Pakistan: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2009

A high-level meeting on national security approved on June 1 the establishment of a new special anti-terrorist force in all the four provinces and the federal capital Islamabad, The News reported. The meeting, jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at the Presidency, reviewed the law and order situation in the country. It was attended by the ministers for information and interior, all the four provincial chief ministers, the NWFP governor, the Army chief, the chiefs of intelligence agencies, the prime minister of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the chief executive of the Northern Areas, chief secretaries and IGPs of all the provinces and senior officials of the relevant federal ministries. Sources said it was decided to constitute a new special anti-terrorist force in all the four provinces and Islamabad. The force would be trained to deal with acts of terrorism and provided with latest weapons. In the special anti-terrorist force, the sources said, 25,000 personnel would be recruited in each province and the federal capital. Each personnel would draw a monthly salary equal to $300. Read less...

Around 50 cadets and teachers from the Razmak Cadet College are still in Taliban custody, a private TV channel reported on June 2 after Security Forces (SFs) said they had rescued 71 kidnapped cadets and nine employees from North Waziristan, Daily Times reported. Around 100 students were kidnapped on June 1 when a convoy of students, teachers and their families was on its way to Bannu in the NWFP. Read less...

At least two people were killed and 18 others injured in a bomb blast at a bus station in the Tirah bazaar of Kohat town in Kohat District, Daily Times reported. Senior Police official Ehsanullah Khan said that the explosive device was hidden in a sack and was detonated by a remote control. A doctor at the main District hospital said two dead bodies had been brought in after the blast. The condition of three of the wounded was critical, Police officials said, saying the death toll could rise. Read less...

Police in Islamabad have arrested a Taliban leader involved in training underage boys of Islamabad seminaries for terrorist activities and suicide bombing, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tahir Alam Khan informed a press conference in the national capital on June 1, The News reported. The SSP said Fidaullah was arrested on a tip-off provided by Khairullah and Khurram Shehzad, two terrorists arrested in connection with the attacks on the Frontier Corps Camp. Fidaullah had facilitated the suicide bombers by transporting them to the targeted spots and giving them shelter, he said. Fidaullah alias Abdul Rehman alias Junaid, a resident of village Sawarhi in the Buner District of NWFP, had publicly slaughtered three residents of Swat District in Sultanwas and Pir Baba, separating their heads from their bodies while fighting the Security Forces, the SSP said, adding that he was wanted by security agencies for his involvement in terrorist activities. He had been training youngsters for conducting suicide bombing, he said. Tahir Alam said the suspected terrorist was found involved in brainwashing innocent students of religious seminaries of the capital and sending them to Waziristan for terrorist training in the name of Jihad. Fidaullah has confessed he had set up a terrorist network in the name of Ghazi Force with the support of Taliban militants Niaz Rahim, Habibullah, Ajmal and others. The SSP said Ghazi Force had its centre at a remote hilly area of Jangjo, also called Guljo. Fidaullah recruited and trained students from different seminaries for suicide bombing. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 1 claimed to have killed 37 militants in the Swat Valley and the Buner District during the ongoing military operation against Taliban, The News reported. In addition, troops launched an operation in the Charbagh area of the valley to clear it of the militants, while curfew was lifted from Kalam town after talks between SFs and local elders. The Frontier Corps sources said SFs engaged the militants in their hideouts in Pacha Killay, Tongo Pull, Jawar and Gul Killay. 19 militants were killed during an exchange of fire between the SFs and Taliban, the sources claimed. Read less...

SFs carried out a search and destroy operation in the Dambar Kandao area of Peuchar and destroyed a training centre of the militants. A newly-constructed, 50-foot-long tunnel in the area was destroyed, along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition. The ISPR claimed that nine militants were killed and six others sustained injuries in the operation. One soldier sustained injuries in firing by the Taliban. Read less...

Taliban militants abducted a convoy of 30 buses carrying more than 500 students and staff of the Razmak Cadet College (of North Waziristan) in Bannu in the NWFP, Daily Times reported. They were on their way to Bannu after the college closed for its summer vacation, town Police chief Iqbal Marwat said. “Only two buses carrying some 25 students reached Bannu,” Marwat said, adding that about 28 buses carrying around 400 students were missing. “They have been kidnapped by Taliban militants,” Marwat told AFP. The college is an army-run educational institution for civilians. Those kidnapped include students and civilian staff, he said. Officials told Daily Times the convoy reached Kajori check-post on the border of North Waziristan and Bannu safe, but were abducted from Marwat Kanal area in Baqakhel Police precincts. “Militants started firing in the air to stop the vehicles and then they forcibly drove them to unknown place,” Javed Alam, vice principal of the college, told a private television channel. Read less...

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said 18 militants were killed and 12 others were arrested during the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast in Swat Valley. The ISPR said normalcy was returning to Mingora. The ISPR also said food items and medicines were being supplied to the city, while hospital staff and technicians had already been flown in. Meanwhile, troops launched an operation in Charbagh to purge it of militants. Heavy clashes reportedly broke out for the control of the Jangle Jerki village. SFs faced stiff resistance from the militants during their operation to link Kabal to Sarsenai. The ISPR said an exchange of fire took place in Fatehpur, in which one militant was killed. In Qalagai, a Taliban hideout was attacked and three of the militants were killed, while seven others were arrested. A check-post at Ronial in the Matta sub-division also came under attack by the militants, in which three soldiers and four civilians were injured. The ISPR, however, said five militants were arrested. Read less...

The Taliban blew up another girls’ school in Mohmand Agency on June 1, Daily Times reported. According to sources, Taliban had wired the Government-run girls’ school with an improvised explosive device in the Shewafarash area of Lakro sub-division, which they detonated early on June 1-morning. However, no casualties were reported. Read less...

Three more Government schools were blown up in the Mohmand Agency of FATA late on June 1-night, The News reported. Sources said the Girls Middle School in Kotatrap, Government Girls Primary School, Kogpand and Boys Primary School, Darao, in the Safi and Ambar sub-divisions, were destroyed by suspected militants, who planted explosive devices and blew them up. However, no casualty was reported in the explosions. Read less...

Troops are reported to have dislodged militants from most of the towns in Buner District, but Pacha Killay and its surrounding areas are still believed to be infested with the Taliban militants. The militants on May 31 reportedly beheaded three persons in Pacha Killay for spying for the SFs. The Buner District Coordination Officer (DCO) Yahya Akhundzada said the situation in Pacha Killay had improved. He, however, admitted that there was still a problem beyond Pacha Killay. “Pir Baba, Gokand and Karakar are still volatile, but action will certainly be taken to clear these areas of the militants,” the DCO said. About the overall security situation in the District, Akhundzada said normalcy was returning to Buner. Yahya told The News that 50 per cent employees had resumed their duties on June 1, while others had conveyed by phone that they would rejoin on June 2 (today). About some reports of suspension of Police officials, he said more than 100 Policemen had been suspended for failing to resume their duties. Read less...

A full bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on June 2 accepted a habeas corpus petition and ordered the Government to release Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD, the Lashkar-e-Toiba [LeT] front) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmad, Daily Times reported. According to The News, the court observed that “After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and perusal of the case law on the subject as well as the material produced by the learned law officers in chamber, for the reasons to be delivered later on, with a unanimous view, we have held that this writ petition in the form of habeas corpus is maintainable as prima facie the government has no sufficient grounds to detain the petitioners for preventive measures.” “As far as the UN resolution is concerned, there is no matter before us about the vires and the government can act upon the same in letter and spirit if so advised. But relying on the same, the detention cannot be maintained, as it was even not desired thereby,” it read. During the proceedings, petitioners’ counsel A. K. Dogar had claimed the Government’s plea to detain his clients in the public interest was wrong. Members of the JuD are good Muslims who follow the example of the holy Prophet, he said, claiming it was part of a Western conspiracy to defame Islam. He said the Government had made United Nations Security Council Resolution No 1267 its basis for detaining the petitioners, even though the resolution dealt with an arms embargo, freezing the guilty party’s assets, and banning them from traveling abroad, not detention. Defending the Government, Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat Malik said Dogar’s arguments collapsed under Article 10(3) of the Constitution, which contended it was not necessary to show grounds for detention in the case of preventative detention. In December 2008, the Interior Ministry had ordered the detention of six JuD leaders, including its chief Hafiz Saeed, on the suspicion of his group’s involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 26, 2008. A review board of the Lahore High Court on May 5 extended for further 60 days the detention of Hafiz Saeed and Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed while releasing its two leaders Mufti Abdur Rehman and Amir Hamza. Read less...

A spokesman for the Foreign Office on June 2 said India’s views on the release of Hafiz Saeed were misplaced, The News reported. Responding to a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on the release of Saeed, the spokesman said: “The views expressed therein are misplaced. It is best not to comment on a court decision.” He said the Government of Pakistan was well aware of its obligations under the national and international laws. The spokesman said Pakistan had demonstrated sincerity and commitment vis-à-vis inquiry and ongoing investigations concerning the Mumbai attacks. “Polemics and unfounded insinuations cannot advance the cause of justice in civilised societies. Legal processes cannot and must not be interfered with,” he added. Read less...

Battling the Taliban militants for the control of Charbagh in Swat Valley, Security Forces faced stiff resistance, killing 21 militants and suffering three casualties during the last 24 hours, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on June 2, The News reported. In addition, 18 militants were arrested during the Operation Rah-e-Rast in Charbagh and other areas. SFs, after asking the local population to vacate the area, launched an operation against the militants in Charbagh and Kabal areas on June 2. The ISPR said that the troops, during the operation in Charbagh, cleared the area between little-known Jangle Tekri and Sra Chena. One soldier was killed during the clashes while four others sustained injuries. However, the troops successfully secured Alamganj, Waliabad and Gulibagh areas in Charbagh, the ISPR said. During the clashes in Charbagh and Alamganj areas, it said 14 militants were killed and 18 others arrested. Read less...

Dozens of unidentified armed men shot dead a Policeman and security guard of the NATO supply terminal in Chaman town before setting ablaze four trailers loaded with supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan on June 2, The News reported. Inspector Fida Muhammad informed the media that some three dozen armed men stormed the Police check-post, shot dead one of the Policemen before looting five AK-series rifles and an unknown number of wireless communication sets from the check-post. They later broke into the NATO supply terminal, shot dead its security guard identified as Abdul Wahab and set ablaze four trailers loaded with supplies for the NATO troops in Afghanistan. The armed men also abducted the watchman of the terminal at gunpoint. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first of its nature in the border town. Read less...

However, conflicting reports about the students recovered from the Taliban’s captivity and those still missing. Some sources said 43 students and five teachers were still missing and are believed to have been shifted to the distant mountains of the Taliban’s stronghold in Ladha in South Waziristan Agency. Senior military officials told The News that 80 people, 71 of them students and nine teachers, were recovered in a joint raid by the Pakistan Army and paramilitary Frontier Corps’s Shawal Rifles at Gharium area, 18 kilometers off Razmak. After their release, the students and teachers said their remaining colleagues had been shifted to South Waziristan by the Taliban via another route. The Taliban militants reportedly shifted the students and teachers before SFs could arrive and block the road and beef up security at roadside check-points. Read less...

The body of another Frontier Corps soldier was found in the Goth Mazari area close to the Punjab-Balochistan border on June 3. Mohammad Rashid was reportedly abducted on June 2 while patrolling near the Sui area. Read less...

The ISPR said troops also undertook operations in the Shangla District. An exchange of fire took place between the two sides in which two soldiers were killed while two others sustained injuries. SFs, it said, killed five militants during the operation. Three children were reportedly wounded when the militants fired two mortar shells at Ronial and Dang Arkot Qila. Read less...

The troops launched an operation in Kot and cleared Khairabad and Sarsenai check-post in Swat, the ISPR added. An exchange of fire took place between SFs and the militants in the area in which two militants were killed. Troops also carried out a search and destroy operation in the Mandi Banda area of Peuchar and recovered some arms and ammunition Read less...

Unidentified gunmen shot dead an agricultural research officer and his driver in the Kolachi area of Dera Ismail Khan on June 2, according to The News. Sources said Muhammad Iqbal was on his way to the research station at Paharpur in Kolachi in his official vehicle when the gunmen opened fire on him. Consequently, Iqbal and his driver, Najeebullah, sustained bullet injuries. They were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. Muhammad Iqbal was the elder brother of Qari Khalil Ahmad, a leader of the outlawed Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). Read less...

A Frontier Corps soldier, Sanjar Khan Bugti, was killed and another man was wounded when a landmine exploded in a village near Sobatpur area in the Jaffarabad District on June 3, Dawn reported. Read less...

A total of 220 schools were reportedly blown up by the militants in Swat, during the ongoing wave of militancy while more than 10 private institutions were also destroyed. More than 60,000 students could not appear in the intermediate exam and all of them are now living in other cities as displaced persons. This was revealed in a report released by the Global Peace Council (GPC) on June 3. President of the GPC, Ziaullah Yousafzai, while addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, said the 92-year-old infrastructure of Swat had been completely destroyed during the insurgency in the valley. He also said students of the entire District were vulnerable to the post traumatic effects and most of them had already developed psychological diseases. Read less...

Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told reporters on a military-organised tour of Mingora town that it could take another two months of fighting to overthrow the militants from all their hideouts in Swat and the surrounding areas. He added, though, that the two months timetable was “a rough estimate.” Earlier, Major General Ijaz Awan, a senior commander in Mingora, said the military hoped about 2,500 Police personnel would return to Mingora by end of June 2009 to take over security, but that the army would probably have to stay in the Swat region for at least another year to fully secure it. Read less...

In Lower Dir District, the SFs launched an operation and successfully secured the area from Gulabad to Shewa, Kithiari and Asband. Read less...

In the Buner District, the SFs started an operation early in the morning on June 3 and successfully secured Pir Baba and Bhai Killay. Read less...

Pakistani authorities said on June 3 that they would appeal against a court order to release the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Daily Times reported. “The government has decided to file an appeal against the release order of Hafiz Saeed,” Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told AFP after the Lahore High Court ordered Saeed’s release. “We have received the detailed verdict of the court. Our legal advisers are studying it, and we told them to file an appeal against this verdict,” he said. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 3 claimed to have killed three militants in the Bedara area of Matta sub-division in Swat and secured Charbagh, where troops were now consolidating their position, The News reported. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that the SFs conducted a search operation in a seminary situated near Allahabad town in Charbagh and recovered a huge cache of explosives and improvised explosive devices. The troops also cleared Dakorak area near Gulibagh and established two check-posts in Satal near Bahrain. They also consolidated their position in Kalam. In the Bedara area of Matta, the militants attacked a post that led to an exchange of fire. The ISPR claimed that three militants and a soldier were killed and two soldiers were wounded in the incident. Read less...

Three people, including a soldier, were injured when gunmen opened fire on a security vehicle in Khuzdar town. A spokesman for the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, Mirack Baloch, claimed responsibility for the attack. Read less...

US President Barack Obama is seeking an additional $200 million to help the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Swat and Malakand Division, the US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Hobrooke said on June 3, Daily Times reported. “Today, the president (Obama) requested the Congress of the US to allocate an additional $200 million,” he told a joint press conference with President Asif Ali Zardari and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad. He said the reconstruction phase would be very important and critical, and assured full American help and support in this phase. “We are committed to helping you strengthen democracy, to defeat militants in the west who threaten democracy in Pakistan, democracy in Afghanistan and stability throughout the region,” he said. The US has already announced $110 million for the IDPs, and Holbrooke said if the additional $200 million were allocated, the total US aid would exceed $300 million. The special envoy also urged other nations, including the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council to do more to assist Pakistan deal with the IDP crisis. Read less...

A Policeman was shot dead by unidentified individuals in Quetta, the Balochistan capital, on June 4-morning, in what is being reported as another in a series of target killings of Policemen by insurgents in the provincial capital. According to Daily Times, Subha Khan, a traffic police official, was en route to work at his post on Arbab Ghulam Ali Road, when two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on him, killing him on the spot. No group has claimed responsibility for the killing. Read less...

An AFP report added that a Taliban commander confirmed that they unconditionally released all remaining students and staff of the Razmak Cadet College. “We have released them in the interest of peace in the region. We accepted the request of the tribal Jirga,” Hakimullah Mehsud, spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, told AFP by telephone. Read less...

At least seven Security Force (SF) personnel, including three Police officers and a Special Services Group (SSG) captain, were killed when the militants attacked a Buner-bound joint Police and Frontier Corps convoy at Natian, triggering a full-fledged operation in the area that continued till late June 4-night, The News reported. Military sources, however, denied the killing of the military captain. Further, there were reports of the killing of one militant and injuries to several others. The exact number of causalities from the militants’ side could not be ascertained. However, 32 people are reported to have sustained injuries in the clashes. Read less...

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said on June 4 that the tide in Swat had decisively turned with the Army’s resolve to defeat the terrorists, according to The News. Expressing the Army’s commitment to aggressively hunt high-value targets, Gen Kayani announced that the Army would continue carrying out operations at a limited scale with an objective of clearing the remaining hideouts and sanctuaries of terrorists. Addressing the 119th Corps Commanders’ Conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Kayani said major population centres and roads leading to the Swat valley had been largely cleared off the organised resistance by terrorists. The COAS said isolated incidents of violence would continue and would have to be managed. “The Army will stay in Swat to provide security to the people,” he added. Read less...

In the province, suspected Taliban militants blew up a girls’ high school in the Badabher Police precincts of capital Peshawar on June 4. A Police official at the Badabher Police Station told Daily Times that the suspects had planted explosives at the school and that the blast had severely damaged the building. A Bomb Disposal Squad official said militants had planted five bombs weighing around four to five kilograms each and also fired a rocket at the building. Sulimankhel Nazim Akmal Khan told Daily Times that the local Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militants could be behind the attack. He said the suspects had also blown up CD shops in the union council a few months ago. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) claimed to have arrested 12 militants, including nine foreigners, and recovered weapons and communication gadgets from their possession in different areas of Mohmand Agency in the FATA on June 4, The News reported. A spokesman for the Mohmand Rifles, while giving details to the media, said the SFs arrested 12 militants during checking at the Lakaro, Bhai Dag and Chopan Karapa check-posts. Read less...

Security Forces arrested Maulana Sufi Muhammad, chief of the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), along with three of his aides from Amandara in the Lower Dir District on June 4. Sources told Daily Times that two other key leaders, including his TNSM spokesman Izzat Khan and Mohammad Alam, were among those arrested. However, there was no official confirmation regarding the arrest. Read less...

Security Forces said on June 4 that they killed 10 Taliban militants and arrested six others in various areas of the Swat and Buner Districts, while a soldier was killed and two others injured in various clashes, Daily Times reported. Troops engaged fleeing militants at a check-post at Shangla and killed six of them and arrested four others, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations. Read less...

Six Taliban militants, believed to be close aides of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, have been arrested from Mianwali in the Punjab province, Daily Times reported. According to the Mianwali District Police Officer, the militants were believed to have close ties to Mehsud. Police said the militants - arrested from the Musakhel, Bachran and Mauj areas of Mianwali - had been involved in attacks on police check-posts in the region. Officials identified four of them as Ahmed Khan, Hidayatullah, Abdul Wahid and Ramzan. Read less...

The Taliban on June 4 released the remaining 46 kidnapped students and two teachers of the Razmak Cadet College from the South Waziristan Agency and handed them over to a Jirga (council of elders) of Torikhel and Utmanzai Wazir tribes near Razmak, The News reported. The cadets and two staff members of the college were released without any condition. They were held somewhere in South Waziristan after their abduction from the Frontier Region (FR) Bakakhel, Tribal sources said their release was negotiated by a tribal Jirga of Torikhel and Utmanzai Wazir tribes and members of a peace committee of North Waziristan Ulema and Taliban leaders. Read less...

A legislator from Balochistan, three of his relatives and a servant were injured after a parcel bomb exploded in his Defence Society house in Karachi on June 5, Dawn reported. The explosion took place at the residence of Mir Yaqub Bizenjo, a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from the Balochistan National Party (Awami). Sanaullah, the MNA’s younger brother, bore the brunt of the explosion as he had opened the parcel. Yaqub Bizenjo’s mother and a five-year-old daughter also sustained injuries. A senior Police officer said that three days ago a parcel was delivered at the Turbat (in Balochistan) house of Mr Bizenjo. Another parcel was delivered later. Read less...

A suicide bomber killed 40 worshippers, including 12 children, at a mosque in a remote village of the Dir Upper District of NWFP on June 5, The News reported. Dozens more were injured as a young man detonated explosives fastened to his body minutes before the Friday congregation in the Hayagay Sharqi village. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. The village, located in the mountains, is situated approximately 20 kilometers east of Dir town, the District headquarters. An unnamed official said the death toll could rise as scores of people had sustained injuries in the incident. Eyewitnesses said a teenager was spotted approaching the mosque where people were preparing for the Friday congregation. Some villagers stopped the young man and asked him to prove his identity, but he refused to do so and advanced towards the mosque. “The bomber said he has lent money to a resident of the village and wanted to take it back. When he was asked to show his national identity card, he refused and moved forward,” a local villager told The News. Eyewitnesses and villagers said the people shouted at the worshippers, sitting in rows inside the mosque, to be careful as the young man was a suspect. As the people ran after the bomber to stop him, he detonated himself at the gate of the mosque minutes before the prayer leader could start the Friday prayers, they said. Reports indicated that the Hayagay Sharqi village has been strongly opposed to the presence of the Taliban militants in the Doog Darra area of Dir Upper. The residents had also established checkpoints to keep a vigil on the movement of the militants, who would use the village as a corridor to Dir town. Read less...

Four farmers harvesting wheat crop in fields were reportedly killed when hit by mortar shells in the Tawa area of Puran sub-division in Shangla District. During their advance towards Chakesar, SFs shelled the suspected hideouts of militants in the Yakhtangi area of Shangla District. The farmers, harvesting wheat crop in Tawa, were hit by shells. Some reports from the Martoba area suggested that three more civilians were killed and two others injured when mortar shells struck them. Sources said the SFs reached Yakhtangi Top and Bazarkot in Shangla. The locals, however, said militants had already vacated the area before the arrival of troops. Read less...

Pakistan has extradited 10 arrested terrorists belonging to the pro-independence Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) to China, an Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed to The News on June 5. The spokesman in Islamabad, confirming the extradition, said the ETIM militants had actually been arrested after they attacked Pakistani Security Forces in the tribal areas. Ten of the over two-dozen arrested Chinese were handed over to Beijing after it was established that they belonged to the ETIM, which Beijing describes as an armed secessionist group with bases in Xingjian-Uighur Autonomous Region in the northwest of China, and in Pakistan. According to interior ministry sources in Islamabad, the 10 Chinese militants, who had been arrested from the FATA, were extradited following Chinese President Hu Jintao’s request to Islamabad for taking stern action against the fugitive Chinese militants hiding in Pakistani tribal areas and carrying out terrorist activities in China. Read less...

President Asif Ali Zardari on June 5 directed the NWFP Government to immediately fill all vacant posts in the provincial Police department, Daily Times reported. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari had issued the directive after consulting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the Finance Division. Babar said the president ordered that 2,500 former-defence personnel should be recruited in the Police department on a two-year contract by the end of June 2009. The recruits would be deployed in the troubled regions of the NWFP, he added. The expenditure incurred would be borne by the federal government and the adjutant general of the Pakistan Army would act as the focal person for recruiting the ex-defence personnel. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 5 arrested three foreign terrorists at Alizai check-post in the Bajaur Agency of FATA, Daily Times reported. The SFs also reportedly seized a suicide vest, currency, cassettes, hate literature, rocket launchers, remote-control bombs and various mobile phone SIMs from them. Security officials then paraded the detained men before the media. The terrorists were entering Bajaur after battling against the Pakistan Army in the Swat District of NWFP, the source added. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 5 claimed to have killed 10 militants and secured the Chakesar area of Shangla District during military action against the Taliban militants, The News reported. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said SFs carried out action in the Shangla District, situated to the east of the Swat valley, killing 10 militants in Chakesar. It claimed that the troops had cleared the Chakesar area of the militants. In addition, the area from Chakesar up to Aloch, Bazarkot and Shell Qasar were cleared and a linkup was established with the Charbagh area of Swat at Dakorak, the ISPR said. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) said on June 5 they had killed 10 Taliban militants and arrested four people, including three activists of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), while 14 SF personnel were killed and 14 others injured in clashes with the Taliban in Malakand Division, Daily Times reported. Read less...

Seven persons, including five Security Force (SF) personnel, were killed and four others sustained injuries in three separate incidents of violence in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) and adjoining Tank District on June 5, The News reported. Four soldiers were killed and two injured when their patrol pickup hit an improvised explosive device (IED) on the Jandola-Spinkai Raghzai road in SWA. The Army and paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel have been guarding the Jandola-Spinkai Raghzai road in South Waziristan. The pickup truck was destroyed, while another was partially damaged in the attack. In another incident, a solider died and two others were injured when an IED planted by suspected militants exploded near Angoor Adda - a border town between South Waziristan and Afghanistan’s Paktika province. There were reports that a bomb disposal squad was defusing the IED when it exploded. No details about the third incident were reported. Read less...

The federal Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, warned of strict action against those challenging the Government’s writ. Speaking to the media at the Parliament House in Islamabad on June 5, Malik said media reports regarding the arrest of TNSM Chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and the TTP chief Maulana Fazlullah were incorrect. “Neither Maulana Fazlullah has been killed nor he or Maulana Sufi Muhammad were arrested. The Swat Operation is going on and the situation for the return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) would be clear within next few weeks,” he said. Malik also stated that the SFs arrested some militant commanders and their deputies. He told a questioner that the infrastructure was badly affected in the Operation Zone and daily use items were not available. Consequently, Malik noted that no timeframe for the return of the IDPs can be set. Read less...

