FATA: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2008

According to The Post, at least eleven more persons, including seven non local Taliban, have died and 13 persons injured during the on-going sectarian clashes in the Kurram Agency of FATA while clashes continue for the 12th conservative day. The curfew imposed on November 16, 2007 has reportedly not been relaxed so far, owing to which routine life has been paralysed in the entire Agency. The main Tull and Parachinar highway has been closed for the last 48 days due to which edible items and medicines are not available in Kurram Agency and road links to the various tribal areas are also disconnected. Local people said that militants from adjoining areas of North Waziristan and Hangu district in NWFP attacked the Manguk and Tangai villages on January 1-night, Dawn reported. Meanwhile, army and paramilitary troops have taken positions on hilltops to enforce a cease-fire in the area while a peace jirga continued its efforts for a truce. Sources said that deployment of troops had begun in the Balishkhel and Sadda areas while more contingents of the army had moved into Alizai town. Read less...

At least 27 militants were killed in two days of clashes in South Waziristan, a military official told AFP on January 2, The Post reported. The clashes broke out after pro-Taliban militants abducted four Pakistan soldiers in South Waziristan on January 1, the official said. "Five militants were killed yesterday and 22 overnight," he stated. The official disclosed that the abducted soldiers were delivering food rations from one post to another when militants seized them. Their fate was not immediately known. Both sides used heavy weaponry in the clashes that went on through the night, resulting in the death of 22 militants with no loss of life on the army side, he claimed. Read less...

Security forces (SFs) killed five suspected militants in the Laddah area of South Waziristan on January 1 after four paramilitary soldiers were abducted in the area, according to Dawn. The abduction of the soldiers of the Dir Scouts reportedly triggered clashes in the region. The SFs launched an attack on militants and pounded their positions in the area. Troops also fired artillery and mortar shells from Tiarza and Shakai forts on militants’ positions. Read less...

Two more people were killed and five injured on the 11th consecutive day of sectarian clashes in the Kurram Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 1, according to The News. A peace Jirga (council) that arrived from Hangu continued talks with the rival groups in an attempt to strike a truce but no progress was made till last reports. On January 1, fighting between the rival groups continued and both the sides used heavy weapons, including mortars, rockets and missiles. Read less...

According to The Post, hundreds of Pakistani families have poured across the border into Afghanistan in recent days as clashes between different clans continued on the 13th day in the Kurram Agency of the FATA. Six people are reported to have died and 11 inured in the fresh clashes. Afghan officials said about 900 families (most of them Sunnis) have fled across the border in the past two weeks to the Khost and Paktia provinces. While the Khost Governor Arsallah Jamal stated that about 400 to 500 Pakistani families had fled to the province, Abdul Rahman Mangal, the deputy governor in neighbouring Paktia province, said about 480 families had come to the border districts there, including about 20 to 30 Afghan families who were living in Pakistan. Read less...

Two rockets were fired on a base of the security forces in South Waziristan on January 3-night, according to Dawn. According to residents, the rockets landed near a fort housing troops and did not cause any casualty. Army and paramilitary forces later carried out a search operation and arrested five suspects. Read less...

Warplanes bombed suspected locations of militants in South Waziristan on January 3 after an intelligence report that Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was hiding somewhere in the area, according to Dawn. Locals said that two planes dropped six bombs and attacked various areas in Tiarza, Emer Raghzai and Enzer in Sara Rogha subdivision at about 2pm. However, reports about casualties are yet to be ascertained. Dozens of people are feared dead due to shelling by Pakistani jets in different parts of the Mehsud-dominated areas in South Waziristan, The Post reported. Read less...

Three more persons were killed as sectarian violence continued in the Kurram Agency of FATA on January 4, The Post reported. The clashes were reported from Jalmai and Meangak areas of Lower Kurram. The non-local Taliban suffered heavy casualties in the lower parts of the agency while the peace Jirga (council) was reportedly facing difficulties in brokering a cease-fire. Read less...

Militants attacked a number of checkpoints with heavy weapons in different areas of the Bajaur Agency on January 6-night. However, no loss of life or property was reported. Sources said checkpoints in Khar, Siddiqabad, Inayat Kallay and Nawagai areas came under attack from different sides. Security forces reportedly countered the attack and fired mortar shells in the direction of the attackers. Officials said the two sides targeted each other’s positions with mortars and rockets, and the exchange of fire continued for several hours. Read less...

