FATA: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2009

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on January 1 that the writ of the Government had already been established in four sub-divisions of Bajaur Agency, and Charmang and Mamoond sub-divisions would be under the complete control of the Government by the end of this month. Read less...

A suspected United States missile strike on January 1 killed at least five Taliban militants in South Waziristan Agency, Daily Times reported. A local security official told AFP a US drone had fired three missiles in the Karikot area of Wana in the agency - the same spot where eight suspected militants were killed in a US drone strike 10 days ago. One of the missiles struck a vehicle, killing all five passengers, another security official said, adding those killed were known Taliban militants. The other two missiles hit a hilltop house that was a known Taliban hideout, but was empty at the time of the strike, the officials said. One militant was injured in the strike, they added. AP reported that at least three of those killed in the attack on the vehicle were from a Central Asian country. Read less...

Claiming a major breakthrough on the third day of the ongoing operation against the militants and outlaws in Khyber Agency, the political authorities on January 1 indicated at reopening the Pakistan-Afghan Highway by January 3, The News reported. Authorities said 80 per cent of the targets were achieved as several notorious criminals were either arrested or surrendered to the administration. Some 13 houses, used for anti-social activities, were also demolished. The encroachments along the Jamrud Bazaar and the adjoining areas were removed. Sources said 15 more wanted criminals were arrested on January 1, bringing the tally of those arrested during the last three days of the operation to 43. A total of 33 structures, including houses and guest houses, were demolished in the operation. The NATO supplies snatched earlier were also recovered during the operation. The looted items were recovered from the house of Adam Jee in Wazir Dhand area, prompting the troops to demolish the house after retrieving the snatched goods. Briefing the media, Political Agent of the Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat said that on the third day of the operation, militants’ hideouts and criminal dens in Ghundi, Shahkas and Wazir Dhand area were targeted with artillery shells before the troops moved in. He also said that known kidnappers and looters were arrested during the operation and a large quantity of arms and ammunition and looted goods recovered from different places. Tariq reiterated that the operation named ‘Daraghlum’ (Here I come) was not aimed at any single entity or group but against a host of groups that had made the entire region insecure. “Lawlessness in Jamrud Tehsil [revenue division] has direct implication on the law and order situation in Peshawar, which experienced one of its worst periods during the last quarter of the year 2008,” the administrative head of the agency said and added 37 people were kidnapped and 16 vehicles lifted from Jamrud during the last three months. He also informed that during the same period, a total of 100 people were abducted from Peshawar and all the kidnappings had direct links to the tribal territory, where the operation was in progress now. Besides, the area was also used to launch rocket attacks on Peshawar and hundreds of vehicles, including that of the NATO, were targeted. Read less...

Four civilians were killed in Bajaur Agency on January 1 when Taliban militants fired rockets at local Government offices, Daily Times reported. At least four rockets landed near a court and the Government complex in Khar, the main town in Bajaur, local administration chief Israr Khan told AFP. “The attack left four civilians dead and 16 injured,” Khan added. APP reported officials as saying that at least six rockets were fired on Civil Colony, where Government offices and residential quarters for officials are located. One of the rockets, the officials said, hit the office of FATA Rural Development Programme. Further, Security Forces reportedly continued targeting Taliban hideouts in various parts of Bajaur. Read less...

One soldier was killed and two others sustained injuries as clashes between the Security Forces (SFs) and militants continued in the Safi tehsil (revenue division) and adjoining areas of the Mohmand Agency for the second consecutive day on January 1. The SFs also claimed to have killed several militants when their hideouts were dynamited besides arresting 10 suspects and recovering explosives and suicide vests from them during the operation in different areas of the agency. Sources told The News that militants attacked the SFs’ check-posts in Darwazgai-II and Lakaro with mortar guns and rocket launchers after which a fierce clash started. Sources added that a mortar shell fired by the militants hit the Darwazgai-II checkpoint in which a soldier, Niaz Muhammad Jan, was killed and two others wounded. A spokesman for the Mohmand Rifles, a wing of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) in Ghallanai, told the media that they targeted different areas of Safi, Lakaro and Utmanzai with artillery and mortar guns, killing several militants. “We have also arrested 10 suspects in Qandaro area who were transporting arms and ammunition to their associates engaged in clashes with the security forces in Darwazgai-II and Lakaro checkpoints. A vehicle laden with explosive devices, Kalashnikovs, bombs, suicide jackets and masks was captured,” the spokesman claimed while showing the seized items to journalists. He said SFs targeted several suspected hideouts with artillery and dynamited 25 houses of those helping the militants in the Qandaro, Habibzai, Haider Koroona, Malakana and Sandokhel areas. Read less...