The SFs recovered 35 improvised explosive devices, three Thuraya sets, two FM transmitters, 500 detonators, three long-range antennas and a large number of pistols and rifles from a compound in the Tahirabad area of Mingora, The News reported. During the exchange of fire between the two sides, one soldier was also injured. Read less...

At least 60 Taliban militants were arrested by the Security Forces (SFs) from the relief camps established for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in various parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and elsewhere, said Lt. Col. Wasim, representative of the SFs, according to Daily Times. At a press briefing on Operation Rah-e-Rast, Wasim told reporters that Pakistan’s SFs were vigilant and keeping a stern check on the activities of the Taliban militants who were taking refuge in the IDP camps under civilian garb. Read less...

During clashes between two groups of militants on June 6 in the Mamond area of Bajaur Agency, four combatants were killed, Dawn reported. Supporters of Maulana Faqir Muhammad, of the Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan, and Commander Salar Masood of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) are now reportedly preparing for a major showdown in the area. The clash took place after the Salar group kidnapped Jarar Hussain of the TTP following a dispute over money. According to sources, Salar Masood’s militants were repulsed when they attempted to overrun the headquarters of the TTP in Sewai on June 7. The sources said three of the slain militants belonged to the Salar group, Shah Tamas Khan, Zafarullah and Musa Khan, and one to the TTP, Najeebullah. Five men from both sides sustained injuries in the clashes. Read less...

Four Taliban militants were killed after hundreds of tribesmen attacked their houses at Hayagai Sharqi in Upper Dir District on June 6. Residents of the area launched the attack, a private TV channel reported. It said six houses belonging to the Taliban had also been destroyed. Read less...

Security Forces launched a search and destroy operation in the Anbar Valley on June 6, demolishing 15 houses, setting fire to another 34, and arresting eight people suspected of being terrorists, Daily Times reported on June 7. Read less...

The death toll from the June 5 suicide attack, carried out at Friday prayers in Shargi of Dir Upper District in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), increased to 49 after nine more people succumbed to their injuries, according to Daily Times. Read less...

The Taliban attacked a Security Forces’ convoy on June 6, killing the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) deputy chief Maulana Alam and spokesman Amir Izaat while they were being transported to Peshawar, the NWFP capital, Daily Times reported on June 7. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told reporters in Rawalpindi the Taliban attacked the convoy after it hit an improvised explosive device. He said one non-commissioned officer was also killed in the attack, and five others were wounded. He said the convoy was carrying prisoners needed for a “special investigation” by intelligence agencies. Responding to questions, he said the TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad was not in custody, but confirmed that TNSM leader Maulana Wahab was currently being interrogated by the Security Forces (SFs). Read less...

Two Policemen were killed and four others injured in a suicide attack on a Rescue 15 office at Sector G-8 in capital Islamabad on June 6, reports Daily Times. “It was a huge blast that jolted the area and shattered everything into pieces in front of my eyes,” an eyewitness said. Islamabad police arrested some people in connection with the attack, police spokesman Muhammad Naeem said. “We have found a hand and two legs of the bomber. We have not been able to find his head so far,” senior Police officer Bin Yameen told AFP. A mere 20 minutes before the suicide blast, a private TV channel reported, senior Police officials conducted an important meeting on the law and order situation. Read less...

Around 90 percent of the local tribesmen have left South Waziristan and are now living in settled Districts, the South Waziristan Senator Saleh Shah said on June 7, Daily Times reported. He said the Government had not made any arrangements for those who had relocated. The Senator said a committee of political functionaries and tribal elders has estimated that the previous military operations had cost around PKR 1.30 billion in damages to different areas and more than 4500 houses and shops had been damaged in the current operation. Read less...

During a grand jirga (council of elders) of Safi tribal elders and the political administration, Political Agent Mohmand Amjad Ali advised the internally displaced persons of Swat and Malakand Division to return to their respective areas by June 15, saying they would not be allowed to stay at relief camps beyond that date. Read less...

During a separate press conference in Peshawar, the NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain blamed the Taliban for killing the two TNSM leaders. “There were differences between the TNSM and the Taliban. We are 90 percent certain the terrorists attacked the convoy to kill the two men,” he said. “We were told by the TNSM leaders during negotiations that the Taliban were threatening them. So, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind about who carried out (Saturday’s) attack,” he added. Read less...

In the NWFP, the Taliban blew up a Government school in Darra Adam Khel on June 7, a private TV channel reported. The channel quoted its sources as saying that the Taliban planted explosives near the school in the Shira area of Darra Adam Khel. However, no casualties were reported since the school was closed. Read less...

Intensifying the offensive against the Taliban militants, the armed villagers of Hayagay Sharqi in Dir Upper District, backed by the people of dozens of other villages, besieged the militants from all sides, killing six more of them, The News reported. Locals and the Lashkar (militia) sources said 12 Taliban militants, including two commanders, had been killed so far in the siege, while fighting was continuing till last reports were filed. Capturing several hamlets, the villagers also torched 21 houses owned by the Taliban and their supporters. The people of Hayagay Sharqi, located in mountains some 20 kilometers east of Dir town, the District headquarters, launched an armed action against the Taliban to avenge the killing of 49 persons in the suicide attack at a mosque on June 5. The Taliban militants, led by Afghan commander Amir Khitab, have been operating in Doog Darra near the bombed village. They are believed to be behind the suicide attack to subjugate the people of Hayagay Sharqi. Some 400 villagers banded together to attack five villages in the nearby Doog Darra area that were known Taliban strongholds, said District Coordination Officer Atifur Rehman, Daily Times reported. He said the citizens’ Lashkar has occupied three of the villages since June 6, and was trying to push the Taliban out of the other two. District Police Chief Ejaz Ahmad said around 200 Taliban militants were putting up a tough resistance, but were surrounded by the villagers. Read less...

Mortar shells hit a group of people fleeing the fighting in Swat Valley in the Gulibagh area of neighbouring Upper Dir district, killing five civilians, including two women and a child, The News reported. Due to the military action in Kabal and other areas of Swat, the trapped people are reportedly taking the mountainous path due to the curfew. On June 7, a group of civilians was going from Swat to Upper Dir through the mountains when mortar shells hit them in the Gulibagh area of Karo Darra in Upper Dir District, killing five of them. Read less...

SFs also successfully secured the Aloch area in Puran sub-division of the Shangla District, besides capturing areas in north and south of Faqirabad. Read less...

The ISPR Director General, meanwhile, said SFs had cleared Barabonde, and had established check-posts at Kuzabonde and Goraghat. He said 17 Taliban militants had been killed in the Qambar sub-division during the past 24 hours, adding one soldier had also died in the process. He said the Taliban had fired rockets on a check-post of the SFs in Khawazakhela, resulting in two soldiers being killed and one being injured. He said according to estimates, three to four percent of the terrorists killed or arrested by the SFs are foreigners, including Arabs, Central Asians or Afghans. Read less...

The Karachi Police on June 7 arrested an alleged member of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and seized from him 10 suicide jackets, five of them packed with explosives, Dawn reported. Officials said that Naeemur Rehman was in direct contact with Hussain Mehsud, a close aide of TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud. They said that 60 kilograms of explosive material, 10 hand-grenades, two Kalashnikov rifles, 10 detonators and as many fuses and 200 bullets were found in possession of the suspect who had received training in Afghanistan. They also said the suspect was planning to attack politicians and law-enforcement personnel. Read less...

The Taliban have killed the nephew of the ruling Awami National Party’s Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA), Shamsher Ali Khan, and a Policeman in Swat, Daily Times reported, According to a private TV channel, a number of militants had attacked the MPA’s house in Dheri near Kanju airport and abducted his brothers, Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, his nephew Asfghar and two servants. Read less...

Three Security Force (SF) personnel, including an officer, were killed and seven others sustained injuries, while four militants were also killed during the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on June 7, The News reported. According to the ISPR media update, two soldiers were killed while fighting the militants in Kabal area, between Gul Jabba and Hazara Bridge. The ISPR said the militants attacked an important height known as Point 2050, four kilometers west of Ronial, which was retaliated by the SFs. In the ensuing encounter three SF personnel sustained injuries. On a tip off by a local person of the area, SFs raided the house of a militant, Sardar Ali, in Balakot village, three kilometers west of Shangla Top. During the fighting, two militants availing shelter in the house were killed. In another incident, two militants, riding a motorcycle, were killed, who earlier had targeted the troops, injuring one soldier. The ISPR update said a would-be suicide bomber was arrested in the Kohat Cantonment area. The SFs are reported to have also consolidated their positions and established check-posts in the Bara Bandai, Koza Bandai and Ningolai areas of Swat. Separately, a Junior Commissioned Officer, Naib Subedar Darwaish, who was in the custody of the militants for over 40 days, managed to escape from their prison in Barikot and reached Goratai safely. Further, during a cordon and search operation in Tahirabad area, SFs recovered an explosive-laden vehicle, which was prepared for carrying out an explosion. The troops also recovered 15 locally-made improvised explosive devices in pressure cookers, which were placed in the vehicle with detonating cords connected. Read less...

A local security official in Upper Dir said the Taliban were on the run. “[They] are surrounded from both eastern and western sides and are now fleeing the area after leaving their weapons and disguising themselves,” he said. Read less...

A Policeman was killed and two people were wounded when a roadside bomb blast destroyed a Police van near the Hazarkhwani village, triggering a crackdown on a religious seminary in the limits of the Agha Mir Jani Shah Police station in Peshawar on June 8, The News reported. The explosion also created a six-foot-deep and five-foot-wide crater in the Hazarkhwani Road near the Akhun Darveza Baba graveyard. “A party of the Agha Mir Jani Shah police station had set up a barricade on the Hazarkhwani Road, while the official van with its driver, Amir Nawaz, was also parked at some distance from the cordon,” said a Police official. Terrorists reportedly detonated explosives, planted at the roadside just under the vehicle, with a remote-controlled device when the rest of the Policemen were busy searching vehicles entering the city limits at 5:10 pm, the Police official said. Read less...

An Upper Dir tribal Lashkar (militia) seeking retaliation for the suicide attack (June 5) at a mosque has killed 14 Taliban militants, including ‘commander’ Chamto Afghani, and burnt the houses of another 13 as they besieged two Taliban strongholds of Shatkas and Mena villages on June 8, Daily Times reported. Locals said heavy firing continued on third consecutive day on June 8 as the militants, whose number was said to be between 200 and 300, had been holed up, The News reported. In addition, 21 more Taliban militants were killed in various parts of the Malakand Division, according a press release by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on June 8. Read less...

In the province, explosive devices planted beside a Police post in the Changal area of Battagram District went off on June 8. No casualty was, however, reported. Read less...

In the Swat District, three Taliban militants were killed in Charbagh after a tip off from the civilian residents during a cordon and search operation. “Security forces carried out search operations in Bara Banda, Shahdhand Banda and successfully established link up at Damber Sar. During exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed. Security forces also established link up at Shakardara,” the ISPR added Read less...

Seven suspects were detained in the ensuing raids on the religious seminary immediately after the blast. “We conducted a raid on the seminary in the area and arrested seven suspects,” said Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur. Another Police official said a large number of militants were living in the area and the nearby Hazarkhwani town, who had not only blown up the Rehman Baba shrine, but also attacked the Police patrolling vehicles, a number of NATO terminals, CD shops and schools. Read less...

Six persons were injured on June 8 when masked men on a motorbike lobbed a hand grenade at a gathering of mourners in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, Daily Times reported. The attack came as people were attending a Bugti tribeswoman’s funeral in a tent, said local Police officer Khalid Manzoor. “The hand grenade missed the target and landed outside the tent, otherwise the casualties would have been heavy… It was a terrorist act. The culprits could be those who are opposed to peace in the region,” added Manzoor. Read less...

Suspected Taliban militants fired mortars at a security check-post in the Amabar sub-division of Mohmand Agency in FATA late on June 8, injuring 11 soldiers, Daily Times reported. According to Mohmand Rifles officials, the attackers fired about 36 mortar shells at the Hadkor check-post. The Security Forces subsequently targeted Taliban hideouts in the nearby areas in retaliation. Read less...

The militants also blew up a CD shop at the adjacent Garhi Atta Muhammad town early on June 8. “Many woke up by the huge explosion at 3 am, who saw six to eight people riding horses before and after the occurrence,” said villager Jamroz. Read less...

The Police on June 8 arrested three alleged members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab and seized from their possession eight kilograms of explosive material, two suicide jackets and a Hiace vehicle, Daily Times reported. According to the Police, Muhammad Saeed, Akhtar Shah and Muhammad Yar were planning an attack on the Police premises in Sargodha. The Sargodha District Police Officer said Saeed was in direct contact with Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. Read less...

The Taliban have taken 100 members of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) hostage, including the local chief from Mamoond area of Bajaur Agency, according to Daily Times. A private TV channel reported on June 8 that differences between the Taliban and the TNSM had intensified, while on the other hand a group of Taliban had refused to fight the military. Read less...

