North West Frontier Province Timeline- 2008

Month/Date

Incidents

January 1

Unidentified militants blew up a CD centre at the old bus stand in Kohat city of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

An explosion damaged a portion of the house of a villager in the Bachkan Ahmadzai area of Lakki Marwat district.

Local Taliban commanders Naeem and Toti Khan were arrested in a raid in the Koza Bama Khela area, the Media Information Centre said. A huge quantity of arms, ammunition and communication equipment were recovered from Taliban hideouts during the operation, it added.

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

A curfew has been imposed in Swat and Chakdara for an indefinite period, as security forces said they detained 27 suspects, four of them Maulana Fazlullah’s close aides, during an operation.

January 2

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has given another two days to the government to end the military operation in the Swat district and pull out all security force personnel from the area, and warned that it will expand its actions from Waziristan to Kohistan and settled districts if their demand is not met. Maulana Omar, a spokesman for the TTP, said that an earlier deadline for withdrawal of troops had lapsed on December 15, but they did not resume their activities because the entire nation was in mourning following the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto. "Now we extend the deadline for two days and ask the government to withdraw troops and halt the operation in Swat. Otherwise, we will attack the government everywhere and it will be an all-out war," he warned.

January 3

Security forces (SFs) launched a search operation against militants in the Swat district and arrested more than 70 suspected militants, including local Taliban Commander Ikramuddin. SFs in an operation at Shakardara in the Matta sub-division arrested 63 persons and confiscated heavy weapons from them. The troops also blew up two houses of suspected militants in the area. The military, however, confirmed the arrests of 44 suspected militants only. Ikramuddin, a close aide of the TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, was allegedly involved in the beheading of police officials in the Swat valley.

January 6

A man was killed and six shops, including two video centres and two barber shops, destroyed in two successive bomb blasts in the Shiekh Mohammadi village of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. Unidentified terrorists had planted explosives to blow up two CD centres and an equal number of barber shops near Tangu Adda in Shiekh Mohammadi village, located 10 kilometres south of the provincial metropolis.

Troops targeted militant positions in the Totano Bandai and Manja areas, but no Taliban casualties were reported.

TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, through his FM radio, asks his followers to launch attacks against security forces.

January 7

A suicide bomber blew himself up in an explosive-laden vehicle near a military base camp at Kabal in the Swat district, injuring 10 people, including eight soldiers. The suicide bomber was driving a single-cabin pick-up, which exploded at 11.15am in front of the gate of the Frontier Golf Club, a military base camp. The blast destroyed the building of a technical institute and partially damaged the buildings of the Iqra Academy. Security forces resorted to indiscriminate aerial fire in all directions after the incident, resulting in the killing of a college student named Imran Khan, residents said. However, Colonel Nadeem, the head of the Media Information Centre, rejected the eyewitness accounts as baseless.

SFs engaged miscreants in a gun battle in areas close to Peochar. There were unconfirmed reports of heavy militant casualties and demolition of their hideouts.

Militants blew up 18 shops in the Jorre area of Buner district. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

January 8

Unidentified terrorists fired 11 rockets on the Army Officers Colony on Warsak Road in Peshawar, slightly damaging a few buildings. However, no casualty was reported.

The Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate said that militants had fired on a military convoy while it was moving from Kanju to Kabal near the Ali Grama area. However, no loss of life was reported. Following the attack, security forces arrested the 18 suspects.

In Buner district, two shops were destroyed when a bomb planted at a shop in a women’s shopping market in the Shalbandi Sharif village exploded. However, no casualty was reported as no one was around at the time of the explosion, officials said. This was the 13^th bomb blast in the Buner district and the first one targeting a women’s shopping market.

Suspected militants abducted seven SF personnel from a hotel in Darra Adamkhel. Two army men and five paramilitary personnel were going to Peshawar from Kohat when they were abducted at gunpoint by a group of 20 to 25 militants.

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

January 9

Security forces pounded with artillery positions occupied by militants in the upper reaches of the Swat valley and claimed to have arrested 18 suspected militants. Artillery fire was directed at areas in Gut Peuchar and Shawar localities. Some shells struck four houses in Manja village but no casualty was reported. Sources said that one of the houses belonged to ‘commander’ Khalid, an associate of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, who had already left the place.

Owners of various video centres in the provincial capital Peshawar received threatening letters, asking them to close their businesses. The owner of a video centre in the Sufaid Dheri area said that militants identifying themselves as local Taliban had asked him to stop dealing in CDs and video cassettes business. They threatened to blow up shops selling CDs in case the instructions were not followed. The letters, he said, stated that dealing in CDs and cassettes meant spreading obscenity.

January 11

Police and security forces arrested a hospitalised key militant ‘commander’ and five other suspects in a joint raid at a private hospital in the Saidu Sharif area of Swat. The arrested were identified as militant ‘Commander’ Dr Khan, Alamgir, Mian Shahnshah, Mian Qamar Ali Shah and Taza Gul, all residents of Chuparyal Matta. According to police sources, Khan is an important commander of the militants and is considered among the top aides of cleric Maulana Fazlullah.

Muhammad Iqbal, district nazim (official) of the banned Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e Shariat Muhammadi, who was arrested recently from Fateh Pur area, had been shifted to an unknown destination for interrogation while his six colleagues were released after initial investigations. Police seized a large cache of arms from Iqbal’s residence.

January 13

Unidentified gunmen killed the brother of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah’s spokesman Sirajuddin at Imam Dheri in the Swat district. Residents said Bakht Bedar Khan was a leader of the Awami National Party and supported the government’s peace initiative and distanced himself from Sirajuddin’s activities.

  A bomb blast occurred near the house of one Babrak in the Bachkan Ahmadzai village of Lakki Marwat district. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property. This was the second explosion in the village in a fortnight.

January 14

Three children were injured in security forces’ artillery fire on suspected Taliban hideouts in the Dewlai and Totano Bandai areas in Swat.

A low intensity bomb exploded at a billiard club in the jurisdiction of Gulbahar police station in the provincial capital Peshawar. However no causality was reported. The Bomb Disposal Squad defused another explosive device planted in another billiard club in the same area.

Elders of six major tribes of the Frontier Region of Kohat and local militants in Darra Adam Khel reached an agreement to ensure safety of the Indus Highway. In a related development, the Taliban replaced a senior commander in Darra apparently to reduce violence on the Indus Highway and stop extortion and beheading of passengers. Militant commander Tariq Afridi was replaced with Momin Khan Afridi at a meeting. It was also decided that the militants would not cover their faces, and would stop extorting money from and killing innocent people.

January 16

Four persons, including three children, were killed in a bomb blast near the Chashma Right Bank Canal in Dera Ismail Khan.

Security forces foiled an attempt by the militants to blow up one of their caravans at Nangolai in the Swat district. Col. Mohammad Nadeem stated that the caravan was heading towards Matta when the militants blew up a remote control device planted at the roadside. The security forces later cordoned off the area and arrested 19 suspected militants in the search operation.

The DGMO Major General Ahmad Shuja Pasha said that the army had achieved a primary target of the Rah-e-Haq Operation in Swat by clearing the valley of miscreants and establishing the writ of the government there. "The miscreants have been pushed to the Peochar area and to the snow-capped mountains, and peace has returned to the valley," Pasha briefed journalists in Rawalpindi. He said the Rah-e-Haq Operation started on November 13, 2007 and was jointly executed by the 23rd Division of 10 Corps and 17th Division of 11 Corps. "The army cleared the valley by December 24," he said. Pasha said 36 soldiers had died and 72 were injured in the operation, while nine civilians had died and another 45 injured. Gen. Pasha informed that 10 senior aides of the militant leader had been arrested and Maulana Fazlullah himself narrowly escaped arrest on quite a few occasions. He said a total of 617 suspects had been arrested but most of them were released after interrogation.

January 17

At least 12 persons were killed and 25 others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in an imambargah (congregation hall for Shia rituals) in Peshawar. Police said that the teenage bomber blew himself at the crowded Mirza Qasim Baig Imambargah in the Mohalla Janghi area at around 6.55pm (PST). "It was a suicide attack," interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema confirmed, adding that "The bomber was 15 or 16 years old and he blew himself up after entering the gate leading to the prayer hall." The NWFP Inspector General of Police, Sharif Virk, told Geo TV that 10 kilograms of explosives and three kilograms of ball bearings were used in the blast.

January 18

A bomb exploded outside a CD shop in Peshawar, but no casualties were reported. An official said that the explosives were placed outside the Gulab CD and Music Centre located within the Pandu Police Station jurisdiction.

January 19

Security forces have taken control of the Namal, Shor and Sardan Top areas in the Matta tehsil (administrative division) of Swat district. Militants have vacated the areas of Manja, Totanoo Bandai, Shah Dheri in Kabal tehsil and Puchar, Namal, Sardan Top and Shor in Matta, which were strongholds of Fazlullah. They said militants’ bunkers in these areas were empty, and they took their weapons with them as they moved to unknown locations. The troops imposed a curfew during their forward march in the areas from 7pm on January 18-night and no one was allowed to come out of their houses. The security forces, during the operation, destroyed the houses of local militant commanders Sayed Karim, Lajbar Khan, Sahib and Bin Yamin, a close aide of rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah. During the search operation, the troops also arrested several militants and shifted them to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Sources said that the security forces had also recovered a police van belonging to the Matta Police Station.

A bomb blast damaged a bridge on the Kohat-Hangu road without causing any casualties. The explosives packed in a pressure cooker had been planted under the Parachao Bridge close to the residence of district official Gohar Saifullah Khan.

Security forces arrested 10 militants and found 2.5 tonnes of explosives hidden in a mosque in Swat.

January 20

Nisar Ahmad Khan, Deputy Director of the Intelligence Bureau in NWFP, was shot dead by unidentified men outside his house in the Charsadda district’s Shabqadar area. Police said Khan was going home after dawn prayers when the men fired at him from inside a car.

A rocket fired from unknown location exploded near Shalman Park in the Hayatabad area of provincial capital Peshawar. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

January 22

A bomb exploded near the Tajazai area in Lakki Marwat, close to an army base camp set up in the District Headquarters Hospital. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property.

Security forces conducted a search operation in the Shakardara area of Swat district and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition. The seizure included rifles, pistols, rockets of RPG-7, explosive and rounds of different bores.

January 23

Three persons, including two female students, sustained injuries when a landmine, planted in front of a house in Bahadur Khel village in Karak, exploded.

Six militants were arrested and a large cache of arms and ammunition was seized as security forces resumed a search and cordon operation in some areas of the Swat district of NWFP. Troops reportedly targeted militants’ hideouts in Biakand and Mian Kalay of the Nellagram area and arrested the six militants. During a search operation in the Nimgolay area of Kabal sub-division, they found a large cache of arms and ammunition, uniform of security forces and searchlights etc, concealed in a nearby field. The seizure included 32 hand-grenades, six gas shells, 18 mortars, several RPG -7, about 298 rounds of 12.7 gun, 32 warheads and a large number of Kalashnikovs and MMS riffles.

The caretaker NWFP Health Minister Syed Kamal Shah survived a firing incident while driving on the Mardan-Bakhshali road. The Taliban militants operating in the area are suspected of involvement in the attack on the life of the minister.

January 24

Suspected militants in the Swat district shot dead the Matta sub-division naib (deputy) nazim (elected government official) Shakir Khan, his brother and an aide in an ambush near Kalakot. Two people were injured in the attack. They were going to the Asharhi area in a car to attend a meeting of the Awami National Party.

Unidentified militants fled with four weapon-laden army trucks in Dara Adam Khel. Taliban spokesman Maulana Umar claimed responsibility while talking to BBC Urdu from an undisclosed location. He said the trucks and the crew had been moved to "a safe location". The Darra Adam Khel political administration arrested 32 tribesmen after the incident and seized nine vehicles.

Militants abducted an army man and a vehicle of the Inter Signal Services Unit which was going from Samana Fort in the Oarkzai Agency to Thall Garrison in Hangu district.

Security forces have reportedly regained control of most areas in Swat and pushed the militants to the remote, snow-covered mountains of upper Swat. Scores of militants loyal to TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah have either been arrested or killed during the military operation.

Police in Peshawar defused a roadside time bomb minutes before the PML-N chief and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was due to pass the spot, said Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Imtiaz Shah.

January 25

Around 34 militants and two soldiers were killed during a military operation in Darra Adam Khel. Gunship helicopters were used to target militant bunkers in the formerly stable region.

January 26

Around 20 militants were killed by the troops during clashes in the Darra Adam Khel and Kohat areas. Gunship helicopters pounded suspected Taliban positions in the mountains near Darra Adam Khel and Kohat district. Security officials said the militants had taken position at hilltops overlooking Darra and Kohat and were using long-range rockets to target civilians in Kohat city.

Abdullah Halafi, a self-proclaimed spokesman for a Taliban group, threatened the militants would launch attacks on government forces in the Khyber Agency if attacks on their comrades in Darra did not stop.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said that the Kohat Tunnel was in the control of militants. Abbas said security forces were progressing and operation for the control of the tunnel would be launched any time soon.

A convoy of army vehicles escaped casualties when a remote-controlled bomb exploded in the Badabher area near Peshawar. Soldiers opened fire seconds after the blast and blocked the highway for a few hours.

January 27

Security forces took positions on hilltops around the town of Darra Adam Khel and the Friendship Tunnel as 24 militants and five soldiers were killed in clashes. Sources said firing continued near the tunnel on January 26-night and several blasts were heard in the city. The ISPR said SFs had cleared the area and regained control of the Kohat tunnel and adjoining areas after fierce fighting. The tunnel connects the southern parts of the NWFP with capital Peshawar through the Indus Highway.

The troops used four helicopter gunships and heavy machine-guns to pound the hideouts of militants who had taken control of the tunnel on January 25-morning and occupied the Kohat hills on January 26. After reportedly suffering huge casualties and surrendering control of the tunnel, the militants fired five rockets on the Kohat cantonment on January 27-night. One of the rockets exploded near a military police checkpoint, another in a house in the Happy Valley, two in houses of army officers and one in the Malangabad graveyard. However, no casualties were reported.

Militants in the Swat district beheaded a local resident of Minglawar, Qayyum Shah, accusing him of spying on militants for the Pakistan Army and the US. His beheaded body was found on the main Mingra-Kalam road near Minglawar. Maulana Omar, a spokesman for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the abduction and subsequently beheading.

There were two successive bomb blasts in a CD market near Wakho Pul on the Kohat Road in Peshawar. However, no casualty was reported.

50 militants, including a local commander, were arrested during a military operation in the Sambat, Bodigram and Matta areas of Upper Swat. A Taliban ‘commander’, identified as Sher Mohammad Khan, and about 30 of the detained people were hardcore militants loyal to cleric Maulana Fazlullah. The Media Information Centre in Mingora said a large quantity of arms and ammunition, including detonators, Kalashnikovs, rifles, pistols, shotguns and live rounds had been seized.

Police in Mansehra arrested four activists of the Lashkar-i-Ababeel, an hitherto unknown extremist outfit, suspecting them of being involved in the bomb attack at the warehouse of an international relief organisation. Police arrested Qari Ehsanul Haq, Mohammad Ashraf, Badiuzaman and Ghulam Yahya a few days ago for their alleged involvement in the blast at the warehouse of Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

January 28

Five civilians, including two women, were killed during military shelling in the Aka Khel area of Darra Adam Khel.

One civilian was killed and two wounded when a chopper opened fire on them near the Kohat Tunnel. Later in the evening, a higher secondary school was targeted by the Army as they suspected that Taliban militants might be hiding in the location. However, no report of loss of life or injuries was reported although the school building was heavily damaged.

Suspected militants in the Swat valley beheaded another policeman, the second incident of its kind in the last two days. Suspected militants, numbering 100, intruded into the house of the policeman, Habibullah, in the Sakhra Fazl Garhi area of Matta sub-division.

The militants set ablaze two vehicles of a forest officer, Zamir Khan, of Aghal village in Matta.

Kidnappers freed more than 250 students and teachers unharmed after being given safe passage by the authorities from a school in the Bannu district where they were holding the hostages. Though the government insisted that the kidnappers were a gang of criminals, reports indicated that some of them were suspected militants. One of the kidnappers, Gul Jamil, who was killed in the shoot-out with police, was stated to be a militant belonging to the Karak district. Groups of militants have reportedly been active in recent months in both the Karak and Bannu districts. They have been blamed for some of the kidnappings in the two districts.

SFs regained control of the Durshkhela fort in Matta’s Bagh Dheri area which had fallen to militants loyal to TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah three months ago.

Six militant outfits appear to be operating in Darra Adam Khel, with two having extended their sway to within 20 kilometres of Peshawar, officials and residents fleeing the area said. The HuM, LeT, JeM, LeJ, the Muslim United Army International and the local Taliban have been "active in the area since mid-2005," said a former Darra resident, who used to live near a militant stronghold in Mazeedkhel.

January 29

A hand grenade was lobbed at the residence of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the Dera Ismail Khan-Bannu road. Rehman remained unharmed. Rehman’s servant Muhammad stated that the explosion caused no damage as the grenade exploded outside the residence’s boundary wall. The JUI-F chief was at home at the time of the explosion, having just arrived from Saudi Arabia.

Unidentified people fired two rockets from an undisclosed location which landed on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP. However, no casualty was reported. According to the police, one rocket landed in the fields near Peshtakhara on Canal Road while another exploded near Akunabad.

Security forces shelled suspected militants hideouts at Sakhra town of Matta sub-division in Swat district, while 24 more militants surrendered before the troops at Koza Bandai - once a stronghold of TNSM chief Maulana Fazlullah. Military authorities said they received reports that militants were hiding at Sakhra town, and their positions were targeted through artillery shelling. However, there were no details about losses suffered by the militants.

January 30

An explosion in a house in the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, killed three men who police said were making bombs when the explosives detonated prematurely. The blast occurred in the guestroom of a house located in the Badshah Dak area of Tauheed Colony in Phandu police precincts. "Initial evidence suggests that they were suicide attackers," police officer Farid Shah told AP. Gulbahar Deputy Superintendent of Police Ijaz Khan said the men were likely involved in an earlier attack on music shops in the Afridiabad area. He said police had detained one Ismail, originally from Lakary of Mohmand Agency, who had rented the house. The dead men included Ismail’s brother-in-law Saadullah and a cousin identified as Ali Rehman. The third body could not be identified. An AFP report said the men were 20 to 30 years old. Police seized a hand grenade, 10 kilograms of explosives, a pistol, three mobile phones, a dairy and religious literature from the house.

Two music shops were damaged in a bomb blast in the Afridiabad area of Peshawar. No casualties were reported. Police officials said that the shops were no longer selling music CDs. They said the owner of one of the shops had begun selling kebabs in his shop following violence against video and music stores.

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

Police raided a storehouse and recovered arms and ammunition from the Guli Bagh area of Swat district, a Media Information Centre (MIC) statement and police officials said. The storehouse was owned by an alleged militant commander, Qari Mushtaq, the police officials said, adding that the seizure included three AK-47s and over 200 rounds.

January 31

A roadside bomb blast damaged a PAF truck at Akora Khattak in NWFP, but there were no casualties. "It was a remote controlled bomb planted between two roads. When the vehicle came close, unknown miscreants detonated the bomb," senior police official Mubarik Zeb said.

Security forces fired artillery shells at suspected militant hideouts in Piyochar, Manja and Tota Bandi when they were informed about militants’ presence there. While five houses were partially damaged in the shelling there were no casualties reported.

Security forces and political administration recovered three truckloads of ammunition that militants had seized from troops in Darra Adam Khel last week. Political authorities told Daily Times that three of the four trucks hijacked by militants were seized in a raid in Kot Chaper. The troops also raided several militant hideouts, they said. A military statement said ammunition, batteries and other supplies were recovered from Tortsakpar, about one kilometer north of the Kohat Tunnel.

Four prominent militant commanders and close aides of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah surrendered to the government in Swat and promised to give up militancy in future. They were identified as Khalil, Fazal, Kabir and Mumtaz. Meanwhile, the security forces arrested a close aide of Maulana Fazlullah at the Kanju checkpoint. Identified as Sultanat Khan, he was later shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

February 1

Security forces arrested three close aides of local Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah during a search operation at Kanju check post in the Swat district of NWFP. Tazamin alias Abu Mursad, Sher Nawaz alias Abu Sufian and Matiullah alias Abu Zar were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation, they added.

February 2

At least six persons, including two civilians, were killed in a gun battle in Mardan after police raided a suspected militant hideout at 5am (PST). Mardan police official said that the gun battle ensued when police raided the house of one Afsar Ali, wanted by police for attacks on music shops, in the Palodehri area. Two policemen and two militants, including Adnan, whose brother Kamran was an aide of Baitullah Mehsud in the district, were killed in the gun battle. Sources said while a woman passing by was killed in the crossfire, a civilian Azam Khan was also killed as militants entered his house. Police seized three Kalashnikovs, eight hand grenades and two suicide vests from the house. Sources also said that the police had raided the area a week ago but the militants, 25 to 40 in number, managed to escape.

February 3

Two bomb explosions damaged the house of Hidayat Ali Khan, a union council nazim (member), in the Kooza Bandai area of Kabal tehsil (administrative unit) of Swat district. However, no casualties were reported. The bombs were detonated with a remote control device, sources said.

Two workers of the ICRC were reported missing in the Khyber tribal region, according to officials. The Islamabad-based communication officer of the ICRC, Sitara Jabeen, said that the workers who were going to the Torkham checkpoint, near the Afghan border, had disappeared in the Khyber region on February 2.

Police on February 2 arrested a 16-year-old boy, from Dera Ismail Khan, who had confessed to plotting a suicide attack to kill Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, security officials told Reuters. "The boy was caught ... with a vest and explosives," said an unnamed intelligence official. He said the would-be attacker had admitted that Fazl was his target.

February 6

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar declared a unilateral cease-fire from South Waziristan to Swat, saying no security forces would be targeted. "We will not attack any security person, be it in Waziristan or in Swat (district)," he said from an undisclosed location. He denied the cease-fire was the result of "secret negotiations", claiming the Taliban were responding to a reduction in the military’s attacks on them. However, the military said that operations against militants would continue. "This (Taliban ceasefire) is [a] one-sided (announcement). We received no formal communiqué," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.

February 9

25 people were killed and over 30 injured in a suicide attack on an election rally at Nakai near Charsadda town in the NWFP. Senior Awami National Party leader Afrasiab Khattak, who was addressing the gathering, escaped unhurt.

February 10

SFs arrested at least 31 suspected militants during the ongoing military operation in the Kabal tehsil (revenue division) of Swat district in NWFP. The SFs also recovered five hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs, one repeater, two pistols, seven shotguns and 359 rounds.

February 11

A militant was killed in an exchange of fire with army troops in the Tank district, reportedly when he was about to throw a hand-grenade at the soldiers.

February 12

15 militants hailing from different areas of the Kabal sub-division in the Swat district surrendered to the security forces along with some arms and ammunition.

February 13

A roadside bomb blast hit an election campaign convoy in Swat, killing two people and injuring three others. Mufti Hussain Ahmed, an independent candidate contesting for the NA-30 and PF-86 seats, was among the wounded. "Ahmed was travelling in a convoy of 8-10 vehicles on a campaign when the blast occurred, killing two people," said senior police official Waqif Khan. The government has reportedly blamed several recent blasts on Baitullah Mehsud, but Mehsud’s spokesman Maulana Omar said that the local Taliban would not interfere in the elections and would not be involved in any attack before or on election-day.

February 14

SFs moved tanks and launched a massive search operation in Darra Adam Khel after rockets were fired on telecommunication installations. Subsequent to the militants’ attack on the main telecommunication centre installed on a hill near the Friendship Tunnel, the SFs backed by five tanks entered the Darra Adam Khel town and started looking for assailants in Shini Kali and Zarghun Khel areas, considered to be a militant stronghold. An unnamed official said that a vehicle used in the attack had been seized and its driver detained. He said that missiles and rockets were also found in the vehicle.

The SFs arrested seven suspected militants, including four foreigners, from Darra Adam Khel and seized a heavy cache of weapons from them. Troops raided the Toor Chappar area and arrested the militants. They also seized a missile barrel launcher gun, an anti-aircraft gun and dozens of shells, pistols and bullets.

At least 20 militants, including four commanders, surrendered to the SFs in the Kabal sub-division of Swat valley. The SFs released the militants after they offered sureties.

February 15

A junior commissioned officer of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) was killed and a soldier sustained injuries when suspected militants attacked a security post close to Matani, southwest of Peshawar, with mortar shells. "Over 30 armed men first attacked the FC fort on the Kishan Garh Road with mortar shells and then opened fire on the post, killing Subedar Abdul Samad of Bara, Khyber Agency, on the spot," said a police official.

February 16

At least three people were killed and 18 others injured when a powerful bomb blast rocked the Media Centre in the Mingora area of Swat district.

February 17

A militant was killed when security forces engaged some militants who were planting explosives at a polling station set up in a primary school in the vicinity of the Kanju police station in the Swat district.

In the Matta area of Swat, Deputy Superintendent of Police Haroon Babar escaped unhurt when his car was attacked with a series of remote controlled devices near Bara Bandai in the Kabal sub-division where he had gone to inspect polling stations. No casualty was reported.

SFs arrested seven hardcore militants, including two commanders, during a search operation in the Kabal area of Swat district. The militants were reportedly hiding in a house when the security forces launched the operation in the Kabal sub-division and arrested them after a brief exchange of fire. The two commanders were identified as Fazle Rehman and Akbar Hussain. Residents said that the SFs also dynamited the house of Fazle Rehman and the shops and a clinical laboratory of Akbar Hussain in the area.

February 18

Elections remained peaceful throughout the NWFP amid fears of suicide attacks, bomb blasts and violence from militants. NWFP Special Home Secretary Khalid Khan Umarzai said that the elections all over the province were held with a peaceful atmosphere, except for an incident in Karak district in which one person was killed and another wounded when supporters of the Awami National Party and an independent candidate clashed in the PF-40 constituency’s Ghara Khel polling station. Minor violent incidents were reported from the province. Militants blew up Middle School Shakardara polling station in the Matta area of Swat district and set ablaze the election material. Gunship helicopters later shelled the Shakardara area but no casualties were reported. Militants also targeted a security forces convoy with remote-controlled bombs in the Shakar Dehri and Charbagh areas, while a bomb exploded in the Dheri area of PF-83 constituency. No casualty was reported in these incidents.

February 19

A suspected militant was killed and two others were arrested when the SFs opened fire at alleged hideouts of militants after an IED explosion near an army convoy in the Darra Adam Khel town. Sources said that a SF convoy was passing through Gidaro area when an IED planted on the road exploded, leading to injuries to one soldier. After the explosion, the SF personnel opened indiscriminate fire, which resulted in the killing of one suspected militant.

SF personnel arrested 20 militants from Bannu district and recovered a huge quantity of rocket launchers and sub-machine guns from their possession. The militants revealed during investigation that they were affiliated to the local Taliban leader Hamid Shah of Bannu, who is reported to have lost the February 18 elections from a constituency in NWFP. The arrested militants confessed that they were tasked to target Adnan Khan Wazir who won the polls against Hamid Shah.

Police in the provincial capital Peshawar arrested an Afghan national, identified as Abdur Rahim, and also recovered four kilograms of explosives from his possession.

In the NWFP, the ANP won 31 seats out of 85, while the PML-Q and the PML-N have won six and five seats, respectively. The PPP won 17 seats in the NWFP.

February 20

Three SF personnel were injured in a hand grenade attack at a military check-post in the Kohat cantonment.

Two people were wounded when SFs opened fire at them in the Mingora city. The victims were identified as Akhtar Ali, resident of Dakorak and Khalid of Buner district. The duo was wounded when soldiers in a convoy allegedly opened fire on pedestrians near Makanbagh in Mingora city.

The SFs arrested 75 suspected militants in the Charbagh sub-division of Swat district during house-to-house searches.

February 22

A remote-controlled bomb exploded at a wedding party procession, killing 14 people and wounding 13 others, mostly children, in the Matta administrative division of Swat district. The bomb, which was detonated in the Ronial Takh Maira area of the region, exploded around 4pm (PST) when the wedding party was travelling from Kandogai village to Pir Dar Baba village. The bride, four children aged between five and 12 years, and four bystanders died instantly. Following the blast, the security forces restarted the military operation in Matta and shelled suspected positions of militants from Kanju.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police (Malakand Region), Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, said that all police stations and check posts in the militancy-hit Swat district had been restored.

February 23

Three SF personnel were killed and six others sustained injuries when armed militants men attacked a check-post on the outskirts of Peshawar. A police official claimed that a militant was also killed and several others were injured in an exchange of fire. The assailants reportedly took away the body and their injured colleagues to the tribal area.

One trooper and a suspected militant were killed in a shootout in the Kabal area of Swat district. The shoot out occurred when the SFs raided a house. The owner of the house, Javed, was also killed when the SF personnel returned fire, officials said. Two people were arrested from the house.

Police on a tip off raided a workshop and recovered an explosive-laden vehicle and three bombs, to be used in suicide bombings, from the Mingora area and arrested five people. The police said the five were ‘involved’ in planting explosives in vehicles which would have later been used in suicide attacks on the SFs.

February 25

Five workers of a NGO were killed while ten others sustained injuries in an attack by a group of ten militants in Mansehra. The dead included two women workers of the British non-government organisation, Plan International. The British-run NGO was actively distributing relief goods, including food items, blankets and utensils, among the earthquake victims.

Three missiles landed in Peshawar, including one in the cantonment area which struck the wall of a motor workshop opposite a hotel and destroyed at least three cars. One of the missiles landed near a farm near Supaid Dheri in the Pishtakhara area but failed to detonate. A police official said another missile, found near the Ring Road, was defused. He said the location of the third missile could not be immediately ascertained.

February 26

Two suspected militants were killed in an encounter with the police at Dildar Ghari check-post in the Charsadda district. The encounter ensued in the jurisdiction of Batgram police station when a group of militants started indiscriminate firing at the police party after the latter asked them to lay down arms and surrender.

In a suspected sectarian incident, a Shia leader was shot dead in Peshawar. Police officials said that Haji Ghulab Hussain was going to his shop at around 9:15am (PST) when unidentified assailants opened fire and injured him seriously in the jurisdiction of Khan Raziq Shaheed police station. He later succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital. He was a resident of Parachinar in the FATA and was dwelling in Mohallah Marviha in the old city area of Peshawar.

Three close associates of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah were arrested from Mingora in the Swat district. Police said that one of the suspects, Sayed Rehman, was arrested from Koza Banda and two others, Mohammad Ishaque and Zahid Khan, from the Kadyser Manglawar area. A motorcycle, a Kalashnikov and a repeater were seized from their possession.

Several national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have suspended their work in earthquake-hit areas following a terrorist attack on the office of an international NGO in the Mansehra district on February 25. The offices of most NGOs remained closed and their field activities were stopped on February 26.

Over 100 suspected militants attacked a police post in Badhaber area on the outskirts of Peshawar, set the two-room building on fire and forced the six police personnel there out of the post. However, Superintendent of Police for Peshawar’s rural area Nasirul Mulk Bangash told reporters that the attack had been carried out by criminals and not militants.