The Taliban publicly executed an alleged ring leader of a gang of kidnappers in the Kurram Agency on January 1, Dawn reported. The militants had charged Mohammad Yaqoot Khan with kidnapping two Sikh men in the Tora Warai area of Central Kurram. A large crowd reportedly watched the hanging of the man in the main Sadda bazaar. Later the militants sprayed his body with bullets. It is the first incident of public execution in Lower Kurram. Read less...

Four militants were killed and three others injured when a CIA-operated spy plane fired two Hellfire missiles at a Government-run girls’ school in the Ladha sub-division of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on January 2, the second attack in as many days. Tribal sources told The News that two pilotless spy planes were seen hovering over the Mehsud-inhabited areas before the air strikes on the school and a nearby-parked car. The drone reportedly fired two Hellfire missiles, one of them hitting the building of the Government Girls’ Primary School, Maidan Naray, and the other destroying the car owned by the militants. According to sources, four militants reportedly belonging to the Punjab, died and three others sustained injuries in the attack. They said dozens of militants later arrived and retrieved the bodies of their slain colleagues and injured from the rubble of the school building. Sources said the school building was owned by a local tribesman, Maqbool Mehsud Shamankhel, but was occupied by the militants who were using it as their base camp. Tribal sources said dozens of Government and private schools had been going without teachers and students in the Mehsud-inhabited areas and were now being used as training camps by the militants or for other purposes by the owners. Read less...

In the Khisoor area of South Waziristan, a remote-controlled roadside bomb killed a Baitullah Mehsud supporter and injured three others when it hit their vehicle on January 2, Daily Times reported. Read less...

Militants on January 2 attacked a Security Forces’ checkpoint in the Safi-inhabited areas of Lakaro sub-division of Mohmand Agency, prompting retaliation by the paramilitary forces, The News reported. However, no casualty from either side was reported in the incident. Sources said militants used heavy weapons, including mortar guns, to attack the Lakaro checkpoint. In response, the Security Forces targeted suspected positions of the militants with heavy artillery and other sophisticated weapons. Read less...

Taliban announced the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law) in the Shakai, Sheikhan and Mulakhel areas of Hangu District in the NWFP on January 2, Daily Times reported. The decision was made in a jirga (assembly of tribal elders) and announced in mosques during the Friday sermons, and comes days after a similar decree in the bordering Orakzai Agency. Women have been stopped from visiting bazaars, other than for medical treatment, and that too only if they are accompanied by an elderly male relative. TV, CDs and video centres have been banned. Sources in the area said the Taliban had been using loudspeakers installed in mosques to ask people to bring their issues to the ‘Taliban Islamic courts’ to resolve them in accordance with Islamic law. The Taliban also reportedly blackened the faces of three men and paraded them on donkeys in the area for alleged immorality, the sources said, but it was not clear when the incident took place. Last week, Taliban had made a similar announcement of enforcement of Sharia on 16 of Orakzai Agency’s 21 tribes. They had set up complaint cells in Ghiljo and Kandi Mishti areas of Upper Orakzai and Mamoozai and Feroze Khel areas of Lower Orakzai. Hangu borders Orakzai Agency in the north and Kurram Agency in the West. Read less...

The paramilitary forces also targeted suspected hideouts of militants with heavy artillery from their bases at the agency headquarters of Ghallanai. However, no casualty or material loss in the fresh offensive in Lakaro could be ascertained because of faulty communication system in the area. Read less...

