FATA Timeline - 2008

January 1	Security forces (SFs) killed five suspected militants in the Laddah area of South Waziristan after four paramilitary soldiers were abducted in the area. Troops also fired artillery and mortar shells from Tiarza and Shakai forts on militants’ positions. Two persons were killed and five injured on the 11^th consecutive day of sectarian clashes in the Kurram Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). A peace Jirga (council) that arrived from Hangu continued talks with the rival groups in an attempt to strike a truce but no progress was made.
January 2	At least 27 militants were killed in two days of clashes in South Waziristan, a military official said. The clashes broke out after pro-Taliban militants abducted four Pakistan soldiers in South Waziristan on January 1, the official said. "Five militants were killed yesterday and 22 overnight," he stated.
January 3	At least 11 more persons, including seven non local Taliban, have died and 13 persons injured during the on-going sectarian clashes in the Kurram Agency while clashes continued for the 12^th conservative day. The curfew imposed on November 16, 2007 has reportedly not been relaxed so far, owing to which routine life has been paralysed in the entire Agency. The main Tull and Parachinar highway has been closed for the last 48 days due to which edible items and medicines are not available in Kurram Agency and road links to the various tribal areas are also disconnected. Hundreds of Pakistani families have poured across the border into Afghanistan in recent days as clashes between different clans continued on the 13th day in the Kurram Agency. Six people are reported to have died and 11 inured in the fresh clashes. Two rockets were fired on a base of the security forces in South Waziristan. According to residents, the rockets landed near a fort housing troops and did not cause any casualty. Army and paramilitary forces later carried out a search operation and arrested five suspects. Warplanes bombed suspected locations of militants in South Waziristan after an intelligence report that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud was hiding somewhere in the area. Locals said that two planes dropped six bombs and attacked various areas in Tiarza, Emer Raghzai and Enzer in Sara Rogha subdivision at about 2pm.
January 4	Three more persons were killed as sectarian violence continued in the Kurram Agency. Clashes were reported from the Jalmai and Meangak areas of Lower Kurram. The non-local Taliban suffered heavy casualties in the lower parts of the agency while the peace Jirga (council) was reportedly facing difficulties in brokering a cease-fire.
January 6	Rival militants attacked offices of a pro-government militant, killing nine and wounding eight of his men. The attackers first stormed the office of Maulana Nazir in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, and killed three of his supporters and injured four others. The militants, reportedly equipped with rockets and heavy weapons, launched another attack on the office of Nazir’s close associate, Maulana Khanan, in Shakai town, killing six people and injuring five others. A spokesman for Maulana Nazir blamed Baitullah Mehsud’s supporters for the attack and asked all Mehsud tribesmen to leave the Wazir tribe-dominated areas to avoid bloodshed. Local people said that Nazir’s supporters later shot dead an associate of Baitullah Mehsud and captured four others in Wana. Militants attacked a number of checkpoints with heavy weapons in different areas of the Bajaur Agency. However, no loss of life or property was reported. Checkpoints in Khar, Siddiqabad, Inayat Kallay and Nawagai areas came under attack from different sides. Security forces reportedly countered the attack and fired mortar shells in the direction of the attackers.
January 7	Four paramilitary soldiers were wounded in clashes between security forces and militants in the Ghazi Baig area of the Mohmand Agency. An unnamed official said that militants attacked a check-post of a paramilitary outfit, the Mohmand Rifles, in the Ghazi Baig area, some 20km northwest of Ghalanai, the administrative headquarters. Militants fired two rockets on the Police Line in Tank. However, no damage or loss of life was reported.
January 8	A soldier was killed and three others sustained injuries in clashes with militants in South Waziristan. Officials said three militants and a non-combatant were also wounded in the shelling on suspected hideouts of militants in the Spinkai Raghzai and Chugmalai areas. The militants abducted three security force personnel near Mouli Khan Sarai. The paramilitary soldiers were going from Wana to Jandola in a private car when armed men intercepted their vehicle at Mouli Khan Sarai and took them away to an unknown place.
January 9	Two security force personnel were injured when two rockets hit a military post in South Waziristan. Thousands of armed tribesmen of South Waziristan met in Wana, vowing to organise a Lashkar (army) to hunt down al Qaeda-linked militants blamed for killing nine of their kinsmen on January 6.
January 9-10	At least 50 militants were killed by troops during clashes that erupted when around 250-300 miscreants concentrated and attempted to attack Ladha Fort and check post on the night of January 9 to 10 in the Wana area of South Waziristan.
January 10	Militants bombed a music centre by detonating an explosive device near the shop at Tank in South Waziristan.
January 11	Four members of a family were wounded when mortar shells hit their house at Mamond village near Khar of Bajaur Agency. Militants fired three missiles on a Mohmand Rifles camp at Yousaf Khel in Ghalanai. One militant was injured in the incident. A group of militants armed with rockets and mortar shell attacked the Bajaur Scout camp at Badwal Kot. However, no casualties were reported.
January 12	Police said that militants attacked a garrison, the police lines and a picket with rockets and heavy gunfire in Tank. The building of a vocational college where troops had been stationed also came under attack. The security forces retaliated with gunfire and the clashes went on for two hours. A policeman, identified as Latifullah, who suffered injuries died later.
January 13	Two Uzbek militants were killed when a group of them attacked the house of a pro-government tribal elder in South Waziristan. The pre-dawn clash erupted when dozens of miscreants launched an attack on the house of Khan Khannan in South Waziristan district, said local administration official Ayaz Mandokhel. Khannan’s men who were guarding the house, retaliated and killed two Uzbek militants, he said, adding that the other militants escaped after the clash. In North Waziristan, militants fired missiles at the Mana army camp in the Shawaal area, injuring one soldier.
January 14	At least 23 militants and seven soldiers were killed in fighting in the Mohmand Agency. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said, "It was an ambush on a paramilitary convoy." The convoy was reportedly ambushed while traveling from Gath to Ghalanai. The Taliban spokesman Maulana Omar, however, denied that any militants were killed, claiming that they had killed seven soldiers and taken 17 of them as prisoners. "Our activities will continue till an end to the military operation in Swat and release of Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz," he stated. Militants fired 12 rockets on the Monrah security camp in the Dattakhel sub-division of North Waziristan. However, no loss of life or property was reported.