February 27

An improvised device exploded near an under-construction service station in Kohat. However, no casualties were reported.

In the provincial capital Peshawar, the police foiled an attempted act of terrorism and recovered a remote control bomb that was planted at the Ring Road in the limits of Peshtakhara police station.

At least five police personnel were injured when a bomb exploded on the Sawal Dher road in the Mardan district.

Security forces destroyed four houses of suspected militant commanders in the Mazeedkhel area of the Darra Adam Khel town. However, the commanders, Khalid, Adnan, Zareen and Wazir Gul, had already vacated the places.

Police arrested five suspected militants during a search operation in the Fizzagut area of Swat district. Police raided the hideouts of militants in Fizzagut and arrested Abdul Khaliq, Zafar Ali, Saifur Rehman and Anwar Ali while another was arrested from the Khwazakhela area.

Three suspected militants surrendered to the security forces in the Kabal sub-division of Swat district.

February 29

Forty people were killed and more than 75 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the funeral prayers of the slain Deputy Superintendent of Police (Lakki Marwat), Javed Iqbal Khan, in the Mingora city of Swat district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said the bomber was among the people taking part in the funeral. The blast occurred when the funeral concluded and the people had started to disperse. Deputy Superintendent of Police Javed Iqbal, who died in a bomb blast along with three other policemen in the troubled southern Lakki Marwat district on February 29-morning, belonged to Makan Bagh in Mingora city.

A military convoy escaped a bomb blast while two shops were destroyed in another attack in Peshawar. In the first incident, high powered explosives went off in the limits of Matni police station which blew up a general store and a computer shop. The second explosive went off near the Sepan police check post at PAF Road. According to an official, it was a remote controlled bomb that exploded after a military convoy passed through the area.

SFs arrested five more suspected militants from different localities of the Charsadda district while they also released 20 suspects due to lack of evidence. According to police sources, seven militants laid their arms and surrendered before the district authorities in the Kabal sub-division.

Police in the Charsadda district arrested an accused involved in several terrorist activities, including launching an attack on former minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao. District Police Officer Feroz Shah Khan said that the accused Dawood, hailing from Afghanistan, was arrested when he was found lying unconscious in some sugarcane field.

The district government of Bannu has dismissed 35 Frontier Constabulary personnel from service for laying down their weapons and refusing to fight the Taliban, The Post reported.

Unidentified persons fired rockets at the cantonment area of Bannu. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Three suspected militants were arrested in the Swat district. Two militants were arrested from the Fizagut area near Mingora and another from Wenayi Bridge during a search operation.

March 3

At least 10 people were killed and six others injured when dozens of armed men belonging to the Khyber Agency-based Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) attacked Shiekhan village on the outskirts of Peshawar with rocket launchers and other sophisticated weapons before bulldozing a shrine and four houses. "Dozens of armed men of Mangal Bagh-led militant organisation attacked Shiekhan village at around 11.30 am. The villagers, mostly unarmed and unprepared, resisted the assault that resulted into a fierce clash between the rival groups," said a police official.

SFs arrested a key militant, Mirajuddin, at the Fiza Ghat check-post outside Mingora city in the Swat district. They also arrested 10 suspected militants, including six key commanders of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, in the Bamakhela area of Matta sub-division. Mirajuddin was allegedly responsible for preparing both cars and suicide bombers for use in suicide attacks.

March 4

Four militants and a villager were killed in a gun-battle which erupted in the Khankhel area of Lakki Marwat district after the abduction of a union council official and his two associates. Two of the militants were Uzbek nationals while the rest were tribal Wazirs, District Police Officer Romail Akram said, adding that an Uzbek militant had been arrested.

March 5

Police in the Lakki Marwat district arrested four militants and recovered some arms and ammunition after an exchange of fire in the Baistkhel area. The militants had come to the area for sabotage as a day earlier four of their accomplices were killed in an encounter with the troops and villagers near Khankhel.

Police defused two bombs near a petrol pump in the Chiryal area of Matta sub-division in the Swat district.

Gunship helicopters bombed the hideouts of suspected militants in Ghut Piyochar. However, there were no reports of any casualties.

In the Namal area of Matta, an unspecified number of militants surrendered themselves to the security forces.

A peace jirga (council) held in Swat blamed the intelligence agencies for the prevailing terrorist threat in the region, alleging that TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah was a mere tool that must surrender to the authorities. "The government [should] hold talks with the intelligence agencies instead of the local Taliban, as the agencies and Maulana Fazlullah are one and the same in the Swat conflict, while the government is their opponent," the peace jirga alleged.

March 6

The security forces arrested six suspected militants in the Matta sub-division of Swat district and recovered mortars, rocket launchers and hand grenades. The security forces are also reported to have attacked hideouts of militants in the Peochar area on late March 5-night. However, no casualties were reported. Sources said the troops recovered a 15-kg bomb from Peochar after suspected militants escaped from the incident site following an exchange of fire for several hours.

March 7

Militants attacked a police van with a remote-controlled bomb in the Kabal sub-division of Swat district, injuring a policeman and damaging the van. Police retaliated and later also raided the Kabal area and arrested three suspected militants and seized rocket launchers and other weapons from their possession.

The police arrested two suspected militants, identified as Muhammad Humayun and Misbahuddin, during separate raids in the Matta sub-division of Swat district.

March 9

Militants blew up an oil tanker in Landi Kotal with dynamite, but the political administration said the tanker was safe. The tanker, which was to carry fuel to Afghanistan, was parked near the Michini check-post.

Caretaker Interior Minister Lt Gen (r) Hamid Nawaz Khan has claimed that around 200 militants have so far surrendered to the authorities in the Swat district. He told the PTV that 422 people had been arrested in Swat for their involvement in terrorist activities. "Six tonnes of explosive material has also been recovered from the area," he added. "Security agencies have averted 20 to 30 possible incidents of terrorism in the Punjab and Sindh during Muharram and the elections," the minister said.

March 10

Lal Din, alias Baray Mian, a senior militant commander escaped a helicopter gunship strike, while his daughter and another girl were injured in the attack on a house in Matta’s Piochar area. The strike was executed on intelligence reports suggesting the presence of Lal Din in the house.

The troops conducted a search operation in the Dherai area to arrest commander Idrees, one of the top 10 aides of militant leader Maulana Fazlullah. However, the operation ended without any arrest, officials said.

The Pakistan army said that it has arrested six suspected militants in Tank and Swat.

March 12

Policemen Mustafa and Suleman were killed and two others were wounded when the roadside bomb they were defusing exploded in the Charbagh area in the Swat district.

Two people, suspected to be Taliban facilitators, were killed when the bomb they were making exploded in the Kabal sub-division.

Security forces had arrested five suspected militants and seized a cache of weapons and ammunition in Swat.

March 13

SFs arrested seven militants during a search operation in the Char Bagh area of Swat district. SFs also reportedly launched a search operation in the Shakar Darra area of Matta sub-division in Swat. However, there were no reports of arrests made or weapons recovered.

Militants set ablaze three general stores in the Kuza Banda area of Kabal sub-division in Swat.

March 14

A 12-year-old boy, identified as Anees, was killed in a blast while retrieving a ball from a stream along a cricket ground in the Samay area of the Kabal sub-division in the Swat district.

A car was blown with a remote-controlled device planted at the roadside in the Teghak area of Matta sub-division, injuring a man and his son.

Abdullah Khan, while driving his car, was also targeted by a remote-controlled bomb, planted at the roadside near Rahat Kot. He, however, remained unhurt in the blast which completely destroyed his vehicle.

Six police personnel sustained injuries when unidentified people hurled a hand grenade at a police check-post on the Shakar Darra road in Kohat.

The SFs, backed by gunship helicopters, conducted search operations in the Salanda, Jehanabad, Syedabad, Ser, Telegram and Badar areas of the Charbagh sub-division and arrested 42 militant suspects, including three wanted militants, and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The SFs also arrested a suspect, identified as Fazl Said Siddiqi, at the Fiza Gat check-post during routine checking.

March 16

One policeman was killed and eight others sustained injuries after a police van hit an explosive device in the Dobai Ada area of Mardan district in the NWFP. The vehicle of the Choora police station was on routine patrol when it hit the bomb activated by a remote control.

In another incident, troops shot dead a woman after opening fire on a vehicle when it failed to stop at a check-post in a curfew-hit Matta sub-division of the Swat district. The army has reportedly expressed "deep regret" over the incident.

Unidentified militants targeted security posts and government infrastructure in Darra Adam Khel, Kohat and Khar but no causality was reported. In the first incident, militants blew up a security post along the Indus Highway in Darra Adam Khel. Militants also blew up unmanned sales meter station of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on Dhodha road. Separately, a remote control bomb, planted by unidentified militants on a road near Sadiqabad in Khar, exploded but no casualty was reported.

Militants blew up the building of a girls’ high school in the Akhurwal area of Darra Adam Khel. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Local people said the school administration had earlier received letters warning them to close the institution. Handbills purportedly distributed by local militants two days ago again warned women to stop going to schools and join seminaries.

Security forces arrested approximately 73 suspected militants during a search operation in different areas of Swat, including Namal, Matta, Balasur, Ser and Teligram.

March 17

Two policemen, Toor Gul and Aanayatur Rehman, were killed and five others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself in the police barracks in Mingora in the Swat district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said that a young man posing as a recruit and holding a police uniform entered the barracks at Mingora Police Line and subsequently approached the wireless room and blew himself up.

March 20

The security forces arrested five suspected militants in the Swat district. The three suspects arrested at the Fiza Ghat checkpoint were identified as Sharif Khan, Bawar Khan, residents of Tuha Charbagh, and Akbar Ali, a resident of Khwazakhela.

The illegal radio station of militant commander Maulana Fazlullah has resumed broadcasts in the Swat district. BBC Urdu reported that official sources had confirmed that Fazlullah’s radio, after a closure of almost three months, was back on air with his fiery speeches. "The FM radio station has been broadcasting Fazlullah’s speeches for the last three days, but it has not yet been fully active," a government official told BBC.

March 21

A curfew was imposed in the Hangu district after clashes erupted between Shia and Sunni Muslims during a Nauroz (Persian New Year festival) procession, leaving four dead and 28 others injured. The violence erupted after members of the Shia community of the region came under fire as they hoisted a flag on a mosque to mark Nauroz. Locals said the Nauroz celebrations were going on peacefully at a madrassa (Seminary) when they were fired upon with rockets and mortar shells.

March 22

Militants blew up two government girls’ schools and the main transmission line in Darra Adam Khel. Local people said that the buildings of two middle schools for girls in Ferozkhel and Bazikhel localities were damaged by the blasts. A high transmission line damaged in the said area, plunged the Darra town and parts of Kohat district into darkness.

March 23

Militants blew up a post of Khasaddar Force in the Sheraki area.

Nine teenagers in the Swat district are feared to have been kidnapped by suspected militants "to be trained as suicide bombers".

March 25

Unidentified gunmen killed three people, including a woman, in the Matta sub-division of Swat district. Police stated that locals had found two unidentified bodies on a road in Chauta Kalam. In another incident, unidentified assailants killed Habibullah and his wife and injured his second wife when they were standing outside their house.

Security forces in Swat arrested four suspected militants, including Muhammad Yusuf, a militant commander closely linked to the TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah.

March 26

Traffic between Matta and Khawaz Khela was disrupted after unidentified men blew up a bridge that linked the two towns of Swat district. The blast damaged a portion of Gaman Bridge, situated near a security check-post.

March 27

Security forces arrested two suspected militants in the Spina Thana area of Kohat district and also seized their vehicle. The suspects are said to be members of a gang supplying arms and ammunition to Taliban in Khyber Agency and the Kohat frontier region.

The Kohat Police claimed to have foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge quantity of arms to southern areas of the country and arrested two people on the Indus Highway. The Saddar police checked a van on the Kohat-Bannu road and seized five pistols, one 12-bore gun, one Kalashinkov and 820 cartridges of different bores. The arrested men were identified as Mohammad Sultan of Tank and Sher Mohammad of Lakki Marwat district.

At least 50 police personnel in the Swat district have been relieved of their duties for showing a "lack of courage" during the last year’s operation against pro-Taliban militants, District Police Officer (DPO) Waqif Khan said. "Prolonged absence from duty is another reason for their dismissal," the DPO said. Khan also said that around 200 policemen were on ‘French leave’ or unauthorised absence, 151 were absent from Sindh (River) Police Lines, Mingora, and 31 were absent from the Mingora Police Station. An official source said that policemen in Swat were taking leave to avoid any possible militant attack on them. "The relieved policemen were served several notices but they did not show up. Consequently, they were terminated," the source said.

March 28

The DPO in Buner, Abdul Ghafoor Khan Afridi, narrowly escaped while two boys sustained injuries in a roadside explosion. Police said that as soon as the DPO arrived to inspect the site of Abubakar Sadeeq Mosque in Pir Baba bazaar, a remote-controlled bomb exploded. The shrapnel of the bomb hit a nearby car, causing injuries to two youths, Said Nawab and his nephew Kamran.

March 29

SFs arrested a top militant, Mian Syed, during a raid at a house in Saidu Sharif in the Swat district

Police defused a bomb planted on a main road in the Gashkor area of Khawazakhela administrative division.

March 30

Suspected militants blew up two girl schools in Shiraki and Zargonkhel and one Khasadar check-post in Darra Adam Khel. However, no loss of life has been reported.

Militants detonated a remote-controlled bomb near the Saidu Sharif police post, damaging the building partially. However, no casualty was reported in the incidents.

Militants also blew up a mobile phone shop in Lakki Marwat with explosives. However, no casualty was reported in the incidents.

Police defused a bomb that was planted under a bridge at Pashore-Karachi highway.

The SFs pounded hideouts of militants in the Matta sub-division of Swat. Sources said that the SFs targeted the hideouts of militants in Peuchar area with artillery, although no casualty was reported. Peuchar is considered to be one of the biggest hideouts of militants in the Swat valley. However, no major operation had so far been launched in the area.

March 31

Three policemen and a civilian were injured in a roadside bomb blast in the Swat district. The policemen were returning to the Kanjoo police post after defusing a bomb in Ningolai when the van they were traveling in hit a roadside bomb in Dherai. Police said they had arrested a militant commander after the blast.

Security forces arrested a suspected suicide bomber, identified as Saqib of Baffa area, from a place near the Shawal Najif Army Camp in the Mansehra district. They also claimed to have seized explosives.

An official source said two would-be suicide bombers – Azeem Khan (31), and Akbar Ali, who is about 16-years-old – had entered Mingora.

April 1

At least two people were killed and 10 others sustained serious injuries in the Swat district. The Deputy Superintendent of Police in the Matta sub-division, Haroon Babar, said that militants ambushed a convoy of about 35 elders at the Malikabad area when they were on their way to the Venai checkpoint. The elders, following a peace deal between the elders and the forces on March 31, were supposed to hand over two official vehicles to the force at the checkpoint, which were earlier captured by the militants during fighting. Military spokesperson Major Shahid told reporters that two persons died on the spot.

A bridge on the Indus Highway in Darra Adam Khel was damaged by two explosions. The explosions also damaged some nearby houses and shops. Ten people sustained minor injuries in these blasts.

Authorities should only use force as a last resort against militants near the Afghan border, newly elected NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said. Addressing the provincial assembly, he said the use of force in the past made it harder to bring peace to the province. He said his Government would, instead, promote dialogue at all levels. "We’ll make every effort to restore peace in the province. We’ll form traditional jirgas for peace," he stated. The Awami National Party’s Hoti was elected as Chief Minister unopposed on March 31.

April 2

Militants blew up a school building and a portion of a check-post in Darra Adam Khel. Local elder Mohammad Akbar said three rooms of the Government Girls’ Middle School in the Kohi Wal locality were damaged in an explosion.

Another explosion occurred at the main hall of the Zarghunkhel check-post, damaging the infrastructure.

April 3

Militants blew up four CD shops within the Badabher Police Station precinct of Peshawar. Militants planted four homemade bombs in front of the CD shops in the Baroo Stop area on Kohat Road, sources said. The blasts, which occurred at around 2pm, damaged the shops and shredded their shutters. However, no casualties were reported.

Two militant commanders surrendered to the security forces in the Matta sub-division of Swat district. The duo, identified as Fazle Subhan and Yahya, surrendered following mediation by local elders, an unnamed official said, adding that the two were released the same day.

April 4

Security forces arrested seven suspected militants, including a close aide of TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah, in the Swat district. Nasibzada, a companion of Maulana Fazlullah, and two other suspected militants were arrested in the jurisdiction of Mingora police station. One was arrested from Khwazakhela and three suspected militants, identified as Muhammad Hanif, Fazle Majeed and Rahimullah, were arrested from Kabal.

April 5

Two children were injured in a grenade blast in a madrassa in the Sorani area of Bannu district. The blast occurred in Darul Uloom Arabia located in the Sorani area – hometown of former NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani.

April 6

The security forces arrested seven Afghan nationals while three militants surrendered to the authorities in the Swat district. Sources said three Afghans were detained at the Fiza Gate checkpoint and subsequently, based on their revelations, four more were arrested from Nishat Chowk. The police also recovered PKR 0.2 million from them. Sources added that three militants surrendered to the security forces in the Khwazakhela area.

April 7

Unidentified people exploded a bomb near an under-construction police station in the Hoti area of Mardan, destroying its building partially. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. The police station which was in the last stage of its completion had cost PKR 20 million so far.

April 8

The NWFP Government launched a fresh peace process for the violence-hit Swat district by constituting a ministerial committee to initiate dialogue with different groups of militants. Provincial Information Minister Sardar Hussain Babak said that the provincial cabinet in its first meeting had decided to reactivate the jirga system to resolve the issue of militancy through peaceful means. Babak said the committee comprising two senior ministers and some other cabinet members from Malakand region had been tasked to work out a mechanism for the proposed jirga.

April 9

Armed supporters of the TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah reappeared in the Matta sub-division of Swat district and were seen marching on the roads. According to locals, commanders Iqbal Hussain and Ikramuddin led the armed militants — numbering between 40 and 45. The local Taliban marched in the Shakar Darra area, which is 500 metres from the Baryam check-post. Neither the security force personnel at the check-post, nor the area police officials reportedly posed any resistance to the show of strength.

April 11

An official of the Intelligence Bureau was killed in the Charsadda district. Police said that Inspector Khaleequ Zaman was going to his office after offering prayers at a mosque when he was attacked by suspected militants.

April 15

A close aide of the TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah has offered to surrender on the condition that security forces and the Government grant him amnesty from prosecution. Talking to Daily Times over the telephone from an undisclosed location, Muhammad Ali Shah a.k.a. Nadar Mulla, said he was never involved in attacks on army. The Taliban had kept him in prison for 35 days at Imam Dheri as he had helped release five Frontier Corps personnel whom the militants wanted to kill, said the militant commander.

April 16

Police seized a suicide jacket, arms and ammunition during a raid in the Kanjoo area of Kabal sub-division of Swat district. One suicide jacket, two G-3 rifles, two LMG rifles, four military uniforms, six time bombs and a large number of bullets were recovered during the raid in Delai village. Police officer Sanobar Khan stated that militants had dumped the explosives before fleeing the area.

April 20

Ahmad Shah alias Mullah Ismail, a Taliban commander blamed for the deadliest attack on US troops since they entered Afghanistan in 2001, was killed in a shootout with security forces in Pakistan, US and Pakistani officials said. Police killed Ahmad Shah at a roadblock near Peshawar, an unnamed senior Pakistani intelligence official said.

April 21

The NWFP Government has released Maulana Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned militant organisation TNSM, under a peace deal to restore normalcy to Swat and its adjoining areas. "Sufi Muhammad and the jirga have given assurances that he and his companions will remain peaceful," NWFP Information Minister Sardar Hussain Babek told AFP.

April 22

More agreements between the NWFP Government and militants are in the pipeline, NWFP Law Minister Arshad Abdullah said. He said that the release of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned TNSM, was a step towards bringing peace to the Malakand division. Asked if amnesty would be granted to other militants, Abdullah said agreements aimed at bringing peace to the country in general and NWFP in particular were in the pipeline, and the Government was negotiating with other militant factions, including Fazlullah’s. However, the law minister clarified that a Government amnesty would only be for Pakistani nationals, not foreign militants.

Maulana Fazlullah’s spokesman welcomed Sufi Muhammad’s release, but vowed that an armed struggle for Shariah would continue despite the signing of a peace accord. Muslim Khan said: "We welcome the release ... but we will only lay down arms when the Government enforces Shariah law." Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas also said that no decision had been made to withdraw the army from Swat.

April 23

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 25

At least three people were killed and 26 injured when a car bomb exploded near Mardan City Police Station. Mardan district Superintendent of Police Ijaz Abid said the bomb, planted in a car parked near the police station, detonated around 6am, killing two civilians and a police official, and injuring around 17 policemen and nine civilians. He also said that nearly 35 to 40 kilograms of explosives were used and the police station and adjacent shops were badly damaged. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack. "This attack was carried out by our mujahideen to avenge the earlier killing of one of our commanders by police in Mardan," TTP spokesman Maulana Omar told Reuters by telephone.

April 29

Militants killed three policemen and injured three others in Kohat. The officers were reportedly following the militants who had earlier stolen a taxi. "The attackers then opened fire and the policemen did not have a chance to retaliate… It appears to be a terrorist attack," the NWFP police chief Malik Naveed told AFP.

The local Taliban set a CD shop ablaze in the Gwaleri Labut area of Matta sub-division in Swat district and threatened the barbers to refrain from trimming beards of the people. The militants also issued threatening letters to CD shops’ owners and barbers to switch over to other businesses otherwise their shops would be blown up with bombs.

The Dera Ismail Khan district police said that they had arrested a would-be suicide bomber carrying a vest strapped with 15 kilograms of explosives. "We have arrested a would-be suicide bomber with a vest carrying 15 kilograms of explosives," District Police Officer Ghaffar said. The 23-year-old suspect, identified as Adnash Gul from Abbotabad, was travelling in a passenger van from North Waziristan to Dera Ismail Khan, a police official said.

Four militants of the Baitullah Mehsud group were arrested during a clash with supporters of a pro-government militant commander in the Tank district. Local people said Commander Turkistan’s supporters also captured two vehicles in the Suza area after an attack by his men. During the clash, two Baitullah group militants were injured.

April 30

The local Taliban retook control of Darra Adam Khel after talks between the administration and tribal elders to guarantee safety of the Indus Highway were deadlocked. The militants continued their activities in the area despite the presence of security forces.

The NWFP Government has received a list of demands from the local Taliban to end the ongoing tension and restore peace in the Swat Valley. Sources said that the Taliban have demanded the imposition of Shariah (Islamic law) in Malakand division, an end of all cases against the Taliban and amnesty for the local Taliban of the region. The Government is considering the demands to bring peace to the region, they added.

Maulana Fazlullah said that he is ready for talks with the Government. In a speech broadcast on his illegal FM radio station, he said that the Government must show sincerity in its efforts for peace to ensure successful negotiations. This was the first transmission by Fazlullah’s radio station since it was shut down by troops during the military operation in 2007.

May 1

Chief Minister of the NWFP, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, will unveil a $4 billion peace plan that envisages a 30 per cent reduction in militancy within three years, retrieval of the areas lost to militants and improvement in the writ of the state. The plan, put together by a task force of the Awami National Party, envisions a peace jirga (council) comprising provincial ministers and legislators. The Government has set up a peace committee for Malakand to restore peace in Swat but the plan proposes a larger jirga with its terms of reference outlined.

May 2

At least three persons were injured in bomb blasts in the Wazir Dhand area. Sources reported that three bombs exploded at around 9:00pm in the Aziz and Shah Noor Markets, arms markets near Karkhano Market, and injured three people, including two Afghan refugees.

Unidentified militants blew up a music CD centre, along with 16 other shops, in the Kabal administrative division of Swat district. Separately, police said that a bomb disposal squad had defused a 20-kilogram bomb.

May 3

The Lashkar-e-Islam militants killed a man, Mukarram, in the Sarband Police Station jurisdiction after chastising him for not offering Asr prayers and standing outside a mosque.

A group of 30 militants set ablaze nine rooms of the Government Girls High School in Charbagh in the Swat district. The militants also planted three explosive devices in two other rooms, which, however, could not explode. Meanwhile, the police and security forces arrested 11 suspected militants in a joint search operation.

May 5

Militants shot dead a Frontier Reserve Police constable, Haroonur Rashid at Kalakot area of Matta sub-division in the Swat district.

Unidentified terrorists blew up a CD shop in the Ziarat Kaka Sahib area of Naushera district. The explosion destroyed all the CDs and equipment in the shop and also partly damaged another shop. No casualty was reported.

May 6

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint in Bannu, killing a police constable and two civilians and injuring 12 persons, including four army soldiers and four policemen. According to eyewitnesses, the bomber blew himself up when police stopped an auto-rickshaw at the checkpoint near the office of an intelligence agency.

Suspected militants shot dead two policemen outside a bank in the Matta Bazaar of Swat district. "Aziz Ahmad and Sardar were guarding the Habib Bank Limited in Matta Bazaar when unidentified assailants opened fire on them, killing both of them on the spot," police and eyewitnesses said. At least 24 suspected militants were arrested and heavy arms and a motorbike recovered from them, the sources added.

A group of unidentified militants set ablaze the Sherpalam Primary Girls’ School in the Matta sub-division of Swat district. A Police official said that the school was completely razed. This was the second girls’ school set ablaze by the militants in the Swat district in four days.

Police defused a 10kg improvised explosive device near the Kanju Police ground and found a suicide jacket.

May 8

Six militants were killed near the Wennai bridge in the Matta sub-division of Swat district.

Militants in the Swat district killed one Frontier Corps soldier and wounded another. Swat Media Centre supervisor Colonel Abid said that dozens of armed militants attacked the army camp at Kabal Golf ground and the Kabal police station. The exchange of fire continued for more than 60 minutes leaving one soldier dead and another injured, he added.

A shop selling music CDs in Kohat district was blown up in a bomb explosion while several other shops were partially damaged.

The militants set ablaze a girls’ high school in Gulra and the Dhairy Girls Primary School in the Kanju area of Matta sub-division.

May 9

25 suspected militants were arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Army, Frontier Crops and Police in the Gado area of Kabal sub-division. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from their possession. The operation was launched after a roadside bomb blast and an attack on a convoy of security forces. A police constable was killed and two others were injured in an exchange of fire.

Three policemen were injured after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into Mingora Police Station in the Swat district.

Three security force personnel were injured when a landmine exploded near Darra Adamkhel when an army convoy was passing through the Shini Kali bridge.

The Awami National Party-led Government in the NWFP and militants in the Swat district reached a cease-fire agreement. The truce was achieved after three hours of talks between a Government committee and a team of militants representing Maulana Fazlullah.

May 10

Unidentified assailants shot dead three Shia community members in the Dera Ismail Khan area in an incident of suspected sectarian violence.

An explosion occurred in the Allah Dand area at the outskirts of Batkhela causing partial damage to the Ghaus-e-Azam mosque.

The Police defused a bomb planted in the limits of Badaber Police Station in Peshawar.

May 11

The Army deployed tanks in Darra Adamkhel after SFs clashed with militants while the road between Kohat and Peshawar has been blocked. Sources said two non-combatants were wounded in an exchange of fire.

The SFs arrested seven militants from a school in the Mazid Khel area in Darra Adamkhel.

May 12

The TTP has given a three-day deadline to NGOs in Kohat to stop their activities or face action. The TTP has reportedly distributed pamphlets to all NGOs in the area, telling them to face action if they do not stop their activities. The local Taliban have accused NGOs of "spreading vulgarity in the society" and have also told the NGOs to close girls’ schools being run by them.

May 13

A policeman was killed and two other persons, including a minor girl, sustained injuries when suspected militants fired rockets at various checkpoints of the Bajaur Scouts and Levies at Khar in the Bajaur Agency. Fighting continued for nearly three hours after the attacks check-posts in Raghgan Dag, Haji Long Chowk, Badan Kot, and Inayat Qilla. Security officer Mohibullah Khan was killed and another, Khitab Khan, was injured. A 10-year-old girl was also injured when a shell hit a house in the Raghgan area.

Elsewhere in the Bajaur Agency, suspected militants shot dead a Levies trooper near Khar. Afzal Khan was returning home after work when he was attacked by masked militants in the Dor Mandal area.

May 20

A soldier was killed and another sustained injuries when militants attacked a check-post on the Matta road in Kabal sub-division of Swat district.

Six soldiers and four civilians were injured when a bomb exploded near the division headquarters of the army on Hangu road. An army truck, carrying troops from Bannu to Parachinar, was hit by the blast, injuring the six soldiers. Three vehicles were also damaged in the explosion. Army personnel arrested two other suspects who were roaming near the division headquarters at the time of the blast.

Unidentified militants fired four rockets in different areas of Peshawar, but no loss of life was reported. Gubarg Police Station officer Qurban Ali said that a rocket hit the house of Air Commodore Javed Naeem on Mall Road, Peshawar Cantonment, while another hit Colonel Attique’s residence on Jalil Road. The other two rockets landed in the Hazar Khawani and Wakho Pul areas.

The Matta police station was attacked by suspected militants.

In Charbagh, the house of a policeman was attacked, although no casualty was reported.

May 21

The Taliban militants operating under the command of Maulana Fazlullah in the Swat district signed a 16-point peace agreement with ANP-led NWFP Government and agreed to disbanding the militia, while denouncing and renouncing suicide attacks and stopping attacks on the security forces and Government installations.

Militants disowned by Maulana Fazlullah’s spokesman Muslim Khan reportedly blew up the two girls schools in Koza Bandai and Nengolai areas of the Kabal sub-division.

Two picnic sites at Chhuta Lahore were set ablaze by another group.

The main gas supply line was blown up by one of the two bombs planted near Balogram area, affecting gas supply to Mingora. The second bomb was defused by a disposal squad.

Another group of militants attacked a check-post in Nengolai, killing the policeman.

May 23

Unidentified militants fired seven rockets at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base and cantonment area in the Kohat district. Kohat Cantonment Police Station chief Habibur Rehman said that the militants fired seven rockets simultaneously at 5:20am causing minor damages to the base, though no loss of life was reported. He said the first rocket hit the PAF airbase while the second hit its Gate No-5 Two rockets hit army officers’ Garrison Fitness Club, and the fifth rocket landed near police post at Kohat Cantonment’s Bannu Gate. The sixth rocket hit the cantonment board offices and one rocket hit a house in the Cantonment area, injuring a five-year-old girl, locals officials said.

May 24

Two Policemen were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Peshawar, police said. Cantonment Superintendent of Police Imran Shahid said that Station House Officer Khaista Khan and his driver Shoaib died in the blast at around 10.30am (PST) while they were on routine patrol in the Nasir Bagh Police station precincts. The bomb, apparently detonated by remote control, also injured two police officers, he added.