The political administration displayed a large quantity of arms and ammunition and truckloads of looted goods, including that of the NATO supplies at the Jamrud Fort. These goods were recovered during the operation. The weapons included five mortar guns, a heavy and a light anti-aircraft gun, three light machineguns, 10 rocket launchers and 15 AK-47 rifles and thousands of rounds of various denominations. Political Agent Tariq Hayat claimed to have achieved 80 percent of the targets set for the operation. He said while many were arrested under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations, Security Forces also detained 43 proclaimed offenders. He stated the Government’s resolve to continue the operation until all the six groups that the authorities claimed operating in the Khyber Agency were neutralised. The Security Forces carried out limited action against militant hideouts in Ali Masjid area of the Jamrud sub-division, where an office of the Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam was also demolished. Some 25 structures, including houses and shops, were also demolished in the adjacent Wazeer Dhand area. Read less...

The Taliban in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on January 2 banned the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), co-education and sale and consumption of narcotics and alcohol in the tribal region, warning violators of death sentence after a January 5 deadline, The News reported. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the central Shura (council of consultation) of the pro-Government Taliban, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, at Miranshah on January 2. The decisions of the Shura were later announced in several mosques of the tribal region whereas pamphlets inscribed with the verdict were also distributed. Announcements were made through loudspeakers in mosques and prayer leaders informed the faithful about the new laws through the Friday sermons. The militant leaders, while criticising the BISP, argued that widows and other poor deserving women from the NWA were forced to visit offices of political administration which, they said, was against the tribal customs and traditions. “The women of the NWA will then be persuaded to visit Peshawar and Islamabad for the collection of the BISP,” the Shura anticipated, adding initiation of such a programme in the tribal region was meant to morally corrupt the poor tribal women. The Shura also announced a ban on co-education in NWA from January 5. In Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, despite militancy and unrest, some private schools are reportedly still imparting co-education. The drug pushers and owners of compact disc (CDs) shops were also warned to wind up their businesses or face the consequences. The Taliban militants warned of capital punishment for possession of drugs, especially alcohol. “Anyone found in possession of alcohol will be awarded death sentence,” said the announcements made from various mosques of the NWA after the Shura meeting. The militants also warned violators of the Shura decisions of severe punishment. In addition, pamphlets were issued at Mirali in which the militants warned kidnappers of strict action. Read less...

Traffic on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Highway resumed on January 2 after the political authorities relaxed the curfew on the fourth day of the military operation against the militants and criminals in Khyber Agency, according to The News. Curfew was relaxed for five hours shortly after 11 am (PST), paving the way for hundreds of vehicles, including those carrying goods for NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan, to cross over to the neighboring country. Read less...

Unidentified gunmen on January 2 killed an elder of the Mamoond tribe in Kalan village of Bajaur Agency, Daily Times reported. 46-year old Malik Stana Khan was shot dead when he was on his way to Kalan, a political administration official said. No one has claimed responsibility for the killing so far. Read less...

The Orakzai chapter of the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has established Sharia (Islamic law) courts and complaint centres in most parts of the agency, directing people to resolve their disputes in accordance with the Islamic laws. Sources told The News that following the enforcement of Sharia in Mamozai, Akhonkot, Tor Samat, Baghbani Killay, Jabah, Mirkalamkhel, Farid Garhi, Ghaljo, Kundi Sheikhan, Ghundako Killay, Saifal Darra, Yakh Kando, Tor Kani and Takht areas of the upper Orakzai Agency, the local TTP established two complaint centres and Sharia courts in Kundi Sheikhan and Ghaljo on January 4. The local Taliban also set up complaint centres and courts in the Mushti area after they announced imposition of Sharia in Ferozkhel, Toi, Mushti, Sangrah, Mandaki Killay, Mushti bazaar, Mushti Maila, Kasha and Sheikhan areas of the lower Orakzai Agency. “The announcements about enforcement of Sharia have been made on loudspeakers from several mosques in the area, urging the people to contact Islamic courts for settlement of their disputes in accordance with Sharia,” sources said, adding that Taliban had also banned cutting of forest. The Taliban also reportedly announced ‘ban’ on women to go out of their homes and visit bazaars or do work at fields and hills. However, they announced that women seeking medical treatment could go out but a male member of the family must accompany them. Read less...