Rival militants attacked offices of a pro-government militant, killing nine and wounding eight of his men on January 6- night, according to Dawn. The attackers first stormed the office of Maulana Nazir in Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, and killed three of his supporters and injured four others, sources said. The militants, reportedly equipped with rockets and heavy weapons, launched another attack on the office of Nazir’s close associate, Maulana Khanan, in Shakai town, killing six people and injuring five others. A spokesman for Maulana Nazir blamed Baitullah Mehsud’s supporters for the attack and asked all Mehsud tribesmen to leave the Wazir tribe-dominated areas to avoid bloodshed. "We suspect Baitullah and his Uzbek supporters for this gruesome attack which left nine Mujahideen dead," Lala Wazir said. A large number of attackers, he said, came from the Mehsud area at night and attacked the local peace committee offices in Wana and Shakai. Local people said that Nazir’s supporters later shot dead an associate of Baitullah Mehsud and captured four others in Wana. Maulana Nazir belongs to the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe and has great influence in the region and virtually controls Wana. His supporters, backed by security forces, had launched a drive against Uzbek militants in the area in April 2007. The week-long armed clashes between Nazir’s supporters and Uzbeks had left over 160 people dead. Sources said that the latest incident could trigger a tribal feud after Nazir asked tribesmen hailing from the Mehsud tribe to leave the Ahmadzai Wazir dominated areas by 8am on January 8. Read less...

Four paramilitary soldiers were wounded in clashes between security forces and militants in the Ghazi Baig area of the Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 7, according to Dawn. An unnamed official said that militants attacked a check-post of a paramilitary outfit, the Mohmand Rifles, in the Ghazi Baig area, some 20km northwest of Ghalanai, the administrative headquarters. Read less...

A soldier was killed and three others sustained injuries in clashes with militants in South Waziristan on January 8, according to Dawn. Officials said three militants and a non-combatant were also wounded in the shelling on suspected hideouts of militants in the Spinkai Raghzai and Chugmalai areas, where tensions rose after the killing of nine supporters of a pro-government militant commander on January 6-night. Supporters of Baitullah Mehsud attacked a security picket in the Chugmalai area on Jandola-Wana road on January 7, killing a soldier of the Frontier Corps, identified as Ayaz, and injuring three others. The attackers took away the body and the wounded soldiers. The security forces also fired artillery and mortar shells from their bases in Tiaraza and Jandola areas. The militants later handed over the body and three wounded soldiers to elders of the Mehsud tribe. Read less...

The militants abducted three security force personnel near Mouli Khan Sarai on January 8. Sources said that the paramilitary men were going from Wana to Jandola in a private car when armed men intercepted their vehicle at Mouli Khan Sarai and took them away to an unknown place. Read less...

At least 50 militants were killed by troops during clashed that erupted when around 250-300 miscreants concentrated and attempted to attack Ladha Fort and check post on the night of January 9 to 10 in the Wanna area of South Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) , reports Daily Times. Further, January 12, security forces arrested 59 insurgents after they attacked police with rockets, the military said, adds The Hindu. Read less...

Thousands of armed tribesmen of South Waziristan met in Wana on January 9, vowing to organise a Lashkar (army) to hunt down al Qaeda-linked militants blamed for killing nine of their kinsmen, Dawn reported. The tribal jirga (council) in Wana came three days after militants stormed two offices and killed nine tribal elders of a government-sponsored peace committee. The jirga ordered tribesmen from every household belonging to the Wazir tribe to come to Wana with arms to prepare for action, a local official said. "One man from each house should come to Wana with a gun at 10am on Thursday to plan our defence and act against those who are responsible for disorder," tribal chief Malik Ghaffar reportedly told the gathering. Read less...

Troops repulsed an attack by hundreds of militants in South Waziristan, inflicting heavy casualties, officials said. The attack came hours after thousands of armed tribesmen met at Wana on January 9, vowing to organise a lashkar to hunt down al Qaeda-linked militants blamed for killing eight of their kinsmen. “Around 250-300 miscreants concentrated and attempted to attack Ladha Fort and Ladha checkpost on the night of January 9 to 10,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. He said the security forces retaliated with artillery and small arms fire, adding, “The miscreants were forced to retreat and reportedly suffered heavy casualties.” Read less...

Four members of a family were wounded when mortar shells hit their house at Mamond village near Khar of Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 11-morning, reports Daly Times. Read less...

Militants fired three missiles on a Mohmand Rifles camp at Yousaf Khel in Ghalanai. The report added that according to sources, the Khawazai tribes people opened fire on the local Taliban who escaped the area after firing missiles. One militant was injured in the incident. Read less...