May 26

Six persons were killed and five others sustained injuries in incidents of sectarian violence at Dera Ismail Khan. Witnesses said four people, including three close relatives, were killed when they were attacked while going to a court. The four slain people were from the Shia community. "It seems to be a sectarian attack, but we are still investigating," Dera Ismail Khan police chief Salahuddin Khan said. The motorbike borne assailants also fired on a police team going to a checkpoint, killing constable Qismatullah. Further, some people opened fire on a member of the banned Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Abdur Rasheed, on the University Road, killing him on the spot.

May 28

The Taliban announced a complete cessation of hostilities after holding talks for six days with a peace committee of elders from Darra Adamkhel. A spokesman for ‘commander’ Tariq said the Government had assured them that the military would stop operations in Darra Adamkhel and, in return, the Taliban would stop their activities on the stretch of Indus Highway passing through Darra Adamkhel. He said: "Now we are completely satisfied and trust the man provided by the Government as a guarantor, and announce immediate cease fire. Formal talks for finalising modalities of the peace deal would commence from Thursday."

Baitullah Mehsud, chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, is spending approximately PKR 3 billion on militancy annually, the NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said. "He [Mehsud] is spending between Rs 2.5 - 3 billion yearly on procuring weapons, equipment, vehicles, treating wounded militants and keeping families of killed militants fed," said the Governor.

May 30

A bomb blast at a CD centre at Amandara in the suburbs of Malakand damaged four shops. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Welcoming the NWFP Government’s offer for talks, a spokesman for the local Taliban announced a cease-fire in the Mardan district. The spokesman, identifying himself as Maulana Abdullah, addressed journalists at the Mardan Press Club on phone and said the Taliban had carried out a number of terrorist activities, including bomb blasts, rocket attacks and suicide bombing in protest against the military operation against them. Abdullah said that the Taliban wanted peace in the district and, therefore, accepted the offer for talks. He stated that the Taliban wanted enforcement of Shariah (Islamic law) in the area and putting an end to the obscenity. He added that the provincial Government was sincere in its offer for talks, but the real decision-makers were the NWFP Governor, the central government and the armed forces who "are killing us at the behest of the American."

June 1

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a senior pro-government tribal militant commander, Haji Hanan, and his bodyguard, Rafiullah, near the Frontier Region Darazenda of Dera Ismail Khan. Police officials said that two of Haji Hanan's supporters, Abdul Khaliq and Omar Ayaz, belonging to the Wazir tribe, were injured in the attack on their vehicle.

The Taliban in Swat set up their own court in the Piochar village of Matta sub-division. Three cases were reportedly heard in the court headed by a Qazi. Local residents said that people from the upper areas of Matta had started registering cases with the Taliban, adding that the Taliban had arrested the alleged killer of a man from the Kalakot area. Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the local Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, however denied the existence of a Taliban court in Piochar, claiming that a jirga (council) to resolve disputes between local people had been established, and not a court.

June 2

A police constable was injured when unidentified persons attacked a checkpoint in Nangolai in the Swat district. Soon after the incident curfew was imposed in the area and security forces arrested two suspected persons in a search operation.

Seven shops were destroyed and several others partially damaged as four bombs exploded at the CD shops and near a rural health centre (RHC) in the Billitang town of Kohat district. Officials said first blast occurred at 1:40 am at the Afridi market followed by another in Rauf market and then two more huge ones near the RHC with short intervals. According to the police, various CD centres, barber shops and two grocery stores were destroyed in the blasts and over 13 shops, including the RHC, were partially damaged.

The Government Girls School building and a CD centre were damaged when explosive materials detonated in Takht Bhai in the Mardan district. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

June 4

Three civilians were killed and three others sustained injuries in a bomb blast at a video shop in a business centre at Kohat in the NWFP. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Meanwhile, the All Combined Bazaar Association has given a 24-hour ultimatum to the CD shop owners in the district to wind up their businesses to avoid action by the association.

June 5

Five persons were injured in a shootout between militants and police in the Nowshera district of the NWFP. The injured included two policemen, two civilians and a militant commander. According to the details, a police mobile squad saw an armed man in the Sulemankhel area of Badrashi village and asked him to surrender. But the man opened fire at the police and was soon joined by his accomplices. The consequent exchange of fire continued for more than an hour. The wounded Taliban commander Qari Hussain Amin was arrested, while police contingents besieged the area to arrest his associates. Police also seized weapons and ammunition from a mosque in the area. Locals said the mosque was being used by the militants as their headquarters.

Following a peace accord between the Government and the Tehrik-i-Taliban in Swat, 64 suspected militants were released from Timergara’s district jail. Official sources said that among the freed militants were some key figures of the Taliban, such as Maulana Liaqat Ali, Maulana Khalid, Irshad Ali, Hayat Khan, Abid, Fayazud Din and Umar Hayat. They had been arrested during a military operation from Matta, Kabal, Mingora and other areas of Swat district. Sources said the Government is likely to release some more militants on June 6. Taliban representatives have welcomed the gesture and renewed their pledge not to be a part of any group fighting military forces and to honour the peace accord reached with the NWFP Government.

June 6

Four people were killed in two explosions in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP. The first bomb exploded in the University Road area without causing any damage. As police and civilians gathered at the scene, another bomb exploded killing four people, including two policemen, and wounding another nine, police official Mohsin Shah told Reuters. Five people including four policemen were killed in the remote-controlled bomb attack. DI Khan District Police Officer Abdul Ghuffar said that the first bomb had been planted on a bicycle and the attack targeted police. He said 15 people had been injured in the blast, nine of who were policemen. He said the area had been cordoned of after the incident.

Unidentified militants blew up a Girls’ school in Upper Dir. However, no loss of life was reported.

June 8

Four children were killed in an explosion triggered by suspected militants at Chitral in the NWFP.

June 9

Four Policemen were killed and a SHO was injured when around 20 militants opened fire on a Police mobile unit on a routine patrol near the Mattani bypass in Peshawar. Militants also set ablaze the vehicle and stole the Policemen’s weapons. "[Unidentified] militants hid near a gas station and opened fire on the police van. It was a surprise attack -- the police party could not even retaliate because the hail of bullets was so sudden," said Rural SP Nasirul Mulk.

Pakistan Government scrapped its peace deal with the Taliban as militants have reneged on their promise to stop violence, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik said. "The Swat agreement is scrapped as the militants have [continued] their attacks on security forces," Malik told a group of reporters in Islamabad. Responding to questions during the National Assembly question hour, Malik said law-enforcement agencies had averted a ‘big tragedy’ after arresting three "students" who were allegedly on a suicide mission in Islamabad on January 8. He said the vehicles seized from them were packed with explosives weighing between 200 and 400 kilogram’s. Separately, the Tehreek-e-Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar told ARY TV on June 9 that Taliban would turn cities of settled areas into battlefields if the government scrapped its truce with them.

ANP Information Secretary Zahid Khan and Senior Minister Bashir Bilour said that the peace deal between the NWFP Government and the Swat Taliban is still intact.

Official source reports that six Taliban prisoners would be released from Taimargara Jail on June 10. "Those people are being released on bail," said the unnamed official. He said approximately 60 Taliban were still imprisoned at Taimargara Jail.

A bomb blast damaged an internet cafe in the Phandu Police station limits in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP. Officials said unidentified militants blew up the cafe in the Malik Sarwar Plaza at around 11:30pm (PST). The blast damaged the cafe slightly and no causalities were reported. This is the first incident of its kind in which an internet cafe had been blown up in the provincial metropolis, after an accident on April 3 in which suspected militants blew up four CD shops in the limits of the Badhaber Police station. CD shops and internet cafes across the NWFP have been targeted or forced to close during the ongoing wave of militancy.

June 10

At least 11 paramilitary soldiers and 10 militants were killed in an air strike by the US-led forces on a Frontier Corps security post in the Sheikh Baba area along the Afghan border in Mohmand tribal region. 15 people, including six paramilitary soldiers, were reportedly injured in the attack. Officials of the Mohmand Rifles have said that 40 of their men are missing. A spokesman of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Maulvi Umar said that eight Taliban had been killed and nine others wounded in clashes. He also claimed that the Taliban have captured seven soldiers of the Afghan National Army and shot down a Nato helicopter, killing its crew.

June 12

A suicide bomber blew himself in the office of a cable operator in the jurisdiction of Gaon Police station in the Malakand Division of NWFP. The office was completely destroyed but no causalities were reported.

Seven militants, including one Afghan national identified as Abdul Qudoos, were released from the jail at Malakand division in the NWFP, after their release orders were issued by an Anti-Terrorism Court on June 11.

June 13

A broad security plan is on the cards to protect the Peshawar city from attacks by local Taliban. They said around 3,000 security force personnel would be deployed to guard Peshawar, and that 26 security posts would be set up to monitor militants. An unnamed senior police official said that Police had told the Government that it could not control militancy on its own and needed the assistance of the Frontier Constabulary, the Frontier Corps and the Army.

June 15

Four persons were killed and another was injured when a car drove over a landmine near Seenzala in the NWFP. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A driver of a Sadda bound truck was killed when his vehicle drove over a landmine near Laddah in central Kurram. Six others were also injured in the incident.

Suspected militants abducted a watchman of the International Rescue Committee on Thall road in the Hangu district and took away two vehicles along with them.

Local Taliban militants pasted leaflets on the walls of different schools and mosques in the Kohat city demanding separate education system in all the private and public schools. They also demanded immediate closure of all the CD centres, billiard games and carom clubs and warned to take action against violators.

June 16

A bomb exploded inside a Shia mosque killing at least four people and injuring two others in the Dera Ismail Khan district of NWFP. Police said that the explosion was triggered inside Imambargah Hazrat Ali in Mohallah Roshan Chirgah when worshippers were coming out of the mosque after offering evening prayers. Police recovered a number of battery cells from the incident site indicating that the bomb was triggered by a time-device.

Local Taliban killed a tribal elder, Malik Ghulam, at Darra Adam Khel for allegedly spying for the Government. He was abducted three days ago. The report added that several tribal elders of Bosti Khel area were in confinement of the local Taliban as well.

June 17

Unidentified assailants killed four people when they opened fire on a vehicle in the Hangu Bazaar following an abduction attempt.

Taliban have warned women and school-going girls in a town near Kohat to wear burqas (veil) when going out and to avoid visiting markets without a male escort.

The Swat police allowed a ‘safe exit’ to a potential suicide bomber on June 16 following negotiations to protect nearby civilians.

Swat-based Taliban militants have suspended contact with the NWFP Government to protest against the slow progress on a peace agreement they entered into less than a month ago, said Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, adding, that "some elements were interfering in the peace process," as a result of which Taliban had decided to temporarily freeze contact with the provincial Government.

June 18

Shia clerics condemned bomb blasts and the killings of Shias in Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu and Parachinar and called for local Taliban to be driven out of the NWFP. Shia cleric Allama Hussain Masoodi said that his community was silent but not weak, and that the Taliban in the NWFP should be evacuated at once. Similarly, another cleric, Syed Muhammad Aun Naqvi said that the new Government in the NWFP had failed to maintain law and order. "The silence of the government and Fazlur Rehman after the killings is disappointing," he said, adding, "The NWFP government has proved it cannot control the situation after giving Parachinar to the local Taliban."

June 20

NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour told the provincial assembly that there are no Taliban in Peshawar and the provincial Government will not hold talks with local Taliban in other settled areas. "We do not accept Taliban except in Swat. Nor are we going to initiate dialogue with them," he told the House. Bilour said the provincial government stood by Swat peace agreement that it made with local Taliban. Separately, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the deal would be implemented in phases. He said the Government would release those Taliban who deserved to be freed.

The NWFP Government has decided to form a special force to counter terrorism. The force would work to counter suicide attacks and terrorist activities in the province. People between 18-25 years of age would reportedly be inducted in the force, who would monitor foreigners, Afghan refugees and miscreants. The force would take part in the actions against terrorists and the district police officers would head the force in their respective districts. Officials of law enforcement agencies will provide training to the force’s recruits.

The NWFP Government and the Taliban in Swat district resumed talks when the Forests Minister Wajid Ali Khan ‘secretly’ met Taliban leaders and assured them that their reservations would be addressed. Wajid Khan met several Taliban leaders, including Ali Bakht, Haji Muslim Khan, Maulana Amin, Mahmood Khan and Nisar Khan in the Deouli area of Swat and asked them to continue the dialogue. According to sources, the Taliban complained that their colleagues were still imprisoned and the army was still occupying the area.

June 21

Unidentified militants abducted 25 Christians from Academy Town in Peshawar.

June 22

Three persons were injured when militants blew up a music shop by hurling some explosive materials into its premises in the Tirah Bazaar at Kohat.

A bomb planted by unidentified militants near the outer wall of the Taj Cinema in Mardan exploded. However, no casualty was reported.

June 25

Taliban killed 22 members of a pro-government "peace committee" at Jandola of Tank in the NWFP. Tank District Co-ordination Officer Barkatullah Marwat told, "I can confirm that 22 bullet-ridden bodies of those kidnapped by the Taliban three days ago were recovered on Wednesday (June 25) near Jandola." Mawat also added that, "Some of the dead were shot and some had their throats slit." Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar claimed responsibility for the killings and said that "We have killed 22 and the fate of the remaining six will be decided later", adding that, "It was a joint action by the Bhittani and Mehsud tribes against a dacoit." He also said that, "The men we killed were involved in thefts and robbery and had unleashed a reign of terror on the people" and warned that, "The government should not intervene in the current situation; otherwise peace talks would be seriously undermined."

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has approved a military operation to clear the Tribal Areas of militants. Government and defence sources said that Gilani approved the use of force during a high-level meeting that reviewed progress on the war on terrorism and the state of law and order in the NWFP and Tribal Areas. The meeting also decided that the government would continue negotiations with local elders to isolate hardcore militants. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) would take the lead on deciding when to employ military force, including the FC and the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs). However, the NWFP governor and chief minister could also employ the FC and LEAs to maintain law and order. The COAS would decide the quantum, composition and positioning of military effort and would decide on the level of liaison, contact and co-operation with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and keep the government informed about operations.

June 26

The suspected militants gunned down local PPP leader Abdul Akbar Khan, his wife, and two sons in Matta tehsil (administrative division).

Suspected militants killed a prominent tribal elder, his son and mother-in-law in Matta tehsil.

Official sources said that suspected militants set ablaze a PTDC Hotel in Malam Jabba and torched a girls’ school and a police station in Barikot. Taliban leader Ali Bakht, however, denied his organisation’s involvement in the attacks, saying they went against the spirit of the peace accord.

June 27

12 unidentified militants attacked the residence of a person, Bakht Rahman, and killed his son and two colleagues in the Imam Dheri area of Swat district in the NWFP.

Suspected militants killed a person in the Sar Hani area of Kabal tehsil (administrative division).

June 28

The bomb disposal squad defused three bombs at an unspecified place in the Matta tehsil.

June 29

Unidentified attackers in different areas of Swat killed another five people, including a tribal elder, police said.

Two soldiers who were on a routine patrol were killed when a bomb planted by suspected pro-Taliban militants exploded on a roadside, a local military spokesman said.

A bomb blast in the Darya Khan Market of Mingora city damaged about 25 shops. Mingora Police Station Inspector Muhammad Jan Khan said that no causality had been reported.

Unidentified militants abducted nine officials of the water management department in the Hanu district. The Water Management Project Hangu Deputy Director Masood Rehman, along with eight staff members, was abducted when he was returning to Hangu.

June 30

The TTP of Swat refused an invitation to attend peace negotiations that had been extended to them by the NWFP Government. In a telephonic interview, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that they had refused the Government’s invitation for another round of peace talks. However, he maintained that their peace agreement with the Government remained intact. He said the peace talks had been halted after Baitullah Mehsud did the same. "We (Swat Taliban) will immediately end our peace agreement with the NWFP Government if Baitullah Mehsud orders it," Khan said, adding that the June 30 meeting would have discussed the withdrawal of troops, end of all check-posts and release of Taliban prisoners. The spokesman expressed ignorance about a statement from TTP spokesman Maulana Omar that all peace agreements had been dissolved, maintaining that the Swat Taliban still had an agreement with the Government.

July 1

Unidentified gunmen shot dead the Swat unit chief of the Jamiat Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Maulvi Samiullah, in his native Ningolai village in the Kabal sub-division of Swat district. A stray bullet also killed 15-year old Ali Sher in the incident.

Police arrested seven members of the outlawed LeI group during an operation in various areas of Peshawar. Police personnel, backed by the Frontier Constabulary, raided a number of houses in the Hayatabad, Peshtakhara, Daudzai, Chamkani, Ormar and Khazana areas. The recovered weapons included nine Kalashnikovs, three rifles, seven pistols and 328 cartridges.

July 2

Militants burnt a college and a police post in the Matta sub-division of the Swat district. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

Security forces arrested the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulana Samiullah and his son, Sohaib, from the Pai village of Tank district for allegedly training would-be female suicide bombers. He was accused of training female students of the Madrassa Binatul Islam to carry out suicide attacks.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud is reported to have asked the Taliban in Swat to resume peace talks with the NWFP Government after fresh clashes erupted between security forces and the local Taliban in the area. Muslim Khan, spokesman for Maulana Fazlullah, said that Baitullah had allowed them to resume the talks which were suspended last week. The clashes occurred in the Sra Banda area of Matta sub-division and both sides reportedly used heavy weapons.

July 4

Unidentified armed men abducted three security force personnel from Surkh Pul.

The Malakand range Deputy Inspector General of Police Tanvirul Haq Sipra said a new elite force would be raised for the maintenance of law and order in Swat district. Sipra told a press conference at the Mingora Press Club that after the creation of the force, police would not need the help of the Frontier Constabulary or other departments. He said that around 1,500 personnel would be deployed at seven centres to be set up in Swat. He said that the number of police stations in Swat is being increased from nine to 22, and the number of policemen, which at present stands at 1,500, will also be doubled. He said that Swat would be divided into rural and settled area administrations, with each area headed by an officer of the senior superintendent of police rank. The number of Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP) is also being increased from four to 10, with each DSP responsible for two police stations.

The NWFP Government and Swat Taliban are expected to hold talks on July 5. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that senior provincial minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour and Minister for Forests Wajid Ali Khan have contacted the Swat Taliban leadership for the meeting.

July 7

The NWFP Government and the TTP agreed to keep their agreement intact and carry forward the dialogue process for lasting peace in the Swat district. Sources said that about six hours of talks were held in the Taliban office in Saidu Sharif and the two sides discussed each other’s reservations to some provisions of the May 21 accord and agreed that the dialogue would continue. Provincial minister Wajid Ali Khan told journalists that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and both sides put forward positive proposals. He said the Government would enforce Sharia (Islamic law) in Swat in three months and the Taliban would be given representation in the committee formed for the purpose. He said the administration would wind up ‘unnecessary’ check-posts and armed patrolling and display of arms would be stopped. He also stated that the Government would release the people associated with Taliban after studying their cases and necessary legal procedure. He said payment of compensation to the families affected by the operation had commenced on July 6.

Taliban spokesman Haji Muslim Khan said he was satisfied with the talks. He said the Taliban would review the recommendations and proposal of the Nifaz-i-Sharia committee. He demanded immediate withdrawal of army from the area and said that 42 detained militants should be released. Muslim Khan added that the Taliban would abide by the agreement.

July 8

Unidentified armed men shot dead a religious leader in the Charbagh division of Swat district in the NWFP on July 7-night, police sources said on July 8. Charbagh Darul Uloom Administrator Maulvi Masood was killed in an ambush, the officials said.

18 boys, aged 12-18, have reportedly been abducted from the Charbagh during the last week. The families of the boys informed the media about the kidnappings and suspect militants are carrying out abductions to use the boys for suicide attacks.

July 9

A 400-strong force of Taliban militants laid siege to a police station in Hangu in the NWFP after the arrest of seven of their associates by security agencies. According to officials, 35 policemen were present in the Doaba station when militants encircled it. Heavily-armed Taliban militants were reportedly seen patrolling the Doaba bazaar and taking positions to counter any operation by the security forces. A military spokesman said that an army battalion had been sent from the Thall garrison to Doaba on the request of the provincial Government. Late into the night, three policemen tried to escape, but the militants kidnapped them. Militants also cut power supply to the police station by blowing up a transformer. The militants have also abducted a Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited official, Qamar ur Zaman, and eight low-ranking officials of the Kurram militia.

Rockets were fired from a hill near Kaka Sahib on the Nowshera cantonment area. One of the rockets hit the residence of Engineer Izat Ali in Gulistan Colony. While a portion of the house was destroyed, no casualty was reported. One rocket hit a tree in the Jinnah Bagh in front of the residences of Nowshera District Police Officer and some senior army officers. Another rocket exploded in the Armoured Corps Centre. Bomb disposal personnel who examined the shrapnel said the rockets were of Russian 107 make, which could hit a target 10 kilometers away. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks. Taliban spokesman Abu Mohammad told journalists that the attack was in retaliation for the military operation in Badrashi.

July 10

An explosion occurred near a Pakistan Army camp in the Kabal sub-division of Swat but no casualties were reported. Troops surrounded the area soon after the blast and an unannounced curfew was imposed that was removed a short time later.

Unidentified militants lobbed a hand-grenade at the house of a female police constable, but no injuries were reported. However, the house was partially damaged.

Taliban leaders visited the offices of the municipal administration to help resolve local residents’ complaints. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan and other leaders met local administration officials, Anwar Hayat and Shahi Dooran, and informed them of difficulties being faced by residents of the area. Khan said that they would also inform the provincial Government about the lack of potable water in the area.

July 11

Taliban militants destroyed three police pickets in the Dandopull and Michni road areas of Shabqadar sub-division in Charsadda district. The Tehrik-e-Taliban deputy chief in Mohmand Agency, Qari Shakeel, said that Taliban would not accept the presence of police or security forces in the Michni and Shabqadar areas as they are disputed areas. He said these areas were part of the Mohmand Agency and Taliban would neither accept their annexure with the settled districts of Charsadda and Peshawar in NWFP nor any police or security forces’ movement there. According to Dawn News, about 45 police and Frontier Corps personnel were present at the pickets but they did not offer any resistance. Taliban also laid temporary siege to the Sadoklai Police Station in the Shabqadar area for half an hour but left the area after negotiations with local elders.

July 12

At least 17 people – including 13 Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel – were killed in a clash between the Taliban militants and SFs in the Hangu district of NWFP. The fighting erupted after Taliban militants ambushed an FC convoy in the Drori Banda area of Hangu. The dead also included three civilians and a local militant, residents and Taliban sources said. Member of the National Assembly Pir Haidar Shah and the Hangu district nazim said the FC convoy was heading towards the volatile town of Hangu from its fort in Drori Banda when it came under attack from Taliban at around 5.30 pm (PST).

July 13

Four persons were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up soon after the concluding session of the Shuhada-e-Islam Conference in Dera Ismail Khan. Eyewitnesses and the police said the participants of the Shuhada-e-Islam Conference of the Shias, held in Kotly Imam Hussain, were returning to their homes when a suicide bomber, aged about 16, blew himself up. The bomber had leapt in front of a car carrying people back from the gathering, in which top Shia leader Allama Sajid Naqvi was also present, said police official Muhammad Qasim Khan.

Unidentified gunmen attacked a police van with grenades and Kalashnikovs and injured two Frontier Constabulary soldiers, Muhammad Shafi and Qayyum, at Timargarah in the lower Dir district.

July 14

Militants blew up a Frontier Constabulary (FC) fort in the Shinawarai area of Hangu district on July 14-night after looting arms and ammunition. Witnesses said that about 250 militants had besieged the fort, 30kms from Hangu town, and asked the FC personnel to vacate it or face action. After the personnel decided to leave the fort, they were given ‘safe passage’ by the militants.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan announced suspension of talks with the NWFP Government due to delay in non-implementation of the May 21 peace accord. Talking to The News, spokesman for the Taliban in Swat, Muslim Khan, said the Government was not sincere in keeping its commitments made during the talks in the past. "The Government failed to honour its promises made during the last two months of talks and now it will be meaningless to continue the process of dialogue," he said. He also said that it would be waste of time to continue negotiations without the dismantling of roadside checkpoints, withdrawal of all cases against Taliban, withdrawal of Army from Swat and compensation to the victims of the military operations.

July 15

Five soldiers sustained injuries when some suspected militants fired rockets at the Dir Scouts fort in Balambat in the Lower Dir district. At least 10 rockets were fired at the fort from the hills of Safaray village at about 3 am. One of the rockets landed near the main gate of the fort wounding five soldiers on duty. One rocket hit the private residence of a doctor at the DHQ hospital in Timergara, Dr Zahir Rabbani, at the colony and damaged the roof of the house. Two of the rockets landed at the Dir Scouts ground, one near the official residence of the district coordination officer, one near the National Bank branch and telephone exchange while the remaining landed on trees on the bank of Panjkora River.

July 16

The Pakistan Army, the Frontier Constabulary and the Frontier Police launched an operation in the Naryab and Zargari areas of Doaba Town in Hangu district, attacking hideouts of militants with gunship helicopters and artillery fire. There were unconfirmed reports that heavy shelling killed one person in Tora Warai while four others sustained injuries in Naryab.

The Government has accused the Taliban of violating the peace agreement in Swat by abducting law-enforcement personnel and running militant training centres. In a statement, the district coordination officer and local police chief said Taliban militants had abducted policemen Nezar Ali and Zer Qias and demanded release of 10 militants in return for their freedom. The officials said the Taliban had not raised the issue of release of the militants during earlier negotiations. "Taliban should respect the peace deal and free the personnel immediately," they said, adding that the Government had already released 19 militants unconditionally.

July 17

Security forces attacked militants around Hangu district, clearing several Taliban strongholds. "We have cleared Shamana Fort and Zarguri and Naryab areas north of Hangu," said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. He added that the "operation will be expanded as some areas are yet to be cleared." In the crackdown launched late on July 16, "the security forces, backed by tanks and gunship helicopters, also secured Naryab Dam", local officials said. The spokesman said there were some casualties on the militants’ side, adding that the exact numbers were not available. Taliban spokesman Mullah Shaheen confirmed the clashes, conceding that four militants had been injured. Official sources said four vehicles of the militants were also hit in Zarguri and Sarmalo.

Four mobile phone shops were destroyed and three others were partially damaged in a bomb blast in the Israr Market in Shabqadar near Charsadda district. Shopkeepers in the market were dealing in ‘obscene’ ring-tones according to threatening letters they had received from local Taliban prior to the blast.

Police in the Swat district arrested three suspected would-be suicide bombers, including a 13-year old boy who was tasked to attack the security forces, police officials told reporters in Mingora. They were arrested during a routine check at the Ghat Pewchar check-post in the Matta sub-division.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has asked the NWFP Government to either resign within five days or "prepare itself to face the consequences." "The NWFP Government is not sincere about restoring peace, rather it is responsible for lawlessness in the tribal areas, Hangu and Swat," TTP spokesman Maulvi Umar quoted Baitullah as saying. Umar stated that the Taliban reserved the right to take action against the provincial Government if it did not resign in five days. He said the NWFP Government was a powerless entity and Taliban would not hold talks with a weak Government.

July 18

Ten militants were killed and five soldiers sustained injuries as clashes between militants and the army continued in a search-and-cordon operation launched around the Zarguri town of Hangu district. "We have reports of 10 militant casualties and five injured soldiers," Major General Athar Abbas told Daily Times. He said that Zarguri had been cleared of militants and the operation would continue until all affected areas had been cleared. The Taliban confirmed that they had lost five militants, but claimed that they had also inflicted heavy losses to the Government. Spokesman Maulvi Haider said that the militants were still in Zargari and claimed that troops had been driven out of the area. He also claimed that 30 soldiers had been killed during clashes on July 17. Local sources said that the militants had engaged the security forces in clashes in Shanawari and Yakhkandao, resulting in the deaths of nine people. However, there was no official confirmation.

Unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at a shop in the Teetabat village of Swat district, injuring four civilians.

Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said the NWFP Government will not resign nor become hostage to any militant group. He was responding to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud who issued on July 17 a five-day ultimatum for the provincial Government to resign or "face dire consequences." Hoti said the provincial Government had "sent the army to Hangu as a precautionary measure", and not to target any particular group.

July 19

Gunship helicopters pounded militant hideouts in the Zargari town of Hangu district. Hangu District Co-ordination Officer Shahab Ali told reporters that the security forces were "combing the area" to drive militants out of the town and its suburbs. Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said the situation in Hangu district was under control after the military operation. Talking to reporters in Islamabad after a Senate committee meeting, Shah said Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was behind the violence in the district.

A military official claimed that the objectives of the Hangu operation codenamed "Operation Zarb-e-Kaleem" have been achieved. According to Dawn News, Major General Khalid Rabbani, the operation commander, said that although troops faced serious resistance in some areas, the operation has achieved its objectives.

Four persons, including a nine-year-old vendor, were injured in a grenade attack on the Garrison cinema owned by army in the Kohat district. Security forces arrested a suspect belonging to the Kurram Agency in FATA soon after the blast.

A meeting of 50 commanders of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Swat chapter, discussed a ‘war strategy’ to confront the Government and endorsed all decisions of the central leadership. The two-day meeting, presided over by local Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah, was held at an undisclosed location on July 18 and 19, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Dawn. He said the meeting discussed the five-day ultimatum given to the ANP-led provincial Government to resign and devised a strategy in case security forces launched an operation in Swat after militants’ operations in different parts of the NWFP.

July 21

Two militants were killed and several others sustained injuries as security forces and the local Taliban militants traded fire near Sarbanda and Shawar valley of Matta division in the Swat district. Taliban militants attacked a bunker of the security forces with mortars and heavy guns at 4pm (PST). In retaliation, the troops targeted the militants’ hideouts with heavy artillery and consequently, two militants were confirmed dead and several others feared dead or wounded. However, the Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed that only two children were injured as an artillery shell hit a house in the area and not a single militant was killed. He said the Taliban reserved the right to retaliate in self-defence wherever and whenever attacked by the security forces.

A man killed three Taliban militants in the Hassan Khel area near capital Peshawar. Sources said that the militants went to the house of a man called Daud, who reportedly was lending money on interest, to order him to stop his ‘un-Islamic’ business. Daud was, however, drunk at the time and opened fire on his ‘visitors,’ killing them. He managed to escape from the incident site and the militants later attacked his house and destroyed it.

Four persons were injured when a remote controlled device exploded in the Maidan area of Lower Dir district.

July 22

A Taliban spokesman has warned that if the NWFP Government does not stop the military operation in Hangu, Swat and other areas, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will launch severe attacks. The threat was issued at the expiry of a five-day ultimatum issued by TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud to the provincial Government to resign. TTP spokesman Maulvi Umar told journalists that the NWFP Government was responsible for the military operation in the areas under its control. He regretted the response of the provincial Government to the TTP’s deadline. He ruled out talks with the government until military actions in Hangu and Swat were halted. Taliban, he said, had prepared a plan which would be implemented after a decision by the Shura (executive council).

Police defused four explosive devices in different areas of Matta division in the Swat district.

July 23

The Army wound up its week-long operation in the Hangu district of the NWFP after flushing out militants and taking control of the area, said the military spokesman. The Director-General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Athar Abbas, said: "Security forces have achieved the desired objectives and operation was halted on Wednesday evening." He stated that the army had accomplished its task, but would stay in the violence-hit district as long as the provincial Government wanted. The army spokesman also said the Government’s writ had been re-established, possession of all police stations and check points had been retaken and the area was now under the control of the security forces.