January 15	Hundreds of militants captured a paramilitary fort in South Waziristan after killing 22 soldiers and taking several others hostage. 600 to 700 militants reportedly attacked the fort in Sararogha, manned by the South Waziristan Scouts, firing rockets and mortars. 38 paramilitary soldiers and six civilians were in the fort when it came under the assault. The military said on January 16 that 40 militants were killed in the gun battle. Tehrik-i-Taliban spokesman Maulana Umar said that militant commander Baitullah Mehsud had led the charge on the British-era fort. The locals said that after capturing the compound the militants took away weapons, communication tools and blew up the building with explosives. According to eyewitnesses, the militants captured several soldiers and slaughtered many of them. The paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel claimed that two alleged teenage suicide bombers were killed while a third committed suicide by swallowing poisonous capsules in the Mohmand Agency.
January 16	Clashes continued in Sararogha, Ludda and another nearby village but there were no immediate reports of casualty or damage.
January 17	Over three dozen paramilitary soldiers are reported to have abandoned a fort in South Waziristan before it was attacked by militants. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulana Umar claimed that about 60 paramilitary soldiers had surrendered without putting up resistance. He said the militants had taken away weapons and hoisted a white flag at the compound. However, official sources said that the Seplatoi fort in Serwakai sub-division manned by about 40 personnel of the FC was vacated on January 16-night after reports were received that the militants were planning to attack it. On January 17-morning, the militants took control of the abandoned building, an unnamed official said. Local people said the security forces had bombed some places in the Makin area of South Waziristan on January 16-night and January 17. A number of houses also reportedly came under fire and one woman was killed. Seven people, including three children, were wounded in the shelling. The militants also fired rockets on a helipad near Jandola fort. Troops traded fire with militants at another fort in Ludda in South Waziristan after the Taliban fired rockets and small-arms. Local Taliban militants snatched computers from ring-tone shops in the main Landi Kotal Bazaar of Khyber Agency. The militants had earlier warned the shopkeepers to stop downloading ring-tones onto mobiles, terming it an "un-Islamic" practice. Around 10 armed militants reportedly came to the bazaar and took away computers from the ring-tone shops at around 5pm. Thousands of people have started leaving their homes in the militancy-hit South Waziristan. Acute shortage of edible items is another factor behind the decision of the people to migrate to safer places as security forces had imposed a ban on the supply of foodstuff to the region three days ago. Two major al Qaeda operatives in the FATA have reportedly called upon their followers to intensify the ‘holy war’ against security forces and to seize control of Islamabad. "Jihad is compulsory in Pakistan as it is compulsory in Afghanistan," said the chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Uzbek militants in North Waziristan, Qadri Tahir Yaldeshiv, in a video message, according to Adnkronos International. He also urged Muslims to avenge the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in July 2007, the German news agency said. Yaldshiv also talked about the need for a strict Sharia law in Pakistan. He said, "Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam, therefore Islam should be enforced in the country."
January 18	Security forces claimed to have killed about 90 militants in two different encounters in the Ladha area of South Waziristan. In the first incident, militants attacked a convoy on the Jandola-Wana road in Chagmalai at 12.30pm. Troops returned fire and between 20 and 30 assailants were killed. Four security force personnel were injured and two vehicles were damaged. Security forces attacked a large number of militants who had gathered to attack the Laddah fort and killed up to 60 of them, the military said. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbass said "Our soldiers have bravely guarded the Ladha Fort. They were attacked from mountain tops but they retaliated with heavy weaponry including artillery, killing about 90 insurgents," he stated. He added that the SFs suffered no casualties. Army troops recaptured the Siplatoi fort in South Waziristan, a day after paramilitary soldiers had abandoned it. Army and paramilitary personnel reportedly moved into the area in three helicopters and took over the abandoned Siplatoi fort on the Wana-Jandola road. Sources said that 22 paramilitary soldiers, who had escaped from the Siplatoi fort on January 16-night, were still missing. Militants claimed that some 60 soldiers had surrendered and all of them were freed on the directives of the Taliban Shura (executive council). SFs pounded with artillery suspected militant locations in the Mehsud area and local people had to move out to safer places. Local people said that heavy shelling rocked the area and several houses were hit. Two persons, including a girl, were killed in the Makin and Spinkai Raghzai areas. Militants fired six rockets on a military base in the Shakai area, inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. However, no casualty was reported. SFs 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.
January 19	Troops arrested 50 Islamist militants in an operation in South Waziristan, a day after killing dozens of militants in the area, the military said. Troops also recovered 10 bodies of the militants from the Chaghmalai area in South Waziristan, which witnessed a major clash on January 18 in which an estimated 30 militants were killed, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.
January 21	Even as troops continued targeting militants’ positions in South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsud, chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, warned of serious repercussions if the military operations were not stopped. His spokesman Maulana Umar said: "The government wants to enter the Mehsud area by force. But it must take into account the consequences of such a harsh action." He accused the security forces (SFs) of ‘killing innocent people’ and ‘damaging their homes’ and warned that the government would have to "pay a heavy price". Sources said that the SFs shelled the house of militant leader Asmatullah Shaheen in Jandola, injuring a woman and a child. Local people said that the building had been hit by four artillery shells. Several houses were reportedly damaged in attacks in Makin, Birwand, Chegmalai and Wala in the Mehsud area. In Makin, a shell hit a house, killing a man and wounding another. A jirga (council) of the Mehsud tribe held in Tank 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. Police have arrested Baitullah’s close associate Younas Mehsud. Sources said police had recovered weapons and explosive materials from Younas who is a ‘right hand man of Baitullah Mehsud’ and brother of his spokesman, Wahab Mehsud. The militants in North Waziristan extended until January 27 a cease-fire that they had announced on December 17, 2007. The truce had earlier been extended until January 20. The militants had stopped their activities on December 17 and security forces had removed some makeshift checkpoints in the area.