Militants kidnapped 11 members of the Mandel tribe of Bajaur Agency in Mohmand Agency on January 5 and took them to an unspecified location, Dawn reported. The tribesmen had gone to Mohmand Agency’s Anbar sub-division three days ago to persuade militants to stop rocket attacks on villages near Khar, headquarters of the Bajaur Agency. “The jirga members visited Anbar on a peace mission. We have reports that they have been kidnapped by unidentified militants,” said official Ahsanullah Khan. Read less...

Suspected militants killed four more alleged US spies in North Waziristan on the night between January 5 and January 6 and threw their bodies on main roads in various parts of the tribal region, The News reported. Two of the alleged US spies were said to be Afghan nationals and the other two were identified as local tribesmen. Tribal sources said bullet-riddled bodies of the two Afghans were found on the road in Sarobi village near Spalga. Body of one tribesman was recovered from Miranshah Bazaar and the other body was found from the Razmak Road. Read less...

Suspected Taliban militants in North Waziristan shot dead two Afghan nationals and a resident of the Bannu District of NWFP and hanged bodies of the Afghans from a tree on the Bannu-Miramshah Road at Naurak village in the morning of January 5, The News reported. A hand-written Pashto language letter left with the bodies accused them of spying on ‘Mujahideen’ in North Waziristan for the US forces stationed in Afghanistan. The letter also termed the killing of the two Afghans and the Pakistani a “gift” to US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher. Naurak villagers said the two Afghans were identified as Omar Siddique and Muhammad Qasim, both hailing from the Khost province of Afghanistan, and were living along with their families in a village near Miranshah. The other slain person was identified as Azizur Rahman, a contractor, of the Bannu District. Read less...

Two US choppers, carrying American troops, reportedly intruded into the Pakistani tribal territory and landed at the Bange Dar village of North Waziristan Agency (NWA), bordering the Khost province in Afghanistan, and abducted three nomads in the night of January 5. However, Government officials and security authorities based in Miranshah denied violation of Pakistan’s airspace by the coalition forces. “We have our troops deployed along the border with Afghanistan but none of them reported any such violation by the foreign forces,” a military officer said. Major General Athar Abbas, Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations, denied reports about violation of Pakistan’s airspace by the US choppers. “No, I don’t have any kind of such report. I am in touch with senior military officials but none of them talked about this issue, which I am sure would not have taken place,” explained Abbas. Read less...

Following the announcement of imposing Sharia (Islamic law) in Orakzai Agency, the Taliban on January 6 occupied the Political Rest House in the agency, locals and political administration sources said. A political administration official told Daily Times that the Taliban captured the rest house late on January 5. He said political authorities had already vacated the premises due to the growing Taliban presence in the area, adding the Taliban had little difficulty in overpowering two soldiers deployed to guard the rest house. Taliban sources said they would use the building as their office. Read less...

SFs are reported to have heavily shelled Sheikhan, Spinkay Tangay and Kashmir Koor in Pandyalai. The houses of Malang and Sarwaiz Khan were partially damaged when several shells landed in the area. However, no casualty was reported. Read less...

Two militants were killed and four others sustained injuries when Security Force (SF) personnel and militants clashed in the Pandyalai sub-division and Bhai Dag area of the Baizai sub-division in the Mohmand Agency on January 6, The News reported. Sources said that a group of militants attacked the SFs checkpoint in Targhakhi with rockets and mortars. However, the troops retaliated with artillery and rockets, killing two militants on the spot and injuring four others. The slain militants, whose names could not be ascertained, belonged to the Dawaizai area. Read less...

Unidentified miscreants blew up the building of Baizai subdivision headquarters in the Bhai Dag area with explosives. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. Read less...

A couple was wounded when a mortar shell hit a house in the Koz Gandhab area of Haleemzai tehsil (revenue division) in Mohmand Agency on January 7, The News reported. Sources said that Security Forces fired a series of mortar shells on Koz Gandhab after their camp was attacked in Ghallanai. One of the shells hit the house of Niaz Wali, injuring him and his wife. The house was also partially damaged in the incident. Soon after the incident, hundreds of Haleemzai tribesmen came out and blocked Peshawar-Bajaur Road for all kinds of traffic in protest. The protesters kept the main road blocked for two hours and demanded an immediate end to artillery shelling. Read less...