July 24

A grand jirga (a large congress), representing the Taliban, and Kohat’s regional coordination officer, who represented the authorities, signed a cease-fire agreement and decided to resolve through talks all disputes arising out of the military operation in Hangu district. The jirga held a meeting with Orakzai Agency’s political agent Kamran Zeb and informed him that Taliban would be allowed to stay in the tribal area on condition that they would stop meddling in the affairs of state and refrain from imposing their own laws and punishments. Member of National Assembly, Pir Haider Ali Shah, said concerns of both sides would be discussed at various levels from time to time and disputes would be resolved for restoration of normality in the region. "The first priority of the jirga will be to get hostages released from the custody of Taliban and to free their three high-profile comrades out of the seven arrested from Doaba," he said, adding that "the next step will be to ask the military to withdraw from the area if Taliban give assurance that they will not challenge the writ of the Government again".

July 25

Suspected militants bombed a Government girls’ high school in the Tutano Banda area of Kabal division, a cloth market in Charbagh and a barbershop in Golibagh. However, no loss of life was reported in these incidents. The eight-room building of the girls’ high school completely caved in after the blast. With it, the total number of destroyed schools in the Swat valley has reached 60. According to officials, 62 girls’ schools have been closed due to the refusal of female teaching staff and students to attend school on account of the precarious security situation in the valley while another 10 have been occupied by the troops.

SFs arrested 10 suspected militants during a search operation in the Sherpalam area of Kabal.

The Taliban freed eight Government employees in the Orakzai Agency as a "goodwill gesture" in response to the Government’s move to halt the military operation in Hangu district. However, the Taliban claimed that 19 Government employees were still in their custody.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said it will not launch operation against the NWFP Government after the expiry of the deadline that they had issued. TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar said they had decided to "sincerely review the behaviour of the NWFP Government". He said that the decision was taken during a session of the Taliban Shura (executive council) presided over by TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud.

July 26

A bomb blast damaged the switch room of a cell-phone tower in the Bilitang area, a stronghold of the Taliban, on Rawalpindi Road in Kohat on late July 26-night.

Eight tribes of Hangu district decided not to provide shelter to the Taliban or any other militant outfit and to co-operate with the Government. The decision was made at a jirga (council) held at the office of the Hangu district co-ordination officer and attended by representatives from numerous tribes.

July 27

A boy was killed and seven persons were wounded in a bomb blast at a market in the Charbagh division of Swat district. Four shops were completely destroyed while eight others were partially damaged in the blast.

A minor boy, Rahmat Ali, was injured and two bridges destroyed when two bombs exploded in the Khareray and Seen Pora areas of the Matta division in Swat. The security forces later shelled suspected hideouts of militants in the Kharery area. However, no casualty was reported.

Militants in the Swat valley have decided to release a compact diskette (CD) covering their activities against the law-enforcers and the alleged injustices committed by the security forces in the valley. "The CD is in the making and will take time," Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told The News.

Maulana Fazlullah warned of a series of suicide bombings if the Government re-launched military operations against his supporters. Addressing a press conference in the Kabal division of Swat district, the Taliban leader claimed that he had prepared a brigade of suicide bombers who would be unleashed in case of a military operation. He said the attacks on official installations were in reaction to the Government’s action against the Taliban and denied reports that the Taliban in Swat were using child bombers. Fazlullah alleged that the Pakistan Army was involved in anti-Islam activities, adding that these would not be tolerated.

July 28

Three officials of an intelligence agency were shot dead by the Taliban militants in Matta in the Swat district. The slain men were identified as Sher Abbas Khattak, Malikdad and Riaz Ahmed. The three officials were en route to Mingora from Matta when the militants opened fire on them at Badshah Chinar in Matta, killing them on the spot. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Swat chapter spokesman, Muslim Khan, claimed responsibility for the killings and said, "The Taliban wanted to capture the officials alive, but the sleuths were killed while offering resistance."

A remote-controlled bomb blast damaged a police mobile van, killing a boy and injuring 12 policemen and a passer-by in the Kohat district. Police officials said the bomb was planted on a bicycle. The bomb apparently targeted the police van which was on its way to take prisoners to court for hearings, police spokesman Fazal Naeem told reporters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The TTP in Swat will reconstruct all damaged girls’ schools at its own expenditure, spokesman Muslim Khan said. He claimed that the Taliban would reconstruct the burnt and bombed girls’ schools in Swat, but demanded a trial of those involved in the killings of the Jamia Hafsa students.

The Government has declared eight districts as "high security zones" with emphasis on beefing up security in these zones to avert any possible attack from the Taliban. "We have received credible reports that after pulling out of the peace accord, the local Taliban are planning to launch attacks in these districts," said a senior official. These eight districts are Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Nowshera, Abbottabad and Tank. The Interior Ministry has advised extra security and vigilance at all the entry and exit points of these cities.

July 29

Eleven militants and two SF personnel, including a Pakistan Army captain, were killed during day-long clashes between the SFs and the Maulana Fazlullah-led militants in the Swat Valley. The militants also abducted 25 SF personnel after taking over a security post in the Dewlai area which, the officials claimed, was recaptured later in the day. 19 people, including six women, sustained injuries during the clashes. Some 500 militants laid siege to the Dewlai police post and after SF surrendered they were subsequently driven away to an unknown location. An ISPR spokesman in a statement confirmed the abduction of 25 SF personnel. The militants briefly occupied the police post before being driven out by the troops that clamped a curfew after establishing their control over the town. The TTP spokesman in Swat, Muslim Khan, confirmed the kidnapping and said they would only be released after complete withdrawal of the SFs from Swat.

SFs reportedly launched a renewed search operation in pursuit of the militants in different parts of the valley. A military spokesman said that six militants were arrested and two were killed in the operation. A large quantity of automatic weapons and ammunition was also recovered. He added that the arrested militants were believed to be close associates of Fazlullah.

SFs also clashed with the Taliban militants in Akhun Killay of Kabal sub-division. In the ensuing fighting, a captain and a non-commissioned officer of the Army were killed while 10 persons sustained injuries. There were also reports of nine militants being killed and several others injured in the encounter. However, none of the two sides confirmed the fatalities.

Troops continued shelling suspected militant hideouts in the Kabal and Matta subdivisions. A mortar shell hit a house in Akhun Killay of Kabal, killing a two-year-old girl, Asma and injuring eight people, including six women of the same family. Further, a mortar shell fell on another house that injured two persons. In addition, bodies of two persons, allegedly shot dead, were recovered from the Akhun Killay. Several houses and a mosque were also partially damaged in Ronial, Chapparial and Sar Banda as SFs targeted the hideouts of suspected militants in these areas. A person identified as Syed Haleem was killed and five others were injured in the shelling.

Four rooms were completely destroyed when militants set ablaze a girls’ school in the Chamtalai area of Khwazakhela division.

Militants attacked a patrolling police party in the Shakardarra area of Kabal and the vehicle of a non-government organization in the Ronyal area of Matta. However, no casualty was reported in these incidents.

July 30

48 militants, including a commander, and five soldiers were killed and an unspecified number of people were injured as fierce clashes continued in the Swat Valley for the second consecutive day. The fighting erupted on July 29 after the militants attacked a security post in their stronghold in the Matta sub-division and took about 25 SF personnel hostage. After the overnight targeting of various militants’ positions, the SFs, backed by gunship helicopters, carried out an operation and shelled suspected militant positions in several parts of the valley, including Peuchar, Namal, Ronial, Sarbanda and Chuprial that left 48 persons dead and as many injured. The Taliban militants also claimed killing 25 SF personnel, but the claim could not be confirmed independently. A military spokesman said in the daylong clashes with the militants, one officer, a junior officer and three soldiers were killed.

Unidentified militants killed the Dera Ismail Khan District Account Officer Syed Arif Hussain Shah. Two motorcycle borne gunmen opened fire at Shah, who hailed from the Shia community, near the Pir Zakori graveyard on Zhob Road, when he was en route to office. The police termed the incident a possible act of sectarian violence. While the gunmen escaped after the firing, no group has claimed responsibility for the killing so far. Angry people blocked the road in front of the District Hospital in protest and reportedly shouted slogans against the banned Sunni militant outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and the local administration. Soon after the incident, unidentified persons reportedly opened fire and wounded two activists of the Ansarullah, a branch of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), at Din Pur Chowk.

An explosive-laden car, meant for carrying out suicide bombings, was seized by the police on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway in Charsadda district. Sources said that the car had been stolen from Islamabad a few days earlier. The car was carrying some rockets and explosive-filled cylinders, which had been inter-connected with electric wires.

Taliban militants in the Swat district warned members of the national and provincial assemblies from the district to resign from their seats or face attacks. Militant spokesman Muslim Khan said that they would take revenge for the military operation from the parliamentarians if they did not resign from their seats in the assemblies. He said the military operation was started by the provincial Government to appease the United States. The Taliban would respond with full might, he warned.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened to mount attacks across Pakistan because of the renewed military action in Swat. "We will start operations in the entire country, in the entire province... because we consider this an action against all Taliban… We will soon take a decision on starting operations".

July 31

Fresh fighting erupted between SFs and Taliban militants in the Swat valley, leaving 13 civilians and approximately 20 militants dead. Residents said shells hit a house in the Deolai area, killing five children and their parents, including two women. Officials said it was not clear if the munitions were fired by security forces or militants. In separate incidents, five civilians were killed in shelling, they said, adding that a total of 25 people were also wounded in the fighting. A senior security official said that 45 militants had been killed in fighting over the past two days. The overall death toll reached 63 that included five troops, he said.

Taliban militants set ablaze two girls’ schools overnight, according to AFP.

In a search operation in the Mingora city, the SFs arrested 10 suspected militants.

NWFP Government spokesman Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the provincial Government was requesting the federal Government for more army troops, to "bring peace and protect the lives, property and honour of the people for Swat."

Following threats from the Taliban and the ongoing military operation in Swat, police in the provincial capital Peshawar beefed up security and established at least 20 checkpoints, eight of them in city areas, to check entry of suicide bombers. "The police have fully concentrated on checking vehicles especially at the entry points. Earlier they avoided checking the vehicles with women on board, but now all the vehicles are being checked even if the lady police are not available on the occasion," Superintendent of Police (Cantonment Circle), Abdul Qadir Qamar, said during a press conference at the Police Lines.

Police seized a large quantity of explosives from a vehicle on the Peshawar-Islamabad road in Charsadda district, but those inside the vehicle managed to escape the scene. The recovery included 21 bombs, nine rockets, 15kg of explosives and four cylinders filled with explosive material.

August 2

Eight police personnel were killed and five others wounded when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near their vehicle in the Kabal town of Swat district in the NWFP. Officials said the police party was returning to base after a search operation in Kabal when the bomb planted by militants exploded. Following the attack, security forces reportedly surrounded the Hazara village and arrested six suspects.

In the Matta sub-division of Swat, a woman was killed and four children injured when a mortar shell hit a house in the Sen Pura area.

Near Mingora, a group of armed militants set ablaze three girls’ schools and also blew up a bridge.

Local Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the attacks on the girls’ schools and the police van. He told Daily Times that the Taliban would continue attacks until the operation had been stopped.

August 3

At least 30 militants and a security official were killed on the fifth day of the ongoing military operations in the Swat district. An ISPR statement said however that a trooper and 15 militants were killed. Officials said the militants were killed in the Sech Banr area of the Matta sub-division. Locals said that four SF personnel were killed in a rocket attack on a security post in Matta’s Kala Kot area.

Unidentified militants shot dead two Levies personnel and injured a police constable and a civilian near Temargara in the Dir district.

Militants set ablaze six girls’ schools and an agriculture research centre in the Swat valley. Three schools were torched in Teligram and one each in Guli Bagh, Dar Mai and Malam Jabba. The research centre was located in Malam Jabba.

Haji Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Taliban, warned the NWFP Government of "retaliation" if the military operation is not stopped in the province. Further, a spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s chief Baitullah Mehsud threatened a ‘tit-for-tat response’ if the Government launched an operation in the tribal region. Maulvi Umar told Dawn that the Taliban believed in peace but they would ‘retaliate with full force’ if the Government ‘imposed a war’ on them. He said that while the Government was making offers for talks, the army was preparing for an operation. He also threatened suicide attacks if the operation was launched.

The Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Mohammad announced that a public meeting will be held in the Lal Qala area of Dir district on August 10. Talking to reporters, Sufi said implementation of Shariah (Islamic law) in the region was not possible without peace.

August 4

Militants set ablaze four more girls’ schools and blew up a basic health unit and an office of the forestry department in the Swat district on August 4, the sixth day of a military operation in the valley.

SFs targeted suspected militants’ positions in the Matta and Kabal areas in the second phase of ‘Operation Rah-i-Haq’. There were, however, no immediate reports of casualties.

Military authorities said the operation would continue till the areas were cleared of militants. "This operation is going to be decisive," Brigadier Zia Anjum Bodla, Army’s Divisional Commander, told journalists at the Circuit House in Gul Kadda. He said the SFs would clean up the militant-infested Peochar and other areas and restore peace and rule of law. He stated that 94 militants, 14 SF personnel and 28 civilians had been killed over the past six days. Among the SF personnel killed were three intelligence officials, one army major and a captain. He added that troops were pressed into action after the militants violated the peace agreement by burning down schools and killing and abducting SF personnel.

August 5

Two persons were killed and 15 others injured and militants torched five more girls' schools as violence continued in the Swat valley.

Militants attacked a police van at Jokhel Square in Pir Baba killing an Assistant Sub-Inspector, Said Muhammad Khan, and injuring four others.

A civilian, Sher Afzal Khan, was killed and three members of his family sustained injuries when a mortar shell hit his house in Dhando.

The SFs continued targeting the mountainous positions of the Taliban in the Peuchar, Namal, Sijbanr, Gat Shawar, Wenai areas of Matta sub-division and Totano Banda and Deolai of the Kabal sub-division on the seventh day of the operation. In the overnight shelling in Deolai, eight persons were injured.

Militants set ablaze five more schools in different areas of the Swat district. The government girls' high school Tahirabad, Mingora, primary school Kanju Dheri, middle school in Mangwalta, Khwazakhela, middle school Shakardara and another school in Kabal were among those properties destroyed.

The militants destroyed two military vehicles in Sijbanr and also threatened to attack the Ghaligay police station.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that Brigadier Zia Anjum Bodla's claim regarding Taliban casualties in the ongoing military action was exaggerated and wrong. He said that they had suffered only 10 casualties while another eight persons were wounded. Zia on August 4 claimed that the SFs had killed 94 militants in five days of fighting.

Eight rockets fired from Shakar Mora in the suburbs of Mardan landed in different areas of the city. According to the police, three rockets landed on the premises of the Punjab Regiment Centre, injuring one policeman. One rocket hit the house of former president of the Mardan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Sultan Shah Mohmand, on the Bank Road, injuring his daughter-in-law. Other rockets hit houses in the Shaheen Colony and Mahallah Deputy Farman Ali.

August 6

Commander Ali Bakht, a close aide of Maulana Fazlullah, and 13 other militants were killed in the Swat district. Major Farooq of the Army Media Centre in Swat informed Dawn that nine top militants, including Ali Bakht and Fazal Wadood, had been killed during an operation in the Deolai area of Kabal sub-division early in the morning. Two security force (SF) personnel and an unspecified number of militants were injured in an exchange of fire. A militant, identified as Fazal Rahim, was arrested. The SFs also blew up the houses of Ali Bakht and local commander Fazalur Rehman during the operation. According to local people, both the commanders were in the houses during the attack.

Three militants were killed when an explosive device they were planting in a Government school in Aligrama exploded.

Another militant was killed in a crossfire which followed an attack on the Shahdara police station near Mingora.

Militants blew up a soap factory in Rahimabad on August 6-morning. However, there was no casualty.

Reports indicated that helicopter gun-ships targeted militants’ hideouts in Gut, Peuchar, Namal, Charbagh, Malam Jabba, Deolai, Mancha, Shah Dheri and Shamozai.

August 7

Taliban militants beheaded a young man allegedly for "spying" and shot dead three others as SFs arrested five suspected militants in the Swat district during an operation.

Taliban militants set a girls’ college in Matta and two schools in Qandil on fire taking the number of destroyed schools in the region to over 100.

The Taliban announced war on the SFs and said negotiations with the NWFP Government were possible only after the troops left the Swat valley. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters that they would launch an offensive against the SFs.

The Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) offered to mediate between the Government and the Taliban in Swat. Its chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad told journalists after a meeting of the outfit’s Shura (executive council) in Amandara that two committees had been constituted to broker a cease-fire deal. The first committee, headed by TNSM’s deputy chief Maulana Mohammad Alam, has gone to the provincial capital Peshawar for talks with the ANP-led Government, and the second committee, headed by Maulana Abdul Haq, would contact the Taliban leadership in Swat. "It is the duty of every Muslim to work for peace among warring Muslim brethren," Maulan Sufi said, adding that the TNSM would try to persuade the two sides to sign a peace agreement and avoid violence in the region.

August 8

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Shia leader, sparking a protest in Dera Ismail Khan. 40-year old Syed Al-Hasan Shah was killed at his medical store in the main Saddar Bazaar, police officer Asmatullah Khattak told AFP. "It appears to be a sectarian killing. Police are investigating," he said. The killing triggered a protest by Shah’s relatives and members of the Shia community, witnesses said.

Hundreds of armed militants attacked a police station, killing a policeman and injuring two others in the provincial capital Peshawar. Police officials told Daily Times that militants attacked the Mattani Police Station, some 29 kilometers to the south of Peshawar.

Suspected militants blew up an electricity pylon in the Shaikh Muhammadi area, disrupting electricity supply for many hours.

Militants blew up three video shops in the Chatto Chowk area of Miingora city.

August 9

Militants shot dead eight policemen near Swat. "A group of ten armed militants attacked a police checkpost in Buner and shot dead eight police officials deployed there," police official Sardar Hameed told AFP. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the killings. "Our men attacked the checkpost and shot dead police officials… We will continue targeting all those police officials who are taking part in the ongoing military operation against us," he told reporters in Mingora, the main town in Swat.

Unidentified militants blew up a bridge in Sinpora in the Matta sub-division, disconnecting the road network between Matta and Chitral, and a bomb disposal squad defused two bombs that were planted on the Khwaz Khela Bridge.

The building of a basic health unit was blown up in the Charbagh area.

August 10

Taliban militants blew up three bridges in the Sech Ban, Nazarabad and Khwazakhela Bandai areas of Swat. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said they were targeting official buildings and schools in retaliation for the destruction of Taliban houses by the security forces.

A man and his daughter were injured in an attack on militant positions by army gunship helicopters in the Kabal sub-division. Sources said security forces had also targeted Taliban positions in Matta and Kabal.

Police and Frontier Constabulary personnel vacated four posts and a police station near Darra Adam Khel and took positions atop markets and shops to avoid attacks from militants. The police posts at Spina Thana, Arbab Tapoo, Sra Khwra and Zangali and the Matani Police Station have been vacated and the security force personnel have taken positions on roofs of markets and shops in the area. Complaining about the presence of the troops in populated areas, retailers around Zangali Police Post said they [security forces] were using the people as human shields against militant attacks.

Unidentified militants blew up a compact disk shop located on Parhoti Muhib Road in Mardan. The police defused a second bomb planted in another CD shop.

August 11

A suspected bomber was killed and his companion was wounded when a bomb they were planting exploded in the Gulbahar Police Station precincts of Peshawar. "A man suspected to be the bomber was killed in the blast and another suspect was injured. He has been admitted to hospital," police official Khurshid Khan told AFP. A police official said that the deceased was about 22-year old. He added that two others were also injured in the blast.

The Taliban besieged a village in the Kishora area of Swat’s Charbagh sub-division and held 23 villagers hostage. Taliban’s spokesman Muslim Khan denied the report about the siege and said that a local jirga handed over six villagers who had allegedly fired on Taliban fighters during an incident on August 10-night.

A bridge in Dherai, linking Mingora with Matta, was partially damaged when a bomb planted by the militants exploded. A basic health unit, a mosque and a number of shops were damaged.

August 12

Six Pakistan Air Force (PAF) personnel and seven civilians were killed and 14 persons were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a bridge on the main Peshawar-Kohat Road in the southern part of Peshawar. The explosion occurred when a van carrying PAF personnel was going from the Badbher PAF base to Peshawar. Police said it was not yet clear whether it was a case of suicide attack or of a bomb detonated by remote control. Among the dead were a six-year-old girl and two women who were going to a wedding ceremony. An unnamed police official told Dawn that the attack could be a revenge action for the military operation in Swat, Bajaur and other tribal areas. Bomb disposal personnel said the explosives used for the blast weighed over 20 kilograms.

Security forces are reportedly continuing their operations against suspected militants in the Swat district. Four persons, including three civilians, were killed while 17 others were injured in various incidents during the operation.

Security forces arrested Yaqoob Shah, a key commander of the Taliban militants, in the Swat district. They also bombed the houses of two militant commanders, Mufti Shah Hussain and Sheshah. A large number of weapons were reportedly recovered from Sheshah’s house.

The militants bombed a primary girls’ school in Besh Banr and destroyed one bridge in Irkot and another in the Gulibagh area of Swat.

Gunship helicopters targeted militants’ hideouts in the hilly areas of Markandai and Akhund Baba of Buner district.

Paramilitary forces arrested seven suspected Taliban militants from the Doaba area of Hangu district.

August 13

Villagers killed six members of a militant group in the Dara Shalbandi area of Buner district. Witnesses said that the villagers had surrounded the six militants and asked them to surrender. But the militants demanded safe passage and one of them hurled a grenade on the villagers to break the siege. The villagers subsequently opened fire, killing the militants four of whom were identified as Azeem Khan, Usman Ghani, Behran and Rahman Said. District Police Officer Mohamad Khaliq told journalists that the group was involved in attacks on a police mobile in Pir Baba and a police post in Kingar Galay. Nine policemen were killed in the attacks.

Police raided a house in a village in Gokand and arrested five men suspected of sheltering militants. Arms and ammunition captured by the militants in the Kingar Galay attack were seized.

The Taliban in Swat district have warned people to stay away from the Independence Day celebrations on August 14. According to Samma TV, Taliban spokesman Haji Muslim Khan said those who had destroyed Taliban’s houses would see their own houses destroyed. He said people should stay away from the celebrations as the Taliban might target such gatherings, the channel reported.

Local militants established a permanent headquarters in the residences of a former parliamentarian and a sitting senator after retaking control of Darra Adamkhel despite the presence of a large number of security force personnel in the area. An official and eyewitnesses said that after distributing leaflets on August 11 in which they had asked tribesmen and shopkeepers not to sell food items to the security forces, the militants forcibly shut down seven coal mines where labourers were supplying food to personnel of the Frontier Corps deployed at the mountains. Khasadar personnel have also stopped performing their duties in Darra Adamkhel due to fear of being killed by the militants and are confined to their homes. Sources said the militants had taken over the houses of former parliamentarian Nasim Afridi and Senator Abdur Razziq located in the busy bazaar and were using them as their new headquarters.

August 14

Three persons, including a woman and her nephew, were killed in crossfire between the security forces and militants in the Kabal sub-division of Swat district. Sources said that Taliban militants also killed a man, Umer Ali, on the charge of spreading propaganda against the Taliban in the Kabal Bazaar.

SFs targeted militants’ hideouts in the Minglor, Seetilegram, Bashbanr and Taghwan areas but no causalities were reported.

August 15

A woman was killed and her house was damaged in the Hazara area of Kabal sub-division in the Swat district when a mortar shell hit it.

In the Bandai area of Kabal, a trucker, Tota, died when a security forces (SFs) convoy heading for Matta allegedly opened fire at him.

Unidentified militants set ablaze four girls’ schools in the Matta sub-division. Sources said militants burnt two schools in Lalko, another in Garhai and one in Charai, destroying all the furniture and record of the schools.

The government girls primary school in Charbagh was destroyed with three powerful blasts, police said, adding that the nearby basic health unit and local administration offices were partially damaged. The blasts also broke windowpanes of several nearby houses.

Nine masked militants planted two powerful bombs in the Ikram and Qalandar markets in Mingora town. Around 20 CD shops were completely destroyed and 22 others, not related to the CD business, were partially damaged in the explosions.

The SFs continued shelling suspected militant hideouts in Peochar, Namal, Sarbanda and Kabal from the Frontier Corps camp and Kabal Frontier House.

The SFs arrested five persons, including the brother of Ali Bakth, a militant commander killed recently, at Kanju Ayub Bridge check post.

Militants fired two rockets near the ISI offices in Kohat cantonment. Police confirmed that the rockets exploded in an open ground between the ISI offices and the gunners’ lane. No casualty or damage occurred. The rockets were fired from Sheikhan near Darra Adam Khel.

Militants attacked the Mattani police station with both light and heavy weapons. Police sources told Daily Times militants had been targeting the station every night, retreating before dawn. They said security force personnel retaliated with machine-gun fire and other heavy weapons, repelling the attackers. However, the troops could not ascertain whether the militants suffered casualties.

August 16

Nine militants and a civilian were killed and several other people injured when SFs, backed by artillery and helicopter gun-ships, attacked Taliban’s positions in the Koza Bandai, Damghar and Dheri areas of Swat district. The SFs also targeted militants in Deolai, Kabal Khas, Kala Kalley and other areas of the Kabal sub-division. The troops are also reported to have seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition and explosive material from the dismantled sites.

Local people complained that residential areas also came under attack and a number of houses were destroyed. A civilian, identified as Mohammad Hilal Jan, was killed and his mother, bother and two children were injured when a mortar hit their house in Kala Kalley. At least 16 civilians were injured in the shelling in Koza Bandai.

In a sectarian incident, unidentified assailants shot dead the central deputy secretary-general of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah Jafria, Sardar Mumtaz Hussain Qazalbash, in the Hayatabad locality of Peshawar. The senior Shia leader was killed outside his residence in Phase-III of the Hayatabad Township. Family sources said Sardar Mumtaz had been receiving death threats on account of his political and religious activities.

Militants blew up a TV boaster in the Guli Bagh area of Charbagh and a bridge in Ashari area of Matta and set ablaze a grocery shop in the Dkorak area.

August 17

Five persons, including a woman and a police constable, were killed and 20 others injured as violence continued in parts of the Swat district. Sources said six cattle heads also perished and a number of houses were destroyed in artillery shelling and firing while militants set ablaze a girls’ middle school, a boys’ primary school, a health centre and a barber shop in different localities of the valley.

SFs continued shelling suspected militants’ locations in different areas. A woman was killed and five other members of a family sustained injuries when a shell hit the house of Wazirzada in the Dagai area of Kabal sub-division. Another shell landed on the house of one Mian Gul, killing a 15-year-old youth and injuring four others in the Hazara area of Kabal. In another incident, two persons were killed and five others wounded when the SFs shelled the area after unknown armed men opened fire on them at Manglawar.

A police constable, Fazal Murad Khan, was killed when armed men attacked the Wenai check-post in the Matta sub-division. Immediately after the incident, gunship helicopters bombed militants’ hideouts in the Kabal and Matta areas.

Militants set ablaze a health centre in the Gulibagh area of Charbagh sub-division. They also burnt a barber shop run by Usman Ali in the same area. Similarly, a girls’ middle school in the Sambat area of Matta and a boys’ primary school in Qambar near Mingora city were set ablaze by the militants. All the furniture and record of both the schools were destroyed.

A bomb planted by suspected militants at a police post building in Dew near Landaki, exploded, damaging it completely. However, no casualty was reported.

August 18

Unidentified militants shot dead a man, Alam Khan, at Imam Dheri Road in the Kabal sub-division of Swat district.

SFs targeted Taliban positions in the Kabal and Matta sub-divisions. According to sources, troops targeted hideouts at Peochar, Namal and Gutshore. However, no casualties were reported.

August 19

32 persons, including seven policemen, were killed and 55 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the emergency ward of the District Headquarters Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan. The attack was carried out when a large number of people had gathered there to protest against the murder of the local Shia leader Basit Ali earlier in the day. Attacked by a gunman near the Faqirni Gate, he was brought to the hospital where he died. Police said the 20 year-old suicide bomber blew himself up in the presence of police personnel who were trying to control the crowd. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack. TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar told Dawn they had targeted police and other Government officials and "did not intend to attack any specific religious sect (the Shia)." He said suicide attacks would continue till the military operations in Bajaur and Swat were stopped.

A man was killed and 10 others were wounded during an operation against militants as shells, reportedly fired by the security forces, hit civilian population in the Swat valley. According to locals, Mainush Khan was killed and a child was injured when a shell fell on his house in Kharari Cham in the Matta sub-division. Nine people were injured when a stray shell hit their houses in Dit Pani and surrounding areas. Several cattle heads were also killed in shelling and firing.

Helicopter gunship targeted suspected hideouts of the militants in the Matta and Kabal sub-divisions late on August 18-night and early on August 19. Several houses were destroyed but no casualty was reported during the strikes.

August 20

Gunship helicopters and artillery continued to target suspected positions of Taliban militants on the 22^nd day of the operation in Chuprial, Balasur and Barthana areas. The sources said a mortar shell hit a house, killing two children. Sources said one security official, Munir, was killed in the Baghdheri area of Matta sub-division in a blast, targeting a bridge. However, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed that three security force personnel were killed in the incident.

The militants set ablaze two more girls' high schools in the Durushkhela and Bedara villages of Matta.

Taliban militants in Peshawar shot dead two women after accusing them of being prostitutes. The militants crushed the face of one of the women, apparently using rifle butts and stones, and left a note warning that whoever engaged in "immoral" activities would meet the same fate, police said. The note was signed by the Jaish-e-Islami militant group. "We warned these whores but they did not stop their business," said the note left with the bodies of the women.

August 21

Five persons, including a former union council official, were killed in continuing violence in the Swat district. The sources said an influential person of Ningwalai, Musa Khan, was shot dead by unidentified assailants as soon as he stepped out of the mosque after prayers. A passerby, Islam Gul, also sustained injuries in the incident. Unidentified gunmen also opened fire on former union council official, Muhammad Amin, and his three friends when they were on their way back home after shifting the body of Musa Khan to the Saidu Sharif Hospital. "All of them died on the spot," the sources said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing of Musa Khan but did not claim the attack on Muhammad Amin.

Unidentified militants fired five rockets at the Badabher Police Station in Peshawar at around 2:30am, killing a policeman, Zahir Shah, and injuring two Frontier Constabulary personnel, Habibullah and Shaukat. The rockets damaged the police station building and some vehicles parked nearby.

August 22

Sixteen militants were shot dead in the Hangu district of the NWFP. "As many as 16 miscreants were killed today in an exchange of fire with security forces," said a military statement. The gun-battle began when the security forces stopped a vehicle they suspected was carrying militants at the Sour Bridge check-post near the Doaba town. A military statement said two of the militants were suicide bombers "of foreign origin".

Two SF personnel were killed and two others were wounded when a group of armed militants attacked a vehicle of the SFs at Basham Maira in Mansehra district with a hand grenade. 12 other persons sustained injuries in the incident.