On January 11, a group of militants armed with rockets and mortar shell attacked Bajaur Scout camp at Badwal Kot. However, no casualties were reported in both these incidents. Read less...

The army has withdrawn soldiers from key check posts in North Waziristan and a tribal jirga (council) is negotiating a peace deal between pro-Taliban militants and the government, official sources and military spokesman said on January 11, reports Daily Times. Read less...

In North Waziristan, militants fired missiles at the Mana army camp in the Shawaal area, injuring one soldier. Read less...

Two Uzbek militants were killed on January 13 when a group of them attacked the house of a pro-government tribal elder in South Waziristan, according to Daily Times. The pre-dawn clash erupted when dozens of miscreants launched an attack on the house of Khan Khannan in South Waziristan district, local administration official Ayaz Mandokhel told AFP. Khannan’s men who were guarding the house, retaliated and killed two Uzbek militants, he said, adding that the other militants escaped after the clash. Read less...

At least 23 militants and seven soldiers were killed in fighting in the Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 14. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Daily Times, "It was an ambush on a paramilitary convoy." The convoy was reportedly ambushed while traveling from Gath to Ghalanai. Security forces later targeted the Safi sub-division. Tribal sources said no casualties were reported. "Locals also joined the soldiers against the militants, destroying two vehicles," Arshad added. Taliban commander Faqir Hussain was killed in the battle, sources said. The clash also triggered panic in the locals, with residents claiming many were fleeing for safer places. Read less...

In FATA, militants fired 12 rockets on the Monrah security camp in the Dattakhel sub-division of North Waziristan on January 14-morning. However, no loss of life or property was reported. Read less...

The Taliban spokesman Maulana Omar denied that any militants were killed, claiming that they had killed seven soldiers and taken 17 of them as prisoners, Reuters reported. "Our activities will continue till an end to the military operation in Swat and release of Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz," he stated. Read less...

According to The News, the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) personnel claimed on January 15 that two alleged teenage suicide bombers were killed while a third committed suicide by swallowing poisonous capsules in the Mohmand Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). An unnamed official stated that the three alleged young suicide bombers were on their way to Ghalanai, Mohmand Agency’s regional headquarters, in a Land Cruiser from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas. He said the FC soldiers deployed at the Khapakh Post on the Pakistan-Afghanistan highway - about six kilometers west of Ghalanai - stopped the vehicle and asked the three boys to disembark for a body search. According to him, one of the boys alighted and another remained inside while the third attempted to escape. The official said the soldiers immediately opened fire and shot him dead. He was identified as Nadir Khan, a resident of Swabi district in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). However, the alleged suicide bomber before his death exploded the vehicle through a remote control device, killing another 13-year old boy, who was inside the vehicle. The soldiers reportedly took the third suicide bomber into custody and brought him to Ghalanai. However, the boy, suspected to be from Waziristan, swallowed poisonous capsules and subsequently died. Read less...

Hundreds of militants captured a paramilitary fort in South Waziristan on January 15-night after killing 22 soldiers and taking several others hostage, according to Dawn. 600 to 700 militants reportedly attacked the fort in Sararogha, manned by the South Waziristan Scouts, at around 9pm on January 15, firing rockets and mortars. 38 paramilitary soldiers and six civilians were in the fort when it came under the assault. "Soldiers put up a good fight, but couldn’t hold out for long in the face of an overwhelming militant force," a source said. The last distress radio message, according to him, was made at around 3am to the Ludda Fort, asking for artillery fire at the militants who had broken through the defences and begun pouring into the base. The military said on January 16 that 40 militants were killed in the gun battle. While 15 soldiers escaped and reached the Jandola Fort, the fate of the rest was not known, it stated. Read less...

Local people said the security forces (SFs) had bombed some places in the Makin area of South Waziristan on January 16-night and January 17. A number of houses also reportedly came under fire and one woman was killed. Seven people, including three children, were wounded in the shelling. Read less...

Official sources said that the Seplatoi fort in Serwakai sub-division manned by about 40 personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) was vacated on January 16-night after reports were received that the militants were planning to attack it. On January 17-morning, the militants took control of the abandoned building, an unnamed official said. "Absolutely baseless and I reject this report. I want to clarify that the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps personnel are still present in the fort," said Major General Athar Abbas, who is the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations. Read less...