January 22	Seven SF personnel and at least 37 militants were killed in clashes in North and South Waziristan agencies, the army said, updating an earlier toll. Five of the soldiers and all of the militants were killed after the latter attacked a military fort at Ladah in South Waziristan, which houses paramilitary troops and a nearby observation post before dawn, said chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. "Through air intercepts and our sources we have confirmation now that at least 37 militants were killed when forces retaliated the attack in Ladah," Abbas said. In North Waziristan, two SF personnel were killed and 10 others injured when militants fired rockets at a military fort in Razmak. Sources said the militants attacked the Razmak army camp, 75 kilometers south of agency headquarters Miranshah, around 1pm. After the attack on the fort, two fighter jets bombed mountainside villages nearby, killing one civilian. The military spokesman, however, said jets had flown reconnaissance missions, and no bombs were dropped. Further, a spokesman for Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, Maulana Muhammad Umar, said the militants captured 13 soldiers in the action, a claim denied by the military. "We will target sensitive installations in Islamabad, including the headquarters of intelligence agencies, if the military does not stop its operation," Umar said from an undisclosed location. A spokesman for militants in North Waziristan, Ahmadullah Ahmadi, asked the military authorities not to use bases in their area against militants in South Waziristan. "Taliban will withdraw from peace talks if security forces use our soil against us," Ahmadi said. Militants in North Waziristan had on January 21 extended a cease-fire till January 27. Five check-posts of the Khasadar force were blown up in Ghalanai, administrative headquarters of the Mohmand Agency in the FATA. Suspected militants blew up the check-posts with explosives in Wranpul, 15km from Ghalanai, Thamboo and Jan Sher areas. Two of the pickets were completely destroyed. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.
January 23	A man was killed and another injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police check-post at the confluence of Khyber Agency and Peshawar. Assistant Political Agent Jamrud Rasool Khan told reporters that the attacker was apparently targeting the police check-post near the Karkhano market. However the explosion occurred before he got closer to the check-post. A man who was standing near the blast site was killed while a truck driver was injured. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded when militants attacked SFs in the Nawaz Kot area of North Waziristan. Two SF personnel were wounded in an explosion in Ghathundai and a convoy also came under fire near Jandola. However, no loss of life or damage to property was reported, according to the military. The army sent reinforcements, for the first time with tanks, to South Waziristan after clashes between security forces and militants intensified in the Mehsud area. Official sources and local people said that the infantry, backed by tanks and heavy artillery, were seen heading towards the Spinkai Raghzai fort from a base in the adjoining Frontier Region of Jandola. Infantry units reportedly comprising 600 troops reached Spinkai Raghzai from Jandola amid fierce clashes. "For the first time the movement of battle tanks has been seen in the area," a security official said. Sources said the troops had launched an operation in three areas — Makin, Spinkai Raghzai and Tiarza — inhabited by Mehsud tribesmen.
January 24	40 militants and 10 soldiers were killed and dozens injured as the Pakistan Army, backed by tanks and gunship helicopters, launched a major offensive against the militants in South Waziristan. The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that troops had cleared Spinkai Raghzai, Nawazkot and the adjoining area of Tiarza and taken over some strongholds and hideouts of the militants. The troops arrested 30 militants who were trying to escape during the clashes. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed to have captured five soldiers and taken into custody five trucks loaded with heavy arms and ammunition, supposed to be delivered to the SFs fighting against the militants in South Waziristan. There were reports about heavy clashes in Torwam near Shakai and Mohammad Nawaz Kot areas near Razmak in North Waziristan, in which both sides suffered heavy losses. Major General Abbas confirmed clashes in these towns where, he said, two soldiers were killed and seven others injured, but added he did not receive reports about casualties among the militants. Two persons were wounded in a grenade explosion in the Halimzai subdivision of Mohmand Agency. Eyewitnesses said that Sher Alam and his son Wahab Khan were examining the hand grenade, which exploded injuring both of them. The government closed all entry and exit points to the tribal region and banned the supply of edibles, which created a severe shortage of foodstuff in the area.
January 25	Two soldiers were killed and seven others wounded when militants attacked with rockets an outpost on a hill in the Spinkai Raghzai area of South Waziristan. However, militants claimed that five troops had been killed in the attack. Military sources said that a convoy of security forces going to Nawazkot from Razmak had been attacked with small arms. The troops retaliated with artillery and mortar fire. One trooper was injured in the incident. Two people were killed and a woman injured in separate incidents in Bajaur Agency. Unidentified militants opened fire towards former police personnel, Mamoor Khan, who was on his way home from the Khar market. He died of his injuries later. Suspected militants exploded a remote-controlled bomb, killing a person identified as Maulana Mursalin. Militants fired rockets at the Nawagai scouts camp. Security forces retaliated the fire using heavy artillery, leaving a woman injured.
January 26	An Afghan national, identified as Said Rehman of the Kunar province, was killed allegedly for spying for the US, by the militants in the Mohmand Agency. His body was found in the Ata Bazaar area of Khwezai, some 30-kilometres west of Ghalanai, headquarters of the agency. The residents said they found a piece of paper pinned on the body, reading that the man had been punished for spying for the US. In Kotkai, the hometown of militant commander Qari Hussain, the troops set up security posts and launched a search operation targeting the militants. The troops had purged Kotkai from the militants without facing any considerable resistance. Unidentified militants blew up three check-posts of the Khasadar force in Mohmand Agency. The check-posts were located in the Sharmakhan, Darwazgai and Mamad Gat areas of the lower subdivision Yaka Ghund. The Khasadar force and the militants later traded fire at the Sharmakhan checkpost, but no casualties were reported.
January 27	For the first time, the militants attacked two check-posts in the so far peaceful Orakzai Agency of the FATA, killing three security force personnel and injuring two others. The militants attacked Levies check-posts at Ghaljo, the headquarters of upper Tehsil (administrative division) of the agency with rockets at about 11 am. The unidentified militants riding vehicles escaped after the attack. The SFs pounded suspected hideouts of militants allied to Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan. Military authorities said gunship choppers targeted hideouts in Makin, Shabi Khel, Srarogha, Ladha and the adjoining mountainous region. "The troops are now in control of Spinkai Raghzai and Kotkai, which were the strongholds of the Baitullah Mehsud-led fighters," said the authorities.