A shell fire by the SFs hit the house of Fazl Manan in Totano Banda in Swat, killing a three-year-old girl and injuring four women. There were also reports of damages to more houses in upper area of the village.

In a separate incident in Swat, a policeman was injured by militants during an attack on a check-post in the Kabal area of Swat district while another policeman was abducted from Ningwalai.

The militants set ablaze a girls’ middle school in Qambar, on the outskirts of Mingora.

August 23

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden jeep into the Charbagh police station at 7.45am (PST), killing four policemen and three civilians. 20 others were wounded. About 100kg of explosives were reportedly used in the attack.

Military spokesman in Swat, Major Nasir Ali, told Dawn that soon after the suicide attack, SFs, backed by helicopter gunships, targeted militants’ hideouts in the valley, killing 50 Taliban militants, including their top commanders and foreigners. Ten army soldiers were killed and seven others injured in the fighting and three army vehicles were damaged. Several militant hideouts, including their command and control centre in Kabal, were destroyed.

Three policemen were killed when militants attacked their van near Manglawar.

An elderly man and a child were killed and four students injured when a bomb planted by militants exploded in an abandoned police post in Aboha, a town near Bari Kot. A number of nearby homes and shops were damaged.

A girl was killed and five others sustained injuries when a shell hit their house in Kabal.

Another shell hit a house in Akhund Kalley, killing a man and injuring four others.

A vacant post was reportedly blown up in Deolai, near Kabal.

The militants blew up four bridges - two in Deolai and one each in Totano Banda and Dandary.

SFs destroyed a militant headquarter in Kabal. It was being used to prepare suicide jackets and explosive material and train bombers.

SF personnel blew up an FM radio station being run by the Taliban in Swat.

August 24

Thirteen more persons were killed in continuing violence in the Swat district while two more bodies were retrieved from the rubble of the Charbagh police post, blown up in a suicide attack on August 23.

Tension prevailed in the Kabal sub-division where the SFs, backed by gunship helicopters and artillery, carried out a daylong operation against militants. The military said that it had destroyed the centre, which served as one of the militants’ main command and control, logistic-cum-training and launching pads for terrorist activities and killed about 10-15 foreign militants, including Chechens, Uzbeks and Tajiks. According to the military, the slain foreigners belonged to Tahir Yuldeshev’s Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). However, a spokesman for the Swat unit of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Muslim Khan, rejected the military claim about the killing of foreign militants as baseless.

The SFs targeted parts of the Kabal and Matta sub-divisions in Swat but the militants did not suffer any casualty.

A mortar shell hit a house in Kabal killing four persons, including a woman, and wounding several others.

In the Totano Bandai area, another shell struck the house of Altaf Hussain, killing his son and a guest. Three more were injured in this incident.

In the Galoch area of Kabal, one civilian was killed by a shell that landed on his house while another person, Bakht Amin, who had been wounded in the choppers’ shelling, succumbed to his injuries in the Saidu Sharif Hospital.

Reports said over 50 people have been injured and over a dozen houses damaged during intense shelling in the militant-infested Kabal area of the valley.

Unidentified assailants killed a local leader of the ruling Awami National Party, Ismail, in the Kalakalay area of Kabal.

Four bullet-riddled bodies were also found in Katkalay area of Matta. The TTP Swat spokesman, however, denied any involvement in the killings.

The Taliban attacked a police van in the Gulibagh area of Charbagh, injuring one official. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two more bodies were retrieved from the debris of the Charbagh police post, which was blown up in a bomb blast.

August 25

A brother and two nephews of the ruling Awami National Party’s Member of Provincial Assembly, Waqar Ahmed Khan, and nine other persons were killed and several others injured in clashes in Swat. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed his men had killed the brother of Waqar Ahmed Khan in revenge for the military operation which he said was being carried out on the directives of the ANP-led Government.

The militants killed two pro-government tribesmen in the Chotta Kalam area near Shakardara.

The military said that two Taliban militants were killed and several others sustained injuries when helicopter guns-hips targeted their hideouts in Barabanda.

A police post was blown up when militants detonated an improvised explosive device, injuring two policemen and two civilians.

Militants attacked a girls’ school in the provincial capital Peshawar. Senior Superintendent of Police Nasirul Mulk Bangash told Daily Times that the militants had planted explosives in the school building, located near Speen Jumat. All the 26 rooms were destroyed along with 16 computers and office records. He said it was the first school to be destroyed by the militants in Peshawar.

A barber shop in Mardan was destroyed in a bomb blast. The blast also caused partial damage to several other buildings, including a private school.

August 26

A key Taliban commander was killed in a clash with the security forces in Swat. Security officials said Ikramuddin, a close associate of Baitullah Mehsud, was killed following a clash in the Chota Kalam area of Kabal sub-division. However, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said Ikramuddin died accidentally when he fired his pistol.

Two children were killed as a mortar shell hit a house in the Madina Colony area of Kanjoo sub-division.

In the Shakardara area of Matta sub-division, militants blew up the houses of the ruling Awami National Party leader Muzaffar Ali Khan and his three brothers. The houses were empty at the time.

Militants also blew up a girls’ high school in Manglor.

The US Consulate’s Principal Officer Lynne Tracy escaped a gun attack in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province. She was en route to the consulate situated on the Rehman Baba Road in a bullet-proof car when gunmen opened fire. Even as her car managed to speed away to safety, an auto-rickshaw driver was injured.

August 27

Unidentified armed men in Gawalirai area of Matta subdivision opened indiscriminate fire on one Adil and his two nephews, Taj Muhammad and Afsar Ali, when they were on their way to bazaar. Adil and Taj Muhammad died on the spot while Afsar Ali sustained injuries.

Sikandar Khan, grandson of a PML-Q leader, Haroon Rasheed, sustained bullet injuries while his servant Muhammad Qayyum died instantly when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car in the Koza Bandai area of Kabal sub-division. Further, a passer-by, Ali Rehman, was killed while another was wounded after being caught in the crossfire when the relatives of the PML-Q leader retaliated.

A civilian was killed when armed men opened fire on him in the Dewlai area.

Gunship helicopters continued to target militants' hideouts in various parts of the Swat district, injuring nine civilians, including two women, in Totano Bandai and seven others of a family in Dherai area. The military said that gunship helicopters targeted militants' locations and killed several Taliban militants besides injuring scores of others in the Koza Bandai area of Kabal.

Militants in the Matta sub-division blew up a market owned by Afzal Khan Lala, a senior leader of the ruling Awami National Party (ANP). Locals said that four shops were destroyed but there were no casualties. The attack was the third on ANP leaders and their property by the Taliban in as many days.

August 28

Ten persons, including seven police officials and three civilians, were killed and 16 others injured when a powerful car bomb ripped through a prisoners van of the Bannu police on the Kurram Tangi Bridge on the Bannu-Kohat Road in Bannu. Police officials said the police van was en route to the Bannu Central Prison on the Bannu-Kohat Road from where it was supposed to carry prisoners to court. Eyewitnesses said an unidentified man parked a white colour car in the middle of the Kurram Bridge and left its bonnet opened. They said the car was blown up through a remote-controlled device by unidentified terrorists, right at the moment when the police van was crossing the bridge.

The SFs killed 23 militants and injured more than a dozen in the Bara Bandai and Koza Bandai areas of Kabal sub-division in the Swat district, while seven civilians died in shelling and incidents of violence.

The Cobra helicopters targeted the suspected Taliban hideouts in their stronghold of Kabal and killed 14 militants besides injuring scores of others in Koza Bandai. The military spokesman in Swat, Major Nasir Ali, told The News that the under-attack militants were escaping from Koza Bandai in a vehicle when the choppers again struck and killed eight of them. Further, the SFs shot dead a Burqa-clad man riding in a car at Bara Bandai check-post but his three accomplices escaped. In addition, the Frontier Corps recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the car, the spokesman said.

In Koza Bandai, two civilians, Gul Bacha and Shoaib, died when they were hit by shells and several others were reportedly injured. There were also reports about damage to houses and a mosque.

A couple was killed and two others injured when a mortar shell struck their house in the Gualerai area. The man killed was identified as Omar Zada.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for beheading two alleged spies, identified as Ali Asghar and Shaukat, whose bodies were found in fields in the Aligrama area of Kabal sub-division.

Ten Taliban militants, including a commander identified as Asif, were wounded when the SFs targeted their positions in various areas. An unidentified person was killed in the Gulibagh area of Khwazakhela.

A person, identified as Ahmad Khan, abducted by the Taliban from Koza Bandai recently, was killed and his body was found at a roadside. In Gulibagh, the militants set ablaze another girl’s school, along with official records and furniture.

The SFs arrested seven militants, including the brother and son-in-law of the Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan from Makan Bagh in Mingora.

SFs arrested four Taliban militants, including two local commanders, in the Akhorwal area of Darra Adamkhel. On a tip-off, the SFs raided Azadi Mela and Shadikhel villages and arrested Ajmal, a close aide of commander Tariq, and Shah Zaman. Two other militants, however, escaped on motorcycles. Later, the SFs conducted another raid in the Darra Adamkhel bazaar on identification of Ajmal and arrested Khalid and Sayed Zaman. Tariq and his group members are wanted for the killing 15 SF personnel in February 2008 and hijacking five ammunition trucks of the army.

A Taliban attack on the house of senior Awami National Party leader and former federal minister Afzal Khan Lala was foiled in the Drushkhela area of Matta. He said the militants had taken positions around his house but fled when they fired at them. His house was also attacked a couple of weeks ago but he and his family members escaped unhurt.

Taliban spokesman offered to release all the SF personnel captured by the militants if their arrested comrades were released. He warned of more suicide attacks on the troops and other Government officials if the military operation in Swat was not halted.

August 29

At least 25 militants, including two Taliban commanders, were killed in an air strike on militant hideouts in the Swat valley. A private jail and an ammunition depot of militants were among the air strike targets. A military spokesman in Swat told AFP that "a core of militants" had perished in the operation. "Their command and communications structure has also been destroyed. This was their key area where they had set up ammunition depots, which were also demolished… This strike was carried out after intelligence that top Taliban cleric Mullah Fazlullah was hiding there," the security official said, but he was unable to confirm if the main target was among the dead. Military spokesman in Swat Major Nasir Ali told Dawn: "Ammunition dumps in the Peuchar area have been blown up in the heavy bombing." Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said Taliban commander Mufti Saeedur Rehman and local journalist Abdul Aziz Shaheen, who was abducted two days ago, were also killed in the attack on the private jail. The spokesman claimed that 39 Government officials were also in the jail. He said the SFs targeted 15 locations in the Matta sub-division of Swat, adding that Taliban leader Fazlullah was safe.

Five persons were killed and 44 others, including 35 SF personnel, were wounded when an explosives-laden vehicle blew up after its driver was shot dead by the paramilitary Frontier Corps FC soldiers in the Darra Adamkhel town. According to official sources, the vehicle being driven by a would-be suicide bomber was on its way to hit the Orakzai Scouts check-post near Pakistan-Japan Friendship Tunnel at Darra Adamkhel.

The militants killed a person in Swat suspecting him of being a Government informer. They also bombed the house of a local Awami National Party (ANP) leader at Shakardara. A mortar shell hit the house of Peace Committee Chairman Sher Khan, killing his brother. In Matta, a woman was killed and four children were injured when a mortar shell hit their house.

One of the 16 persons wounded in the August 28 bomb attack on a police van succumbed to injuries on August 29, raising the death toll to 11. Saadullah Khan, a resident of Tajazai area and an employee at the Bannu Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, died at a hospital in provincial capital Peshawar.

Two bridges on the main Indus Highway were blown up, disrupting traffic via the key road tunnel.

August 30

40 militants were killed in an air strike targeting a militants’ stronghold in Swat. Fighter jets are reported to have bombed hideouts in the Peochar valley, a stronghold of top Taliban cleric Mullah Fazlullah. Army spokesman Major Nasir Ali said the dead included two senior commanders loyal to Fazlullah. Local officials said Fazlullah escaped the attack but his group suffered ‘massive damage’. Ali said the group’s ‘core militants’ were killed and its communication network destroyed in the operation.

The Taliban militants killed a police constable and a civilian in different areas of Swat. In the Manglor area, militants bombed the houses of union council chief Jamshed Ali Khan and his two brothers.

August 31

The Taliban operating under the command of Maulana Fazlullah in Swat Valley continued their militant activities, rejecting the Government's announcement of a cease-fire. The Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan rejected the Government's announcement of a truce during the holy month of Ramazan. "The Government should show respect for the entire Holy Quran and announce the enforcement of Shariah on the first Ramazan," he said, adding the cease-fire announcement was made by the Government, not by Taliban. "The decision about a cease-fire will be made by our central Shura. We don't believe in cease-fire but want permanent peace in the region which is not possible until the enforcement of Shariah," he said. He added that they could not guarantee peace in the area until the implementation of the peace accord signed on May 21.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a local militant commander in the Darra Adamkhel town. Sources told The News that some people called a local militant commander Abdus Samad by telephone late on August 30-night, telling him that their Amir (chief) wanted to see him. "The unknown people opened fire on him as soon as he came out of his house in Mullakhel locality, killing him on the spot," said sources.

The militants destroyed four abandoned bungalows of PML-Q's local leader, Haroon Rashid, with explosives in the Koza Banda area of Kabal sub-division. In the same locality, a civilian, Khursheed, died when a mortar shell hit him on his way home.

Gunship choppers continued to target suspected positions of the Taliban militants in different areas of Kabal and Matta. However, no loss of life was reported. Shelling in the Bara Bandai and Ningwalai areas caused injuries to three persons, including two children, while several houses were damaged.

A private television channel broadcast footage of what militants said were 38 security forces members abducted by them from Swat in late July 2008. The footage showed the hostages' legs were chained while men carrying AK-47 rifles and wearing black scarves over their faces guarded them.

September 1

At least nine persons were killed and 52 others injured as the operation against militants in Darra Adamkhel in the NWFP continued for the fourth consecutive day.

One person was killed and fiver others injured when a shell allegedly fired by the security forces at Taliban positions hit a house in Koza Bandi.

Military aircraft bombed Taliban positions in the Ghat Piochar area of Swat in the NWFP, but the number of militant casualties was not known.

A post office was set on fire in Deolai.

Five militants, including a Taliban commander, surrendered to the authorities. Taliban commander Maulvi Hazrat Nabi surrendered to the political authorities at the office of the assistant political agent in Landi Kotal.

September 2

15 persons were killed and about 35 others sustained injuries when air force jets and helicopters targeted militants’ hideouts in the Gut and Peuchar areas of Swat valley in the NWFP.

An Assistant Sub-Inspector of traffic police was shot dead by the militants.

A retired schoolteacher was shot dead in the Koza Banda area of Kabal sub-division.

Six shops in Matta bazaar owned by the ruling Awami National Party leader Afzal Khan Lala were also blown up.

Militants in Darra Adamkhel town fired three rockets at the Kohat Tunnel, causing minor damages to its outer portion while the SFs continued shelling the suspected hideouts of militants on the fifth consecutive day.

The Taliban claimed they had kidnapped two Chinese telecommunications engineers and two Pakistanis and that abductions would continue until the Government stopped attacking militants. Locals said the two Chinese were kidnapped from the Shal Plam area of Khaal in Lower Dir.

Militants in Darra Adamkhel barged into a branch of the United Bank Limited and took away PKR two million from it after blowing the strong room.

September 3

The SFs claimed to have killed about 30 militants and wounded 35 others in a ground assault backed by gunship helicopters in the militants-infested Koza Bandai area of Swat Valley in the NWFP.

Paramilitary forces killed 20 militants in Darra Adamkhel.

17 militants and nine civilians were killed when security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, targeted militants’ hideouts in the Koza Bandai area of Swat in the NWFP.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the SFs had destroyed 200 houses in the operation at Koza Bandai.

The SFs arrested eight suspected militants, injured in the Koza Badai operation, from Saidu Sharif hospital.

SFs launched a ground assault in Koza Bandai, the native village of the Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, at dawn to clear the area of the militants. A Mingora-based military spokesman, Major Nasir Ali, told The News that 25 to 30 militants were killed and 30 to 35 were injured in the attack that was backed by gunship helicopters.

Sources said that a large number of suspected militants sneaked into Darra Adamkhel valley from Orakzai Agency under the command of their foreigner trainers to fight the SFs.

Around 50 recruits of the Police Training College (PTC) at Hangu in the NWFP were abducted while on their way to the college from provincial capital Peshawar via Khyber Agency.

Afghan intelligence claimed, it had arrested a Pakistan national who said he was paid by his country’s intelligence agency to help abduct a Japanese aid worker who was later shot dead.

Gas supply to the Kohat Cement Company remained suspended when unidentified militants blew up a facility of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd on Siab Road in Kohat.

September 5

Ten persons, including four militants, were killed and several others injured when local people clashed with the Taliban militants in the Mandal Dag area of Matta sub-division in Swat.

Two civilians were killed and as many injured as the security forces continued their operation against the militants in the Kabal sub-division.

September 6

At least 30 persons, including seven policemen, were killed and more than 70 injured when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security checkpoint in the outskirts of Peshawar.

24 people were killed in the Matta sub-division of Swat in the NWFP as villagers battled Taliban militants on September 5 and 6 after foiling a kidnap attempt by the Taliban.

The death toll in the suicide bombing in provincial capital Peshawar has increased to 39.

September 7

Five more persons were killed and 14 others sustained injuries as violence continued in the Swat Valley in NWFP.

One person was killed and 13 others, including eight children, sustained injuries as army helicopters targeted a suspected militant hideout near a madrassa (seminary) in Darra Adamkhel in the NWFP.

The Maulana Fazlullah-led militants in Swat said they would not release the kidnapped Chinese engineers till the release of the arrested Taliban militants.

September 8

At least 10 militants were killed and 14 civilians injured while several houses were destroyed in shelling by the security forces on Koza Bandai area of Kabal sub-division in the Swat valley in North West Frontier Province.

Security personnel arrested a teenage boy they claimed was a suicide bomber near a church in the Cantonment area at Nowshera in North West Frontier Province.

A truck carrying huge quantity of explosive material was hijacked along with two riders from Taxila.

September 10

At least 25 worshippers were killed and 50 others injured in a grenade-and-gun attack inside a mosque in the Maskanai area of lower Dir in NWFP.

Unidentified militants shot dead member of the provincial assembly (MPA) and former NWFP minister, Akhtar Nawaz Khan, close to his home in Khalabat.

Militants continued to target property of politicians and used bombs to destroy the ANP leader Afzal Khan's bus stand and seven shops in the Sumbat area of Matta tehsil (administrative division).

11 militants were killed by the security forces in the Kooza Bandai area of the NWFP, local residents and a military spokesman said on September 10.

September 11

Eight militants were killed when the security forces (SFs) attacked their hideouts in the Swat valley of NWFP.

Six SF personnel were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near a check-post of the Frontier Corps (FC) at Akhurwal area of the semi-tribal region in the Darra Adamkhel town, claimed militants\.

Militants killed a police constable and his daughter in the Matta Tehsil (administrative division), adding, the militants opened fire and killed Constable Dost Mohammad Khan and his nine-year old daughter when they were returning home in the Kooza Bamkhela area of Swat district.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) killed two of the 30 police recruits kidnapped near Hangu in NWFP a week ago.

In the Sher Palam area of Swat, two militants were killed in clashes between the SFs security forces and militants.

A bomb blast damaged the house of former NWFP minister Ghaniur Rehman and provincial assembly member Atiqur Rehman.

The militants blew up a telephone exchange and several houses in the Kabal Tehsil.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat said that no shariah law of the NWFP government would be acceptable unless Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, approved it.

September 12

At least 14 terrorists including two key ‘commanders’ were killed and five others were injured during the military operation in the Swat district in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

September 13

Seven suspected militants were killed and several other people injured as military operation in the Koza, Bara and Ser Bandai areas of Swat in NWFP continued. Two security force (SF) personnel also sustained injuries, a statement issued by the Swat media centre said, adding, the SFs backed by artillery and helicopters gunship pounded militant hideouts in the Koza Bandai and Kotlai areas of Kabal Tehsil (administrative unit).

Unidentified assailants shot dead, Abdul Latif Khan, a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the Matta Tehsil.

A two-day cease-fire was announced after talks between a peace committee and terrorists in Swat. The second round of talks between the peace committee and terrorists will be held today.

September 14

Four security force (SF) personnel were injured when the SFs and local Taliban exchanged fire in the Sheeni area of Darra Adamkhel in the NWFP.

About 100 heavily armed terrorists occupied a municipal building in the Regi Lalma area on the outskirts of Peshawar in the NWFP, but fled on the arrival of paramilitary troops without putting up a fight.

Taliban in Swat are likely to release 38 abducted security force (SF) personnel in the next 48 hours.

Police said that no terrorist organization occupied a government building in the Regi Lalma area of Peshawar and law-enforcement agencies attended site as a "result of a misunderstanding".

September 15

Terrorists ransacked a CD market in the Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda and warned shopkeepers to end their businesses or face consequence. Policemen deployed yards away did not intervene.

A civilian truck carrying supplies for a Frontier Constabulary camp in Mohmand went missing.

September 16

A suicide bomber and Taliban militants attacked a security check post in the Kabal tehsil (revenue division) of Swat in the NWFP killing three soldiers, a senior official said.

At least three Taliban terrorists were killed and seven others injured in a clash with the security forces (SFs) in the Darra Adam Khel area of NWFP, sources in the Frontier Constabulary said.

September 17

A woman was killed and seven people were injured when a bomb exploded in the Nobel Town area of Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP. The explosion was caused by around 20 kilograms of explosives attached to a cycle cart. The blast also destroyed two houses and partially damaged six others.

Unidentified militants blew up a bridge on the Indus Highway in the Darra Adam Khel area of NWFP. They blew up the fourth link bridge with explosives near Shenay Kalay area of Darra Adam Khel. Residents are facing severe problems because of the closure of the Kohat Tunnel and the Indus Highway.

The SFs conducted a raid on the house of Behram in the Asala area of Khwazakhela and arrested four suspected militants. However, the owner of the house, Behram, was not present at the time of the raid. Those arrested were identified as Muhammad Umer, Shoaib, Ilyas and Masood who were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Unspecified numbers of weapons were also recovered from the militants. Shoaib has been accused of having nexus with a terrorist, who had carried out a blast in Wich Khuar.

September 18

Two suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Upper Dir town of NWFP after residents foiled their attempt to take 300 schoolchildren hostage.

Taliban captured a huge cache of weapons and ammunition from police near the Jandukhalay area of Shabqadar tehsil (revenue division) in the Charsadda district. The attackers reportedly thrashed the police guard accompanying a coach carrying weapons for the CID police from Mohmand Agency to Peshawar and looted 15 rocket-propelled grenades, five 12.7mm guns, and five six-inch mortar guns. A Taliban leader in Mohmand Agency later accepted the responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban in Swat in the NWFP released eight more of the 38 security force (SF) personnel they had abducted around two months ago. The Taliban had released 25 hostages on September 15. five SF personnel were still in Taliban custody, whose release was expected soon.

Taliban punished two ‘thieves’ in the Labut area of Matta Tehsil (administrative unit) with 16 lashes each, after charges were proved against them.

September 19

Militants in the Dakorak area of Charbagh in the Swat valley of NWFP lobbed hand grenades at Brinks-armoured car, shifting cash amount, killing two occupants and injuring as many, and also looted PKR 9.8 million. The killed security officials were identified as Muhammad Omar and Ahmad. The vehicle was also badly damaged in the attack.

The security forces, that entered Koza Bandai a couple of days ago, blew up the houses of nine militants, including three commanders with explosives.

A bomb explosion in an empty container parked at Khyber Takya in the Landi Kotal area of NWFP caused slight damage to the trailer it was attached to.

A bomb exploded in the Matta Bazaar and Adam Khor Bazaar areas of Miran Shah.

The militants fired a RPG-7rocket on court road near the Swat district session judge’s court. However, no casualties were reported in these incidents.

The security forces (SFs) bombed suspected Taliban hideouts in different areas of Swat district, including, Tehsil Matta, Tehsil Charbagh, Isharband, Mangol Tan and Allahabad.

The SFs operation to clear landmines and defuse explosive devices from Koza Bandi continued for the second consecutive day. Up to 60 percent areas have been cleared so far. According to a statement issued by the Media Information Centre Swat, around 75 Taliban have been killed with a similar number injured in the past 14 days in Koza Bandi.

September 21

Five persons, including a minor girl and a woman, were injured when unidentified militants blew up a grid station at Amman Kot chowk (Rahimabad) in the Mingora area of Swat in the NWFP, disrupting power supply to Swat and Shangla districts.

Security forces withdrew from the Kooza Bandai area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division) after establishing three check posts in the area. Taliban had vacated the area two days ago after an agreement with a local Jirga (council).

September 22

Nine security force (SF) personnel were killed and two other injured in a suicide car-bomb attack on a check post in Swat in the NWFP. A suspected Taliban militant rammed his explosives-laden car into a small roadside check post in Madyan town in Swat.

The SFs killed three militants and arrested 28 others during an operation against Taliban at Abbas Chowk and Sikha Khel in the Darra Adam Khel.

A policeman and a militant were killed and 17 other people, including six militants, three civilians and eight policemen, were injured when local Taliban attacked an ‘armed peace walk’ at Pir Qella in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda.

A security force personnel was killed while another was injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in the Darra Adam Khel.

The Munda station house officer, a constable and three guards sustained minor injuries in a remote-controlled blast in Lower Dir.

Unidentified men blew up the house of Kooza Bandai, Nazim Sher Afzal Khan, with explosives. However, no casualty was reported, according to Online.

A grand peace Jirga (council) consisting of elders of major tribes of Upper Dir in the NWFP unanimously decided that the people of the district will resist militant activities and that action will be taken against those providing shelter to militants or anti-state elements.

Two Chinese engineers abducted by the Taliban appealed for their safe release. In a newly released video by the AfPax Insider news service, the two apparently distraught Chinese engineers appealed to the governments of China and Pakistan to help save their lives.

September 23

More than 50 militants and a lone security force (SF) personnel were killed in the ongoing military operation in the Darra Adam Khel area of NWFP. The SFs had secured major portions of the Indus Highway, cleared the Kohat Tunnel, and successfully evicted Taliban from their roadside hideouts, on the second day of the operation. The troops also carried out a search operation in Darra bazaar while helicopter gunship and artillery pounded militant positions.

Two of the militants who had besieged the Saro police station in Charsadda demanding release of their comrade were killed, while a militant ‘commander’, identified as Nisar, was injured by the SFs following a fierce clash. Two others were arrested.

A Frontier Constabulary (FC) trooper was killed and four others were injured when the Taliban militants targeted a police patrol in the Shabqadar tehsil (revenue division). The incident occurred in the Pir Qila area of Charsadda when a rocket fired by militants hit an FC vehicle near Michni Road. The vehicle’s driver, identified as Shoaib Khan, was killed in the attack.

September 24

Security forces killed six unidentified armed men during the ongoing operation in Darra Adam Khel in the NWFP. Darra Bazaar and its adjacent areas were cleared of ‘miscreants’ who were involved in anti-state activities. A large cache of arms and ammunitions was recovered from a house in the area. Fake currency and identity cards were also found.

A security force (SF) trooper was killed in a blast in the Kot area of the Charbagh tehsil (revenue division) of the Swat district in NWFP. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Six SF personnel were wounded when unidentified assailants opened fire on their convoy in the Mingora area.

In another incident, the Taliban militants set ablaze a private bank and two schools in the Charbagh tehsil.

The Taliban militants attacked a police station with rocket launchers in the Pir Kala area of Charsadda, leading to retaliation by the SFs. No loss of life was reported in the incident.

Police arrested four Taliban on September 23 when they were being taken to a hospital after sustaining injuries in an exchange of fire with the SFs in the Michni area. The four were identified as Saleem Khan, Waris Khan, both residents of Pir Qila area in Charsadda district’s Shabqadar tehsil and Nisar Ahmed and Muhammad Zubair, both Afghan national.Tthe Taliban militants were unarmed at the time of arrest.

September 25

Taliban militants shot dead two traffic policemen, identified as Zahoor and Nasrullah, in the Mingora city area of Swat in the NWFP. A civilian passer-by, Azizur Rehman, sustained bullet injuries. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing.

Unidentified assailants killed a flour dealer, Anwar Ali, near his shop in the Charbagh bazaar area.

Unidentified militants shot dead a policeman, identified as Saeed Mohammad, in the Guli Bagh area of Charbagh.

Two girls’ schools were blown up in the Sheen Kat area of Charbagh on September 24-night.

The Taliban flogged two butchers accused of selling substandard meat in the Matta Tehsil (revenue division) of Swat. They were punished with 25 lashes each while a third butcher was not punished after he was ‘proven innocent’.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Swat said they had reservations about the proposed Shari Nizam-e-Adl laws for the area. A TTP spokesman also spoke on behalf of Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) leader Maulana Sufi Muhammad and said the government must contact him before imposing the law or the two groups would not accept it.

The SFs targeted suspected militants’ positions in Kabal, Matta and Madain areas on September 25-night. However, there was no report of casualties.

September 26

One woman, Bagh Haram, and her 20-year-old son Rahmat Ali Jan, were killed when a mortar shell hit the house of one Faramosh in the Peya village in NWFP. The house was also destroyed.

The security forces (SFs) fired mortar shells at suspected positions of militants in different areas of Matta and Kabal, killing two insurgents in the Totano Bandai area of the Kabal Tehsil (revenue division).

September 27

Taliban blew up the houses of the NWFP provincial minister, Ayub Ashari and his brother, in the Dosha Gram area of Matta Tehsil (revenue division), killing three of the minister’s servants.

A policeman, Imran Khan, and a suspected militant, Ali Sher, were killed in a shootout in the Bannu area. While other militants managed to escape, the police seized a vehicle left by the suspected militants and found a light machine-gun in it.

September 28

The militants killed an alleged robber, identified as Khair Muhammad, in the Sinpora area of Matta. He and his two accomplices were accused of snatching PKR 350,000 and one tola gold from a jeweler.

The Taliban attacked the frequently targeted Wenai check post in the Matta area, killing a Frontier Corps official. The attack was followed by a brief clash between the SFs and the militants but there was no casualties reported.

Four people were injured when a mortar shell fell on their house in Seij Banr.

In the Barikot bazaar area, two policemen, Javed and Rahim, and another person were injured when a suspected militant hurled a grenade on them.

In another incident, militants opened fire on a police man in Barikot, wounding him. A passer-by also sustained bullet injuries.

The local Taliban attacked a check post in the Wenai area of the Matta tehsil, injuring one soldier. The militants fled after the SFs returned fire.

October 1

One person was killed and two others injured when a bomb exploded in an ambulance at the Abdur Rahim market in the Feroz Khel area of NWFP.

October 2

A suicide bomber blew himself up as he tried to enter a house owned by the Awami National Party (ANP) chief, Asfandyar Wali Khan, in the NWFP, killing four. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistani parliament's foreign relations committee, however, escaped unhurt in the attack. The incident took place in the town of Charsadda outside a hujra (guest house) belonging to Khan, a member of ruling coalition.