Sources said that the militants also fired rockets on a helipad near Jandola fort. Troops also traded fire with militants at another fort in Ludda in South Waziristan after the Taliban fired rockets and small-arms. Local security officials said clashes continued on January 16-night in Sararogha, Ludda and another nearby village but there were no immediate reports of casualty or damage. Military spokesman Major General Abbas said the SFs were searching for 15 paramilitary soldiers missing since the attack in Sararogha. He said five of the 20 missing men were reported to have reached villages in the area. He said there was no confirmation of the militants’ claim that they had captured 12 paramilitary soldiers. Read less...

Tehrik-i-Taliban spokesman Maulana Umar told Dawn that militant commander Baitullah Mehsud had led the charge on the British-era fort. He claimed the Taliban had lost only two of their men in the fighting. Sources said that the militants had abandoned the fort after seizing arms and ammunition left behind by the paramilitary unit. The locals said that after capturing the compound the militants took away weapons, communication tools and blew up the building with explosives. According to eyewitnesses, the militants captured several soldiers and slaughtered many of them. Read less...

Local Taliban militants snatched computers from ring-tone shops in the main Landi Kotal Bazaar of Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 17, according to Daily Times. The militants had earlier warned the shopkeepers to stop downloading ring-tones onto mobiles, terming it an "un-Islamic" practice. Around 10 armed militants reportedly came to the bazaar and took away computers from the ring-tone shops at around 5pm (PST), sources said. Read less...

Over three dozen paramilitary soldiers are reported to have abandoned a fort in South Waziristan on January 17 before it was attacked by militants, according to Dawn. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulana Umar claimed that about 60 paramilitary soldiers had surrendered without putting up resistance. He said the militants had taken away weapons and hoisted a white flag at the compound. "The soldiers surrendered without firing a shot and, therefore, the Taliban Shoora decided to set them free," Umar told Dawn. On January 15-night, the militants had captured a fort in Sararogha. Read less...

Thousands of people have started leaving their homes in the militancy-hit South Waziristan, The News reported. Acute shortage of edible items is another factor behind the decision of the people to migrate to safer places as security forces had imposed a ban on the supply of foodstuff to the region three days ago. Read less...

Two major al Qaeda operatives in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) have called upon their followers to intensify the ‘holy war’ against security forces and to seize control of Islamabad, media reports said on January 17, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. "Jihad is compulsory in Pakistan as it is compulsory in Afghanistan," said the chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Uzbek militants in North Waziristan, Qadri Tahir Yaldeshiv, in a video message, according to Adnkronos International. He also urged Muslims to avenge the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in July 2007, the German news agency said. Yaldshiv also talked about the need for a strict Sharia law in Pakistan. He said, "Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam, therefore Islam should be enforced in the country." Read less...

Army troops recaptured the Siplatoi fort in South Waziristan on January 18, a day after paramilitary soldiers had abandoned it, according to Dawn. Army and paramilitary personnel reportedly moved into the area in three helicopters and took over the abandoned Siplatoi fort on the Wana-Jandola road. Sources said that 22 paramilitary soldiers, who had escaped from the Siplatoi fort on January 16-night, were still missing. Militants claimed that some 60 soldiers had surrendered and all of them were freed on the directives of the Taliban Shura (executive council). Read less...

Security forces claimed to have killed about 90 militants in two different encounters in the Ladha area of South Waziristan on January 18, according to The Post. According to Dawn, in the first incident, militants attacked a convoy on the Jandola-Wana road in Chagmalai at 12.30pm. Troops returned fire and between 20 and 30 assailants were killed. Four security force personnel were injured and two vehicles were damaged. Further, security forces attacked a large number of militants who had gathered to attack the Laddah fort and killed up to 60 of them, the military said. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbass said "Our soldiers have bravely guarded the Ladha Fort. They were attacked from mountain tops but they retaliated with heavy weaponry including artillery, killing about 90 insurgents," he stated. He added that the SFs suffered no casualties. However, Taliban sources have dismissed the government claim and described the reports about the casualties on the part of Taliban as part of the propaganda to boost-up what they called as the shattered morale of the security forces. Read less...

SFs pounded with artillery suspected militant locations in the Mehsud area and local people had to move out to safer places. Local people said that heavy shelling rocked the area and several houses were hit. Two persons, including a girl, were killed in the Makin and Spinkai Raghzai areas. Militants also fired six rockets on a military base in the Shakai area, inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. However, no casualty was reported. Read less...

The militants in North Waziristan on January 21 extended until January 27 a cease-fire that they had announced on December 17, 2007, according to Dawn. The truce had earlier been extended until January 20. The militants had stopped their activities on December 17 and security forces had removed some makeshift checkpoints in the area. Read less...