There were some unconfirmed reports that military helicopters dropped weapons to the Lashkar in Upper Dir to encourage them to continue their fight against the Taliban militants, according to The News. According to Geo News, approximately 1,600 tribesmen have joined a citizens’ militia against the Taliban in Upper Dir district. Read less...

A massive truck bomb explosion at the five-star Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, at approximately 10.20pm on June 9 killed 11 people and injured 60 others, Daily Times reported. The attackers entered the compound on two vehicles at about 10:30pm, firing at the security guards at the hotel gate with bullets from one and blowing up the other in the hotel parking. “It was a suicide attack,” Capital City Police Officer Sefwat Ghayur told AFP. “There are two foreigners among the dead,” NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said. However, he did not reveal their nationalities. Among those who were injured are the ruling Awami National Party’s minister Zarshed Khan, Senator Nabi Bangash, UN officials, three foreigners and an airline’s crew, The News reported. 40 vehicles parked in the compound were destroyed and the building was seriously damaged. A Bomb Disposal Squad official told reporters at least 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack. Khyber Road, where the explosion occurred, is a sensitive area with the NWFP Assembly and several Government and military buildings located there. A number of foreigners, most of them associated with aid agencies, were reportedly staying in the hotel. A private TV channel said the dead included UNHCR official Alexander Joseph from Russia. 16 other UNHCR officials were injured and one was missing. The injured also included an official from the World Food Programme, another from the World Health Organisation and two from UNICEF, it said. Another TV channel said a foreign female journalist was also injured. The Associated Press said US officials were in negotiations to make the premises an American consulate. Citing two senior US officials in Washington, it said the State Department had been in negotiations with the hotel’s owners to either purchase the facility or sign a long-term lease there to house a new American consulate in Peshawar. Lou Fintor, spokesman for the US Embassy in Islamabad, said all diplomatic personnel were accounted for. “At this point we have no reports that any Americans were at the scene,” he said. Read less...

Four Policemen and two other people were injured when a roadside bomb hit a Rescue-15 van in Dera Ismail Khan on June 9-night, Dawn reported. The Policemen were on a patrol and when their van reached Ashyan Shopping Centre on the North Circular Road the bomb was detonated by a remote control. The vehicle was completely destroyed. Read less...

Security Forces on June 9 launched an operation against the Bakakhel and Janikhel tribesmen in the Frontier Region (FR) of Bannu District for their failure to hand over the kidnappers of the Razmak Cadet College students and teachers, The News reported. There were reports that 20 militants were killed and several others injured in the operation. However, these reports could not be confirmed from independent sources. The District administration clamped a curfew in the area from 6am to 7pm on June 9 and closed the Bannu-Miranshah road for all kinds of traffic. Read less...

The administration under the Frontier Crimes Regulation launched the operation against the tribesmen for their failure to protect the cadets and their teachers from being kidnapped, and then failing to hand over the culprits to the Government. The two tribes were given a five-day deadline to either hand over the kidnappers or face punitive action. Some of the tribesmen complained that the Government started the military action before the deadline expired. Official sources said around 33 suspects, including Afghan nationals and Mehsud and Wazir tribesmen, were arrested during a search operation and shifted to secret locations. The Security Forces on June 9-afternoon started artillery shelling from the Bannu military camp towards suspected locations of the militants in Bakakhel and Janikhel villages. Bannu District Coordination Officer Kamran Zeb Khan told Associated Press that the military operation began after a deadline given to tribal leaders in the region to hand over militant suspects had expired. Read less...

The TNSM Swat unit chief and two other suspects were arrested from the Hayatabad area of provincial capital on June 9, Daily Times reported. Iqbal Khan, who belongs to the Matta area of Swat, was the District chief of the TNSM, while the other two suspects are his relatives. They were reportedly staying in a rented house in Phase-IV of the Hayatabad locality. Read less...

Tribal militia in the Upper Dir District secured four villages and killed 13 Taliban militants. Foreign news agencies said they were backed by army helicopter gunships. A private TV channel said key Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) supporter in Shangla District, identified as Waliullah Bilgarami, has surrendered. Read less...

Troops killed 27 more Taliban militants in various parts of Malakand Division, while a soldier was killed and nine others injured in clashes with the militants, Daily Times reported. A military statement said 14 militants were killed and 22 arrested during a search and destroy operation in Peochar valley. “A tunnel, a cache of arms and ammunition, and explosives were seized,” it said. Troops also conducted a cordon and search operation to secure Darmai village in Sakhra valley. A soldier was killed in a Taliban attack on the Kalpanai check-post, and three others were injured during a clash in Uchrai Sar. Read less...

23 Taliban militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes in parts of the Swat District on June 10, Daily Times reported. While one militant was killed during a search operation in Batkhela, six others were killed when the army retaliated an attack in Banmani Sar. The army is reported to have secured the Shalkosar Top and Shalkosar Kandao in Peochar valley. 16 militants were killed in fierce fighting over Shalkosar. In addition, a soldier was killed in a Taliban attack on Bariam Bridge near Matta, and another when they fired a rocket at Kabbal Camp. Read less...

A previously unknown Al Qaeda-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, The News reported. A spokesman of the organisation, Amir Muawiya, telephoned reporters in the Kohat city of NWFP on June 10, claiming responsibility for the attack and threatened more such bombings. He said the bombing was in retaliation to the operations by the Pakistani armed forces, at the behest of the US, in Swat and rest of the Malakand region and also in the tribal areas of Darra Adamkhel and the Orakzai Agency. Amir Muawiya was a Pakistani Taliban commander operating in the semi-tribal area of Darra Adamkhel, located between Peshawar and Kohat. According to Amir Muawiya, the central Shura, or council of the Taliban and also al-Qaeda, had decided that only the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade would claim responsibility in future and others would keep quiet. Read less...

Foreign missions have suspended their activities in Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, following the June 9-suicide attack on the five-star Hotel Pearl Continental in which 17 persons were killed. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the American Consulate in Peshawar and several other diplomatic missions and international bodies suspended their activities in the city by directing foreign officials to restrict their movement. The WFP also suspended its operations, but its activities for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of the Malakand Division will continue. Two foreign UN officials, Serbian national Aleksandar Vorkapic of the UNHCR, Perseveranda So of the Philippines working for the UNICEF, and three local officials of the United Nations Population Fund, Muhammad Miskin, administration relief assistant, Muhammad Tahir and a driver Muhammad Fawad, were among those killed in the suicide blast. A UN official said four of the wounded UN workers included Gordon Brown and Augustine Fredrick of the WFP, Adili Motupotu of the World Health Organisation and a UNICEF intern, Anna Ciger. According to the sources, 22 foreigners were inside the hotel when the blast occurred. The wounded foreigners included a Somali national, three Nigerians, a US national girl and a German. The UN confirmed the death of its two officials in the blast, saying seven of its workers sustained injuries in the incident. The United Nations has cancelled all its activities in Peshawar for an indefinite period following the death of two of its staffers in the attack. Read less...

In Bannu District, a man was killed and two others sustained injuries when Taliban militants fired a rocket at a house, AFP reported. Read less...

In Frontier Region (FR) Bannu, according to the ISPR update, the troops secured Kotka Saifullah and Sara Bangal areas. During search operations in Sara Bangal, 34 militants were killed, while three others were arrested. The ISPR said about 400 militants attacked the Siplatoi and Jandola Fort late on June 10-night, killing three soldiers. In retaliatory firing by the SFs, 22 militants were killed and scores of others sustained injuries. Read less...

Six more bodies were recovered from the debris of the damaged portion of Hotel Peal Continental in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, on June 10, including that of the hotel’s general manager, raising the toll of the June 9-suicide attack to 17, Daily Times reported. The explosion destroyed five floors of the hotel and the boundary wall between the hotel and the Flag Staff House. A Police official said the number of casualties could increase as more bodies were likely to be found under the debris. Read less...

The spokesman said his group would be willing to explode a small bomb outside the BBC office in Islamabad to prove the group’s power and capability. He also said his group had carried out the attack on the Police Training Academy at Manawan in Lahore, the bombing of the NATO transport terminals in Peshawar and other attacks. Read less...

Troops have killed more than 100 Taliban militants during two days of operation in the Jani Khel and Baka Khel areas of Frontier Region (FR) Bannu, Daily Times reported. A private TV channel reported on June 10 that Taliban commander Sher Alam is among the dead. Security Forces (SFs) are currently targeting Taliban positions with gunship helicopters and artillery shells, the channel said. Up to 800 Taliban militants have reportedly arrived in the semi-tribal area of FR Bannu that borders North Waziristan to fight the army that has started an operation in the area. “Reportedly 600 to 800 terrorists reached Jani Khel from Miranshah and Razmak. They are planning to strike at various places in the NWFP,” the military said in a press release. The operation was launched after the Jani Khel tribesmen failed to hand over militants involved in the abduction of hundreds of students and staff of Razmak Cadet College last week. Troops moved in on June 8 after talks between two tribes thought to be involved in the abduction and political administration broke down. “Forces pounded the militant hideouts for the whole night and in the morning in Jani Khel tribal area,” local Police official Khalil Zaman told AFP. Read less...

Two more militants were killed on June 10 as armed villagers of a tribal Lashkar (militia) intensified their assault on the Taliban holed up in Shatkas and Ghazigay villages of Doog Darra area in the Upper Dir District, Dawn reported. Sources said that militants were putting up stiff resistance and firing on the advancing villagers. The Lashkar fighters are reported to have attacked Taliban’s positions with heavy weapons and destroyed five of their bunkers. Two militants were killed in the attack. At least 15 militants have been killed since the launch of the offensive by the Lashkar. 12 militants and four militiamen men have been injured. Read less...

A man was killed and 13 others, including nine Policemen, sustained injuries in a hand grenade-cum-suicide attack on a Police party in the Lateefabad area on Ring Road in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, on June 11-night, The News reported. Capital City Police Officer Safwat Ghayyur told the media that a Police party was on a routine duty on Ring Road in the jurisdiction of Faqirabad Police station when unknown miscreants hurled a hand grenade at the Policemen, injuring one of them. Even as reinforcements were being called for, a suicide bomber came near a Police pick-up and blew himself up. The blast destroyed two Police mobiles, a rickshaw and a motorcycle. Personnel of the Bomb Disposal Squad also recovered a pressure cooker and explosive material from the nearby fields. Talking to a private news channel, the NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain linked the incident to the military operation in Waziristan. Read less...

According to The News, a remote-controlled bomb planted on a parked motorbike in Khuzdar District exploded near a military vehicle, killing three persons, including a paramilitary soldier, local Police officer Juma Khan said. At least 10 persons, mostly civilians, were injured in the blast, an AFP report stated. Read less...

An unidentified motorcyclist lobbed a hand grenade on people in Topawala Bazaar in Dera Ismail Khan on June 11 injuring 21 persons, Daily Times reported. The man attacked civilians near the Jadeed Cloth House around 11:55am, Police said. Read less...

In Buner District, an improvised explosive device planted by the militants exploded on Ambela-Daggar road. Three vehicles were partially damaged in the blast. The SFs, meanwhile, secured Gat Khela and Jowar areas and also destroyed a militants’ hideout in Gatkala area. Read less...

In Swat, the SFs are consolidating their positions at secured areas of Kabal, while operations in the remaining areas are in progress. During an encounter with the militants, three soldiers sustained injuries. The SFs launched search and destroy operations at Ashro Kandao, Arkot Qilla, Shakardarra, Matta triangle, Sakhra, Matta, Kharerai and Sarai. They also secured Sijban area on Runial-Chuprial route, while during exchange of fire with the Taliban three soldiers were injured. In an exchange of fire between the two sides in Peuchar area, one soldier was injured, while 10 militants were killed and six others were arrested. Read less...

In the provincial capital, two suspects were killed and six others arrested as Policemen and troops deployed at the Peshawar Corps Commander’s House foiled a terrorist attack in the high security zone on Peshawar’s Khyber Road on June 11, Daily Times reported. Citing witnesses, a television channel said two suspects riding a motorbike attempted to enter the Corps Commander’s House and fired at the security officials on being stopped. According to the channel, two other gunmen, also on motorbikes, followed the first pair. Two suspects were killed in the ensuing encounter, the channel said. The Peshawar Police chief confirmed the killings but declined to comment further. Talking to reporters, he said the Security Forces had not suffered any casualties, and that they were clearing the area. A channel said an explosion was also heard before the gunfight. Several important buildings are located in the high security zone on Khyber Road, including the houses of the Inspector General of NWFP Police, the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Supreme Court’s Peshawar Registry and the Pearl Continental hotel that was attacked on June 9. Read less...

On June 11, the SFs shelled suspected hideouts of the militants in Janikhel and Zaidi Akbar Khan with artillery from the Bannu Cantonment while gunship choppers and jet fighters also strafed the militants’ locations in these areas. The gunship helicopters and jetfighters also bombed the Taliban hideouts in the precincts of Sra Dargah and Haved Police station while massive shelling was carried out in Zaidi Akbar Khan area. At least, 50 militants were killed in the daylong military offensive in the region. Read less...