Taliban have claimed that they are holding the abducted Polish engineer. "He is with us. We have kidnapped him," Mohammad, a spokesman for the Taliban active in the Darra Adam Khel region told reporters in Peshawar by telephone. The Pole, identified as Piotr Stanczak, was abducted by gunmen on September 28 and his two drivers and a security guard shot dead in northern Attock district.

The SFs arrested a Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) commander and five Taliban militants in the Bara area. They were arrested following the abduction of a Frontier Constabulary (FC) trooper in the Bara sub-division. Locals said the SFs had warned that an operation would be launched in Bara if the FC officer was not released by his captors.

October 5

Two top Taliban commanders were killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces (SFs) in the Matta tehsil (revenue division) of Swat district in the NWFP. A spokesman of the Swat Media Centre told APP that Taliban commanders Ayub and Amir Zaib were killed when they clashed with the SFs during a search operation in the Sambat area of Matta. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that a Taliban hideout had also been destroyed in the operation.

A remote controlled roadside bomb hit a military convoy in Sambat, injuring two soldiers and a civilian. Official sources told that soon after the blast, the troops resorted to firing that killed a man and a woman.

Two rockets fell near the NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti’s native residence on the Mardan-Nowshera road. Talking to a private television channel, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said Hoti, who was in Peshawar at the time of the attack, was the target. The rockets damaged nearby houses, but no casualties were reported.

October 6

Riots broke out in parts of Bhakkar and neighboring Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP) after the suicide attack. Hundreds of angry people took to the streets of Bhakkar after the attack and fired in the air and blocked the road linking Punjab to the NWFP and burned tyres. A similar protest was reported in the Kotli Imam Hussain area of Dera Ismail Khan.

Four militants were killed by security forces (SFs) in the Tor Chappar village of Darra Adam Khel in the NWFP. Their ‘office’ in the village was destroyed and 15 suspected militants were arrested. The political agent of Kohat frontier region, Siraj Ahmed, said that the troops had besieged a large number of militants holed up in Tor Chappar since October 5-noon.They started pounding their hideouts with artillery from Kohat side and also used helicopters.

Unidentified militants shot dead Frontier Corps (FC) personnel in the Charbagh Bazaar area of Swat.

SFs conducted a ‘successful’ search operation in the Damghar and adjoining areas in Swat, the Swat Media Cell said in a statement. They searched all the villages but no arrests were made as Taliban had already fled.

The NNI news agency quoted Hangu District Police Officer Sajjad Khan as saying that Hangu police had arrested five suspected Taliban. Khan told reporters the arrested Taliban were Afghans.

Taliban released four more of the 25 trainee police officials they abducted last month from Hangu. The agency quoted NWFP Police Inspector General Malik Naveed as saying negotiations were held with Taliban for the release of police officials and action was also taken against them.

In Darra Adam Khel, the SFs said they had gained complete control of the Indus Highway and cleared the Kohat tunnel. An ISPR statement said ‘militants’ had been evicted from their bunkers and hideouts along the road. Troops also carried out a search operation in the Tor Chappar area "with the support of local population", the press release said.

Darra Taliban has claimed responsibility for the Walibagh suicide attack on the chief of Awami National Party, Asfandyar Wali Khan. Militants’ spokesman Mohammad said that Taliban would not spare Wali Khan till he ordered the NWFP government to resign.

October 7

Local Taliban militants blew up two private girls’ colleges in the Sangota area of Swat in the NWFP. Before bombing Excelsior Public Girls College and Sangota Public Girls College, the Taliban militants abducted two policemen and two security guards deployed there for security.

The security forces arrested 10 key Taliban militants during a search operation in Matta and shifted them to an unknown place.

October 8

Five Taliban militants were killed and 27 arrested by the security forces (SFs) during an operation in the Darra Adam Khel area of NWFP.

Three SF personnel were injured when the SFs clashed with the Taliban militants in the Sheen Dhand area of Kohat district.

A security convoy was also targeted with a remote-controlled bomb in the Abbas area of Darra Adam Khel.

The Taliban militants blew up the house of Union Council Nazim Jamshid Ali in the Kabal tehsil. However, no casualties were reported in these incidents.

The Taliban militants cut off the water supply to the security forces’ camp in the Pacific, Totano Bandai areas of the same tehsil.

The SFs arrested 22 Taliban militants, including several important commanders in an operation at Gul Jabba in the Kabal tehsil (revenue division) of Swat, according to a Media Information Centre Swat press release. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was also recovered from their possession. Several Taliban hideouts were also destroyed in the operation, it said.

Unidentified assailants blew up a CD shop with explosives.

October 9

At least 21 Taliban militants were killed in air strikes on their hideouts in the Ghat Peochar and Landai Sarshur areas of Swat district in the NWFP.

11 persons were killed in the Dir area of NWFP when an improvised bomb exploded under a prison vehicle shortly after 1pm (PST) in the Khwago Oba area.

Six members of a family were killed in the Darmai area of Matta tehsil (revenue division) as a shell fired by the security forces (SFs) accidentally hit the house of a local, identified as Wazirzada. The dead include two women, three children and a male member of the family.

An administrator, Samiullah Qureshi, and a teacher, Saif Ali Khan, of a madrassa (seminary) have been arrested for their alleged involvement in training two female students for suicide bombings. Another teacher, Shoaib Khan, also accused of the crime, was still missing.

A man was injured when militants fired two rockets at a private educational institution here in Bahawalnagar area.

October 10

Security forces killed five suspected Taliban militants when they shelled their hideouts at Malam Jabba in the NWFP.

The dead bodies of four Qaumi Lashkar members were recovered from Tungi.

The Taliban militants shot dead a person, identified as Hadayat Shah, in Salanda area of Charbagh tehsil (revenue division). Hadayat was the personal secretary to Member of the National Assembly Syed Alauddin.

The Taliban blew up two girls’ schools in Ali Grama and Sirsenai areas of Kabal tehsil.

Unidentified militants blew up a guesthouse owned by Awami National Party (ANP) Information Secretary Zahid Khan in the Haji Abad area of Lower Dir district

At least five persons were injured when a theatre where 15 to 20 people were watching a movie was attacked by militants with rockets in Kohat.

Security forces arrested four Taliban militants while raiding hideouts in the Akhoordil area of Dara Adam Khel. The Taliban opened fire on police officials during the arrest, injuring four children..

Malik Siddique Ahmed, belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid party, was abducted by around 70 militants, who attacked his hujra (guest house) at Sangota area of Babuzi tehsil in the Swat district.

October 11

The security forces continued shelling Taliban positions in the Rashakay, Tang Khatta, Khazana and Chinar areas. Officials claimed several Taliban militants had been killed and their hideouts destroyed during the shelling.

The Taliban militants killed a nazim, an employee of a local union council, in the Char Bagh tehsil (revenue division) of the NWFP.

The beheaded dead body of a trooper of the Frontier Constabulary person was recovered in Kabal tehsil.

The Taliban also blew up two power plants in the Saidu Sharif and Mingora areas.

Three policemen and a soldier were injured when local Taliban militants attacked their convoy in the same tehsil with a remote-controlled bomb, officials said.

Three roadside bombs were defused in the Imam Dheri area.

October 12

One person was killed and a security force (SF) personnel wounded during an encounter when the militants attacked a security post at Khwazakhela in the NWFP.

October 13

In an intensified operation against the Taliban militants in Swat in the NWFP, the security forces killed at least 25 militants in parts of Khwazakhela tehsil (revenue division).

Five Taliban militants were killed and 15 others arrested during a security forces’ operation in the Darra Adam Khel area of NWFP.

Four people, including a leader of the Awami National Party, were injured when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in the Dir district, an administration official said.

At least one trooper was killed and four others injured when militants attacked with rockets in the Spina Thana area of Darra Adam Khel. It was the second attack on Spina Thana, which presently serves as base camp for the security forces (SFs) engaged in operation in Darra Adam Khel.

October 14

10 persons, including five civilians and four Taliban militants, were killed in the ongoing operation in the Khwazakhela area of Swat. The security forces (SFs) shelled suspected positions of militants from helicopters and artillery in the Alamganj and Gashkor areas killing five civilians.

Fighting between Taliban militants and the Charmang tribal lashkar (militia) continued and both sides used heavy artillery. The lashkar set ablaze a number of Taliban houses.

Clashes between the two sides were reported in which four Taliban fighters, including two commanders, Abdul Wakeel and Sher Muhammad, were killed.

October 15

Four people, including a female politician of the Awami National Party (ANP), were killed by suspected Taliban militants in Swat in the NWFP.

At least two security force personnel were killed and six others injured in a mortar attack on a check post near Darra Adam Khel.

In another incident, the militants opened fire on a police official, Mehboob Ali Shah and his brother while on their way home. Mehboob died on the spot while his brother, identified as Ahmad Ali Shah, succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

Another person, identified as Sabz Ali, hailing from Mamond of Bajaur Agency, was killed when a car, he was riding, was fired at in the Balogram area of Swat.

Four persons were wounded in the Sarbandai and Khwazakhela areas during shelling.

Unidentified persons blew up a basic health unit (BHU) in the Chamtali area of Khwazakhela. The building and record were destroyed in the blasts.

The staffs of the CID have arrested two criminals who were allegedly supplying automatic weapons to various militant outfits, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Taliban. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Mohammad Fayyaz Khan of the CID, Sindh, said that the Police arrested the two persons, identified as Omer Hayat and Amjad, along with 6,000 Sub-Machine Gun rounds and two foreign-made pistols from their possession. During the investigation it was discovered that the two arms suppliers were the associates of Noor Sharif (an arms supplier from Dara Adam Khel recently caught by the CID). SSP Khan said that the accused had links with various militant outfits, including the LeJ and the Taliban.

October 16

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the Mingora Police Station in Swat in the NWFP, killing four security personnel and destroying the building. Nearby offices of newspapers and a TV channel were damaged in the earlier firing. Most of the 27 people injured were security forces and police, though two civilian bystanders were also injured.

Helicopter gun ships targeted suspected Taliban hideouts Bama Khela, Sum Butt and Bodigram areas in the Khwaza Khela tehsil (revenue division).

Unidentified assailants fired nine rockets at a Frontier Reserve Police check post on Bara Bridge in the Bannu district in NWFP. No casualty was reported. Two of the rockets hit the bridge on Miranshah Road in Bakakhel area, slightly damaging it.

Peshawar police claimed to have arrested four associates of an arrested accused allegedly involved in blowing up several CD and music centres throughout the province.

Prison guards seized grenades and handguns from Taliban militants after they revolted in the Timergara district jail in the Lower Dir of NWFP. Four policemen made hostage were rescued. Nine hand grenades, 37 pistols and 14 mobile phones were also seized.

Kohat police seized two suicide bombing jackets and arrested 18 Uzbek men separately. The disposal squad seized the jackets from a vehicle they searched on the Indus Highway. The men were moving out of Darra Adam Khel area in NWFP in two vehicles when the police arrested them at a check post.

October 17

At least 60 Taliban militants were killed when fighter jets bombarded a Taliban training camp and suspected hideouts in the Matta tehsil (revenue division) of Swat district in NWFP. Security forces destroyed a training camp and hideouts of the Taliban in Peochar in Swat valley, killing 60 of them and injuring scores of others. Another security official said fighter jets bombed a huge training camp and cave hideouts of the Taliban deep in the mountains, inflicting heavy casualties, adding, sources from the area confirmed that 60 Taliban militants were killed in the air strike and the number could increase once bodies were retrieved from the caves and other targeted areas.

October 19

27 Taliban militants, including two commanders, were killed as fighter jets bombed a Taliban hideout in the Matta tehsil (revenue division) of Swat in the NWFP. The commanders killed in the air strike in were closely associated with pro-Taliban cleric Fazlullah. An ammunition dump at their hideout also exploded. Nearby houses were also destroyed.

Three Taliban militants and a soldier were killed in an attack by the Taliban on a security forces convoy in the Kabal tehsil (revenue division).

Taliban militants blew up Provincial Minister Ayub Khan’s rest house in the Ashari area of Swat.

The security forces arrested 32 suspected militants from a Quetta-bound passenger which was stopped at the Kohat Tunnel check post for checking. Most of those arrested were Uzbeks and Afghans. The militants were trying to flee the areas where military operations are in progress. Most of the exit points on the Pak-Afghan border have already been sealed by the US-led coalition forces and the militants are now reportedly trying to enter Afghanistan via Quetta.

October 20

Seven Taliban militants were killed and another 10 wounded in a clash with security forces (SFs) in the Shah Dherai area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division) in the Swat area of NWFP. A military spokesman in Mingora said the clash followed an attack by Taliban militants on a security checkpoint in the Totano Bandai area of Kabal. The Taliban militants fired seven rockets at the check post but there were no casualties. Troops later used artillery to target Taliban positions in the area.

SFs arrested five hardcore Taliban militants, including two commanders, from the Peerwal and Kakakhel areas of Darra Adam Khel. SFs also seized two trucks laden with heavy weapons and ammunition from the house of another commander during the raids.

Peshawar police arrested two Afghan nationals, identified as Hazrat Wali and Hidayatullah and seized explosives from their possession. Police arrested two Afghan nationals from a bus in the Board Bazaar on Jamrud Road and seized explosives which include 15 dynamite sticks and other explosives.

October 21

Five Taliban militants, including a local commander identified as ‘Chota Mufti’, were killed as clashes erupted between the security forces SFs and the militants following a police convoy hitting an improvised bomb on its way from Kabal to Totano in the NWFP. Two vehicles were damaged in the incident.

In Swat, a FC soldier and a civilian were killed when a remote-controlled bomb targeted an FC convoy in the Sersenai area. Six people were injured and two vehicles damaged in the attack.

Another civilian was killed and five others injured when artillery shells filed by the SFs hit private houses.

Taliban militants set ablaze a World Food Programme (WFP) godown in the Kanju area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division), destroying 70,000 canisters of cooking oil and damaging two houses and a mosque.

In Kabal, the SFs intercepted an explosives-laden vehicle and destroyed it before it could hit its target – troops engaged in a battle with Taliban in the Sersani area, a military statement said.

The SFs arrested 17 suspects, including foreigners, and recovered huge cache of Russian and German-made arms during a search operation in the Darra Adam Khel. Most of the foreigners were Uzbeks, they said. The weapons included 350 rocket launchers and more than 500 machineguns.

In Jamrud, Khyber Agency surgeon Dr. Zaman Khattak was abducted while travelling on the Pak-Afghan Highway. Political officials said men with weapons stopped the doctor near Elementary College when he was on his way to Peshawar.

The SFs also arrested three suspects from the Khawazakhel area.

October 22

At least 15 FC personnel and five Taliban militants were found dead in the Kabal tehsil (revenue division) of Swat in the NWFP. The FC personnel had gone missing after a fight with Taliban that broke out on October 21 after a roadside bomb targeted a paramilitary convoy in the Sarsenai area. "After the exchange of fire that lasted for several hours, more than 20 troops went missing but today we found 15 dead bodies at the site," Noor Rehman, a police officer in Kabal, said. Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan, said 15 FC personnel and five Taliban militants were killed in the fighting. Swat police chief, Dilawar Bangash, said an injured Taliban commander, identified as Sardar Ali, had been arrested.

Unidentified assailants killed FC trooper, Nawab Shehzad, in Kanjoo.

A police constable was abducted from Char Bazaar in the Charbagh tehsil.

October 23

Taliban militants beheaded a Police head constable, Bakht Ali, in the Charbagh tehsil (revenue division) near Mingora in the Swat area of NWFP. Bakht Ali was abducted on October 22. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan confirmed the beheading.

An association of traders banned the entry of women in the busy Mingora bazaar after threats from Taliban militants.

October 24

Two beheaded bodies were recovered from the Mingora and Kanju areas of Swat district in the NWFP.

The locals from the upper areas of Matta tehsil (revenue division) formed a lashkar (militia) of more than 4,000 armed men and ordered Taliban militants to leave the area in three days. The decision was made in a jirga (council) held at Labat High School with Pir Samiullah in the chair. Elders from the neighbouring areas also attended the jirga. The jirga said the educational institutes and health centres in the area should be opened soon. Safety committees at village level were also formed in the jirga. Around 500 armed men were deputed to guard the jirga. The tribal elders decided that neither Taliban nor security forces would be allowed to enter the area. The elders said the lashkar would patrol the area in order protect the local people.

October 25

Six people were killed and four injured when two rival groups fought each other using heavy weapons in the remote area of Mandal Daag in the Matta tehsil (revenue division) of Swat in the NWFP. The battle continued for hours wherein both sides resorted to heavy firing. Swat Taliban spokesman, Haji Muslim Khan, disclaimed any responsibility of the incident. "This is an internal dispute between two rival groups," he said, adding, that the Taliban had no connection with it.

Two people, identified as Mian Azhar and Muhammad Qayyum, were killed and two others, Liaqat Ali and Barkat Ali, injured when a mortar shell hit a house in the Roringar village in Matta.

Unidentified assailants killed a man and his son in the Detpanai village of Matta tehsil.

October 26

Tribesmen killed 20 Taliban militants in clashes that followed a botched attempt to abduct an elder in Swat. Police said a group of pro-Mullah Fazlullah Taliban were trying to hustle Pir Samiullah – chief of a lashkar (militia) – from his home in the Mandaldag area of Matta tehsil (revenue division) to a getaway car when dozens of local tribesmen confronted them and snatched him back. Dilawar Bangash, the Swat police chief, said hundreds of Taliban later returned, captured three members of the militia and beheaded one of them on a road before a large crowd. "This is a lesson for anyone who tries to oppose us," they told the people according to accounts gathered later by police.

The lashkar was gathering men from the surrounding area who engaged the Taliban in an hours-long gun battle. Bangash said 20 Taliban militants, six militiamen and four bystanders were killed in the shooting and another police official said several tribesmen were reported missing. Among the killed Taliban were four commanders, including Shamsher, a bomb making expert, and two close aides of Fazlullah. Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman contacted by telephone, confirmed a clash but said only three Taliban militants died. He claimed that 12 tribesmen were killed and another 62 abducted.

Three civilians were killed as Taliban militants targeted a barbershop in the Sambat area of Swat.

Police have found the bullet-riddled body of a man said to be the younger brother of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, in the Bannu district of NWFP. The body was found on 14-kilometres from Bannu on a road. Police identified the man as, Yahya Mehsud, the son of Haroon Mehsud, and a resident of South Waziristan. AFP confirmed the man was Baitullah Mehsud’s younger brother. The agency said that Yahya was abducted on the same day and later and his body was found dumped. Police said the Yahya was not a member of TTP, and was not wanted in any case.

In Totani Bandai, Taliban militants attacked a military check post injuring a soldier.

50 suspected Taliban militants were arrested in Kooza Bandai.

October 27

At least ten Taliban militants were killed in a clash with troops in Sarsanai village of Matta tehsil (revenue division) of Swat district in the NWFP. "A fire fight began after Taliban refused to lay down arms and leave the area. Resultantly, 10 Taliban were killed," said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. Three Taliban militants were arrested in a subsequent search operation in the same village.

A soldier was killed when Taliban militants attacked a Frontier Corps check post at Tutano Bandai area in Matta.

October 28

Five civilians, including a woman, were killed and 21 others injured during shelling on Kabal village of Swat in the NWFP. Several mortar shells hit houses in the Kabal area when the SFs pounded the suspected positions of the militants with artillery.

The SFs shelled the hideouts of Taliban militants in the Sar Banda area of Matta tehsil (revenue division), a breeding ground for the militants, and wounded two important commanders, Abn-e-Aqil and his father. During the shelling, their bunker was also destroyed. Aqil is the brother of top Taliban commander, Abn-e-Amin. The ISPR-run Swat Media Centre confirmed the injury of the two commanders.

Tthe militants blew up the Girls High School in Odigram, a town situated on the outskirts of Mingora city. No loss of life was reported in the blast.

The militants released two elders, Azizullah and Khurshaid Iqbal. Both the persons along with 60 others were captured by the Taliban militants in Barthana during a jirga (council) convened to stop the militants from using their village for militant activities.

The authorities had set up village police in Lower Dir to improve law and order in the district. The process of establishing the local police was completed with the distribution of certificates among around 450 volunteers during a ceremony in the Timergarah area. The Lower Dir district police officer said that village police would conduct joint patrolling along with regular police in different areas of the district.

October 29

Nine soldiers and five civilians were injured when a suicide bomber exploded his explosives-laden Land Cruiser jeep at a military check post in the Cantonment area of Bannu district in the NWFP. District Police Officer (DPO), Muhammad Alam Shinwari, told Daily Times over telephone that 14 people, including nine soldiers, were wounded in the suicide attack, which occurred at 2:15pm (PST) at the check post near the Combined Military Hospital. He said the blast occurred in the Cantonment that houses government offices, residential facilities and military installations. "We (police) had no information about where the vehicle came from," the Bannu DPO said, adding, the jeep used in the attack was completely destroyed and only the bomber’s hair were collected from the site. He said a woman was also among the injured.

A powerful blast rocked the main compound wall of a school in the Cantonment area.

The security forces claimed to have arrested five suspected militants during a joint operation at two different camps for Afghan refugees. A contingent of 300 army and police personnel launched search operation in Togh Bala and Ghamkol refugee camps in Kohat. The search continued for about 10 hours.

The number of displaced people from Bajaur Agency at the Kacha Ghari Relief Camp near Peshawar had reached 6,800.

October 30

The SFs killed 10 more Taliban militants and injured two others during operations in various areas of Kabal tehsil (revenue division) of Swat in the NWFP. The SFs took action in Akhun Killay, Kotlai, Dagai, Saidu Sharif Airport and Kanju, using gunship helicopters and artillery to pound suspected positions of the militants. According to the ISPR-run Swat Media Centre, seven militants were killed and an ammunition dump destroyed in an attack on the insurgents’ positions in Kotlai area of Kabal.

The SFs entered Sirsenai village where, during a house-to-house search, an exchange of fire took place with the Taliban, resulting in the death of three militants. One militant was also arrested and a large quantity of explosives and CDs recovered from some houses.

A civilian, Gul Sher, died when his house was hit by a shell, while 11 others sustained serious injuries in the Fiza Ghat.

In Mamdheri, unidentified assailants killed Hassan Shah alias Khan Gul, a relative of Maulana Fazlullah, the commander of the militants.

In the Banr area of Mingora, one person identified as Hakim was shot dead by unidentified assailants.

The Taliban militants beheaded a police constable who they abducted two days ago from Charbagh tehsil.

The SFs said two insurgents were injured in a gunfight at the Saidu Sharif airport, which took place after an attack of militants on the positions of security forces at the airport.

Militants freed 62 elders as a ‘goodwill gesture’ after hectic efforts were made by a local jirga (council). The spokesman of the militants said the elders had assured them in the presence of jirga members that they would not stand up to the insurgents in future. The militants had earlier killed 12 elders, who had gathered in a mosque to devise a plan to keep the militants away from their area. Most of them were slaughtered.

October 31

A suicide bomber killed nine persons and injured 21 in an attack on police in Mardan of NWFP. The suicide bomber attacked the police squad of Mardan DIG Akhtar Ali Shah outside his office at 1:30 pm, police said, adding that five among the dead and three among the injured were policemen. "The attacker blew himself up close to the escort when my guards tried to stop him from entering the office premises," Shah said. "I was the target but such attacks cannot stop us from doing our duty," said Shah. Police said a severed head, apparently that of the suicide bomber, was recovered from the explosion site.

The security forces killed four militants and injured nine others in separated operation in Swat valley of NWFP. While two militants were killed and five others injured in Char Bagh area, two militants were killed and four others sustained injuries in Sar Bandai area of Matta tehsil (revenue division). The hujra (guest house) of a militant commander, which was being used as a hideout by militants, was also demolished. Heavy weapons were also destroyed in Sheikho Sar area. Sources said the militants were using local population as human shield in various areas.

A person was killed and eight others injured when a mortar shell was fired by the security forces in Bulkarai area of Matta tehsil.

November 2

At least 13 Taliban militants and two SF personnel were killed and nine militants injured in clashes in various areas of Swat valley in the NWFP. "During the last 24 hours, at least 13 Taliban were killed and nine were critically injured, while two security personnel were also killed," a spokesman of the Swat Media Centre told APP. The clash killing two SF personnel occurred when the Taliban attacked a patrolling party in Matta tehsil (revenue division) on November 1, he said, adding that the troops retaliated and killed four Taliban militants. Separately, the Taliban fired two rockets at the SF’s camp in Kabal tehsil, the spokesman said. He said the troops killed four Taliban militants and injured two in the clash. The spokesman said that troops also neutralised suspected Taliban hideouts in Sardara and Shamozai areas, killing five of them and injuring three others.

The Taliban militants abducted four policemen from Nangolai area in the Swat district. The channel also reported that students from various schools staged a demonstration in Swat to protest the closure of educational institutions.

Two persons were killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on a Gujar Ghari village-bound vehicle at Sharmakhano Road in Peshawar.The victims were identified as Rashid and Sajid, residents of Gujar Ghari.

November 3

Helicopter gun ships continued to raid militant hideouts in the Dhero and Dagai areas of Kabal tehsil (revenue division) in the NWFP. Three vehicles were destroyed in the operation and a cab driver identified as Nadir Khan was killed. A Suzuki pickup van and another vehicle also came under the attack.

In Kabal Khas, four bullet-riddled bodies, including a father and son, were found on the bank of river Swat. The killed persons were identified as Fazal and his son Shah Wali Khan and Aziz. The identity of the fourth deceased could not be ascertained.

In Allahabad area of Charbagh, unidentified persons abducted a police constable. Residents of the area said that police constable, Shams, was on his way to Khwazakhela from Mingora when armed men whisked him away near Allahabad area of Charbagh tehsil and shifted him to undisclosed location.

Kanju Peace Jirga (council) has presented four-point formula to local Taliban leadership for restoration of peace in the region. Taliban have assured the jirga that their demands would be put before the Taliban Shura for consideration, adding, the jirga would be informed after the Shura meeting. The four-point formula include reinforcement of peace accord singed between NWFP government and Swat Taliban, Taliban proposals for amendments to the peace accord, Taliban’s reaction regarding draft of Sharia regulation and resumption of talks or initiation of fresh talks between the two sides to reach an understanding. Peace jirga chief, Syed Inamur Rehman, during his recent backdoor meeting with government functionaries and Taliban leaders had expressed optimism that both sides would reach a viable solution to end the ongoing violence in the Swat valley.

The unidentified militants kidnapped an Afghan government official from Chitral Valley at a time when police are already on their toes to find out three other kidnapped Afghan nationals, including an Afghan envoy, younger brother of finance minister of the neighbouring country and a professor of the Aryana University in Jalalabad. Akhtar Kohistani, an adviser to the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), was abducted from the remote Chitral Valley. He had arrived in the town the same day to see his in-laws. A police official told The News that armed men abducted Kohistani from the house of one of his relatives, located in Seerdoor Kadak village of Darosh Valley. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Akhtar Kohistani is a close relative of Member of the National Assembly from Chitral, Shahzada Mohiuddin. Police suspect the kidnappers might have come after the Afghan official from his own country. Chitral shares a long border with Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. Kohistani, who is the fourth high-profile Afghan national kidnapped from the Frontier province or adjacent tribal areas during the past 45 days. Earlier, Afghanistan’s ambassador-designate to Pakistan, Abdul Khaliq Farahi was abducted by four armed men from Hayatabad Township, Peshawar on September 22, 2008. On October 31, unidentified gunmen abducted Ziaul Haq, younger brother of the Afghan finance minister, Anwarul Haq Ahady. A professor of Jalalabadís Aryana University, Abdul Haq Danishmal, was abducted from the tribal Khyber region last week.

A rocket fired by unidentified persons landed in a grove of trees in Peshawar Airport premises in the limits of Tehkal Police Station. There were no reports of causalities or damage, police said, adding the rocket was fired at around 3am (PST).

A bomb blast damaged Gambati police check post, injuring a policeman.

A rocket fired by unidentified militants landed in the fields in Sheru area, about 19 kilometres from Mardan district. No causalities were reported.

November 4

At least seven persons, including three SF officials, were killed and six others injured in a suicide attack on a SF check post in the Hangu district. The Hangu district SP said the attack occurred in the Doaba area when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a military check post at around 9:30am (PST). Police officials said that head of the suicide bomber, aged between 20 and 22 years, has been recovered. They said around 40-kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.

Unidentified militants attacked a police vehicle in the Mardan district, killing two policemen and injuring two others. The incident occurred in Lundh Khur town of Mardan, local police officer Iqbal Khan said.

Militants publicly executed a police official, Shamsul Qamar, in the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela tehsil (revenue division) of the Swat district. Shamsul Qamar, a wireless operator at the Madyan police station, was abducted on November 3 from Golibagh area while he returning from Mingora to Madyan after receiving his salary.

Unidentified militants abducted 15 schoolchildren in the Matta tehsil of Swat. Three of the 15 students of a high school in Nazar Abad area of Matta later managed to escape.

A shopkeeper, Inayatur Rahman, was abducted by suspected militants from the Charbagh area.

Owing to the growing threats to security agencies in the Swat valley, about 350 policemen have reportedly either deserted the force or submitted their resignations. The growing incidents of attacks on their lives have demoralised the policemen who feel insecure in their jobs. District Police Officer Dilawar Bangash, however, withheld their resignations and asked them to change their decision, police sources said. Some of the policemen have been publishing advertisements in the local and regional newspapers disowning the police force. Sources said that those police personnel used to send the cutting of newspapers to local Taliban leadership to clarify their position.

Major Gen Nasir Janjua, in charge of the Swat military operation, told reporters in Mingora that the Taliban had suffered heavy casualties and the valley would soon be cleared of the Taliban. He said troops had completed operation in Sar Senai area of Kabal tehsil and residents, who had moved to safer places during the operation, could return.

Unidentified militants fired two rockets at the Peshawar International Airport from an unidentified location at around 12:30am (PST). One of the rockets landed on the runway and damaged it, while another landed in the nearby house of a military officer at Sahibzada Gul road near the PAF Cinema. The rocket that landed in the house of the military officer damaged a toilet. This was the second attack on the airport in as many days. AFP quoted officials as saying the rockets were fired by ‘suspected Taliban’.

November 5

Three Taliban militants were killed when a roadside bomb they were planting exploded in the Chamkanai area of Swat.

Militants beheaded a person in the Sakhra area of Matta tehsil (revenue division).

The beheaded dead body of a Police officer abducted earlier was found dumped in the Charbagh area of Swat. Three other officers who were abducted along with him four days ago were still being held. Swat Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan, said the three would suffer the same fate unless 122 militants were released.

The militants destroyed one bridge each in Sangota and Fizzagat areas with explosives.

Unidentified militants detonated a remote-controlled bomb planted close to a house in the Bawbar area of Upper Dir district. However, no casualty was reported.

Police claimed to have arrested 24 criminals, including four suspected militants, and recovered a huge quantity of arms during search operation in different areas of Kohat.

Taliban said they had released 12 students who were kidnapped on suspicion of spying for the Government. The students, aged between 19 and 20, were abducted on November 4. A statement said: "These students were spying for the security forces. We released five students yesterday (Tuesday). The remaining seven were released today (Wednesday) after their parents personally assured us that these students will not indulge in spying for the security forces."