Troops arrested 50 Islamist militants in an operation in South Waziristan, a day after killing dozens of militants in the area, the military said on January 19, Daily Times reported. Troops also recovered 10 bodies of the militants from the Chaghmalai area in South Waziristan, which witnessed a major clash on January 18 in which an estimated 30 militants were killed, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said. “Security forces launched an operation in the Chaghmalai area last night and captured 40 militants,” he told AFP. “The village has been completely cleared of the militants,” he added. Security forces also launched a search operation in the Ladah town and arrested 10 militants, including some of their local commanders, the spokesman said. The clash in Chaghmalai erupted after militants ambushed a convoy of security forces with rockets and small arms. The military said an hour-long encounter in the area left 20 to 30 militants dead and four soldiers wounded. Read less...

Even as troops continued targeting militants’ positions in South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsud, chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, warned of serious repercussions if the military operations were not stopped, Dawn reported. His spokesman Maulana Umar said: "The government wants to enter the Mehsud area by force. But it must take into account the consequences of such a harsh action." He accused the security forces (SFs) of ‘killing innocent people’ and ‘damaging their homes’ and warned that the government would have to "pay a heavy price". Read less...

In a related development, a spokesman for militants in North Waziristan, Ahmadullah Ahmadi, asked the military authorities not to use bases in their area against militants in South Waziristan. “Taliban will withdraw from peace talks if security forces use our soil against us,” Ahmadi said. Militants in North Waziristan had on January 21 extended a cease-fire till January 27. Read less...

Police have arrested Baitullah’s close associate Younas Mehsud, Daily Times reported. Sources said police had recovered weapons and explosive materials from Younas who is a ‘right hand man of Baitullah Mehsud’ and brother of his spokesman, Wahab Mehsud. Read less...

SFs shelled the house of militant leader Asmatullah Shaheen in Jandola on January 21, injuring a woman and a child. Local people said that the building had been hit by four artillery shells. Several houses were reportedly damaged in attacks in Makin, Birwand, Chegmalai and Wala in the Mehsud area. In Makin, a shell hit a house, killing a man and wounding another. Read less...

Five check-posts of the Khasadar force were blown up in Ghalanai, administrative headquarters of the Mohmand Agency in the FATA, on January 22, Dawn reported. Suspected militants blew up the check-posts with explosives in Wranpul, 15km from Ghalanai, Thamboo and Jan Sher areas. Two of the pickets were completely destroyed. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

In the adjacent North Waziristan, two SF personnel were killed and 10 others injured when militants fired rockets at a military fort in Razmak. Sources said the militants attacked the Razmak army camp, 75 kilometers south of agency headquarters Miranshah, around 1pm. After the attack on the fort, two fighter jets bombed mountainside villages nearby, killing one civilian. The military spokesman, however, said jets had flown reconnaissance missions, and no bombs were dropped. Further, a spokesman for Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, Maulana Muhammad Umar, said the militants captured 13 soldiers in the action, a claim denied by the military. “We will target sensitive installations in Islamabad, including the headquarters of intelligence agencies, if the military does not stop its operation,” Umar told Dawn from an undisclosed location. He claimed that the militants were still holding the Sipla Toi and Sararogha forts they had captured last week. He warned that militants would intensify their attacks and would capture all pickets and forts in the Mehsud area of South Waziristan. He also claimed responsibility for the murder of a senior official of the Intelligence Bureau in the Charsadda district of NWFP on January 20. Read less...

Seven security force (SF) personnel and at least 37 militants were killed on January 22 in clashes in North and South Waziristan agencies, the army said, updating an earlier toll, according to Daily Times. Five of the soldiers and all of the militants were killed after the latter attacked a military fort at Ladah in South Waziristan, which houses paramilitary troops, and a nearby observation post before dawn, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. “Through air intercepts and our sources we have confirmation now that at least 37 militants were killed when forces retaliated the attack in Ladah,” Abbas said. Read less...

As clashes intensified, militants’ spokesman Maulvi Umar told Dawn that the conflict could expand to other areas of Waziristan if the government did not halt the operation. Read less...

One soldier was killed and two others were wounded when militants attacked security forces (SFs) in the Nawaz Kot area of North Waziristan on January 23, according to Dawn. Read less...

The army sent reinforcements, for the first time with tanks, to South Waziristan on January 23 after clashes between security forces and militants intensified in the Mehsud area. Official sources and local people said that the infantry, backed by tanks and heavy artillery, were seen heading towards the Spinkai Raghzai fort from a base in the adjoining Frontier Region of Jandola. Infantry units reportedly comprising 600 troops reached Spinkai Raghzai from Jandola amid fierce clashes. "For the first time the movement of battle tanks has been seen in the area," a security official said. Sources said the troops had launched an operation in three areas — Makin, Spinkai Raghzai and Tiarza — inhabited by Mehsud tribesmen. Read less...