January 28	The Army fired mortar and artillery shells from military camps in Razmak and Jandola on the militants’ hide-outs in Kaza Panga, Dher Narai, Shaga, Treekh Narai, Wrasta Bazeena and Shaktoi areas in which officials said five militants were killed. They said intercepts from militants suggested that eight of their colleagues were wounded. In the Mohammad Nawaz Kot area near Makin, militants attacked a security post manned by the Pakistan Army soldiers. In the ensuing encounter, two soldiers died and four others were injured. Five civilians, including two women, were killed when artillery shells hit their homes in Kotkai village. Residents of Torwam also reportedly complained that SFs were targeting the civilian population. They claimed that dozens of houses owned by civilians were damaged in the artillery shelling. There were reports of heavy clashes between the two sides in various parts of the Mehsud-inhabited areas of South Waziristan such as Makin, Ladha, Torwam and Tiarza in which military authorities said militants suffered significant losses. Besides gunship choppers and artillery shelling on militants’ positions, the Army called two fighters which targeted the strongholds of Baitullah Mehsud’s militants in the Makin and Ladha towns. Military authorities said a number of militants were killed while their hideouts destroyed in the bombardment. Militants fired 35-40 rockets on the Razmak military camp in North Waziristan which officials said resulted in serious injuries to three soldiers. In the Kotkai village, residents said two soldiers were injured when fired at by militants. Suspected militants overran a security checkpoint in the Yakh Kandao sub-division of upper Orakzai Agency in the FATA and set it ablaze. Suspected militants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban also snatched weapons from the Levies personnel stationed at the check-post at gunpoint before setting it ablaze. However, no causality was reported in the incident. The same group of militants attacked the rest house of the political administration nestling the Levy check-post and set it on fire too before escaping. The SFs were reported to have captured some of the strategic hilltops in Angamal area which enabled them to oversee the entire area where the military authorities believed militants had set up their hideouts. Military officials said 12 militants were arrested after they were trying to flee their positions in the Tiarza area. Amid reports of clandestine talks with the government for durable peace, militants in North Waziristan extended their one-sided cease-fire till February 10. 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. Militant ‘commander’ Maulana Faqir Muhammad was named the ‘political face’ of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan for the purpose of holding talks with the government and negotiate a truce. "Ameer Baitullah Mehsud has authorised Maulvi Faqir Muhammad to hold talks with the government on behalf of the new organisation (formed last year)," purported Taliban spokesman Maulana Umar told Daily Times from an undisclosed location. Faqir leads Taliban militants in the Bajaur district of FATA, overlooking Afghanistan’s Kunar province. The spokesman said the Taliban were "ready for talks" with the government.
January 28	A missile apparently fired by a pilot-less plane hit a house in a village near Mir Ali in North Waziristan, killing 15 people - 10 suspected militants, two women and three minors. Intelligence sources said those killed also included Arab nationals but their identity was not known. A militant source said that five men "speaking the language of the holy Quran" were among the dead, suggesting that Arab militants were among the victims. The targeted house was in Khushali Torikhel, 12 kilometers south of Mir Ali town. The owner of the house, Madad Khan, believed to be a Taliban militant, survived the attack while his guests sleeping in the Hujra (male guesthouse) died in the missile strike at 1:15 am, and so did two women and three minors of his family. It was not clear where the missiles were fired from. Residents, however, claimed that an unmanned spy plane, of a type often used by US forces in Afghanistan, was involved in the attack. The plane is capable of firing missiles and taking photographs from a considerable altitude. "We recognise the sound and shape of the American drone and two such planes have been hovering in the sky since Monday afternoon, and people have seen them over Mir Ali and Miranshah," said local residents. Militants blew up a Khasadar check-post in the Aato Khel area of Halimzai sub-division in the Mohmand Agency, but no casualties were reported. Sources said the check-post was located around 30 kilometers north of agency headquarters Ghalanai. 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 when people were fleeing their homes and walking through the unfrequented routes in the mountains.
January 28 -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. 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.
January 29	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. Sources said that fierce clashes continued between the 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. 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. 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. Army and paramilitary troops, backed by tanks, patrolled the Darra Adam Khel town and seized arms and ammunition in different areas. The security forces claimed 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. 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. 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. 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. The body of a tribal elder was found in the Kong area of Khuzai sub-division in the Mohmand Agency of FATA. Tribal elder Muhammad Afzal, his son Syed Asghar and Malik Mir Alam were abducted from Yakaghund by unidentified gunmen on the same day, sources said, adding that Alam and Asghar were still missing. Unidentified people abducted the Agency Population and Family Planning Officer Abdul Aziz, his driver Aftab and impounded their vehicle. Another tribal elder, Malik Nisar, was also kidnapped from the area. Security forces arrested a suspected militant in Drushkhela.
January 30	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. 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. 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. 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. Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed and several others sustained serious injuries on when militants from adjacent South Waziristan fired 40-50 rockets on the Razmak Military Camp in North Waziristan. The militants fired these rockets on the military base from their hideouts in Mamu Ghar, Spin Kamar and Khumata in Makin. Heavy fighting continued between the SFs and the Baitullah Mehsud-led militants in South Waziristan where troops targeted three vehicles carrying militants, killing an unspecified number of them. Clashes were reported from Kaniguram, Nawaz Kot, Kotkai, Ladha and Torwam near Tiarza. In Kaniguram town, tribal sources said three residents were injured when some houses were damaged in the artillery shelling. Most of the residents of the town had already left their homes and shifted to Tank and Dera Ismail Khan due to the fighting. The troops, after capturing Kotkai, the hometown of militants' commander Qari Hussain, known for beheading his opponents, moved towards the Inzar area. The soldiers, during their movement, reportedly did not face any major resistance from the militants and set up checkpoints in Inzar village. Militants retrieved and buried the bodies of 12 foreigners who had been killed in a missile attack on a residential compound in the Khushali Toorikhel area of North Waziristan on January 28-night. Local people said the identity of the militants killed in the attack remained unknown but according to unconfirmed reports seven of them were Arabs while the other five were central Asians.
January 31	Senior al Qaeda commander Abu Laith Al-Libi has been killed in Pakistan, CNN quoted "a knowledgeable Western official and an unnamed military official" as saying. The 41-year-old Libyan was active in operational planning and training, and according to the US official, "not far below the importance of the top two al Qaeda leaders" – Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. He was placed on the US military’s most wanted list in 2006, behind Laden, Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar. A Website used by militant groups carried a statement in the name of Al-Fajr, al Qaeda’s media wing, saying "he was martyred with a group of his brothers in the land of Muslim Pakistan." The statement was referring to a missile strike at Khushali Torikhel in North Waziristan on January 28. 10 militants, two women and three minors had died in the missile strike. However, a US military official with the Combined Joint Task Force-82, the anti-terror unit responsible for searching Libi in Afghanistan, told CNN he had no information on Al-Libi’s death, but added that CJTF-82 did not collect information from outside of Afghanistan and would be informed of targeted operations only "if the Pakistani military share that with us". AP said Pakistan’s Interior Ministry officials did not confirm Al-Libi’s death and were "still trying to gather details on the missile strike." Pakistani Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told AFP that "We have no information of his killing."