November 6

Two FC personnel were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a FC camp in the Mingora area. The police said the attacker infiltrated the gathering of several hundred FC soldiers, which was followed by an assault by Taliban militants.

Five rockets fell in the Peshawar airport and Cantonment area, but there were no casualties. One fell in Tehkal police station jurisdiction. This was the third rocket attack on the Cantonment this week. The rockets were apparently fired from the Regi area bordering Khyber Agency.

A 500KV electricity pylon was blown up near Badabher, briefly disrupting power supply to provincial capital Peshawar before it was restored through alternative sources.

The Government ordered security agencies to shoot at sight suspected militants in the areas connecting capital Peshawar with Khyber Agency to control terrorist activities and rising incidents of abduction for ransom.

The Government released three Taliban prisoners, including Baitullah Mehsud’s deputy Maulvi Rafiuddin, while the Taliban released 10 soldiers taken hostage in the Hangu district.

November 7

A Taliban militant was killed when a lashkar (militia) and security forces clashed with the militants in Adezai under Mattani police station in Peshawar.

Taliban militants blew up two checkposts and a market in Sakhi Pul area under Nasir Bagh police station. Police recovered a bomb weighing seven kilograms from the incident site.

The Cantonment Police Superintendent Abdul Qadir Qamar said that the Cantonment and Peshawar airport areas were attacked with rockets from Khyber Agency. The rocket attacks started after the police launched an operation targeting abductors, said Qamar.

November 9

Mortar shells fired by the SFs killed six civilians in the Swat district.

Taliban militants set ablaze a television cable operator’s office in the Sangota area and two girls’ schools in Kabal.

November 10

In Mingora, five Taliban militants, including a local commander, were killed in clashes with the troops in the Moragai and Shalkho areas of Matta tehsil (revenue division), while two more were killed in a separate clash in the Kabal tehsil of Swat district.

A mortar shell landed at a house in the Chuperial area of Matta, killing two persons while injuring several others.

SFs shelled the suspected hideouts of the militants in Akhun Kalay, Zora and other mountainous villages overnight but there was no report of any casualties.

Militants blew up two bridges, including a small bridge in Sangota and the newly-constructed Landakay-Shamozo bridge.

The Taliban made an unsuccessful attempt at targeting an army convoy with a timed bomb in the Duaba area of Tall tehsil. The bomb was planted on Duaba Tora Wari Road with an army convoy as the apparent target, but the device exploded 10 minutes after the troops passed the spot.

The militants blew up a school for girls in the Chukiatan area of Upper Dir district. Three rooms of the four-room building were razed to ground while the remaining one was damaged in two consecutive blasts. So far five girls’ schools -- two high, two middle and a primary -- have been destroyed in the district during the last six months.

November 11

At least 11 Taliban militants were killed in gunfights with troops in the Swat valley. Some of the clashes in Swat "took place after Taliban militants opened fire on troops during an ongoing army operation in Matta and Kabal tehsils", an army statement said. Seven Taliban militants were killed and several others were wounded, it added. Two soldiers were also injured. A security official later said that four more Taliban militants were killed and two soldiers wounded in a separate clash in Kabal.

A girl was allegedly killed in the Muhammad Beg area of Kabal in firing by the SFs.

In the Charbagh tehsil (revenue division), Taliban militants attacked a security check post. But there were no casualties.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a packed Qayyum Stadium in Peshawar, killing four people, including a policeman and three civilians. 13 more persons were wounded. Senior Superintendent of Police Ghulam Muhammad said seven or eight kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. The bomber is believed to be young man of around 20 years and had explosives strapped to his body, bomb disposal officer Hukam Khan said. Taliban militants operating in Darra Adam Khel claimed responsibility for the attack and said that senior NWFP minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour was their target.

Three persons were killed during clashes following a combined search operation by Pakistan Army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps and contingents of the Frontier Police at Mathra in the limits of Peshawar district.

Unidentified militants blew up a police check post that was under construction in Bannu. According to police, the men planted explosives near the check post in the Ghoriwala area at Dera Ismail Khan Road. The bomb, which was fitted to the wall of the police check post, damaged three rooms and a corridor. However there were no casualties.

Police defused a roadside bomb in the Hangu area.

November 12

Five persons, including four SF personnel, were killed and 15 others were wounded as a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-filled bus into the gates of the Subhan Khaur village school in Charsadda district. Two other civilians were killed as troops opened retaliatory fire. The school was being used by the SFs for carrying out operations against the Taliban and hence, there were no children in the school.

Eight Taliban militants and a solider were killed in an exchange of fire in Kabal tehsil (revenue division) of Swat district. Two other SF personnel were injured during the encounter.

The Taliban fired mortars at a security checkpoint in Totano Banday village without causing any casualty. Clashes were also reported from the Ningolai area of Kabal. But there were no casualties.

In Matta tehsil, four suspected militants were arrested during an operation. In the same tehsil, Taliban blew up a boys’ high school in Drushkhela area.

A USAID official, heading a project of the FATA Development Authority, was killed along with his driver near the American Club in the Peshawar town. Stephen de Vance, the chief of the USAID-funded FATA Livelihood Development Programme, was en route to office when unidentified attackers ambushed his car at around 9:00 am on the Ataturk Road.

Search operations by the SFs in the suburbs of capital Peshawar resulted in the killing of two militants and injury to five others.

November 13

Two Taliban militants, including a commander identified as Ibrahim, were killed and several others were injured after SFs retaliated to a Taliban rocket attack on the Saidu Sharif airport.

Clashes were reported between the Taliban and SFs in the Kabal Khas and Akhund Kalay areas of Kabal revenue division. No casualties were, however, reported. A military statement said the Mingora-Kalam road had been reopened for traffic and the two damaged bridges on the road had been repaired.

Unidentified gunmen abducted an Iranian diplomat in Peshawar’s Hayatabad locality and killed his police guard. According to the police and witnesses, three gunmen with beards and flowing hair stopped Iranian commercial councillor Heshmatollah Atharzadeh’s vehicle some distance from his house in Phase-IV of Hayatabad, bordering Khyber Agency and took him away. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi condemned the kidnapping as ‘a terrorist act’.

At least three labourers were injured in rockets attack in the Swat Scouts Camp near Warsak Dam.

November 14

Six Taliban militants were killed and several injured in shelling by helicopter gun ships and artillery firing as security forces in Charsadda district and nearby Mohmand Agency in the FATA.

The SFs demolished the house of a Taliban commander identified as Khalid and arrested five militants in Darra Adam Khel. The houses of two tribesmen were also bulldozed in Jadukhel and Faroghan areas of Zarghunkhel for their alleged links to the Taliban.

During a search operation in the Rashkai area, troops demolished three houses and a public school, which the Taliban were using for attacks against SFs.

Two remote-controlled explosions destroyed six shops, including two shops renting out video CDs, and injured three persons in Dera Ismail Khan. The first blast occurred at 10pm on November 13-night in a CD shop at Circle Road near Swayra Hotel. Three adjoining shops were also destroyed completely. The second blast occurred near Circle Road Eidgah Klan Mor at 6am on November 14 in a video shop. The explosion destroyed two more shops.

The security forces and Taliban militants exchanged fire in the Balugram area of Swat district. There were, however, no reports of casualties.

The Taliban militants torched four snooker clubs in Usmanabad and Tahirabad areas of Swat.

November 15

Nine Taliban militants, including commander Ali Rehman from Derai, were killed in clashes with the security forces in Swat.

The troops killed a suspected suicide bomber and an accomplice when they fired a rocket on troops in Shabqadar. They also seized Taliban commander Ehtishamul Haq’s house.

Talks between Taliban cleric Fazlullah and a Swat peace jirga (council) began.

Three suicide bombers have reportedly entered Peshawar to hit targets including the Malik Mohammad Saad Shaheed Police Lines, according to a note put up at the Police Lines.

November 17

12 militants were killed and eight were arrested in an overnight operation in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda district. Gunship helicopters reportedly shelled different locations in the area, including Khalil Korona, Shanir Ghandy, Akrabdad, Juma Khan Kila, Muhab Kila and Rashkai Korr. Shelling in the Ayesha Korr area resulted in the killing of 12 militants. The SFs also neutralized an important militant position at Mohab Qila and captured the Juma Khan Qila which was attacked by militants. Further, the SFs also fired mortar shells in the Pandial region, which fell on to a house, injuring two women and a girl.

Ten persons, including four soldiers, were killed and 17 others were wounded in a suicide blast in the Khawazakhela area of Swat. A military statement said the suicide bomber struck the security forces'' check post in an explosives-packed vehicle at 11:15 a.m. near Gashkor. The bomber is believed to be a teenager. Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the attack, adding attacks against security forces would continue if the military operation in Swat continued.

SFs continued their operation in several areas of Kabal sub-division, including Kabal Khas, Akhonkalay and Zora. However, there was no report of any loss of life in the shelling.

November 18

15 militants were killed and several others sustained injuries in the ongoing military operation in the Swat Valley. Gunship helicopters shelled alleged militant hideouts in Akhund and Zora Kellay in the Kabal sub-division, killing seven militants and injuring several persons, including civilians. Further, a soldier was killed and a civilian was wounded in an encounter between the SFs and militants at Ningolai checkpoint. However, the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman, Muslim Khan, claimed to have killed five SF personnel in the shoot-out. The militants also opened fire on the security forces’ checkpoint in Tootano Bandai but no loss of life was reported in the incident.

Eight militants were killed in an encounter with the SFs in the Gashkor area of Khwazakhela sub-division.

Five militants were killed while nine persons, including five militants, sustained injuries during a gun-battle in Mian Kellay in the Charsadda district.

A suspected US drone fired two missiles on a residential compound in the Janikhel area of Bannu district, killing four persons and injuring four others. One Arab, two Turkmen and a local militant were killed in the pre-dawn attack. This was the first time that a drone intruded 70kms deep inside Pakistani territory and hit a target in the settled area of the NWFP. A senior security official in provincial capital Peshawar said that a major Arab al Qaeda operative was among six militants killed in the overnight missile strike. Security sources identified the militant as Abdullah Azam Al-Saudi, a senior al Qaeda member who, they said, American intelligence officials had identified as the main link between al Qaeda’s senior command and Taliban networks in the Pakistani border region.

Two women were killed when a shell hit a house in Norano Kellay.

SFs demolished two houses and as many shops in the Kanju area of Kabal and arrested 27 suspected militants during a search operation.

In the Khwazakhela sub-division, a mortar shell fired from an undisclosed location landed at the house of a person Khalid, killing his wife and injuring his son.

The troops targeted militants’ positions in different areas of Safi and lower Mohmand tehsil (revenue division) with artillery and other heavy weapons. Sources said the SFs targeted suspected militants’ hideouts on hilltops and different areas of Safi and lower Mohmand with artillery from Ghallanai headquarters, Mamad Ghat and Michni camps. However, no casualty was reported from these areas.

The NWFP Government set weapons surrender as the foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban. The condition was presented before members of a Kanjoo Peace jirga (council), who met members of the NWFP Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a possible truce in the valley. The peace jirga, led by Inamur Rehman, informed the legislators that the Taliban were ready for ‘unconditional’ talks with the Government and that their chief [Fazlullah] would abide by the decisions of the jirga, the sources said. The meeting between the jirga and the members of the provincial assembly, which was also attended by Awami National Party’s provincial President Afrasiab Khattak was the third in the last few weeks.

November 19

Nine persons, including five militants, were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries in the ongoing military operation in Swat Valley.

Two women were killed and five other persons wounded when mortar shells fired by the SFs landed at a house of one Manzaray in the Kass area of Khwazakhela. It was also reported that two persons were killed and as many injured when a mortar shell hit a house in Kabal. In another incident, militants blew up a Government primary school in the Bara Bandai area of Kabal.

November 20

The fighter jets targeted Taliban hideouts in the Ghat Piocher area of Matta tehsil in Swat. Security officials as saying that 20 militants were killed in the bombing. However, the Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that five houses and a local school were destroyed in the bombing, but there were no casualties.

An angry mob torched shops and vehicles and pelted police with rocks in Dera Ismail Khan after a bomb exploded at the funeral procession of a slain Shia cleric. 10 persons were killed and approximately 40 others were wounded in the blast. Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanaullah Khan told that a remote-controlled bomb exploded during the funeral of Syed Iqbal Shah at 11am. The bomb exploded on Bannu Road as the procession was headed for the Kotli Imam Graveyard.

In Khwazakhel, at least eight civilians, including six women, were killed and 33 injured as SFs tried to target Taliban positions in the Alam Ganj area.

SFs arrested four Taliban militants and recovered 12 suicide vests from them in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda district.

November 21

One policeman was killed and four others injured when Taliban militants fired rockets at a police check-post in the Mamoon Khwar Doaba area of Hangu district.

Militants torched two shops at Mingora in the Swat district in the wee hours. Sources said the militants torched an electronics shop of the Abaseen Market, where dish antenna and receivers were also being sold. The militants also set ablaze a video game shop in Sarwar Market in Mingora city. In another incident, unknown persons looted three shops in various areas.

November 22

Five people, including two children, were killed and seven others injured when a bomb exploded in a mosque in the Tull tehsil of Hangu district. Hangu District Police Officer Sajjad Khan told the bomb went off at about 4:00pm (PST) during prayers in the Sewa Gul Mosque in the Mohallah Tandaroo Sunni neighbourhood.

Suspected Taliban militants fired rockets and bullets at the Lorra Pull police check post in the Mundan area of Bannu at about 4:00am (PST), killing at least three policemen.

An unidentified gunman shot dead the NWFP Forest Minister Wajid Ali Khan’s brother in Mingora. Farooq Khan, an NWFP Police inspector in Mingora, was heading on his motorbike for a market in Mingora city, said officials.

In Mingora, unidentified militants set ablaze a CD and video film store.

Security forces have taken complete control of Swat’s Kabal tehsil, a military statement said. It said the Taliban had fled the area after heavy casualties and a team of engineers was detecting and removing landmines and remote-controlled bombs that Taliban had planted in the area. It said the fleeing Taliban had robbed several houses and offices.

The locals said Taliban punished two men with 39 whips each on charges of adultery in Kabal. In Charbagh tehsil, they also punished two alleged drug peddlers with 20 whips each. The punishments followed rulings of their own ‘shariah courts’.

November 24

SFs claimed to have killed 25 hardcore militants, including some foreigners, during a military operation in the Michini area of Peshawar district. They also claimed arresting 40 militants and seizing a huge quantity of arms and ammunition. Addressing a press conference at a military base camp in Shno Ghondai area near Mohmand Agency, the NWFP’s Inspector General of Police, Malik Naveed, said a police constable and two Frontier Constabulary personnel were also killed. He added the situation in four villages of the Michini area was yet to be controlled. Naveed also said that after completion of the operation, the legal status of the 25 disputed villages in Michini would be changed and these would be considered as settled area where security agencies would set up checkpoints to maintain law and order.

17 persons, including 15 militants, were killed in a military operation against the militants and fresh incidents of violence in the Swat valley.

SFs used helicopters and artillery to shell militant positions in various towns and villages of Swat. In the Mangaltan area of Charbagh, the SFs targeted vehicles, besides pounding militant positions, and claimed to have killed 11 persons in the operation, besides injuring six others. The military claimed that five vehicles of the militants were also destroyed in the strike. According to the Swat Media Centre, two militants were killed and four injured in Gashkor. It claimed that two more combatants were killed in Chuperial and as many were injured, besides destroying a vehicle.

A local leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, a coalition party of the Awami National Party in the NWFP, Siraj, was shot dead in the Aligrama area of Kabal. In another incident, the militants killed a woman councillor, accused of ‘immorality’ in Mingora, inside her house.

The ongoing military operation in Swat marked one year. During the last one year, 189 SF personnel, including 61 policemen, 35 Frontier Constabulary, seven Frontier Corps and 86 Army soldiers, were killed while hundreds of others wounded. The militants abducted 66 SF personnel, including 26 police officials, 36 Frontier Constabulary and four Frontier Corps soldiers. Around 135 important personalities were killed, 89 injured and 39 kidnapped. The SFs killed over 700 militants during the last one year of the ‘Rah-e-Haq Operation’. More civilians than the militants reportedly lost their lives in the military actions, 17 suicide and 148 remote-controlled bomb blasts and other incidents of violence.

Ten people, including a woman, were injured in two bomb blasts in Peshawar. Syed Kamal Shah, the caretaker of Hussainia mosque, his wife and seven other people sustained injuries in the first blast which occurred in the second-storey washroom of his residence. The other blast took place in the Pando area injuring one person.

November 25

Eight persons, including six Shias and two Sunnis, were killed and several injured in separate acts aimed at fanning sectarian violence in the Hangu and Kohat districts.

Four people were killed and nine others wounded in Hangu when unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire in Raysan Bazaar, police said. "The attacks are designed to spur sectarian violence in the region," Hangu Mayor Khan Afzal told AFP.

Four persons were killed in Kohat district when unidentified gunmen fired at a passenger’s van in the Kachai area.

Three persons, including the deputy chief of the Matta sub-division, Liaqat Ali Khan, were killed and as many injured in separate incidents of violence in Swat Valley.

In three separate incidents, two persons were shot dead and an equal number injured in the Durushkhela village of Matta, Kalakot and Mingora. In Durushkhela, unidentified gunmen killed Munir Khan while a butcher was shot dead in Kalakot. Two currency dealers were wounded in Mingora city. Some reports suggested that one of them later succumbed to his injuries.

Five rockets hit different areas of Peshawar. Sources said unidentified miscreants fired five rockets from unknown locations at about 11:35pm. There were reports that an elderly man was injured when one of the rockets hit his home at Saeedabad. Police sources confirmed that a total of five rockets had been fired from undisclosed locations that fell near the building of Peshawar High Court, in the vicinity of Bacha Khan Markaz, Hassan Ghari and Saeedabad.

One of the three young tribesmen who were tipped off by the intelligence agencies as potential suicide bombers and assigned to hit important security establishments in Peshawar, surrendered to the police in the provincial capital. Ali Raza, 21, is a final-year student at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Peshawar.

The NWFP Labour Minister Sher Azam Wazir survived an assassination bid in Bannu district, as a police pilot vehicle escorting him was blown up by a remote-controlled explosive device. Wazir was en route to his native village Sarkikhel.

In another incident in Bannu, unidentified militants fired rockets at the Havaid Police Station. Sources said militants stormed the police station by using heavy weapons, including rockets. The Frontier Constabulary and police personnel present at the police station returned the fire and the encounter continued for two hours. However, the police forced the militants to retreat, causing no loss of life.

November 26

Five persons, including three Taliban militants, were killed in two separate clashes between the Taliban and police in Peshawar. The first clash erupted when over 100 militants, believed to have entered the city from Darra Adam Khel, besieged the house of Adezai Union Council chief Abdul Malik. According to Malik, the Taliban ordered him to surrender or join them. Upon refusal, they targeted his house with rockets and hand-grenades. Malik’s two relatives, Khayal Gul and Sher Mast, were killed while six people were injured in the attack. Malik said security forces came to his rescue soon and attacked the Taliban. After a two-hour battle, the Taliban fled from the incident site leaving behind two dead bodies.

The locals said around 10 members of the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) arrived in Board Bazaar on Ring Road and warned shop owners against selling music cassettes and compact discs, adding that they left the area after a clash with a police patrolling party. One LI activist was killed and two were arrested following an exchange of fire near Achini.

The SFs took control of Kabal in the Swat district while one more person was killed and 11 injured during the ongoing operation in the Swat Valley. The militants also abducted a senior doctor from the Matta area and blew up a bridge at Sambat. A security official told that 27 Taliban militants were killed and 21 injured, while one security official was killed and two injured in the 26-day operation in Kabal. The SFs destroyed 18 houses in Kabal and recovered four hand grenades.

November 27

Six persons, including a DSP, were killed in incidents of violence in the Swat Valley. DSP Abdul Wadud, who was on duty in Buner district, had come to see his family in Mingora where he was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Green Square. In another incident, the body of a taxi driver, identified as Munir, was found in Balogram, situated near Mingora. Further, a civilian, Sher Gul, was shot dead in Mamdherai, the former headquarters of militants. In addition, suspected militants shot dead a person, Muhammad Naeem, on New Road. A councillor, Rahmat, who was abducted a few days back, was killed and his body thrown in the Arkot area of Matta sub-division. Another person, Bakht Sher, a resident of Buner, was wounded after being shot at allegedly by the security forces. He later succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

The militants attacked a bus carrying security force personnel to Madyan at Fatehpur with a remote-controlled bomb. However, no casualties were reported in the incident.

A policeman shot dead a civilian after mistakenly suspecting him for a militant near the Hangu Police Training College. The deceased was later identified as Muhammad Karim, the owner of a local hotel in Hangu.

Police seized a truck loaded with arms and ammunition at Ghulsinabad check-post in the limits of Jangalkhel police station in Kohat district and arrested one accused in this connection.

November 28

At least seven people, including a policeman, were killed and 16 others, including four policemen, sustained injuries when a suicide bomber targeted a police patrol vehicle in Bannu district. Local sources told that a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police car patrolling the streets near Tarezi Chowk on the main Bannu-Kohat road.

Seven persons, including six of a family, were killed in fresh incidents of violence in the Swat Valley. Unidentified assailants entered a house in Gharibabad and shot dead six persons, including a 13-year-old child and three women of the same family. The dead were identified as Akbar Khan, his wife, two daughters, son and daughter-in-law. At Ayub Bridge, the security forces fired at a truck killing its driver, Muhammad Iqbal, while another person escaped narrowly.

The security forces targeted the Chuprial area of Matta sub-division with artillery. The artillery fire reportedly damaged several houses in the area.

November 30

Three SF personnel and eight militants were killed and 17 SF personnel sustained injuries in a gun-battle which followed a Taliban attack on a police checkpoint on the Bannu-Miranshah road in Bannu district. Police said the militants attacked the Baranpul checkpoint with rockets and mortars, killing three SF personnel and injuring 17 others. Bannu District Police Officer Mohammad Alam Khan Shinwari said the Taliban escaped with the bodies of seven militants, leaving one body behind. The Taliban also carried out another attack but were repulsed.

Ahmadullah Ahmedi, a spokesman for the TTP (Hafiz Gul Bahadar group), claimed responsibility for the attacks, which he said would continue till US drone attacks were stopped. He also said the agreement reached with SFs in North Waziristan would not be violated and attacks on Government installations and functionaries would be carried out only in the settled areas of the country.

Three policemen were killed and five others were injured when the Taliban militants fired rockets at a police vehicle near Lakki Marwat, said senior police official Mohammad Alim Shinwari.

Two rockets fell on a NATO supply terminal on Peshawar’s Ring Road, killing a driver and injuring another.

Unidentified men set ablaze a CD shop and another store in Mohallah Darusalam in Swat.

December 1

11 civilians were killed and 66 persons, including two soldiers, injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden mini-truck into the Sangota checkpoint in the Swat valley. The suicide blast brought the roof of a nearby house down, leaving a woman dead. All the dead were civilians waiting at the checkpoint. After the blast, the SFs resorted to indiscriminate firing, which reportedly injured several people. Meanwhile, three persons - a trooper, an arrested militant and a 13-year-old boy - were killed when they came under fire. The SFs subsequently arrested 17 suspected militants during a crackdown.

Militants blew up two bridges at Khariri and Sambat and as many shops in Sambat.

Eight vehicles, including two armoured personnel carriers of the US-led NATO forces, were destroyed and seven others partially damaged when militants attacked a parking lot in the vicinity of the Pishtakhara village near capital Peshawar, killing two civilians and injuring as many.

December 2

One soldier, six militants and six civilians were killed and several others wounded in an exchange of fire and shelling in Swat valley. According to the Government media centre, the soldier, identified as Shaukat, was killed when militants ambushed a convoy in the Deolai area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division). The Inter-Services Public Relations said that six militants were killed when helicopter gunships shelled their positions. Six non-combatants, four of them members of a family, were killed and several others injured when some shells hit a civilian area.

In the Sar Senai area of Kabal, a man was shot dead by suspected militants.

Unidentified men abducted Zahoor, an official of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, along with his two colleagues from Sinpora area of Matta tehsil. The Swat chapter of the TTP has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The NWFP Government has asked the federal Government to take decisive action against a Taliban build-up in Jamrud. A senior official said "The Government has to take action or we shall see Iraq-like situation in the area in the coming few months," referring to the deteriorating law and order situation in the city and growing Taliban activities in Jamrud and adjacent areas of Khyber and Mohmand agencies. He said a high-level meeting in Peshawar two days ago noted that Taliban from Jamrud were responsible for kidnappings and attacks on NATO supply convoys.

December 3

Five people, including three SF personnel, were killed and six others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his auto rickshaw into a vehicle of the SFs at Pir Qala area of Shabqadar tehsil (revenue division) in the Charsadda district.

Four persons were killed in fresh incidents of violence in the Swat valley. According to the ISPR, a convoy of the SFs came under attack from the militants in Kanju area of the Kabal tehsil, resulting in the death of a soldier besides injuries to two others. Following the attack, the SFs launched a search operation in the area. They claimed to have arrested 21 suspected militants and blown up two houses of militants.

A man, Syed Shah, a resident of Naway Killay, was shot dead by unidentified assailants inside his house.

Two persons were killed and three others sustained injuries when a mortar shell landed on their house in Sro village located in the militant-controlled Peochar area. Nine persons, including four women, were wounded in different villages of Kabal due to mortar shells.

In Mingora, the militants warned teachers of various schools to ensure so-called Islamic haircut and dress for students or face dire consequences. They also repeated their warning to the Cheena Market to stop women from shopping there.

An engineer of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Zahoor, who was abducted a few days ago was reportedly released after ‘investigations’ and production of his resignation.

December 4

SFs killed 10 Taliban militants in Malam Jabba and Matta tehsil (revenue division) in Swat. "The troops targeted (Taliban) hideouts in Malam Jabba and destroyed a vehicle prepared for a suicide explosion," the spokesman of Swat Media Centre said. He said six militants were killed in the operation. In Matta, troops attacked a Taliban vehicle, killing four militants.

In the Khwazakhela area of Swat, armed men killed two people on charges of ‘spying for the government’. Two more men were killed in Kabal, while assailants killed a man in the Taj Chowk area of Mingora.

Unidentified assailants killed a former Awami National Party candidate for the provincial assembly from Dir in Swat. Police said Shamim Khan was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mingora.

A police constable was killed and 13 police and Frontier Corps personnel were injured when suspected militants attacked a police station in Bannu. The station was destroyed in the attack carried out with rockets, missiles, hand-grenades and other weapons.

In the capital Peshawar, a Deputy Superintendent of Police survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban.

Unidentified men detonated three bombs planted close to video and CD shops at Al-Noor and China markets near Timergara in Lower Dir. A Timeragara police official said the low-intensity improvised explosive devices went off in quick succession after the markets had been closed. The blasts damaged several video and CD shops, however no casualty was reported, he added.

December 5

A car bomb explosion outside an Imambargah (congregation hall for Shia rituals) near the Qisakhwani Bazaar in Peshawar killed at least 34 persons and injured more than 150 others. Imambargah Alamdar Karbala and several adjacent buildings in the Kocha Risaldar alley were damaged and the ensuing fire engulfed buildings, markets and vehicles. The powerful explosion also damaged electricity wires, plunging the area into darkness. NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that about 20 to 25 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast, which he said did not appear to be a suicide bombing.

Two policemen were killed and another sustained injuries when Taliban militants fired rockets at Purdalkhel Police Station in the Bannu district. The police station chief Taj Mohammad Khan told that two militants were also killed when police retaliated.

Militants operating in the Swat valley announced a unilateral cease-fire till the third day of Eidul Azha in reverence of the religious festival. A spokesman for the militants said that they had decided to announce a unilateral truce for a week starting from today (December 6). He said the decision was taken to show respect for Eidul Azha.

Militants set ablaze a school in the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela. However, there was no loss of life or injuries.

The sister of a prominent Swat-based journalist, Shireen Zada, was killed when his house allegedly came under fire from the SFs in the Kanju area of the Kabal sub-division during a military operation.

The Inter-Services Public Relations said that curfew would be imposed on all of Swat valley except the main road leading from Landakay, the entry-point to Swat, to the main town of Mingora.

December 6

13 Taliban militants and a trooper were killed in two clashes in Swat district. ISPR officials in Mingora said 11 Taliban militants were killed in shelling by helicopters in the Nalkot area of Matta tehsil (revenue division). Two more Taliban militants were killed and four wounded in an exchange of fire in the Sambat area of Matta. The officials also confirmed the killing of one trooper in the same incident.

Unidentified assailants killed three people in two separate attacks. While two persons were killed in the Shah Darra area, the third was shot dead in the Matta city, police said.

SFs vacated a camp they had set up in Subhan Khawr High School building in the Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda district and went back to Ghalanai and Peshawar.

The ANP senior vice president, Haji Adeel, said the NWFP Government has ‘lost control’ of Swat district. The ANP leader also questioned the role of thousands of army and paramilitary troops engaged in combating militancy in the valley for more than a year. "What will be the credibility of the military operation in Swat when houses of ministers are destroyed and their family members are queued up for shooting," Adeel said at a seminar organised by the Joint Action Committee. "What I see is that the situation has gone out of control of both the federal and provincial governments and the people have lost confidence in the government and the army," Adeel said.

December 7

At least 171 vehicles of the US-led NATO forces, including 62 armoured personnel carriers, were torched by armed attackers in two parking bays on the Ring Road in the vicinity of Pishtakhara in Peshawar. Around 130 vehicles were completely destroyed in the attack, while 40 others were partially damaged. The attack is the biggest ever on NATO logistics in Pakistan, during which a watchman was killed while two others were injured when they offered resistance to over 300 attackers, who were armed with rocket launchers, hand grenades, petrol bombs and AK-47 rifles. A worker at the Port World Logistics on Ring Road near Pishtakhara said 106 vehicles were parked in their parking lot, including trucks, Humvees, cranes, fire brigade trucks and jeeps. Over 60 other vehicles were parked at the Al-Faisal Terminal, located across the Ring Road.

December 8

Taliban torched at least 53 vehicles destined for NATO forces in Afghanistan in an attack on the outskirts of Peshawar, the second such raid in two days, police and locals said. Armed gunmen shouting ‘God is great’ attacked Bilal Container Terminal near Jamil Chowk on the Ring Road at around 3am, said Zahid Ali, a local resident. He said he heard gunshots and explosions after which a large part of the terminal caught fire. City Superintendent of Police Chaudary Ashraf said it was a sabotage attack. The number of attackers could not be ascertained, he said, and it was not clear how they entered the terminal and set ablaze the vehicles.

SFs raided the offices of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (the LeT front outfit) in Mansehra and Chakdara. The NWFP unit chief of Jama’at-ud-Da’awa, Attique Chohan, said their charity centre called "Markaz-e-Hafsa" was raided in Mansehra. He said some arrests of their personnel were also made and the centre and its record seized by the SFs. Another small office of the group in Chakdara in Lower Dir was also taken over by the SFs. However, he said their office in Peshawar was open. Attique Chohan said, "We are peaceful people and not involved in any act of terrorism. We are also against attacks like the one made in Mumbai."