Helicopter gunships targeting Taliban hideouts accidentally hit two civilian houses in Orakzai Agency. The houses were partially damaged, but no loss of life was reported, officials and locals told Daily Times on January 7. They said the gunships targeted Taliban hideouts in Kalaya village of Lower Orakzai Agency, but no Taliban casualties were reported. Read less...

The political administration claimed that most of Bajaur Agency was now under the Government’s control. Read less...

The Taliban in Mirali sub-division of North Waziristan Agency on January 7 killed two Afghan nationals after accusing them of spying for the United States, Daily Times reported. Locals found the body of Habibullah at Khadi, 15 kilometers west of Mirali near the Mirali-Miranshah Road. The body of the second Afghan, identified as Khan Muhammad Babar, was found in Shera Talla area, 20 kilometers from Mirali on the Mirali-Tall Road. Notes found near the bodies said the people spying for the US would be dealt with in the same manner. Read less...

Three Taliban militants were killed and six others sustained injuries as jet fighters targeted their hideouts in various areas of Bajaur Agency on January 7, Daily Times reported. Six trenches and some underground bunkers built by the Taliban had also been destroyed in the operation. Fighter jets targeted Taliban hideouts in Dama Dola and Khaza Pahar areas in Mamoond, Salarzai and Chargo Kandaw sub-divisions of Bajaur. Read less...

Suspected militants shot dead two Government employees in North Waziristan Agency late on January 8, Daily Times reported. The ambush took place in Asadkhel village, around 35 kilometers south of agency headquarters Miranshah. Amanullah Jan, a junior administrator in Razmak town, and his security guard were killed, while Jan’s deputy and another guard were injured after gunmen hiding on a roadside shot at their car, a local official told AFP. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Read less...

The head of al Qaeda in Pakistan and his lieutenant were killed in the past few days, a US counter-terrorism official told AFP late on January 8, reportedly struck by a missile fired from an unmanned drone, Dawn reported. The men are believed to be Kenyan national Usama al-Kini, described as al Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan and his lieutenant Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan. "There is every reason to believe that these two top terrorist figures are dead," said an unnamed source, adding that the duo was killed "within the last week." The counterintelligence source did not say how the men died, but according to Washington Post, which first reported the story, the duo was killed in a January 1 missile attack near Karikot in South Waziristan. The militants died after being struck with 45 kilo Hellfire missile fired from a pilot-less Predator drone operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, Washington Post reported. Officials believe al-Kini was behind the September 2008 car bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel that killed 60 people. He is also linked to a suicide attack on late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's convoy as it traveled through Karachi upon her arrival in Pakistan on October 18, 2008. The two men are also on the FBI's most wanted list for links with the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa. Read less...

The Taliban on January 11 chopped off ears of four private security guards in Bajaur Agency, Daily Times reported. An official told a private TV channel that the incident took place in Danana Khar area of Khar District late on January 10. He said the victims told him they were sitting in their tents at night when the Taliban took them hostage. They said the militants abducted around 18 security guards from various parts of the city and took them to an unidentified location. Later, they chopped off one ear each of Sheerin, Muhammad, Behram and Jehangir, considering them the guards’ leaders, they said. The Taliban also seized arms from the 18 men and left them in the Shalimar Cheena area. The Taliban, however, had not claimed responsibility for the incident so far, the channel said. Read less...

At least 40 Taliban militants were killed and an unspecified number of them wounded in Mohmand Agency on January 11 as paramilitary troops repulsed a pre-dawn attack by about 600 militants coming from the Afghan border, Daily Times reported. The attackers – mostly foreigners, and supported by local Taliban – attacked Frontier Corps (FC) positions in Mamad Gatt at about 2am (PST). “Frontier Corps troops repulsed a massive attack by militants on one of its locations in the area,” the military said in a statement, adding that “severe fighting continued through the night”. Six soldiers were also killed and seven sustained injuries in the fighting. The Taliban fired mortars and rockets at an FC camp and subsequently used small arms to fire on a nearby checkpoint, an unnamed military official told AP. The attackers were eventually driven off, but scattered skirmishes continued, he said. Most of the attackers fled under heavy military fire, a security official told the AFP. Some of the Taliban militants surrendered, a military spokesman claimed later, without giving a specific figure. According to sources, militants from Waziristan also took part in the attack, Dawn reported. Officials said it was one of the biggest militant attacks since the Security Forces launched an operation in the region. Sources also said that five soldiers were missing, but an official in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, denied the report. The building of a school near the targeted FC location was also reportedly damaged. Read less...