One person was killed and 35 others wounded on June 11 when a bomb hidden in a toilet exploded in a Quetta-bound train. The bomb hit the Bolan Express near Dozan area in the Bolan district, about 45 kilometers away from the provincial capital Quetta, said a Pakistan Railways official. The train was heading from Karachi to Quetta when it was hit by the powerful bomb at around 01:25pm. The Baloch Republican Army has claimed responsibility for the attack. Read less...

People continued migrating to safer places in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and other cities from the Janikhel, Bakakhel and other areas of Bannu. Read less...

Police arrested 29 Taliban militants from various parts on June 11. A top Taliban ‘commander’, identified as Qari Khursheed, and his accomplices were arrested from Nowshera District. Khursheed is reported to have confessed to his involvement in various terrorist activities. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies arrested a trainer of suicide bombers from Kohat bypass road and took him to an undisclosed location for interrogation while 25 trained terrorists were also arrested in a search operation in the Dera Bandai area of Kohat District. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) claimed to have killed five militants during an encounter in the Kambar area of Dir Lower district on June 11, while two children were killed in fighting between the armed Lashkar (militia) of villagers and militants in Dir Upper District, The News reported. Official sources claimed that SFs were carrying out a search operation when a group of militants confronted them. They said the ensuing encounter between the two sides continued for quite a while that left five of the attackers dead. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 11 intensified military operation in the Frontier Region (FR) Bannu and targeted the Taliban positions with jet fighters, gunship choppers and artillery in Janikhel and Zaidi Akbar Khan areas, killing 50 more militants, The News reported. Official sources said more than 150 militants had been killed in the three-day military offensive. The military launched the operation on June 9 after expiry of the deadline for Janikhel and Bakakhel tribal leaders to hand over the militants wanted by the Government for kidnapping of students and teachers of Razmak Cadet College. Read less...

SFs in a convoy on the Bannu-Miranshah road and Bannu city opened fire on a man for violating curfew, killing him on the spot. Sources added that a rocket shell fired by the militants from an unknown location landed in the fields in Abadkhel area. The shell, however, caused no loss of life or damage to property. The Bannu Police also recovered another shell from the fields in Kachkot Asad Khan. Read less...

The army killed 22 Taliban militants during fierce clashes in South Waziristan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on June 11, Daily Times reported. According to reports from Waziristan, the fighting broke out when around 400 militants attacked the Siplatoi check-post and the Jandola Fort late on June 10, and continued for several hours. Three soldiers died and five were injured in the fight, the military said in a daily update in Rawalpindi. Talking to Daily Times, hospital sources confirmed 11 Taliban deaths. They said seven militants were injured. Read less...

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Leon Panetta said on June 11 the US intelligence agency believes Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan, and hoped joint operations with Pakistani forces will find him, according to Daily Times. Asked whether he was sure that Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan, Panetta told reporters, “The last information we had, that’s still the case.” Finding Laden is “one of our major priorities”, said Panetta. “One of our hopes is that the Pakistanis move in militarily, combined with our operations, we may be able to have a better chance” to find the Al Qaeda leader, he said. Panetta also said Al Qaeda “remains the most serious security threat”, adding that there are “a number of people” on the ground in Pakistan providing intelligence on Al Qaeda targets to the US. Read less...

The number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) has crossed the figure of 3.8 million as approximately 540127 families have moved to safer places due to military operations against the Taliban in Malakand Division, according to The News. According to a press release issued in Peshawar by the NWFP information department, the number of IDPs is 3870500, both in camps and off camps. The number of the IDPs living in camps in different areas of the province is 26145 families which constitutes 149701 individuals. The number of families living off camps is 513982 which constitute a figure of 3720800 individuals. Read less...

The NWFP Minister for Prisons, Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, was seriously injured in an armed attack near the Friendship Tunnel in the Darra Adamkhel area on June 11, while two of his security guards and an attacker were killed in the exchange of fire, The News reported. The minister, who is a resident of Karak District, was on his way to Peshawar when his motorcade was attacked in Darra Adamkhel. Three masked men opened fire at his car near Spina Thana of Akhurwal area, some 35 kilometers from Peshawar. Consequent to the exchange of fire, Security Forces launched a search operation in Akhurwal area and targeted the surrounding mountaintops in Akhurwal and Sanikhel areas with heavy artillery. District Coordination Officer and Political Agent of the Frontier Region of Kohat, Siraj Ahmed, told Dawn that the minister’s condition remained critical, although doctors reported some improvement. Read less...

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jet fighters on June 11 started bombing suspected locations of Taliban militants in the Orakzai Agency in FATA and the adjoining Hangu District in NWFP, killing 33 persons, including the Sunni Supreme Council chief Maulana Muhammad Amin and his nephew, and injuring 29 others, The News reported. The local officials, however, put the death toll in the two regions at 50, including women and children. The warplanes targeted militants’ positions in Mushti Bazaar, Mushti Mela, Ferozkhel, Sheikhan, Dabori, Ghiljo, Khadeezai, Shahuwam and Sultanzai. 26 people were reportedly killed and 13 others injured in the daylong bombing in these villages of Orakzai Agency. The warplanes also targeted a madrassa (seminary) run by prominent cleric and leader of the Sunni Supreme Council of Hangu and Orakzai Agency, Maulana Mohammad Amin, at Shahuwam Bazaar in Orakzai. Besides six other people, the Maulana himself and his nephew Hafiz Rashid Ahmad were killed and a few others injured. Maulana Amin had reportedly close links with militants. The planes also targeted an alleged training centre of militants in Khapanga area of Lower Kurram Agency. The camp was reportedly run by local militant commander, Ismail Shah. Military officials said Maulana Amin had close links with the Taliban. An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement issued from Peshawar said 40 terrorists were present in the seminary during the attack. It said 13 of the terrorists died, which the local administration confirmed. Read less...

The Pakistan Air Force warplanes fired missiles on suspected hideouts of militants in the Shatkas area of Doog Darra in Dir Upper district. In addition, four suspected members of a banned militant outfit were captured by the Lashkar from Patrak area early in the morning. Read less...

The Security Forces (SFs) killed 66 more militants and arrested nine others, while four soldiers also died and 12 others sustained injuries in various areas of Malakand Division and Bannu, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on June 11, The News reported. Read less...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced the assistance of $30 million for IDPs from Malakand. The announcement was made by the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwer Muhammad Gargash, during his visit to the Shah Mansoor camp at Swabi. Read less...

18 more militants were killed as Security Forces (SFs) continued their operations in the Janikhel and Hindikhel areas of Bannu District on the fourth consecutive day on June 12, The News reported. Sources said SFs entered the Hindikhel area after clearing Sra Dargah area of the militants. "At least, 18 militants were killed in the daylong clashes in different areas of the semi-tribal region," the sources said, adding the troops faced stiff resistance in Hindikhel. The SFs also targeted militants’ positions with artillery from the Bannu Cantonment. Official sources claimed that over 200 militants had been killed in the four-day operation. The military launched the operation on June 9-morning after the expiry of the deadline given to Janikhel and Bakakhel tribal leaders to hand over the militants wanted by the Government for the kidnapping of students and teachers of the Razmak Cadet College. Read less...

39 more militants and 10 soldiers were killed in clashes between the Security Forces (SFs) and Taliban militants in the Swat valley on June 12, The News reported. A news update issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on the ongoing military operations in Swat and other adjoining mountainous areas, said 10 soldiers were killed and 24 others sustained injuries during the operation. SFs reportedly secured and consolidated their positions at Chuprial near Matta sub-division. During the process of consolidation, an encounter took place between the two sides in which eight soldiers died and 13 others were wounded. In retaliation, the SFs killed 39 militants and their bodies were reportedly lying at the encounter site. Further, while securing areas around Kabal sub-division, two soldiers were killed and eight injured in an exchange of fire between the two sides. Casualties suffered by the Taliban could not be ascertained. In addition, militants also targeted the SFs near Charbagh, injuring three soldiers. Read less...

A girl was injured when a mine exploded at a mountain in the Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District, where a local Lashkar (militia) was struggling to dislodge the militants from their last hilltop hideout on June 12 despite heavily-pounding their position, The News reported. The girl, whose name could not be immediately ascertained, was hit by the mine when she was roaming in the mountains of Shatkas area in Doog Darra. A Lashkar member said on June 11 that the militants, who had been pushed to their last hideout on a mountain in Kandao area of Ghazigay village, had planted mines to stop the advances of the Lashkar. Read less...

According to Dawn, seven Taliban militants were killed by the Security Forces (SFs) in Bajaur Agency’s Charmang area, considered to be a Taliban stronghold, on June 12. Planes and helicopters attacked militants’ positions in Tangi, Hashim Ziarat, Kotki and Babara. Militants had reportedly used Mamond and Charmang for regrouping after having signed a peace deal with the Government. They built bunkers and dug trenches to protect themselves against ground and air assaults and had also occupied agricultural land of tribal elders and Government buildings. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, meanwhile, urged the Government to halt the operation and its spokesman Maulvi Umar said that the peace deal would be derailed if the operation continued. Read less...

At least 10 persons were injured when a toy bomb exploded in a house in the Christian colony of Hasilpur city of Bahawalpur District on June 12, Daily Times reported. According to a private TV channel, four women and two children were among the injured. The channel quoted sources as saying that the children found a parcel wrapped in a cloth outside their home, which exploded with a huge blast when brought inside. Read less...

At least seven persons, including a prominent anti-Taliban cleric, were killed and seven injured when a suicide attacker detonated himself at the Jamia Naeemia madrassa (seminary) in the Garhi Shahu area of Lahore shortly after Friday prayers on June 12. Daily Times reported that targeting Sarfaraz Naeemi, the head of Jamia Naeemia, the terrorist reportedly waited until the anti-Taliban cleric had reached his office before launching his attack. Six people were with Naeemi in his office at the time. A seminary student, Muhammad Faisal, said the bomber had pretended to be a student. Following the blast, hundreds of outraged students gathered at the scene and demanded the Taliban leave Pakistan. Naeemi’s brother Muhammad Tajwar told AP the cleric had recently received death threats for condemning the Taliban, but had refused the offer of Police protection. Inspector General of Police, Tariq Saleem Dogar, said since Naeemi had never asked for security, the attack was not a security lapse. District Officer (Civil Defence) Mazhar Hussain said the attacker had used a 20-kilogramme suicide vest containing ball bearings and iron filings. Police said the bomber was aged between 16 and 17, clean-shaven and had a fair complexion. Police also claimed to have later arrested two suspected terrorists. According to The News, Naeemi was one of those moderate clerics who believed in maintaining sectarian unity to counter terrorism, and was among those clerics who had issued the edict declaring suicide attacks against the Muslims and civilians as Haram (forbidden). Read less...

Five worshippers were killed and 105 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden van into a mosque during the Friday prayers in the Cantonment area of Nowshera in the NWFP on June 12, The News reported. Sources said the congregation was in the second Rakat (part) when the bomber in the vehicle, carrying 125 kilograms of explosives, struck the wall of the mosque near the Army Supply Depot. Two soldiers were among the four persons killed on the spot while 105 persons, including 30 civilians, were injured in the explosion. Most of the wounded were reportedly Army personnel. One of those wounded succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. While the blast brought down the entire structure of the mosque, windowpanes and doors of nearby buildings were smashed and walls cracked, injuring several persons, including women and children. The Nowshera District Police Officer Abdullah Khan told AFP the vehicle used in the attack had been made to look like an ambulance, Daily Times reported. Read less...

Four Police personnel were killed and six others injured by two remote-controlled bomb attacks in the Hangu District of NWFP on June 12. In the first incident, suspected militants targeted a Police van in the Tull sub-division with an improvised explosive device, fitted in a pressure cooker. The blast killed four Policemen. In a second incident, militants reportedly attempted to attack another Police van with a remote controlled bomb in the Dawaba Police station precincts. However, the Police van narrowly escaped the blast. Read less...

Paramilitary forces continued to target the militants’ positions from the Frontier Corps camps in Bahai Dag and Mamad Gutt. The militants fired two mortar shells at Ghalanai, the Mohmand Agency’s headquarters, which was returned by SFs by hitting the nearby mountains with artillery shells. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) claimed to have destroyed the hideouts of militants and their explosive factories besides arresting 10 suspected militants during a search operation in Darra Adamkhel on June 12, The News reported. Sources said the SFs launched a search operation against the militants in Akhorwal area of the gun manufacturing town of Darra Adamkhel. The paramilitary forces are reported to have initiated action against the militants after the assassination attempt on NWFP Minister for Prisons, Mian Nisar Gul Kaka Khel, in the Akhorwal area. During the search operation, SFs cordoned off the area and arrested 10 suspected militants from the area. Houses of four militants identified as Shams, Inayat, Ibrahim and Shahid were also blown up in Akhorwal. Shams and Inayat were accused of providing monetary and armed assistance to the militants. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 12 killed 12 militants in the Mohmand Agency, targeting Taliban’s hideouts, according to The News. In addition, five persons were killed when shells missed targets and landed in civilian areas. SFs are reported to have targeted the militants’ hideouts in Alingar, Akhunzadgan, Sagi, Sheikh Baba, Sooran Darra, Guloona and Shandarra areas of Safi and Khewzai Baizai sub-divisions with helicopters gunship, artillery, tanks and other sophisticated weapons. Yar Khan, his wife and two children were killed when an artillery shell hit his house in Akhunzadgan area. Another civilian, Muhammad Deen Shah, was killed in the Alingar area. Civilians were also hit in the Upper and Lower Sagi areas. However, the number of casualties could not be ascertained. Read less...