December 9

A key Taliban commander accused of masterminding attacks on cargo terminals harbouring NATO supplies was arrested from a Peshawar suburb. Musatafa Kamal Kamran Hijrat allegedly organised two separate attacks on three cargo terminals on December 7 and 8 to burn hundreds of containers and the military and other supplies they carried. He is also blamed for the hijacking of two US military Humvees and 13 truckloads of wheat on their way to Afghanistan in November 2008. "He is not in touch with us for the last two days," a source quoted the commander’s close aide, Kashmir Khan, as saying. "We don’t know whether he has gone to Afghanistan or has been arrested," he added. However, the Peshawar Police chief did not confirm the arrest. "This is all gupshup (gossip)… We have made no such arrest," Siffat Ghayur said.

December 11

Two US military trucks were destroyed when suspected militants attacked a parking lot with petrol bombs on the Ring Road in Peshawar. The assailants hurled explosives in the premises of the Bilal Parking and by the time fire-fighters doused the flames two military vehicles had been destroyed.

Taliban militants captured 200 men of the Pir Samiullah group and confiscated their five vehicles besides blocking the road leading to Aghal Mandal Dag area of Matta tehsil (revenue division) in Swat District. Sources said the associates of Pir Samiullah had earlier hurled two hand grenades at the house of a local militant, damaging it partially. After the incident, the two rival groups exchanged fire for three hours. However, no casualty was reported. Later, the militants blocked the road leading to Aghal and captured 200 men of the area. Sources said the captives were kept at a hospital in Aghal and were being tortured.

A senior clerk of the office of the District Police officer was abducted from Banjot area of Manglawar.

In Peshawar, Police sealed the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa office in Fowara Chowk. However, Attiqur Rehman Chohan, the provincial spokesman for the Da’awa, said that the organisation had decided to close its offices in Peshawar and other cities and suspend its activities for the time being. He said the group’s leaders were in touch with the provincial Government and major political parties and the issue would be raised in the national and provincial assemblies. The SFs also raided an office of the Da’awa in Parhana area of Mansehra District and arrested five of its activists. SFs had sealed the relief camp-cum-office a day before Eidul Azha.

December 12

Six persons were killed and four others sustained injuries in two separate incidents of violence in Swat Valley. Three persons were killed in an armed clash between Taliban militants and Pir Samiullah group in Mandal Dag area of Matta tehsil. The victims were from Pir Samiullah group. The militants also freed 150 hostages out of 200 of the Pir group, while the remaining 50 people were shifted to an undisclosed location. The militants had captured them along with five vehicles when they blocked the road leading to Aghal Mandal Dag area on December 11. For the return of 50 hostages, the militants were demanding custody of those people who had attacked the house of a Taliban commander with hand grenades in the area.

Three persons, including two minors, were killed and four others sustained injuries when artillery shells reportedly hit their houses in Kabal.

Suspected militants blew up the house and Hujra (guest house) of Muzaffarul Mulk, Member of National Assembly of Awami National Party, in Manglawar area. No causality was reported as both places were already vacated.

Militants abducted a local identified as Sherzada, a resident of Thankai Cheena of Charbagh tehsil, and torched a Government High School in Qamabar.

Militants targeted SFs stationed at Kanju airport with rockets, which, the SFs retaliated by hitting militant hideouts with artillery shells. No casualty from either side was reported in the incident.

The Taliban abducted a retired Policeman, identified as Hilal, from Shahkhokhel area of Hangu District.

Militants have allegedly warned the jirga (assembly/council of elders) members in Nowshera District of dire consequences if those involved in firing at their vehicle were not handed over to them within 72 hours. The alleged militants threatened to kidnap elders of Shahbara village if the men involved in the firing were not surrendered to them.

Police arrested a would-be suicide bomber soon after he entered a mosque where people had gathered for Friday prayers. 19-year-old Shakeel was arrested at the Latoo Faqeer mosque in the congested Hajianwala Street at a time when a large number of people had already reached there to offer Friday prayers. The suicide bomber, who reportedly hailed from Darra Adamkhel, had arrived in Dera Ismail Khan a few days ago and was reportedly staying at a secret place in the city. A suicide jacket, two hand-grenades and detonators were recovered from his possession.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead an elderly activist of the banned Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) and injured a traffic Policeman in Timergara, headquarters of Dir District. Sources said Khan Said of Buner District was staying at the TNSM protest camp for the last several days. Earlier, the gunmen shot and injured Muhammad Ayaz, a traffic Policeman, when he tried to intercept them.

12 more containers were set ablaze in a parking lot on the Ring Road in Peshawar. This is the fifth attack on NATO logistics since December 1, prompting the authorities to deploy Frontier Constabulary paramilitary troops at the transport terminals to secure supplies. There were reports that five rockets were fired at the Port World Logistic and the VSF Terminal, a parking lot transshipping containers to Afghanistan that was attacked for the third time in less than two weeks. Firing of automatic weapons and shots were also reportedly heard after the explosions at around 2:30 am.

JuD officials in Peshawar said Police had arrested 150 operatives in a province-wide operation and sealed 46 offices. But Dawn reported that over 181 activists were arrested and 46 offices sealed across the Frontier on December 11. Many workers have reportedly gone underground. Police closed the Da’awa headquarters at Peshawar’s Fawara Chowk late on December 11. However, no arrests were made. The Frontier Police also closed down offices of the banned Al Akhtar Trust and Al Rashid Trust in the Saddar, Hashtnagri, Gulbahar and Yakatoot areas of the city and in the rest of the province. JuD spokesman Attiq-ur-Rehman Chohan told reporters outside the sealed office at Fawara Chowk in Peshawar that workers were arrested from offices in Mardan, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Malakand, Swabi and other Districts of NWFP. He claimed the crackdown would deprive over 400,000 people displaced by the military operation in Bajuar Agency of food, medicines and other items.

December 13

Five civilians were killed when a car hit a landmine in the Jano area of Khawazakhela tehsil (revenue division) in Swat.

In Mandal Dag area of Matta tehsil, Taliban militants killed four people in a gun battle with followers of a local leader.

Unidentified assailants shot dead a man in the Islampura area of Mingora.

Another man was killed in firing by SFs in the Gul Jaba area of Kabal tehsil.

December 14

The Taliban killed an anti-Taliban cleric, Pir Samiullah, and his eight followers. Soon after the killings, the Taliban took over Mandal Daag area in Swat from the followers of the cleric. Samiullah and his followers were killed and several others injured in the Taliban attack. The Taliban also torched the houses of Samiullah and 15 elders of his group, and abducted 25 of his followers. The Taliban later launched a search operation and seized 50 rifles, a rocket launcher and others weapons from the slain cleric’s followers.

Four shops and a police post were damaged in two separate bomb blasts in the provincial capital Peshawar. However, there were no casualties. A police official told that a blast caused by a low-intensity explosive device at around 5am had damaged an electric store, a public call office, a snooker club and an embroidery shop in Gang Area in the Kotwali police station precincts. Another bomb blast later in the day damaged a police post on Ring Road in the Faqirabad police station jurisdiction. Suspected Taliban militants fired two rockets on the city, but there were no casualties. One rocket landed in Army Stadium and the other in open fields near Faqir Kilay.

Police arrested Taliban commander Khalid Raheem near Hangu while he was returning from Peshawar. Raheem is wanted by the police in several cases and is also said to be involved in the recent attacks on police stations and Frontier Constabulary check-posts.

Hundreds of armed Taliban militants attacked a bazaar in Tull tehsil of Hangu District and torched at least 18 shops. District Police Officer Sajjad Khan said Taliban had blown up two shops with explosives and set fire to 16 others. They also collected CDs and other inventory from eight shops and burnt them near Bannu Chowk, he added. He said the militants managed to escape after police opened fire on them.

The Bannu District Police foiled a terrorist attack in the Cantonment area. The District Police Officer said unidentified men planted two 50kg bombs in pressure cookers under a bridge, which the bomb disposal squad defused.

Maulvi Omer, spokesman for the TTP, claimed responsibility for the attacks on NATO supplies and termed it a reaction to the US drone attacks in the Pakistani territory. Talking to reporters by phone from an undisclosed location, Omer termed the recent series of attacks on terminals, used for supplies to NATO and the US forces in Afghanistan, "a response to the Americans for their drone strikes inside Pakistan". He said the TTP would expedite the attacks if the US strikes continued. Omer also threatened to carry out such attacks on NATO supply vehicles elsewhere in the country if the intensity of the attacks inside Afghanistan was not reduced. "We would try to cut off every supply through Pakistan if the situation remains the same," Omer warned, saying they were ready to hold talks with the Government.

The Taliban torched at least 11 trucks en route to Afghanistan carrying NATO supplies, in another attack targeting coalition goods on Peshawar’s Ring Road,. Police official Awaz Khan said 11 trucks were gutted in the fire that started in the early hours of the day at Bilal Terminal on Ring Road. 13 containers had also been destroyed.

December 15

The Taliban in Swat killed three people while three others were lashed for allegedly selling narcotics. Militants reportedly beheaded two followers of rival cleric Pir Sameeullah in the Gwalerai area of Matta tehsil (revenue division). The Taliban had killed Samiullah in a clash on December 14 and had taken 25 of his followers as hostage. The militants exhumed the body of Pir Sameeullah and hanged it along with his four followers in the Gwalerai. Eyewitnesses said the followers of Sameeullah had secretly buried his body in Solatan area after he was killed in a gun-battle with the militants. Receiving information about the secret burial of the Pir (saint), the militants exhumed the body for identification and later hanged it in the main market of Gawalarai.

In the Totano Bandai area of Kabal tehsil, Police recovered an unidentified body. Officials said the person had been shot dead.

One man was killed and three others abducted by the Taliban in Kotki area of Hangu District. Officials said the Taliban stopped a vehicle on the GT Road near Kotki. Out of the five men who were coming from Orakzai Agency in the FATA, the Taliban killed Riaz Ali on the spot, injured Mukhtiar Ali and kidnapped the other three men identified as Shoaib Ali, Gul Hassan and Sher Ali.

A Police official was killed and two others were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a Police mobile van in the Hoti Police Station precincts in Mardan District. Police said the team was on a routine patrol along the Swabi road when it was attacked. Constable Jabbar died on the spot while Head Constable Ghani and Constable Daud sustained bullet injuries.

In the provincial capital Peshawar, at least two persons were injured when a rocket fired by suspected Taliban militants hit a house in the Civil Quarters area. A bomb disposal squad official said the attackers used a Russian-made MRB-12 rocket, which has a range of 10-13 kilometers and weighs around 19 kilograms. He said the rocket was fired from Muslim Abad Colony on Dalazak Road. This was reportedly the first rocket attack carried out in daylight.

The Taliban publicly lashed three men in Charbagh tehsil after accusing them of selling narcotics, locals said.

Unidentified militants torched 15 houses owned by former federal minister and Awami National Party leader Afzal Khan Lala in the Droshkhela area of Swat District. The houses were used by his personal servants. No casualty was reported in the incident as the inmates had already abandoned the houses.

45 Policemen, who reportedly surrendered to the militants, were granted ‘clearance certificates’ by local Taliban in the Manglore area of Swat District. Sources said militants awarded clearance certificates to the Policemen so that they could produce them in future to avoid arrest.

Security agencies continued the crackdown against JuD and arrested 12 workers and sealed its assets in different parts of the NWFP. JuD provincial spokesman Atiq ur Rehman Chohan said 12 workers, including Mardan District chief Murad Khan, were arrested. Chohan while accusing state agencies of torturing JuD workers said that similar raids were also conducted in Abbottabad District and innocent people had been detained. He said that Police had confiscated four motor cycles in Abbottabad main office. In Peshawar, he said Police had sealed the Al Dawa Model School in Tehkal area which was illegal. "Sealing Dawa’s schools, hospitals and ambulance service will affect only common people and 25,000 workers across the country," he said.

December 16

Militants killed two more people, including a constable of the traffic Police and a prayer leader, in different parts of the Swat District and also freed seven followers of the slain Pir (saint) Samiullah. Bilal, a constable in traffic Police, was on his way back home after performing his duty when militants ambushed him near New Road. Similarly, Maaz-ud-Din, a prayer leader of Jahanabad mosque in Manglor, was going home after leading prayers when masked gunmen killed him near his residence. A spokesperson of the militants in Swat claimed killing two officials of the SFs in Shah Dherai area of Kabal sub-division. However, the Inter Services Public Relations denied the deaths of SF personnel.

Militants freed seven persons of their rival Pir Samiullah group. The freed persons included two minors and three adults while two more were released after furnishing guarantees of good conduct.

December 17

Seven people were killed and two others wounded in continued incidents of violence in the Swat valley. Two bodies were found in the Totano Bandai area of Kabal sub-division. Unidentified persons had killed them and thrown their bodies in the fields. Similarly, the bodies of two others were found in Sambat and Bedara areas of the Matta sub-division. Meanwhile, in Langhar area of Kabal, a person identified as Esa Khan was killed and his body was recovered from the fields. In Kanju Township, a couple was killed for having alleged illicit relations.

SFs targeted suspected hideouts of militants in Sir Aligram and Manglawar from the Frontier Corps camp at Kanju. However, there were no reports of any casualty.

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar said rival cleric Pir Samiullah and his followers were killed for opposing the Taliban in Swat. He said the remaining 18 followers of Samiullah taken hostage by the Taliban would be uted soon. He told reporters over telephone that the tribal militias formed against the Taliban had failed.

December 18

Four persons, including a Security Force official, were killed and another injured in separate incidents of suspected sectarian violence in the Hangu District. The District administration imposed Section 144 restrictions to prevent public gatherings following the incidents. It also ordered closure of all educational institutions for two days, and also closed the main Kohat-Hangu Road for traffic fearing further sectarian clashes. Earlier, the Taliban killed abducted militia chief Hilal Ali and dumped his body in Shaho area. Soon after the killing, unidentified men opened fire on a sixth grade student of Government High School Shaho, Mohammad Khan, killing him on the spot. In another incident, armed men opened indiscriminate fire on people fleeing from the area, killing two persons, including police constable Fida Hussain.

Police in Mardan District foiled a terrorist attack and seized a large cache of explosives and weapons. 51 dynamites, 115 detonators and hundreds of cartridges were recovered during a raid in Gojar Garhi village. One person was arrested in this connection.

December 19

Two persons were killed and 10 others sustained injuries when militants and the SFs clashed in the Chuprial area of Matta sub-division in Swat District. The militants attacked a check-post in Chuprial, which triggered a clash between the militants and the SFs. The clashes continued for sometime, but did not result in casualties from either side. Following the attack, the SFs shelled suspected positions of the militants with artillery, but there was no report of any militant casualty. However, two persons were killed and 10 others wounded when shells landed on a house and in a bazaar.

Unidentified assailants kidnapped two students of the Swat Public School hostel located at Rahimabad.

An attempt by the militants to blow up a girls’ college in Odigram, near Mingora, was foiled as the bomb disposal squad defused a 5 kg bomb planted inside the building of the college.

A policeman, identified as Ijaz Saeed, was abducted from the Shahukhel area of Hangu District.

The Taliban attacked a police station and a picket in Bannu District. Militants fired rockets on Meriyan Police Station and Kashi Police picket on the Link Road in Bannu before police and the militants exchanged fire. The militants later fled towards Janikhel area.

December 20

Two people were abducted from the Shahu area of Hangu District. A Police constable had been kidnapped from the same area on December 19.

December 21

Militants in the Swat District shot dead a Police official, an elected councillor and his son and burnt the family’s household items and goods kept in their shop. Four persons, including a woman, were also killed when mortar shells fired by the SFs hit their houses in Alamganj village.

The militants entered the house of a councillor, Faridoon Lala, and dragged him out along with his young son, Karimullah, to the Haji Baba Square in Mingora. The councillor and his son were lined up and shot dead. The militants also set ablaze items from the houses owned by Faridoon and his two sons and also burnt items of a general store of the family.

The militants also attacked a convoy of the SFs in Chuperial area of the Matta sub-division. In the ensuing encounter, two soldiers, identified as Zafar and Ramzan, were wounded. In addition, a SFs convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb at Arkot area of Matta. The two sides were also reported to have clashed in Manglawar. However, no loss of life was reported in both these incidents.

In the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela sub-division, mortar shells fired by the SFs struck the houses of Gohar and Faramosh, killing the former’s son and three family members of the latter, besides injuring four others, including two women.

The militants killed a Policeman, Dil Jan, in Bangladesh area near Mingora.

The Taliban released 33 supporters of the slain Pir Samiullah. Seven members of the Pir’s group were freed four days ago. However, 18 persons are still in the captivity of the militants. The militants also released a local leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Sher Ali, along with his driver. They were abducted from Bishbanr area a couple of days ago.

December 22

23 people, including 15 militants, were killed in a ground operation against the militants and other incidents of violence in Shakardara area of Swat District. The ISPR-run Swat Media Centre (SMC) said SFs launched a ground assault against the militants in Shakardarra, the stronghold of Maulana Fazlullah-led militants. It said SFs started a search-and-cordon operation early in the morning, backed by gunship helicopters, and killed 15 militants, besides injuring scores others, and destroyed their command and control centres. According to a SMC press release, the troops were advancing in a calculated way with a view to avoiding civilian casualties. However, the press release claimed that fleeing militants were using local population as human shield and were firing at the advancing SFs, but the troops were exercising restraint. The SFs also conceded casualties of two soldiers besides injuries to an equal number of SF personnel.

Incidents of violence and mortar shelling in Shakardarra killed six persons, including two women, and injured eight others. A mortar shell killed two persons, including Arjumand and his daughter-in-law, while four others sustained injuries. Three bodies were found in Kanju in the Kabal sub-division. One was identified as Akbar Ali of Mardan while the other two could not be identified. In Faizabad, militants shot dead a civilian, identified as Rahmat Ali.

Unidentified militants abducted one Sherin from his house in the Khwazakhela area. In Chhuta Shakardarra, the militants during the checking of vehicles picked up a person and shifted him to an unknown destination.

At least four persons were injured when the Taliban detonated a private school building after torching four buses in the limits of Mathra Police Station in Peshawar. Samiullah, a guard at Peshawar Model School’s boys campus, who was present at the time of the attack, said around 12 armed men scaled the school walls and torched the four buses. The Taliban later planted a bomb in the school’s administration block and the subsequent explosion severely damaged the school building. Four school employees - Naveed, Sher Muhammad, Muhammadullah and Aurangzeb – were injured. The Taliban also torched two classrooms and a deep freezer and also detonated explosives at the gate of Frontier Model School, located opposite to Peshawar Model School, but there were no casualties.

Militants blew up a music centre in the Dir Colony of Yakatut area in Peshawar. However, no casualty was reported.

December 23

SFs claimed to have killed seven militants in Shakardara, while six other people were killed in fresh incidents of violence in the Swat Valley. A military official said SFs also destroyed the militants’ positions in Shakardara. He said troops suffered no loss in the operation. Suspected militants shot dead a woman beggar and her daughter at the Nishat Chowk Mingora. The reason behind the killing of the beggars could not be ascertained. In the Qamber area of Mingora, unidentified assailants shot dead one Hussain Ali, and his wife. In the Allahabad area of Khwazakhela sub-division, a beheaded body of one Bashrin was found. The militants had abducted him recently. Unidentified assailants also shot dead one Attaullah in Seerteligram. In the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela, the militants blew up a bridge that suspended traffic. Militants also attacked a SFs checkpoint in Golibagh, prompting the troops to return fire, which forced them to flee. There was no report on casualties.

Unidentified persons fired eight rockets at sensitive installations in Dera Ismail Khan at 4 AM (PST). However, no casualty was reported. One of the rockets landed at a tennis court near the residences of Major-General Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Station Commander Khadim Hussain in the cantonment area. The second one hit the floor of a house and the third rocket landed at Gul Zaman street, in Bazaar Kalan near city police station. Two other rockets landed at an open field at the back of an office of Pakistan Air Force and the sixth one blasted at Noor mosque in cantonment area. Two of the rockets did not explode. Police said that rockets were fired from the fields near Baloch Hotel on Multan Road. Police also recovered ten launchers from the fields, warheads of four rockets and two unfired rockets.

The NWFP Assembly asked the federal Government to initiate talks with the local Taliban for the restoration of peace, saying military operations were not a solution to the deteriorating law and order. The province’s security situation dominated the discussions in the House, with some opposition members alleging the Government had lost its writ in the Tribal Areas.

December 24

11 Taliban militants were killed and several others injured when the SFs attacked their hideouts in the Shakardara area of Swat District. A Swat Media Centre spokesman said the SFs, backed by gunship helicopters and artillery, had targeted the Taliban locations at Shakardara in the Matta revenue division and killed 11 militants. The SFs also consolidated their positions in Sangota, he added. At least 22 Taliban militants and two soldiers have reportedly been killed during the last two days of the operation at Shakardara.

December 25

Four persons, including two women, were killed in the ongoing military operation in the Swat valley. All the dead belonged to Alamganj town of Khwazakhela, where SFs have been engaged in an operation against the Maulana Fazlullah-led militants. The military is reported to have targeted the suspected positions of the militants with heavy weaponry. Sources said four persons, including two women, were killed when mortar shells hit their houses.

In the Kabal sub-division, the militants opened fire on SF personnel in Sarsani area, injuring four soldiers. The SFs later cordoned off the area and arrested four suspects. Similarly, Niamtullah and his daughter were wounded when a shell landed at their house in the Bandai area of Khwazakhela sub-division.

Armed men abducted three persons, identified as Shahbaz, Liaqat and Aurangzeb from the Sharifabad area of Mingora.

Hundreds of people staged a protest demonstration at the Kanju Square and demanded of the Government to lift the curfew and stop military operation forthwith.

The Taliban abducted the Awami National Party Secretary General in Hangu, Malik Riaz Bangash, along with his driver. Bangash was on his way to Doaba, when he was abducted near Marofi village. Two Police guards, Fazal Hakeem and Gul Badshah, were injured in the crossfire between the Taliban militants and security guards.

SFs launched a search operation in the Dera Ismail Khan District, a day after several rockets fired by militants hit the city. Sources said security was tightened after the rockets struck the residences of military officials and a mosque in the Cantonment area in the early hours of December 23. They said the SFs carried out a search operation in Gilani Town, Ara and Dinpur areas and arrested dozens of suspects. During the search operation, SFs recovered 10 launchers and two rockets, abandoned by miscreants, from a sugarcane field near Noon Nawab and Gilani Colonies.

The Maulana Fazlullah-led militants operating in Swat Valley have announced a complete ban on female education from January 15 and warned violators of harsh action. Shah Dauran, the vice chief of Swat militants and in charge of the FM radio, announced that no Government or private educational institution would enroll girls. He said all schools and colleges should stop female education by January 15. He threatened to blow up all schools violating the ban, adding the schools providing education to girls would be forced to close. The militants in Swat have so far reportedly bombed or torched around 100 girls’ schools to forcibly stop girls from going to school in the district.

December 26

Seven persons were killed and 10 others, including three SF personnel, were injured in the ongoing military operation in Swat Valley. Four persons were shot dead for violating the curfew. The incident took place near a security check-post in Golibagh town of Khwazakhela sub-division. In Manglawar, the SFs opened fire on two suspects, killing them on the spot. In another incident, the mother of a soldier, Samiul Haq, was killed and seven other members of his family sustained injuries when their house was hit by a mortar shell in Golibagh area.

Militants attacked the SFs in Alamganj area, injuring two soldiers, identified as Shaukat and Zia.

A soldier, Zahir Shah, sustained injuries when unidentified militants attacked the Wenai check-post.

Suspected militants blew up a school in the Drushkhela area of Swat District. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported.

SFs are reported to have arrested seven suspects elsewhere in the valley.

Suspected Taliban militants blew up an Internet café destroying five other shops in the Gunj area of Peshawar. Locals told that the blast had damaged six shops in Mohallah Mawatyan area. However, no casualty was reported. A bomb blast had damaged at least four shops in the same locality on December 14.

Companies ferrying military hardware and other goods to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan have started shifting their logistic terminals to Punjab province after the recent series of attacks in Peshawar and prevailing insecurity in the region. Private parties transporting supplies for the US and NATO forces from Karachi to Kabul and Bagram airbase via Torkham border town since 2003 have rented plots at Tarnol and Burhan towns in the Attock district of Punjab across river Kabul for establishing terminals and parking facilities.

December 27

Seven persons were killed in fresh incidents of violence in Swat District while SFs claimed killing 34 militants in the four-day operation in Alamganj area of Khwazakhela. A press release of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said SFs had killed 34 militants, including an important commander Abdul Aziz alias Kotay, during the four-day operation. The troops suffered two casualties, it further said. Three persons were killed when a house in Wenai was hit by a mortar shell, allegedly fired by the SFs, while four others sustained injuries. Locals said SFs targeted the suspected hideouts of militants from the Wenai checkpoint, resulting in the casualties besides the damage to houses. In a similar incident, three persons, including a child, were killed in the Totano Bahdai area of Kabal sub-division. A beheaded body was found in Ranial area of Matta sub-division. Further, the militants attacked SFs at the Usmania Top and wounded two soldiers. The attack triggered a clash in which no casualties were reported. In addition, gunship helicopters targeted militant positions in Shakardara and Alamganj but there was no report on casualties. However, two suspected militants were arrested from Alamganj.

December 28

43 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car near a polling station in a Government school in the Buner District of NWFP. 16 persons were injured in the blast believed to have been carried out to disrupt the by-election for a National Assembly seat. "It was apparently a suicide attack," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Arsala Khan, said, adding the bomber detonated his explosive-laden car parked near camps set up by different parties in front of the school in Shalbandi village, 5kms from the District headquarters of Daggar. The front wall of the school and an adjoining market and were destroyed and a mosque and several houses were damaged. Police said two Policemen, a volunteer and five children were among the victims. According to witnesses, the bomber was about 18 years old. The Swat unit of the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had been carried out to avenge the killing of its six members in the area four months ago.

Five persons, including a woman, were killed in separate incidents of violence in Swat Valley. Militants in Manglawar area shot dead Liaquat Hussain for allegedly killing his wife. The militants also awarded 40 lashes to his son, Shahroom, for allegedly abetting the crime. Similarly, three people, including a woman, were killed in alleged firing by the SFs in Khwazakhela and Charbagh sub-divisions. Sources said the SFs allegedly opened fire on two civilians when they were heading towards a security check-post in Guli Bagh area of Charbagh. Similarly, a woman was killed in Khwar area of Khwazakhela, when a bullet hit her inside her house. Meanwhile, an unidentified body was recovered from Kas Road near Mingora.

Unidentified persons pasted posters on walls of several mosques in Mingora, demanding shopkeepers and businessmen to close their outlets to protest the military operation in Swat. "The people of Swat Valley are fed up with the military operation and atrocities being committed by the militants. The people of Swat have shed their share of blood and the drama should now be transferred to some other part of the country," the posters read. Reports indicated that the shopkeepers have unilaterally decided to close their businesses for an indefinite period from December 29.

December 29

Taliban killed two supporters of Pir Samiullah in the Matta sub-division of Swat District. The two slain men were among 18 supporters of Samiullah abducted earlier. A few weeks ago, the militants had also killed Pir Samiullah and hanged his body in Matta, alleging that he had developed cordial relations with the Army.

Gunship helicopters continued pounding militant hideouts in various parts of Khwazakhela sub-division while militants blew up an abandoned security post. Military helicopters targeted Gulibagh and Alam Ganj areas, destroying several structures used by the militants. The shelling also inflicted severe damage on private property in the locality.

Police sources said an abandoned security post in Tando Dag village of Barikot tehsil (revenue division) was blown up by the militants. The explosion also damaged a number of nearby houses. However, no human loss was reported in the incident.

The death toll from the December 28 suicide attack near a polling station in Buner District increased to 43 after seven bodies were retrieved from the debris overnight.

December 30

SFs claimed to have purged the Alamganj area of militants while two persons, including an elected councillor, were killed and a couple of others were abducted elsewhere in the Swat District. A press release of the Army-run Swat Media Centre said that SFs cleared Alamganj area of militants and destroyed houses of two of their commanders, Nowsherwan and Bahramand. A general councillor of the Kanju Union Council, Riaz Khan, was shot dead by unknown persons at Green Chowk in Mingora city. He is said to belong to the ruling Awami National Party. SFs said a militant was killed near the Vennai checkpoint near Matta town as he was trying to storm the check-post along with other people.

The militants abducted a policeman, Fazle Anwar, who was on duty at the Tindo Dag telephone exchange, and shifted him to an unknown place. One Asghar Khan, who had recently returned from the UAE, was also kidnapped. Sources said he was on his way home from the market at Lunger area of Khwazakhela sub-division when unidentified gunmen abducted him. According to unconfirmed reports, the militants had ordered him to give them money in ‘donation’ but he refused to do so and was consequently abducted.

Suspected militants kidnapped Haider Sher Khan, younger brother of the Swat unit president of the Pakistan People’s Party-Sherpao, Sher Shah Khan, from Bandai Selegram area. He was shifted to an undisclosed location but was freed later as the militants came to know that he was mentally ill. The Taliban had blown up several houses and guest houses of Sher Shah Khan’s family some months ago. They had also killed some members of his family and servants.

Militants torched the houses of a retired colonel of the Pakistan Army, Sanaullah, and of Deputy Superintendent of Police Khuda Bakhsh Khan in the Qambar area. There were no casualties because both houses had been already vacated by their owners who had shifted elsewhere.

In various areas of Khwazakhela and Charbagh sub-divisions, curfew remained clamped for the seventh consecutive day and forced the people to stay at home. The curfew brought life to standstill and adversely affected economic activity in the area. Shortages of food and medicines were also reported from the area.

December 31

Three women and a boy of a family were killed and six persons, including four women, were injured when a rocket hit a house in Darra Adamkhel. Officials said the rocket fired from some location in the hills near the town blew up the house, killing the three women and the boy on the spot. Six other members of the family were injured. Sources said this was the first rocket attack in Darra Adamkhel after a lull of one month. They said militants had escaped from the area to the Orakzai Agency after a military operation was launched in the area. The army had launched an operation in Darra Adamkhel in August 2008 following a suicide attack on a military camp near the Kohat Tunnel.

The main pipeline of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited was blown up at the Ring Road in Peshawar. The explosion caused suspension of gas supply to several localities, including Hayatabad, Badbher, Ormar, Achenay and adjacent villages.

Police have claimed that the TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud has raised a force of volunteers for carrying out terrorist attacks in the region during Muharram. Speaking at a joint meeting of leaders of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and the Shia community at the Kohat Police Club, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Kohat division), Qudratullah Marwat, said senior officials had received intelligence reports that Baitullah Mehsud had sent a batch of 500 terrorists for disturbing peace in the region by targeting sensitive places and Muharram processions.

The Federal Investigation Agencies (FIA) have arrested six persons for their alleged involvement in the suicide bombing in the Buner District. The blast occurred during the by-election in NA-28 at a polling station, killing 43 persons. Investigators said the vehicle used in the blast was snatched from Karachi. They said 80 kilograms of explosive was used and hundreds of AK-47 bullets were packed in it to increase the intensity of the blast.