February 1	At least six persons, including five security personnel, were killed and eight others were injured when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a security check post at Kajhori near Miranshah of North Waziristan. "It was a suicide attack on a security check post in which three tribal policemen and two paramilitary soldiers [died]," military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. Meanwhile, the local administration sources said that 19 people including nine Frontier Corps soldiers died in the attack. They said a number of Khasadars (tribal policemen) and civilians were also killed. Security forces fired artillery shells at several hilltops after the attack, they added. Two soldiers were wounded when a bomb targeting a security convoy was exploded near Wana town in South Waziristan.
February 4	Several computers were destroyed in a bomb explosion at the Khyber Agency Headquarters Hospital in Landi Kotal. Tribal authorities said the bomb exploded at 3:15pm (PST) inside the office of accountant attached to the office of the medical superintendent. However, no casualties were reported.
February 6	Two persons, identified as Arab Din and Amin Jan were killed and another, Baz Mohammad, was injured when a bomb exploded at a storehouse of scrap metal in the Shahkas area of Khyber Agency.
February 8	A grenade explosion killed a 7-year old child, Jehanzaib, who was playing with it at his house in the Shati Kor locality of Gandab area in the Mohmand Agency.
February 10	Police arrested a suicide bomber, identified as Muhammad Ibrahim, a 20-year old Afghan national, from the Shahkas area of Jamrud administrative division in the Khyber Agency and recovered an explosive jacket, wire and fuses from his possession.
February 11	At least 10 people were killed and 13 others sustained injuries when a teenaged suicide bomber blew himself up amidst a gathering of the Awami National Party (ANP) and tribal Lashkar (force) at Mirali in North Waziristan. President of the North Waziristan chapter of the ANP, Haji Anwar Shah, was among the dead. Witnesses said that a suicide bomber blew himself up when the party workers reached Eedak village where armed men of the tribal Lashkar were manning a checkpoint set up on the main Bannu-Miramshah road to search vehicles carrying goods to Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin was abducted along with his bodyguard and driver in the Jamrud sub-district of Khyber Agency. "He is missing and we believe that he has been kidnapped," a security official said. A political administration official in Jamrud confirmed the incident, but said that the administration had no prior information about his visit. "We had no prior information of his travel. The ambassador would never inform us whenever he traveled to or from Afghanistan," said deputy administrator of Landi Kotal Ahmad Khan Orakzai.
February 12	The Bajaur Agency Scouts Fort in the Mamoond sub-division of Bajaur Agency was attacked with small mortar gun shells and rockets. The military said 10 rockets landed in the area. However, no loss of life or property was reported.
February 13	Pakistan's Election Commission postponed elections in a constituency in the Waziristan region due to the law and order situation in the area. Election Commission Secretary Kanwar Dilshad said in a statement that the polls to the NA-42 constituency in Waziristan had been postponed until further orders. This was done after reports received from the Secretary of the FATA said the law and order situation in South Waziristan was not conducive to holding elections.
February 14	A roadside bomb struck a SFs vehicle in Mamoond in the Bajaur Agency, killing three SF personnel, including Major Farhan, and injuring two others. The SF personnel were going from the Katkot Fort to Khar when their vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb on Tarkho bridge. Unidentified militants fired two missiles on the Miranshah army camp, but no casualties were reported. The local Taliban in Bajaur Agency assured a jirga (council) in Mamoond that they would suspend their activities during the elections and would not attack SFs on February 17 and 18.
February 16	A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the election office of an independent candidate in Parachinar city of FATA, killing at least 47 persons, including six children, and injuring 109 others. According to eyewitness, the bomber hit the election office of independent candidate for NA-37 Kurram Agency, Syed Riaz Hussain Shah, where a large number of people had gathered.
February 17	The EC announced that it had postponed the February 18 polls in NA-37 Parachinar. EC Secretary Kanwar Dilshad told Geo Television that the general elections had been delayed after the provincial government requested the centre to do so in view of the volatile security situation that had gripped the area after the suicide blast.
February 18	The Wazir and Daur tribes reached an "agreement" with the North Waziristan political administration against "extremism" and "terrorism". "The political administration of North Waziristan and all sub-tribes and clans of Wazir and Daur tribes have agreed to jointly struggle against extremism and terrorism throughout the agency," a press release from Governor’s House said. "The agreement was signed in Miranshah (headquarters of North Waziristan)," it said. The press release, however, gave no details of the agreement. Polling was held peacefully in the FATA although there were apprehensions that militants might try to obstruct the electoral process. A large number of tribesmen are reported to have exercised their right to vote. For the first time in region’s history, women were seen casting vote at many polling stations in Wana, the regional headquarters of South Waziristan. Women were also allowed to vote for the first time in the Yakaghund and Landi Kotal areas. The overall atmosphere in Waziristan was reportedly peaceful.
February 19	Four tribesmen were injured in the Ghulam Khan area of North Waziristan in a mortar attack from Afghanistan. Sources said that 40 mortar shells fired from the Afghan side landed in the Pakistani territory. One shell hit a mud-house in the Ghulam Khan area, causing injuries to four tribesmen. In the FATA, six constituencies out of a total of 12 have been officially announced. Elections in two of the constituencies were postponed. As all the candidates in the region contested the elections as independent candidates, no political parties won any inroads in the region.
February 24	Paramilitary soldiers shot dead a suspect when he attacked a security check post in Miranshah in North Waziristan. Witnesses said that the unidentified man was attempting to advance towards the check-post and when the soldiers asked him to stop for a body search, he did not stop and lobbed a grenade at the post after coming closer, adding that the soldiers opened fire on the man.
February 27	Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said that a tribal militant commander and mastermind of two suicide attacks on the former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and killer of a serving Intelligence Bureau (IB) official was killed in an encounter with security forces on February 26. "Abdul Siar, head of Siar group in the Tribal Areas, was killed on Tuesday in an encounter between security agencies and his men between Charsada and Mohmand Agency," Hamid told reporters. Nawaz said almost 116 innocent people had died in various terrorist attacks by Siar and his men in various parts of the country. He said security forces had also arrested two of Siar’s men during the encounter. Unidentified militants bombed the Dir-Doni-One check-post in Miranshah in North Waziristan. However, no casualties were reported.
February 28:	At least 10 suspected militants were killed in a missile strike on a house in South Waziristan. The dead were believed to be of Pakistani and foreign origins, residents and officials said. The attack occurred at approximately 2AM (PST) in Kaloosha village, 10 kilometers west of Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan.