SFs allegedly shot dead a mentally challenged person, identified as Misal Khan of Haveed, when a military convoy was passing through the area. Further, 40year-old Mumtaz Khan was critically injured when hit by a stray bullet in the Muslimabad area of Bannu. Read less...

The Taliban militants could not fight the Lashkar and retreated deep into the mountains along the Chitral District to escape. However, the armed villagers have reportedly blocked all escape routes of the militants. The locals said on June 12 the Lashkar continued to pound the Taliban hideout in Kandao. Lashkar sources and locals said the militia was struggling to dislodge the militants from this hideout because it was situated on a hilltop and the Taliban had dug up a cave there. The locals and Police sources said the firing continued on June 12, but no casualties were reported from either side. Read less...

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the June 12 suicide attacks in Lahore and Nowshera and the bombing of Hotel Pearl Continental in Peshawar on June 9. "We claim responsibility for these attacks," a man identifying himself as Saeed Hafiz and claiming to be deputy of Hakeemullah Mehsud based in the Orakzai Agency of FATA told Dawn on telephone. He said the TTP would soon release the video of the PC attack. He also said the suicide attacks on the Lahore seminary and Nowshera mosque were to avenge the June 11 bombing in Hangu and military operations in Swat, Bannu and South Waziristan. Read less...

On June 13, Security Forces (SFs) killed 41 Taliban militants in military operations in the Malakand Division and Bannu area in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, reports Daily Times. The ISPR also said a soldier was killed and seven others were injured in the fighting. SFs continued conducting search operations in Mingora and seized a cache of arms, night vision goggles and other equipment abandoned by the Taliban militants. Two terrorists were also arrested during the search operation. Troops also secured the Karakar pass linking Buner with Swat. In Bannu, SFs secured Zindi Akbar Khan, FC Fort Jani Khel and Marwat Canal, the ISPR said, adding that 35 terrorists had been killed in the operation in various areas of Bannu District. In the past few days, Pakistan launched strikes on Taliban militants across the NWFP, most notably in Bannu District at the gateway to Waziristan, where according to the military more than 130 militants were killed since June 9. Read less...

On June 13, the SFs had reportedly killed 10 militants by targeting their hideouts with jetfighters and gunship helicopters in different areas of the Nawagai sub-division, according to The News. Official sources also said four others were arrested in the daylong military operation. Read less...

Pakistan Air Force jet fighters bombed suspected hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud at South Waziristan Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on June 13, according to Daily Times. “In response to the suicide attack on Jamia Naeemi, in which Dr Sarfraz Naeemi and six others were killed in Lahore, two terrorists’ compounds were targeted by the air force in Makeen,” a military statement said. However, the military statement gave no details of the casualties inflicted on the Taliban militants during the early morning strikes. “The number of casualties could not be ascertained.” Hours before the attack on Mehsud’s stronghold, President Asif Ali Zardari vowed in a televised address to wage war against militancy “to the end”. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 13 claimed to have killed 24 militants in an operation in the Mohmand Agency of FATA, The News reported on June 14. In addition, 12 civilians were killed when shells missed their targets and landed in the civilian areas of the agency. Sources said that SFS targeted militants’ hideouts in the Sooran Darra, Sheikh Baba, Dawezai, Kemor, Shati Kandao, Chamar Kand, Alingar, Kog Pind, Ghanam Shah and Shandara areas with jet fighters, gunship helicopters, tanks and artillery, killing 24 militants. A number of houses owned by militants were also destroyed in various areas. However, some of the shells missed their intended targets and landed in the civilian areas, killing 12 persons. Read less...

Two persons were killed and six others wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a Police vehicle exploded at Kohat in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on June 13, Police said, reports Daily Times. “A policeman and a civilian were killed in an improvised explosive device blast and six others, five policemen and one civilian, were injured,” Kohat police chief Dilawar Khan Bangash told AFP. Read less...

35 more militants were killed in fresh action by the troops in the Bannu District of NWFP, a private TV channel reported. It said the SFs, continuing their operations against the Taliban, had bombarded suspected militant hideouts from Janikhel Fort. The ISPR also said one soldier was killed and three injured in an exchange of fire with militants in the Kabal sub-division of Swat District. Further, Taliban militants in the Kala Kale are injured another soldier. A cordon-and-search operation is reportedly continuing in the Loe Namal, Kuz Shaur and Matta areas of Swat, the statement added. Read less...

A large number of tribesmen continued shifting to safer locations. According to sources, about 40 to 50 thousand people have left their homes. Read less...

A man was killed and three others were injured in clashes between Security Forces and militants in the Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti District on June 14, Dawn reported. The Baloch Republican Army’s spokesman Sarbaz Baloch claimed that four Security Force personnel were killed and six others injured in the clash. But official sources rejected the claim and said that one civilian had been killed in firing by armed men. Read less...

A Policeman and a passerby were killed and 20 people were injured when a bomb detonated by remote control hit a Police bus on the University Road in Kohat on June 12. Read less...

A US missile strike targeting militants killed three persons on June 14 in the Laddha region of South Waziristan Agency, The News reported. “A drone attack targeting a militant vehicle killed three people in Mardar Algad area… There is a training camp close to this area,” said Amir Mohammad Khan, a local administration official in Laddha. Khan said the Taliban militants had surrounded the area of the attack and Security Forces were not able to gather any more information about the missile strike. An intelligence official in the area confirmed the missile attack. “A drone targeted the militant vehicles in the Mardar Algad area,” he told AFP. “One of the double-cabin vehicles was totally destroyed.” Preliminary reports say that three militants were killed, he added. Read less...

Air force jets and helicopter gunships targeted suspected positions of militants in the Salarzai and Nawagai areas of Bajaur Agency in FATA on June 14, according to Dawn. At least nine militants were killed and several others injured, officials said. They said two planes and several helicopters attacked militants’ positions in the Charmang area of Nawagai sub-division. Hideouts in Babara, Cheenar, Kotki and Hashim Koi were also bombed. According to local people, Security Forces were facing stiff resistance in some parts of the Charmang valley. The officials said troops had also attacked the command and control system of militants in the valley and they were fleeing from the area. Suspected militant positions were also attacked in the Banda Darra, Ghundai and Mulla Said areas of Salarzai sub-division. The air strikes continued for about 40 minutes and two militants were killed. Read less...

At least three people were killed and two injured when a vehicle carrying supplies for the NATO forces hit a roadside bomb in South Waziristan on June 14, sources told Daily Times. Two of the deceased have been identified as Afghans, while one has been identified as a Pakistani. Political authorities confirmed the incident. A local administration official, however, told AFP the incident was a suspected US missile strike. The political administration and a military spokesman, however, claimed such reports were baseless. Read less...

In Darra Adamkhel, helicopter gunships attacked militants’ hideouts in the Shni Kalay area early on June 14-morning, Dawn reported. There were, however, no reports about casualties. The strike followed a clash between two groups of militants. The helicopters hit militants’ positions in the Tor Chappar, Bostikhel and Shni Kalay areas considered to be strongholds of the Darra Adamkhel chapter of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan headed by Tariq Afridi. A clash between the Afridi group and followers of pro-government Momin Khan took place after the latter reportedly kidnapped two supporters of the former. The Tariq Afridi group had earlier claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks at the Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar on June 9 and on a police check-post on June 12. Earlier this year, the same group had reportedly abducted and later beheaded a Polish geologist. Read less...

Nine people were killed and more than 40 others wounded when a in a bomb blast at a busy market in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP on June 14, The News reported. Sources said the bomb, weighing five kilograms and apparently planted on a cycle cart, exploded in the busy Tejarat Gunj Bazaar. The blast also destroyed the windowpanes of the nearby shops and houses. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. Read less...

Reports indicated that militants are still hiding in Government installations in the plain areas of Bajaur Agency. They are said to have built bunkers in some Government buildings. Sources said at least 24 militants had been killed during the operation since June 12. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) said on June 14 they had killed 65 Taliban militants, including foreigners, and injured 50 in various army operations in South Waziristan and Bannu during the last 24 hours, Daily Times reported. “Thirty terrorists were killed, including a few foreigners, and 50 were injured at Makeen, South Waziristan due to the air strike on Saturday,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. It said the offensive was partially in response to the suicide attack on Mufti Sarfaraz Naeemi’s madrassa (seminary) in Lahore on June 12, in which seven civilians were killed, and the suicide attack on the Nowshera mosque on the same day in which five personnel were killed. Read less...

The Government on June 14 ordered a “full-fledged” military operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and Mehsud tribes for harbouring terrorists, abetting terrorist activities and killing innocent people, Daily Times reported. “Law-enforcement agencies have been ordered to launch a comprehensive operation against Mehsud tribes and the TTP chief and his followers for their failure to fulfill their duties in accordance with the law of the land,” said NFWP Governor Awais Ghani at a press conference in Islamabad, but did not provide a date for the launch of the operation. The Online news agency claimed the operation would follow the offensive in Malakand. He said “this would be an affective and decisive operation that would root out terrorism from Pakistan “. The decision to launch the operation against Mehsud tribes, he said, had been made to “protect the lives and properties of the people of Pakistan from the barbaric terrorists of Mehsud tribes”. “Mehsud tribes were told time and again that their activities are unacceptable,” he added. Ghani said Mehsud tribes had not only failed to evict foreign terrorists from their areas, but had also continued operating training camps. Read less...

14 Taliban militants were reportedly killed in the Dir Lower and Upper Districts while Security Forces (SFs), The News reported. Sources said nine suspected Taliban militants were killed in Dir Lower and five in Dir Upper, respectively. SFs, the sources said, killed nine militants during a search operation in Galgut area of Maidan. They said a soldier was also killed and five others injured in the encounter. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the Lashkar (militia) killed five militants and injured six others in Dir Upper. Sources in the area confirmed that three houses owned by Kashar Khan, Nawaz and Omar were destroyed in Shatkas area when the armed villagers targeted the locations of the militants. They said about four to five militants were killed. Read less...

In Bajaur, eight militants, including a commander, were killed, a security official in Khar told AFP. Read less...

In Dir Lower, the SFs claimed to have killed 11 militants in the Maidan area of the District. Eleven militants were killed late on June 15-night, when the Taliban hideouts in Kulaldherai, Galgut, Hayaserai and Kas Laghrai areas were targeted with artillery, sources said. The sources said four persons were injured in the artillery shelling by SFs when their house was hit by a shell. Read less...

In Mohmand Agency, 29 Taliban militants were killed and 25 injured when the SFs targeted their hideouts with jet planes and helicopter gunships. Read less...

In the Jani Khel area of Bannu District, Taliban fired rockets at a Police station and an airport early on June 15. “Seven Taliban were killed in the retaliatory attack,” said Zahinuddin, a local Police official. Read less...

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the Government is determined to continue the war against terrorism till the Taliban are flushed out of the country, according to The News. He said that the terrorists were using children for their barbarous terrorist activities, adding a suicide bomber was paid PKR 500,000 to PKR 2.5 million from terrorist outfits. Speaking at an award distribution ceremony for martyred and other Police officials in Islamabad on June 15, Mailk said the Government has decided to increase the Police strength, and 20,000 more personnel would be recruited in the Capital Police to overcome the shortage of the force. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 15 claimed to have killed 50 Taliban militants during military operations in the Mohmand Agency, Bajaur Agency, Malakand Division and Bannu District during the past 24 hours, Daily Times reported. The Inter-Services Public Relations said five Taliban militants were killed in retaliation after they attacked a local Lashkar (militia) in the Dir District. They said the Lashkar also destroyed three houses and injured six militants. It said another member of the Taliban was killed when Police fired at a car that refused to stop at a check-post. “The car exploded, as it was primed for a suicide attack,” it added. Read less...

The SFs also consolidated their positions and continued search operations in Godhand Banda and Arkot in Swat, Matta and Aligrama. They also directed the displaced people of Kalam to report to Besham for transportation back to their homes. Read less...

The SFs had launched an operation on April 26 to defeat the militants in the Maidan area of Dir Lower district. The troops claim to have killed hundreds of militants and secured most areas in Maidan. Troops are now reportedly engaged in the mopping up operation in the area to end resistance. Read less...

Two guards of the nephew of veteran politician Afzal Khan Lala were killed in the Swat Valley, The News reported. Read less...

Two Policemen were killed and three injured late on June 15 when Taliban militants attacked a Police check-post in Mardan, Daily Times reported. According to Police officials, the militants opened fire on the Kharkai check-post, killing Policemen Sakhi Jan and Nazir on the spot, while three others were injured. Read less...