Two SF personnel were wounded in an explosion in Ghathundai and a convoy also came under fire near Jandola. However, no loss of life or damage to property was reported, according to the military. Read less...

40 militants and 10 soldiers were killed and dozens injured as the Pakistan Army, backed by tanks and gunship helicopters, launched a major offensive against the militants in South Waziristan on January 24, The News reported. The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that troops had cleared Spinkai Raghzai, Nawazkot and the adjoining area of Tiarza and taken over some strongholds and hideouts of the militants, according to Dawn. Read less...

Local people in Torwam, around 30 kilometers east of Wana, the regional headquarters of South Waziristan, said the SFs were now in control of the town. However, the troops were reportedly facing tough resistance from the followers of Baitullah Mehsud in the Mohammad Nawaz Kot area. The troops based in Razmak had been deployed in Nawaz Kot and adjoining hilltops for their onwards movement towards Makeen and Ladha areas, where the militants were believed to be hiding in large numbers. Maulana Omar, a spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, told The News from an undisclosed location and claimed 25 soldiers were killed and 40 injured in the fighting in Spinkai Raghzai, Nawaz Kot and elsewhere in South Waziristan. Read less...

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said 10 soldiers were killed in two days of fighting as the security forces (SFs) stormed militant positions in several towns, including Spinkai Raghzai in Srarogha near Jandola, Mohammad Nawaz Kot in Tiarza and Makeen. He said the SFs destroyed the maximum number of militant hideouts in these areas and cleared the towns from the miscreants. Abbas added that 40 militants were killed during the fighting while many others sustained injuries. He also said the troops arrested 30 militants who were trying to escape during the clashes. He said eight soldiers died in Spinkai Raghzai and two others in Mohammad Nawaz Kot. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed to have captured five soldiers and taken into custody five trucks loaded with heavy arms and ammunition, supposed to be delivered to the SFs fighting against the militants in South Waziristan. The troops backed by tanks and gunship helicopters moved from Jandola and Chagmalai towards Mandana on early January 24. Sources said that fighter aircraft targeted the suspected militants’ positions in Kotki village, 15 kilometers from Jandola town. Read less...

The government closed all entry and exit points to the tribal region and banned the supply of edibles, which created a severe shortage of foodstuff in the area. Read less...

There were also reports about heavy clashes in Torwam near Shakai and Mohammad Nawaz Kot areas near Razmak in North Waziristan, in which both sides suffered heavy losses. Major General Abbas confirmed clashes in these towns where, he said, two soldiers were killed and seven others injured, but added he did not receive reports about casualties among the militants. Read less...

Two persons were wounded in a grenade explosion in the Halimzai subdivision of Mohmand Agency on January 24, according to The News. Eyewitnesses said that Sher Alam and his son Wahab Khan were examining the hand grenade, which exploded injuring both of them. Read less...

Suspected militants exploded a remote-controlled bomb, killing a person identified as Maulana Mursalin. Sources also said that militants fired rockets at the Nawagai scouts camp. Security forces retaliated the fire using heavy artillery, leaving a woman injured. Read less...

Two people were killed and a woman injured in separate incidents in Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on January 25, Daily Times reported. Unidentified militants opened fire towards former police personnel, Mamoor Khan, who was on his way home from the Khar market. He died of his injuries later. Read less...

Two soldiers were killed and seven others wounded when militants attacked with rockets an outpost on a hill in the Spinkai Raghzai area of South Waziristan on January 25, reports Dawn. However, militants claimed that five troops had been killed in the attack. ISPR sources said that a convoy of security forces going to Nawazkot from Razmak had been attacked with small arms. The troops retaliated with artillery and mortar fire. One trooper was injured in the incident. Read less...

An Afghan national, identified as Said Rehman of the Kunar province, was killed allegedly for spying for the US, by the militants in the Mohmand Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), residents said on January 26, according to Daily Times. His body was found in the Ata Bazaar area of Khwezai, some 30-kilometres west of Ghalanai, headquarters of the agency. The residents said they found a piece of paper pinned on the body, reading that the man had been punished for spying for the US. Read less...

In FATA, unidentified militants blew up three check-posts of the Khasadar force in Mohmand Agency on January 26-night, Daily Times reported. The check-posts were located in the Sharmakhan, Darwazgai and Mamad Gat areas of the lower subdivision Yaka Ghund. The Khasadar force and the militants later traded fire at the Sharmakhan checkpost, but no casualties were reported. Read less...