March 1	A civilian and a soldier were killed and 23 persons, including eight security force personnel, injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a security forces vehicle in the Jardar area of Bajaur Agency.
March 2	An Afghan national was killed in North Waziristan on charges of spying for the United States. Local people said that the Afghan national, identified as Dewana, had been abducted from the Saidgai area near the Afghanistan border a day earlier.
March 3	Five militants were killed in a clash with the SFs at the Nakai check-post in the Mohmand Agency. An official said that SFs had stopped a car at the check-post, about 12 km north of Ghalanai, the Agency’s headquarters, and told its five occupants that they needed to be frisked, but the latter refused. The militants subsequently tried to escape and in the ensuing encounter, SF personnel fired a rocket on the car, killing the five.
March 5	Police recovered a cache of explosives from a truck in the Yaka Ghund area of Ghalanai, headquarters of Mohmand Agency, and arrested two persons on charges of smuggling the contraband. The seizure included 36,000 detonators, 1,000 safety fuses and 140 cartons of explosives.
March 9	Security forces backed by helicopter gun-ships pounded suspected militant positions in the Mohmand Agency, killing one person and injuring two women and four children. Officials said the action followed a militant attack on Khasadar posts early in the morning in Lakaro, 24km north of Ghalanai, headquarters of the Mohmand Agency. The helicopters bombed suspected hideouts and paramilitary forces shelled the area from their bases in Yousaf Khel and Mamad Gat. A checkpoint of paramilitary forces in Darwazgai was also attacked but no casualty was reported.
March 10	The Taliban in Mohmand Agency said that they were attacking security forces to avenge the killing of five of their men a week ago. On March 4, security forces had killed five militants after firing rockets at the Nahaqqi check-post in the Agency. The newly appointed Tehreek-e-Taliban Mohmand Agency spokesman, Dr Asad, said, "The Taliban will continue to attack security forces in the agency until and unless security forces end operations in Swat and Waziristan Agency." He, however, denied that the Taliban had blown up Khasadar check-posts in the Agency, saying the government was responsible for the attacks. Unidentified militants abducted tribal leader Ilyas Khan in Ghalanai. However, Taliban spokesman Dr Asad denied their involvement in the incident.
March 11	11 people, including two women, were killed and over a dozen injured in fighting between the security forces and tribal militants in the Nawagai sub-division of Bajaur Agency. The fighting erupted after militants attacked the paramilitary FC personnel, who were fetching water from a nearby stream. A paramilitary soldier was injured in the improvised explosive device attack, and this was followed by a heavy gun-battle between the two sides for several hours. 11 people were reported killed so far in the shelling while over a dozen injured. Four women and two children were killed when artillery shells fired from the Afghan side of the border hit a number of houses in the Tangri area of North Waziristan. Local people said that the area came under fire after a security camp in Afghanistan’s Khost province adjacent to North Waziristan had been attacked by some people. Armed militants of the local Taliban have started patrolling the streets of Bajaur at the request of the local shopkeepers to stop the ever increasing crime rate. Eyewitnesses have reported that in Inayat Kali, a popular market, militants could be seen guarding it. The president of Inayat Kali Association Shah Mahmood said the crime rate in the area had increased and the government was unable to handle the situation. The shopkeepers subsequently decided to arrange their own security and requested the local Taliban who agreed to perform the duty.
March 13	A civilian, Mehmood Masoozai, was killed in a bomb blast in the Terak village of Kurram Agency.
March 14	The bullet-riddled body of a tribesman was found in the Dosali area of North Waziristan. A note found on the body said he had been executed because he was a US spy. Local people said that the man from the Mehsud area of South Waziristan had been abducted about three days ago by unidentified people.
March 15	At least five persons, including four tribesmen and one Taliban, were killed and another seven wounded, including five Taliban, as two rival groups exchanged fire during a local jirga in the Mir Ali subdivision of North Waziristan.
March 16	At least 20 people were killed as several missiles hit a house in South Waziristan. Seven missiles landed on the house of Noorullah in Toog village, located four kilometres south of Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan. Local journalist Sailab Mehsud said 20 people were killed and five others wounded in the missile attack. He said all those who died were Arabs and Turkmen, who had gathered at the house when the attack occurred. A spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud warned of fresh attacks if the government did not stop military operation in the region. Maulana Umar described suicide attacks in Lahore and Islamabad as a reaction to the ongoing army operation in the area and said that security forces should halt the operation.
March 17	Taliban militants blew up four Khasadar Force check-posts and a female vocational centre in the Mohmand Agency of FATA. No loss of life was reported in the incidents.
March 18	A bomb planted on the Landi Kotal-Peshawar GT Road near Takia Zakha Khel village in the Khyber Agency exploded, destroying an oil tanker. The oil tanker was carrying oil for the NATO and ISAF forces in Afghanistan.
March 20	A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a military vehicle in front of the brigade headquarters at Zari Noor in South Waziristan, killing five soldiers and injuring 11 others. A man claiming to be a spokesman for the pro-government militant commander Maulana Nazir claimed responsibility for the attack. It is for the first time that Maulana Nazir’s group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack. At least three nomads are feared to have been killed after some rockets fired from the Afghan territory, hit a makeshift house near the Angoor Adda in South Waziristan.
March 21	Pro-Taliban militants attacked check-posts manned by the Bajaur Scouts and Bajaur Levies in the in Rehmanabad, Sadiqabad and Shende Mor area of Bajaur Agency. "The crossfire lasted for an hour, but no loss of life was reported from either side," a source said.
March 23	Two persons were killed and 50 others injured when six bomb blasts ripped through two parking lots, and destroyed 40 oil tankers in the Khyber Agency. The tankers were carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, and were parked in the Bacha Mina area near the Torkham Border crossing. Each oil tanker carried around 45,000 litres of fuel, sources said. Militants fired a series of rockets at a hospital in Ghalanai, headquarters of the Mohmand Agency, damaging the hospital building, and disrupting the supply of electricity and water. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Asad, the purported spokesman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Mohmand Agency, told Daily Times that the TTP was not involved in the attack.
March 24	Militants fired rockets and mortars at the Chargo check-post in Salarzai. However, no one was hurt, the area’s political administration said. Security forces launched a retaliatory action in the direction of the attack, it said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
March 25	A civilian, identified as Abdul Ghani, died in a landmine blast in the Salarzai administrative division of Bajaur Agency. Militants accused an Afghan citizen of spying for the US, and shot him dead late on March 24 in the Ahmed Khel area of North Waziristan. Abdullah Jan, a resident of the Afghan province of Paktia, was shot in the head on the Miranshah-Dattakhel road. Locals found the body with a note which stated that "all US agents will meet the same fate". Residents said the man had been abducted last week from Miranshah bazaar.