At least three persons were killed and four others sustained injuries in clashes between two groups in the Kurram Agency on June 16, Dawn reported. The clashes which erupted when the rivals belonging to Balishkhel and Khar villages started building bunkers, sparked sectarian tension. According to sources, the clash followed an attack by Khar villagers near the Balishkhel checkpoint. Read less...

Due to prolonged curfew hours and violence in the Malakand region, the social and economic life in the district has reportedly been paralysed. There is an acute shortage of daily use commodities and life-saving drugs in the area as supply to the markets and shops remained disrupted for hours, the sources added. Most of the people who wanted to travel to and from Timergara were stranded in the Malakand Agency due to closure of roads. Read less...

Police raided a seminary in Mundeyki Goraya village near Daska in Sialkot District and arrested five activists of a banned militant organization in the evening of June 16, Dawn reported. Official sources confirmed the arrests but refused to give the names of the detained or their outfit. A huge quantity of Jihadi literature was also seized during the raid. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 16 claimed to have killed 15 militants, including a key foreign commander, in the Bajaur Agency of FATA and Dir Lower District in the NWFP. Sources told The News that the SFs heavily shelled positions of the militants in the Charmang area of Nawagai sub-division with artillery from Khar, headquarters of the Bajaur Agency, Loisam and Tank Khatta camps, destroying several hideouts in the area. An important foreign commander, known as Goraila, and three local militants were killed in the action. SFs cleared the area of the militants and took control of the key locations in Charmang, the stronghold of the militants. Troops also launched a search operation during which five rocket shells were recovered, which were defused by a special squad. Two remote-controlled bombs were also defused during the Security Forces’ advance towards Charmang. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 16 targeted suspected hideouts of the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban militants in South Waziristan Agency, causing exodus of thousands of families from the troubled spots, The News reported. SFs, based at Manzai, Jandola and Tiarza Frontier Corps camps, fired artillery shells towards suspected locations of the militants in Ladha, Spinkai Raghzai, Chagmalai and Srarogha, where the military officials believe Baitullah and his senior commanders were hiding. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Tribal sources said almost all villages and towns inhabited by the Mehsud tribe had been deserted after the people fled to safer locations. The tribesmen complained that despite an announcement by the Government, no relief camp had been set up for the internally displaced persons of South Waziristan. Read less...

The Government has, in principle, reportedly decided to launch Operation Rah-e-Nijat against chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud and his network in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), as the Pakistan Army has received necessary orders in this regard, a military spokesman said, The News reported. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on June 16, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Athar Abbas, said preparatory phase of the decisive operation against the militants was already underway. He said the operation would be taken to its logical end. Abbas refused to share operational and tactical details about the operation with the media, saying it would benefit the terrorists. According to unconfirmed reports, an Uzbek militant, Tahir Yuldash, was injured in recent airstrikes on the hideouts of Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan Agency, sources said. In reply to a question, the ISPR chief said according to a press statement of Baitullah he had a force of around 10,000 militants. He said all the necessary arrangements were being made by the security forces to block escape of militants from the area, where the operation was to be launched. Read less...

The Ministry of Interior has advised the home departments of all four provinces to tighten security after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) threatened more suicide attacks on prominent religious leaders, Daily Times reported. “Now it is your turn - we have sent a jacketwala (a man with a suicide vest) to mend clerics like you. We will also send jacketwalas to other clerics too,” sources told Aaj Kal quoting a threatening letter addressed to a cleric. In light of the letter, law enforcement agencies have been advised to tighten security for leading religious leaders. Read less...

The SFs captured and destroyed a training facility of the Taliban at Balasar-Chuprial in Swat District, having 120 feet long tunnels, firing range and training area. A terrorist, Shah Sultan, who was an expert in suicidal jackets making, was killed in the Charbagh area. Further, during a search operation three terrorists were arrested at Salhand near Fizagat. On a tip off two vehicles prepared for suicide mission were recovered and destroyed at Dangram. The SFs also destroyed two tunnels at Loi Numalin, Peuchar Valley and two at Rampatai. A huge cache of arms and ammunitions was recovered during a search operation in Gokand Banda, Sersenai, Khairabad and Ghodanbanda. Read less...

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 16 unanimously passed the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, (Kerry-Lugar Bill) authorising $1.5 billion annually to Pakistan for the next five years, according to Daily Times. The bipartisan measure will now have to pass the full chamber before the Senate and the House of Representative hold a conference to arrive at a reconciled version of the bill. The US House has already passed the bill. Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry emphasised it is timely the US supported Pakistan’s anti-militancy drive as well as help look after the displaced people of Malakand. “This is a critical moment for Pakistan,” he said. He also said Pakistan is taking critical action against the Taliban and stressed the displacement of millions of people from Swat and other northwestern parts offered the US and Pakistan an opportunity to help relocate them. “It is all the more important to get the money moving at this moment,” he added. Read less...

Two shops were destroyed and a shop owner injured when the women’s wing of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) bombed a shop on the Mezan Chowk in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, on June 16, Daily Times reported. The blast occurred at around 1pm in a juice shop in one of the most crowded business centres of the provincial capital, destroying two neighbouring shops and injuring one of the shops’ owner. “The blast occurred shortly after a woman wearing a veil left the shop. She must’ve left explosives in the shop,” said the juice shop owner. The women’s wing of the BRA claimed responsibility for the blast. “We accept responsibility for the bomb blast,” said Gohar, spokeswoman of the women’s wing of the BRA, in telephone calls to several newspaper offices. She claimed to have personally put the explosives in the shop. “More such attacks would be carried in the future,” she warned. Read less...

A security official said an intelligence agency had warned of a possible terrorist attack on passenger aircraft by a militant group based in Darra Adamkhel. Tariq Afridi, leader of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Darra Adamkhel, had threatened to attack passenger aircraft if the Government did not stop operations against militants in Malakand, Bajaur and other areas by June 15. The militant had previously been associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). Read less...

According to Dawn, the Peshawar International Airport was shut down on June 17 after an intelligence report warned of a terrorist attack on aircraft by a militant group based in the tribal region, officials said. The Civil Aviation Authority issued a notice to airmen to alert them of hazards en route or at a specific location in the night of June 16 and cabled all national and international carriers to stop their flights to the airport from June 17. An unnamed official said the airport would remain closed till June 18-night, but the notice implied that the move was for an indefinite period. Read less...

An artillery shell fired by the Security Forces (SFs) struck a house in the Koz Chinari area of Mohmand Agency killing two women and injuring four children, The News reported. The report, however, could not be confirmed by independent sources. Read less...

Eight SF personnel were injured when the Taliban militants attacked them with mortar shells during a search operation in Koz Chinari and its adjoining areas. Read less...

In Dir Lower, located in the south of Dir Upper District, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that SFs had killed 20 Taliban militants. The ISPR said troops carried out a search operation in the Galgut area of Maidan and killed 20 militants during a clash, besides recovering a cache of arms and ammunition. It said 15 others were arrested. Read less...

In the Swat Valley, SFs killed two militants, including a ‘commander’. The military said they took action on a tip-off about the presence of Qari Junaid, an important Taliban ‘commander’ in Madain, and his colleague Naeem. Sources from Mingora town said two bodies, probably of the militants, were lying at the Sohrab Chowk. SFs also launched an operation at Shamozai and Akhun Killay. Separately, the militants fired at a SFs communication maintenance party near Doshagram (Fatehpur), which caused injuries to a soldier. Further, in the Matta sub-division, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered during a clearance operation in Matta and Nazarabad. Two hideouts of the militants were destroyed during a search operation in Kasuna area and one militant was arrested from Bedara area. Doghlar, the ISPR said, was secured. Read less...

Police on June 17 arrested three suspected terrorists, including two would-be suicide bombers, in Rawalpindi; a suspected Taliban militant from a mosque in Peshawar’s Kissa Khawani Bazaar; and a terrorist from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) group in Karachi, Daily Times reported. Police also seized a suicide jacket, a hand grenade, two pistols, 90 rounds and two kilograms of explosives. The man arrested in Karachi – identified as Irfan Islam alias Lamba – was wanted by the Police and his name was listed in its Red Book for 2009. Read less...

The Lahore Police on June 17 claimed the arrest of a terrorist involved in the attack on a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3, with officials claiming the attackers had plans to take the cricketers hostage to demand the release of jailed leaders of their group, Daily Times reported. The Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Pervaiz Rathore told a press conference that the arrested man, identified as Zubair alias Naik Muhammad, who killed an unarmed traffic warden in the attack was a member of the Punjab Taliban, an offshoot of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) group. Seven people, including six Policemen, were killed when terrorists ambushed the Sri Lankan team while it was being driven to Gaddafi Stadium for a match. The CCPO said the terrorists had originally planned to take the Sri Lankan cricket team hostage until the release of some important leaders. The plan, however, changed when the terrorists were confronted by Policemen in the Liberty area, he added. While the other six terrorists had been identified – Muhammad Aqeel alias Dr Usman of Rawalpindi, Samiullah alias Ijaz, Adnan alias Sajjad, Ajmal alias Ehsan and Umer – the CCPO said they fled to Waziristan a few days after the attack. He said the terrorists arrived in Lahore a week ahead of the attacks and rented houses in various areas. Zubair – who appeared at the televised press conference with his head covered – said the mastermind of the attack took the others to a rented house located on a street in front of Mansoora a day before the assault, and gave them weapons. Read less...

Thousands of people from the violence-afflicted areas in the agency were stranded at Ghazi Baig and Khapakh checkpoints, as the SFs were reportedly not allowing them to shift to safer places. Sources said that hundreds of vehicles loaded with families and their belongings could be seen near both the checkpoints waiting for the onward transportation to safer places in settled parts of the NWFP. Read less...

While armed villagers in the Dir Upper District on June 17 killed six holed up Taliban militants in the Doog Darra area, the Army claimed to have killed 22 more militants in the adjacent Dir Lower and Swat Districts during the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast, according to The News. Locals said a cave in the Kandao area of Ghazigay village, where the armed villagers have surrounded the Taliban, was heavily shelled from Panakot and Beranjo. Security Forces (SFs) have deployed artillery guns in these areas to target the positions of the militants to soften targets for the Lashkar (militia), which is reportedly using heavy weapons. The armed villagers’ advance was reported to have been blocked by mines, allegedly planted by the Taliban in the area. Locals said six militants were killed in artillery shelling from Panakot, a distant area located four kilometers north of Dir town. A resident of Shatkas said six militants had been killed near the Ghazigay mosque. Read less...

A girls’ school was partially damaged in a bombing at Sultan Khel in the Khyber Agency early on June 18-morning, Daily Times reported. Planted near its main gate, the explosives went off damaging the boundary wall of the school and panicking residents of nearby housing societies. No militant group has accepted responsibility for the blast yet. Read less...

A private TV channel quoted Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar as saying on June 18 that the military offensive in Swat is nearly over and the Government has achieved its targets, according to Daily Times. Talking to the channel, Mukhtar said internally displaced persons would be able to return homes by June 20. Read less...

According to Dawn, a gas pipeline was blown up near Jaud area of Sui on June 18, affecting supply to the Sui purification plant. Sources said an explosive device had been placed under the pipeline. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

According to the Army, more than 1,400 militants and 120 soldiers have been killed during the 54-day operation in Swat and the nearby Dir Lower and Buner districts. Read less...

Among those arrested were Abdul Ghani, a Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) activist from Mauza Qaimpur near Hasilpur, Aamir Shahzad of Ahmedpur East and Habibur Rehman of Khairpur Tamewali, who was allegedly present on the premises of Lal Masjid in Islamabad when an operation was launched during the regime of Pervez Musharraf. 25 activists of a banned outfit were arrested during the crackdown in Vehari District. Sources said eight persons were arrested from Vehari and the rest from Mailsi and Burewala. Read less...

In a crackdown on June 18, the Bahawalpur and Vehari Police arrested 40 people who allegedly remained associated with banned outfits and sectarian groups, Dawn reported. Raids were reportedly conducted in Bahawalpur, Ahmedpur East, Hasilpur, Khairpur Tamewali and Uch Sharif. The Bahawalpur Regional Police Officer Mushtaq Ali Sukhera confirmed that activists of former “jihadi or sectarian groups” had been arrested during these raids. He said those people had been taken into custody whose names figured on the Police’s fourth schedule, which carries the names of those people who violate their surety bonds of good behaviour and non-participation in objectionable activities. In case of non-compliance, they are liable to be detained or face new cases on these charges, he stated. Read less...

