cleared Of The Terrorists'

Pakistani PM: Most Of Tribal Areas 'Cleared Of The Terrorists' Author: Bill Roggio

(NSI News Source Info) January 30, 2009: Pakistan's prime minister and his closest adviser have claimed success against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas. Both men also vowed to wrest control of the district of Swat from extremist control. But reports from the region paint a less optimistic picture. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said the Taliban and al Qaeda have largely been driven from much of the tribal areas. “We are genuinely attacking the targets and the most areas have already been cleared of the terrorists,” Gilani told the international media at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also claimed al Qaeda operatives are no longer present inside Pakistan. Rehman Malik, Gilani's adviser on internal Pakistani security issues, also provided an upbeat assessment of the situation in the tribal areas. He claimed the Pakistani military has been successful in driving the Taliban from much of the tribal areas, including the Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold of Bajaur. "We took action against them and in Bajaur, we arrested dozens of Afghan Taliban, Uzbek and Chechen nationals from there and succeeded to retake about 98 percent control of the area,” Malik said during a briefing to the Pakistani Senate. Malik also claimed the Taliban would soon be driven from the settled district of Swat, where Mullah Fazlullah's forces are in control and have declared a radical version of sharia, or Islamic Law. The “situation in Swat would be resolved soon and we would soon get deliverance from terrorists,” Malik said. Earlier this week, the Pakistani military launched its third attempt to drive off the Taliban from Swat in two years. Malik claimed that the military has executed a "strategy shift" and now controls Swat's main town of Mingora "and some important pockets." Malik would not provide details on this shift in strategy.

Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, the Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal. While Gilani and Malik touted the successes in the tribal areas and Swat, the situation in these regions is far worse than portrayed. The tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan remain Taliban bastions, dotted with al Qaeda training camps. The military has negotiated peace agreements with the powerful Haqqani, Mehsud, Bahadar, and Nazir Taliban factions in these agencies. The Taliban recently declared sharia law in the agencies of Bannu and Arakzai, where they run effective parallel governments. The military has recently fought heavy battles with the Taliban in Arakzai and Mohmand but have failed to dislodge the extremist forces. The Taliban and allied anti-Shia terror groups also control much of the Kurram tribal agency. The Shia are located in pockets in and around the town of Parachinar. Military forces based there will not intervene to end the sectarian wars. In Khyber, Taliban forces have laid siege to NATO's supply lines moving through the Khyber Pass. The attacks have forced the government to shut down the strategic road to Kabul four times over the past five months. Three military operations have failed to dislodge the Taliban, who control nearly all of the agency. And in Bajaur, where Rehman claimed the government has defeated the Taliban, after six months of brutal fighting reminiscent of World War I trench warfare, the Taliban remain active. Some of the Taliban forces simply withdrew to the neighboring Mohmand tribal agency, the settled districts of Dir, Malakand, and Swat, or across the border in Afghanistan's Kunar province. Taliban commander Faqir Mohammed and his senior commanders have evaded the operation. Outside of the tribal agencies and Swat, the Taliban control or have a strong influence in 15 of the Northwest Frontier Province's settled districts. The Taliban run the show in Tank, Bannu, and Hangu. The government negotiated peace deals with the Taliban in Lakki Marwat, Malakand, and Dir. The Taliban have savaged shipping terminals that serviced NATO supply convoys in the provincial capital of Peshawar. The military has launched multiple operations to eject the Taliban since September, but these have been unsuccessful. The Taliban have murdered and kidnapped foreign dignitaries and aid workers in the city. Last week, Qari Hussain, a Taliban commander who runs suicide camps for children in South Waziristan, openly held a press conference in Peshawar. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan's main council appointed a commander for Peshawar and nearby Mardan. Charsadda and Kohat have been the scenes of violent battles and devastating suicide attacks. The Taliban laid siege to the Kohat Tunnel, the vital north-south link between Peshawar and the southern districts and agencies, several times during 2008. The tunnel was shut down for more than one month late last summer. One of the largest suicide attacks in Pakistan took place in a mosque in Charsadda. The Taliban have also crushed tribal opposition in Dir, Buner, Swat, Khyber, Aurakzai, and Mohmand. Meanwhile, the Taliban and al Qaeda operate more than 150 terror camps in the northwest. Covert US airstrikes have killed seven senior al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan's tribal areas since January 2008. Senior al Qaeda operatives and leaders remain in the northwest despite the US airstrikes and the uncoordinated Pakistani military operations that have failed to put pressure on the Taliban's stranglehold of the northwest.