In Kotkai, the hometown of militant commander Qari Hussain, the troops set up security posts and launched a search operation targeting the militants. On January 26, the troops had purged Kotkai from the militants without facing any considerable resistance. There were also unconfirmed reports that Qari Hussain was killed in a gun-battle with the SFs in Kotkai. The troops based in Jandola Frontier Corps Fort in South Waziristan and Razmak military camp in North Waziristan started heavy mortar and artillery shelling on militants’ positions after the sunset. Local residents in the Tank district said they heard explosions caused by artillery shelling in the Mehsud-inhabited areas. There were, however, no details about the losses suffered by the militants. Read less...

According to The News, for the first time, the militants attacked two check-posts in the so far peaceful Orakzai Agency of the FATA, killing three security force personnel and injuring two others. The militants attacked Levies check-posts at Ghaljo, the headquarters of upper Tehsil (administrative division) of the agency with rockets at about 11 am on January 27. The unidentified militants riding vehicles escaped after the attack. Read less...

The security forces (SFs) on January 27 pounded the suspected hideouts of militants allied to Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, The News reported. Military authorities said gunship choppers targeted hideouts in Makin, Shabi Khel, Srarogha, Ladha and the adjoining mountainous region. “The troops are now in control of Spinkai Raghzai and Kotkai, which were the strongholds of the Baitullah Mehsud-led fighters,” said the authorities. Read less...

12 people, including five militants, five civilians and two Pakistan Army soldiers, were killed while eight militants and four soldiers were injured in clashes between the security forces (SFs) and militants on January 28, according to The News. There were reports of heavy clashes between the two sides in various parts of the Mehsud-inhabited areas of South Waziristan such as Makin, Ladha, Torwam and Tiarza in which military authorities said militants suffered significant losses. Besides gunship choppers and artillery shelling on militants’ positions, the Army called two fighters which targeted the strongholds of Baitullah Mehsud’s militants in the Makin and Ladha towns. Military authorities said a number of militants were killed while their hideouts destroyed in the bombardment. The Army also reportedly fired mortar and artillery shells from military camps in Razmak and Jandola on the militants’ hide-outs in Kaza Panga, Dher Narai, Shaga, Treekh Narai, Wrasta Bazeena and Shaktoi areas in which officials said five militants were killed. They said intercepts from militants suggested that eight of their colleagues were wounded. In the Mohammad Nawaz Kot area near Makin, militants attacked a security post manned by the Pakistan Army soldiers. In the ensuing encounter, two soldiers died and four others were injured. Read less...

A missile apparently fired by a pilot-less plane hit a house in a village near Mir Ali in North Waziristan late on January 28-night, killing 15 people - 10 suspected militants, two women and three minors, according to The News. Intelligence sources said those killed also included Arab nationals but their identity was not known. A militant source told Daily Times by phone that five men "speaking the language of the holy Quran" were among the dead, suggesting that Arab militants were among the victims. The targeted house was in Khushali Torikhel, 12 kilometers south of Mir Ali town. The owner of the house, Madad Khan, believed to be a Taliban militant, survived the attack while his guests sleeping in the Hujra (male guesthouse) died in the missile strike at 1:15 am, and so did two women and three minors of his family. It was not clear where the missiles were fired from, Daily Times reported. Residents, however, claimed that an unmanned spy plane, of a type often used by US forces in Afghanistan, was involved in the attack. The plane is capable of firing missiles and taking photographs from a considerable altitude. "We recognise the sound and shape of the American drone and two such planes have been hovering in the sky since Monday afternoon, and people have seen them over Mir Ali and Miranshah," said local residents. Read less...

Five civilians, including two women, were killed when artillery shells hit their homes in Kotkai village. Residents of Torwam also reportedly complained that SFs were targeting the civilian population. They claimed that dozens of houses owned by civilians were damaged in the artillery shelling. In the same town, residents said two soldiers were injured when fired at by militants. Read less...

In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), late on January 28-night, militants blew up a Khasadar check-post in the Aato Khel area of Halimzai sub-division in the Mohmand Agency, but no casualties were reported. Sources said the check-post was located around 30 kilometers north of agency headquarters Ghalanai. Read less...