In Mingora, SFs carried out clearance operation around the town and recovered 15 rifles and arrested five suspected militants, including Mohtamim of Madrassa Faiz, during the search operation at Shahpur. The troops also arrested two suspected militants from the Shewa area of Dir Lower District and recovered one light machine gun, 60 rounds, one TT pistol and one binocular. The ISPR claimed that SFs conducted a search operation in the Nimazgai area of Dir Upper District and killed six militants during an exchange of fire. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) killed 34 more Taliban militants in the ongoing operation in the Swat and Dir Upper Districts, while seven others were arrested, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on June 18, The News reported. The SFs continued action against the Maulana Fazlullah-led militants in Kabal sub-division of Swat even as the militants are still offering some resistance in the area. On June 18, SFs are reported to have secured the area around Bridge-II, Kabal and Kotlai. During clashes in these areas, the ISPR said 12 militants were killed while five soldiers sustained injuries. Further, six militants were killed in the Totano Banda area of Kabal during an operation launched for the consolidation of SFs positions. In the Shamozai area of Swat valley, the troops commenced an operation for clearing the area and killed 10 Taliban militants. According to the ISPR, 28 militants were killed in the Swat Valley on June 18. Read less...

Suspected US drone strikes on June 18 killed approximately 12 Taliban militants in South Waziristan, Daily Times reported. The drone targeted the suspected hideout of Taliban commander Malang some 18 kilometers northwest of Wana, said unnamed officials. Malang was a subordinate of Wazir Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir, they added. “Four missiles were fired at the hideout, where Taliban were believed to be training new recruits,” local tribal sources told Daily Times. “The attack was staged in two parts: An initial drone strike killed two Taliban. Then, when people converged on the site, three more missiles were fired, resulting in the deaths of 10 more people,” they said. Local administration official Hamayun Khan told AFP that up to three drone aircraft were in the area. An unnamed military official told AFP that four of those killed were local Taliban, while five were foreigners. Read less...

The head of an association of madrassas (seminaries), Mufti Munibur Rehman, has sought Government protection after receiving death threats for denouncing the Taliban, Bloomberg reported on June 18. The appeal comes one week after another anti-Taliban cleric and Rehman’s associate Sarfraz Naeemi was killed in a suicide attack on his madrassa in Lahore, according to Daily Times. “I am a target and have received threats,” Rehman, the president of Tanzeemul Madaris Pakistan, said from Karachi. He, however, did not provide details of the threats. “The government’s statements that they have provided us with security are lies… We ourselves don’t have the resources to hire private security,” Rehman said. Read less...

The Taliban on June 18 killed two locals in Mir Ali subdivision, 24 kilometers east of Miranshah, for allegedly spying for the US, Daily Times reported. The body of Sher Nawab, a resident of Peshawar, was found on the Bannu-Miranshah Road near Shahab Flourmills, while the body of Muhammad Nawaz, a resident of Miranshah, was found near Lakar Mandi in Mir Ali. Notes found near the bodies warned that anyone caught spying for the US would meet the same fate. Read less...

Three women were killed and four children injured when mortar shells hit their houses in the Aman Kot and Cheenari areas of the Mohmand Agency on June 18, Dawn reported. According to officials of the Mohmand Riffles, the Security Forces made a two kilometers advancement into the Sulmankhel Darra area of Bar Chamarkand after clearing Ghanum Shah a couple of days ago. The troops also continued search operations in Chamarkand, Suran Darra, Sheikh Baba and Ghanum Shah. Read less...

10 families, including that of Afzal Khan Lala, veteran leader of the ruling Awami National Party, are reported to have returned to Swat. Read less...

11 Taliban militants were killed in the Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District by armed villagers and artillery shelling by the Security Forces (SFs) as the militants started fleeing the area after giving up resistance, The News reported. Further, the Chitral Police arrested 10 fleeing militants, including an Afghan national, who was in an injured condition, when they sneaked into the District to escape the operations. The armed villagers have reportedly ringed the Taliban militants, led by Afghan commander Amir Khitab, since June 6 in the mountains of Doog Darra. They were heavily targeting the positions of the Taliban militants and killed a number of them. Helping the Lashkar (militia), SFs deployed artillery guns in Panakot area near the Dir town and Beranjo in Doog Darra. The locals said firing with heavy weapons by the Lashkar and artillery shelling panicked the holed-up militants. Sources in Lashkar and locals said the militants were attempting to escape the intensified action. Mutabar Khan, the Lashkar chief, said they believe 80-100 militants had been left in the area, adding that they were just 400 meters away from them. The Lashkar has so far reportedly killed at least 36 militants. Read less...

A Frontier Corps (FC) convoy going to Quetta from Mastung escaped a bomb attack in the Mian Ghundi area. The roadside bomb was detonated with a remote control after the convoy had crossed the Luck Pass area. Azad Baloch, a spokesman for the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army, claimed responsibility for the bombing. Read less...

A judge and his aide were shot dead and 17 people were injured in bomb and grenade attacks in various parts of Balochistan on June 19, Dawn reported. Ziaullah, the judge of a Qazi court in Dasht, was coming to provincial capital Quetta along with his Reader Abdul Khaliq Dehwar in his official vehicle when motorcycle borne attackers fired at them near the Wapda grid station on Sariab Road. The two were seriously injured and died en route to the civil hospital. Read less...

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), SFs killed four militants in Buner district and were consolidating their positions in parts of the Swat Valley, The News reported. The ISPR said SFs clashed with militants in Sar Qilla area during a search operation. Four militants, it claimed, were killed during an exchange of fire. Read less...

Amid reports of NATO’s assistance in a military offensive against the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban, Pakistani warplanes and gunship choppers on June 19 continued targeting suspected hideouts of the militants in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), killing six militants. Sources told The News that two jet fighters of the Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Army’s two gunship choppers bombed suspected hideouts of the TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud in Barwand, Madejan, Serwakai and adjoining areas. Further, the sources said artillery shells were fired from the Frontier Corps camps in Jandola and Serwakai towards the suspected hideouts in various parts of the SWA. Read less...

At least 15 people were injured when a bomb placed on a push-cart parked at a taxi stand in Dera Murad Jamali went off. Read less...

At least 15 Taliban militants, including two key ‘commanders’, were killed by the Security Forces (SFs) during a counter-insurgency operation at Charmang area of Bajaur Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a private TV channel reported on June 20, according to Daily Times. The ‘commander’ Omar, a foreigner, was also among those killed in the operation. The SFs also destroyed four hideouts of the Taliban during the operation which was carried out after Taliban militants blew up two boys’ schools and a college in Bajaur on June 19. Several locally-made bombs had been planted inside the school buildings, local government officials had said, adding that both schools had been completely destroyed. Read less...

In Mohmand Agency, a civilian was killed as SFs shelled the suspected hideouts of the militants in Yarakhel Babazai area. Further, 47 wanted persons of Danishkol and Ambar areas of the Pandyalai sub-division surrendered to the authorities at Yakaghund. Sources said SFs also launched an offensive in the Spinki Tangi and Yarakhel areas of Khwezai Bazai sub-division and targeted the hideouts of the militants. Read less...

Military officials said six militants were killed and several others injured when gunship helicopters targeted their positions near Serwakai. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas said the operation was conducted for reopening the main road between Tanai and Serwakai. He said the militants had blocked a portion of the main Wana-Jandola road for quite some time and set up their positions. He rejected reports of NATO involvement and assistance to the Pakistan Army in any military operation against the militants in the country. “There is no truth in all such reports. Only the Pakistani troops have been engaged in all such operations against the militants whether they are in Swat, Dir or Waziristan,” he said. Read less...

Officials said all the arrangements had been finalised for what they called a ‘decisive’ action against the TTP chief and his militants. They said the operation could be accelerated once all the people of Waziristan, inhabited by the Mehsud tribesmen, came out of their villages and migrate to safer places. However, despite an announcement by the Government, there is reportedly no camp for the internally displaced persons (IDP) of South Waziristan. Consequently, most of the IDPs have been living with their relatives, friends or in rented houses in the Tank and Dera Ismail Khan Districts. Read less...

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on June 19 announced a package of over PKR 24 billion for capacity building and strengthening of Police and law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the NWFP, according to The News. Addressing Members of Provincial Assembly of the ruling alliance at the Governor’s House in Peshawar, Gilani stressed the importance of well-equipped, trained and highly motivated LEAs to ensure durable peace and stability in the province after completion of the military operation under way in the tribal belt and Swat. The package is to be utilised for recruiting additional Police and LEA personnel and acquiring sophisticated weapons. The package will be delivered in installments, each tranche comprising PKR six billion would be handed over to the NWFP after every six months. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on June 19 killed 15 more militants and injured seven others in a shootout in the Charmang area of Bajaur Agency, The News reported. Sources said the militants attacked a patrolling party of the SFs near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Charmang area of Nawagai sub-division, killing two soldiers and injuring three others. Further, in a remote-controlled bomb explosion in the Nakhtar area of Mamond sub-division, a Bajaur Levies trooper sustained injuries. Read less...

Security Forces said on June 19 that they had killed four more Taliban militants and arrested two in the ongoing operation in Malakand, while one soldier was injured in the fighting, Daily Times reported. The SFs are reported to have secured Akhun Kalle and established a check-post in the Swat’s Chungai area. The troops also launched an operation to clear areas around Zara Khela, Khawazakhela and Matta, and seized three rifles. The army conducted a search operation in Buner’s Sar Qila area, and successfully secured Mohmand Gate, Nawapass, Ghungat, Kuz and Chamarkand in Mohmand Agency. Read less...

The SFs continued their operations against the local Taliban and targeted their hideouts in Hashim, Babara, Kohi, Asghar and Kotki areas of Charmang with heavy and sophisticated weapons, including gunship helicopters and artillery. The militants’ locations were targeted with artillery shells from Khar, Loi Sam and Tankhata areas. Read less...

Two people were injured in a grenade attack on the offices of a goods company in Hazargangi area on June 19-night. Read less...

A soldier was killed and another sustained injuries when militants attacked a Security Forces check-post in the Had Kor area in Ambar sub-division of Mohmand Agency on June 20, The News reported on June 21. Sources said soldier Gohar Ali Jan was killed and Nawab Shah sustained injuries when mortar shells fired by militants struck the check-post at Had Kor. In the retaliatory actions, Security Forces targeted suspected Taliban hideouts, killing three militants. Read less...

Earlier on June 20, at least 22 suspected militants and six soldiers were reportedly killed in a daylong military action against the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban in South Waziristan as the troops cleared a portion of the Wana-Jandola Road, The News reported on June 21. Two fighter planes and a couple of gunship helicopters targeted the positions of the militants, who had occupied hilltops and blocked the Wana-Jandola Road between Tanai and Serwakai towns. Tribal sources told The News from Jandola that troops on June 19-night continued shelling the suspected militants’ positions with artillery guns. They were, however, unaware of the casualties suffered by the militants. Military officials said 32 militants were killed when two warplanes and gunship helicopters bombarded the militants occupying the road between Tanai and Serwakai. They claimed that the Tanai-Serwakai portion of the Wana-Jandola road had been cleared of the militants. The remaining militants affiliated with Baitullah Mehsud were reported to have fled their positions in the area. However, the militants denied any losses in the operation. Tribal sources said the advancing troops from Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, were facing tough resistance from the militants in efforts to clear the remaining 20-kilometre portion of the road between Serwakai and Jandola. According to the sources, the troops secured the area beyond Tanai to Old Serwakai, New Serwakai and Madejan. The troops had started movement from Wana and Shakai, two areas inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. Read less...

Five Taliban militants were killed and two soldiers were wounded in the neighbouring Dir Lower District on June 20, The News reported on June 21. Read less...

Seven suspected militants were killed in a clash with a Lashkar (the village militia) in Patrak area of Upper Dir District in NWFP on late June 20-night, Dawn reported. Local people said the clash took place in Shekhan Khwar near Patrak. However, some of them said that 10 militants arrested earlier by Chitral Police had been handed over to the Lashkar. Two of those killed were identified as Fatehzar and his son Dilaram. One militant was injured and another reportedly ran away. After the incident, 20 militants came out in Bar Doog area and set ablaze 130 logs owned by local people. They also torched a house and abducted a man identified as Faqir Gul Mulla. Read less...

The SFs killed six militants and suffered four casualties, besides injuries to eight others, in parts of the Swat Valley on June 20, The News reported on June 21. The ISPR said militants attacked positions of the SFs in Shahdand Banda, Dewlai and Totano Banda. “Six terrorists were killed during the exchange of fire,” the ISPR said in its daily update to the media. It said SFs secured Kotlai, Chungai and Zarakhela areas in Kabal sub-division and started action in the Dagai area. One soldier sustained injuries during the exchange of fire with the militants. “Terrorists ambushed security forces’ vehicle on the Odigram-Akhun Killay Road. As a result, three soldiers embraced martyrdom and seven others sustained injuries,” the ISPR said. Read less...

12 militants were killed and seven others sustained injuries when gunship helicopters and fighter planes targeted their suspected hideouts in different areas of South Waziristan Agency, while 27 militants died in the military operation in Bajaur Agency on June 21, The News reported. Tribal sources said Security Forces (SFs) continued shelling Taliban hideouts in the Makeen, Kaniguram, Badar and Mula Khan Serai areas of South Waziristan, destroying four compounds of the militants. SFs claimed that 12 militants were killed and seven others injured in shelling by gunship helicopters and fighter planes. Another main compound of the militants in Mula Khan Serai was reportedly destroyed while a madrassa (seminary) was also targeted by the gunship helicopters. Read less...