March 26	Seven people, including two women, were killed and two others sustained injuries when gunmen ambushed a Government ambulance in the Lower Kurram region. The ambulance was going to Peshawar from Parachinar when it came under attack at the Chappari check-post. Militants attacked a security check-post in the Bajaur Agency, although no casualties were reported. The Sadiqabad Phatak check-post, around four kilometers from the agency headquarters at Khar, was attacked with rocket launchers. Security forces retaliated against the attack.
March 30	A missile allegedly fired from across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border destroyed the office of Mullah Nazeer, a pro-government Taliban leader, in Wana in South Waziristan. It was the second missile attack on Nazeer's office in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, in a fortnight. The office building was destroyed by the blast but there was no loss of life. However, officials of the political administration said the explosion was caused by a time-bomb planted by unknown people at the office of Nazeer.
March 31	A suspected militant was killed in an exchange of fire with the SFs at a checkpoint near Tank in South Waziristan. Police said that the clash occurred at the Luqman checkpoint on the Tank-Jandola road at about 12 noon. A man and a woman were stoned to death by militants in the Khwezai-Baezai area of Mohmand Agency after a ‘qazi court’ (Islamic court) found them guilty of adultery. This is the first incident of Rajam (stoning to death) carried out in FATA. Earlier, couples found guilty of adultery by militants or tribesmen were executed by firing squads. Suspected militants fired three rockets at the Inayat Killay Scouts fort in the Bajaur Agency, although no casualties were reported. A bomb exploded near the Agency headquarters at Khar, but there were no casualties.
April 3	Unidentified armed men killed militant commander Maulana Matiur Rehman in the Ladha sub-division of South Waziristan. The Taliban are reportedly negotiating with the Ahmedzai Wazir tribes the return of former militant commanders and their foreign fighters to Wana after they were evicted in an operation in 2007. "However, we have told the Taliban that the former commanders are welcome to return, but they cannot bring Uzbek or other foreign militants back to Wana or surrounding areas," said a tribal elder who was part of the jirga. The Taliban leadership had invited influential Ahmedzai Wazir elders to a jirga in Wana on March 31 to discuss possible permission for the return of ex-militant commanders along with foreigners who fled when local Taliban leader Maulana Nazir led a campaign against foreign militants, especially Uzbeks.
April 6	Sectarian violence broke out between Shia and Sunni sects in three villages of Kurram Agency after a bomb exploded at Khurmana Pul, killing three people and injuring 22 others. A 16-member jirga (council) consisting of elders of the two sects intervened and brokered a truce between the warring groups in the villages of Khwar Kalay, Balish Khel and Sangeena, in the presence of political administration officials. Unidentified miscreants attacked the Dhand check-post in Mohmand Agency. The miscreants fired several rockets from the surrounding hills at the check-post, housing paramilitary troops. Troops of the Mohmand Rifles and Khasadar forces retaliated with rockets and large machineguns. However, no causality was reported. Unidentified terrorists blew up six shops, including two selling CD (compact disk), at Khar, headquarters of the Bajaur Agency. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.
April 7	Unidentified people triggered an explosive device near a girls’ school at Jamrud sub-division in the Khyber Agency. While the boundary wall of the building was destroyed, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Militants are reported to have fired a series of rockets at the Karia check-post, around five kilometers south of Ghalanai, headquarters of the Mohmand Agency. Security forces retaliated against the attack and fired rounds of heavy artillery at the militants. However, there were no reports of casualties on either side.
April 8	Unidentified men fired a rocket on a Khasadar (tribal police) check-post in the Ghazi Baig area of Mohmand Agency. However, no loss of life or damage was reported.
April 9	A man was killed and six others sustained injuries as sectarian clashes in the Kurram Agency for the fifth consecutive day.
April 11	A mortar shell hit the Awami Market in the Chinar Chowk of Kurram Agency, killing two people and injuring three others. Sectarian clashes continued in various parts of the Kurram Agency for the seventh consecutive day. Both sects reportedly used heavy weapons in Balish Khel and Khar Kalay, wounding several people. In an attempt to stop the fighting, security forces used heavy artillery and fired upon hilltop positions of both sects, resulting in the death of one Haji Masood Khan. One of the shells hit the house of Haji Banaat Khan, a prominent tribal leader of the Sadda area, killing his 13-year-old son, Kausar. The shelling also injured his two nephews, Yousuf Khan and Naseeb Khan.
April 12	Eight people were killed and 10 others injured in fresh violence between rival groups of the Kurram Agency, raising the death toll of the past eight days in the area to 35. Five tribesmen — Qadir Gul, Hamid Hussain, Rafique, Taib Khan and Abdul Hanan — were killed, and 10 injured, during a clash in the Marro Khel area of Lower Kurram Agency. Similarly, three people were shot dead by armed rival groups in the areas of Balishkhel, Sadda, Karman, Para Chamkani, Pewar and Teri Mengal. Three dead bodies of security force personnel, who were reported ‘lost’ during a military operation earlier this year in South Waziristan, were found.
April 14	The death toll in the ongoing sectarian violence rose to 48 as seven more persons were killed and 16 others sustained injuries in Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency. Five people were killed when a mortar shell hit a trench in Parachamkani and one each was killed in the Balashkhel and Sadda areas.
April 15	A cease-fire was enforced in the Balishkhel, Sadda, Khwar Killay and Sangeena areas of the Kurram Agency after 11 days of sectarian violence, which left over 50 people dead and more than 100 wounded. Officials said the two factions had agreed to a cease-fire and vacate hilltops in the troubled areas of the Kurram Agency bordering Afghanistan. However, sources said sporadic clashes continued in Parachamkani and Kirman, and Pewar and Tangi areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. At least one person was killed and six others injured in clashes. A two-day ‘Ghazi Islam Conference’ organized by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) began in the Mohmand Agency at the mausoleum of Haji Sahib Turangzai. Local ulema (religious scholars), Taliban leaders and delegations from the Tank and Swat districts of the NWFP, and the North and South Waziristan, Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency and Bajaur Agency participated in the conference. However, the media has been prevented from reporting their names.
April 16	At least 20 persons were killed as fighting erupted between activists of the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam and Kooki Khel tribesmen of the Khyber Agency.