Militant ‘commander’ Maulana Faqir Muhammad was named on January 28 the ‘political face’ of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan for the purpose of holding talks with the government and negotiate a truce, according to Daily Times. "Ameer Baitullah Mehsud has authorised Maulvi Faqir Muhammad to hold talks with the government on behalf of the new organisation (formed last year)," purported Taliban spokesman Maulana Umar told Daily Times from an undisclosed location. Faqir leads Taliban militants in the Bajaur district of FATA, overlooking Afghanistan’s Kunar province. The spokesman said the Taliban were "ready for talks" with the government. Read less...

Militants fired 35-40 rockets on the Razmak military camp in North Waziristan which officials said resulted in serious injuries to three soldiers. Read less...

Military officials said 12 militants were arrested after they were trying to flee their positions in the Tiarza area. Read less...

Suspected militants overran a security checkpoint in the Yakh Kandao sub-division of upper Orakzai Agency in the FATA and set it ablaze on January 28, according to The News. Suspected militants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban also snatched weapons from the Levies personnel stationed at the check-post at gunpoint before setting it ablaze. However, no causality was reported in the incident. The same group of militants attacked the rest house of the political administration nestling the Levy check-post and set it on fire too before escaping. Read less...

The SFs were reported to have captured some of the strategic hilltops in Angamal area which enabled them to oversee the entire area where the military authorities believed militants had set up their hideouts. Read less...

The Taliban had warned the political administration a few days back to remove all the check-points from the area otherwise attacks on the same would be launched. Read less...

The body of a tribal elder was found in the Kong area of Khuzai sub-division in the Mohmand Agency of FATA late on January 29, Daily Times reported. Tribal elder Muhammad Afzal, his son Syed Asghar and Malik Mir Alam were abducted from Yakaghund by unidentified gunmen on the same day, sources said, adding that Alam and Asghar were still missing. Read less...

Heavy fighting continued between the security forces (SFs) and the Baitullah Mehsud-led militants in South Waziristan where troops targeted three vehicles carrying militants, killing an unspecified number of them. Clashes were reported from Kaniguram, Nawaz Kot, Kotkai, Ladha and Torwam near Tiarza. In Kaniguram town, tribal sources said three residents were injured when some houses were damaged in the artillery shelling. Most of the residents of the town had already left their homes and shifted to Tank and Dera Ismail Khan due to the fighting. The troops, after capturing Kotkai, the hometown of militants' commander Qari Hussain, known for beheading his opponents, on January 30 moved towards the Inzar area. The soldiers, during their movement, reportedly did not face any major resistance from the militants and set up checkpoints in Inzar village. Read less...

Militants retrieved and buried on January 30 the bodies of 12 foreigners who had been killed in a missile attack on a residential compound in the Khushali Toorikhel area of North Waziristan on January 28-night, according to Dawn. Local people said the identity of the militants killed in the attack remained unknown but according to unconfirmed reports seven of them were Arabs while the other five were central Asians. Read less...

Security forces arrested a suspected militant in Drushkhela. Read less...

Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed and several others sustained serious injuries on January 30 when militants from adjacent South Waziristan fired 40-50 rockets on the Razmak Military Camp in North Waziristan, The News reported. The militants fired these rockets on the military base from their hideouts in Mamu Ghar, Spin Kamar and Khumata in Makin. Read less...

Unidentified people abducted the Agency Population and Family Planning Officer Abdul Aziz, his driver Aftab and impounded their vehicle. Another tribal elder, Malik Nisar, was also kidnapped from the area. Read less...

Senior al Qaeda commander Abu Laith Al-Libi has been killed in Pakistan, CNN quoted "a knowledgeable Western official and an unnamed military official" as saying, according to Daily Times. The 41-year-old Libyan was active in operational planning and training, and according to the US official, "not far below the importance of the top two al Qaeda leaders" – Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. He was placed on the US military’s most wanted list in 2006, behind Laden, Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar. AP news agency said a Website used by militant groups carried a statement in the name of Al-Fajr, al Qaeda’s media wing, saying "he was martyred with a group of his brothers in the land of Muslim Pakistan." The statement was referring to a missile strike at Khushali Torikhel in North Waziristan on January 28. 10 militants, two women and three minors had died in the missile strike. However, a US military official with the Combined Joint Task Force-82, the anti-terror unit responsible for searching Libi in Afghanistan, told CNN he had no information on Al-Libi’s death, but added that CJTF-82 did not collect information from outside of Afghanistan and would be informed of targeted operations only "if the Pakistani military share that with us". AP said Pakistan’s Interior Ministry officials did not confirm Al-Libi’s death and were "still trying to gather details on the missile strike." Pakistani Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told AFP that "We have no information of his killing." Read less...