April 17	The Lashkar-e-Islam chief, Mangal Bagh, has said that his outfit is fighting against terrorism, crime and gambling and has 180000 volunteers in the Khyber Agency. Mangal Bagh also claimed that his outfit had no contacts with al Qaeda and any other organisation. Suspected militants shot dead a female health worker stationed at a clinic in the Baytha area of Safi sub-division in the Mohmand Agency. Eyewitnesses blamed the local Taliban for the killing of Nihar Begum.
April 18	Two students were killed when suspected militants opened fire at Alizai in the Kurram Agency. Security forces near Parachinar allegedly killed two youngsters in the Kurram Agency. The Lashkar-e-Islam ended clashes with the Kooki Khel tribe in the Jamrud subdivision of Khyber Agency after the tribe accepted the militant group’s demands to end illegal businesses. The Peshawar-Torkham Highway was opened for traffic after five days of closure due to fighting between the two sides. Suspected militants released 16 security force personnel who were abducted during the clashes. Militants of Bajaur Agency offered shelter to Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar, should they ask for it. Militant commander Maulana Faqir Mohammad also offered a general amnesty to all their opponents, except alleged US spies and those involved in adultery, and announced the formation of various committees for settling people's conflicts.
April 19	Local Taliban in South Waziristan Agency publicly ‘executed’ three people who had allegedly killed a teenager, Intezar Mehsud. The deceased, identified as Janan Mehsud, Farooq Wazir and an Afghan national, had allegedly murdered the boy who belonged to the Bandkhel tribe, after robbing him of PKR 60,000. The local Taliban held an investigation and subsequently executed the ‘criminals’ at Makeen Ada, report said. Laddha Assistant Political Agent Yayha Wazir confirmed the incident. In Miranshah Bazaar, the Taliban paraded two alleged thieves through the bazaar in a pick-up truck after painting their faces black and shaving their heads.
April 23	A FC soldier died and another sustained injuries in an exchange of fire between Pakistani security forces and the Afghan army "due to a misunderstanding" at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Nawa Pass in the Bajaur Agency. Up to 10 militants of a group which attacked the Afghan check-post and caused the "misunderstanding" were also killed in the clash. A press release issued by the ISPR said that militants had attacked the Daud Qilla check-post in Afghanistan. The Afghan army started firing in the direction of Pakistani forces with heavy weapons and Pakistani troops reportedly retaliated and the exchange of fire continued for some time. The ISPR said the exchange of fire occurred due to a "misunderstanding" between the Afghan troops and the FC personnel. Two workers of a NGO were abducted from the Karapa area of Ghalanai, headquarters of the Mohmand Agency. Officials said that Noorul Haq, logistics officer of Save the Children, and his driver Amir Mohammad were going from the agency headquarters hospital in Ghalanai to Peshawar. The NGO is running a family health project in Mohmand Agency for training women doctors and paramedics and is also providing life-saving drugs for children. The leader of TTP, Baitullah Mehsud, has ordered his militants to "immediately cease their activities" in the FATA and NWFP. "Baitullah Mehsud has issued directives to all his comrades that in order to restore peace in the region, they should cease their activities forthwith both in the tribal region as well as the settled districts of the NWFP," said a pamphlet released on April 23. "He has warned that his directives should be complied with and those violating them will be publicly punished," it said. A spokesman for Baitullah confirmed the contents of the pamphlet circulated in South Waziristan in FATA and the adjoining districts of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP. A 15-point draft agreement, to be signed between the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan and the local political administration, calls for an end to militancy, exchange of prisoners, withdrawal of the military and resolution of issues in accordance with local customs and the Frontier Crimes Regulation.
April 24	Militants shot dead a man, identified as Gul Zali Khan, near Miranshah in North Waziristan for "spying for the United States". Locals found the bullet-riddled body the victim hailing from Birmal village along with a note that read, "This man has met his fate because he was spying for the American and Afghan forces and giving them help". He was reportedly abducted from a bus stop last week just outside Miranshah by the militants.
April 26	Three Taliban militants and four suspected criminals were killed and several others, including women and children, injured in a clash in the Dadukhel area of the Mohmand Agency.
April 27	A man was executed in public by Taliban militants in the Rahim Korona area of the Mohmand Agency. The Taliban had ‘sentenced’ Zaiver Khan to death after finding him guilty of hijacking vehicles and killing a number of people. The execution was carried out in a field where a large number of militants had gathered around. With the execution, the death toll in the ongoing clashes between the local militants and tribesmen rose to 13. Three militants, three children and a woman were among the dead.
April 28	Pro-Taliban militants beheaded a police officer in South Waziristan after accusing him of spying for the security forces. The body of 35-year-old Shaukat Khan was found in a field at Dabar village a day after he was abducted by gunmen, reported senior police officer Mumtaz Zarin. A note found near the body reportedly said he was involved in the killing of warlord Nek Muhammad in a suspected US missile strike in June 2004 in the region. "He had admitted his role in providing intelligence to the authorities... We have repeatedly said we will teach such people a lesson", the note said. If the Government does not remove all military check-posts from the Mohmand Agency in FATA within three days, the Taliban will not accept any peace agreement with the Government, militants’ spokesman Asad warned. He told Daily Times by telephone that if the Government did not remove the check-posts, the Taliban would destroy them themselves. He also warned all criminals, including murderers, proclaimed offenders and robbers, to immediately leave the Agency or be prepared to face judgement in accordance with Islamic laws.
April 29	Suspected militants abducted three Government employees in the Mohmand Agency. The employees – two drivers and a clerk – were commuting to work from Yaka Ghund to Ghallanai when their vehicle was ambushed.
May 1	A suicide bomber blew himself up in a madrassa (seminary) in the Khyber Agency injuring at least 18 people in an apparent attempt to assassinate Haji Namdar, chief of a religio-militant organisation the Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar (Promotion of Virtue and Suppression of Vice). Namdar escaped unhurt in the attack. The suicide bomber, aged between 15 and 18, blew himself up as he approached Namdar at the madrassa in Takya. A bomb blast damaged an oil tanker and injured a passerby woman in the Sultankhel area of Landi Kotal. On the appeal of a tribal jirga (council), militants in the Mohmand Agency extended their deadline till May 3-evening for removing all roadside checkpoints in the region. However, the deadline given to criminals, car-lifters, kidnappers and other anti-social elements expired on May 1-evening and militants announced to launch a crackdown against them.