Five armed men kidnapped the Additional Political Agent Amir Latif of South Waziristan along with his driver in the presence of more than 20 Security Force personnel on January 11, Dawn reported. Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah who was in the same vehicle was unharmed, because the armed men reportedly didn’t recognise him. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Shah and the Additional Political Agent, escorted by more then 20 heavily-armed soldiers, were proceeding from Wana to their office in the adjacent Tank district when five masked men intercepted their vehicle near Kerkena which is the area of Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. Read less...

Fresh units of Security Forces (SFs) arrived in Mohmand Agency on January 12, while two non-combatants were killed by shelling, Dawn reported. According to official sources, SFs backed by tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and artillery took positions and started digging trenches in the strongholds of Taliban. Helicopter gunships reportedly flew at a low altitude and shelled militants’ positions. The fresh deployment came amidst reports that an attack by militants on the Darwazgai security post had been repulsed. Independent sources said the clash had resulted in heavy casualties, but the report could not be confirmed because access to the troubled area was denied. SFs attacked suspected militant hideous in Qandaharo area with mortar and cannon shells. One shell hit a house, killing Rozi Khan and his wife and injuring a child. As reported earlier, militants had stormed a fort of the Mohmand Rifles and two checkpoints in Lakaro area on January 11 and at least 40 militants and six SF personnel were killed in the clash. An AP report stated that the Frontier Corps said in a statement that four militants captured in the battle on January 11 had come from Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Read less...

Taliban militants killed two men in North Waziristan after accusing them of spying for the United States, a local official said on January 12, Daily Times reported. The incident was the latest in a series of at least 10 similar killings during the past two weeks in the region. The bullet-riddled bodies of two brothers, 25-year-old Rehman Rauf Khattak and 30-year-old Asfandyar Khattak, were found in a market in the Mir Ali town, the unnamed official told AFP. He said the two brothers had been kidnapped a week ago from Miranshah. “The killers left a note with the bodies saying, “The two men were spying for the US,” the official added. Read less...

The Taliban in North Waziristan Agency shot dead an Afghan national, accusing him of spying for the United States, a local official said on January 13, Daily Times reported. The bullet-riddled body of Bahadur Khan was found early on January 13 in a market in Miranshah, the agency’s main town, the unnamed official told AFP, adding Khan was abducted from the same place the previous day. Read less...

The Taliban on January 14 released a senior Government official who was abducted in December 2008 from Mir Ali District, said officials. “Asmatullah Wazir was freed unconditionally last night,” a local official said, adding that his release had followed official pressure on his abductors. Read less...

Unidentified armed men on January 14 killed a tribal elder in the Orakzai Agency, Daily Times reported. Malak Noor Akbar of the Aakhel sub-tribe was shot dead outside his house in the Ghaljo area of the agency. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack thus far. Read less...

In North Waziristan, the Taliban militants on January 15 shot dead a man accused of spying for the US forces across the border in Afghanistan, Daily Times reported. Officials said the 30-year-old was abducted from Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan, in December 2008 after a suspected US drone attack on a militant hideout in the area. “He was gunned down before dawn and his body was dumped on a roadside near Miranshah,” said an unnamed official. A note placed near the body described him as a ‘US spy’. Read less...

Two Security Force (SF) personnel were killed and four others sustained injuries in a remote-controlled bomb explosion in the Machan Baba Ziarat area of South Waziristan Agency on January 15, according to The News. Officials said a vehicle of the SFs was on a routine patrol when it was hit by a remote-controlled bomb near the agency headquarters, Wana. Read less...

Two militants and a soldier were killed and another sustained injuries in a clash in the Sandokhel area of Mohmand Agency on January 16, The News reported. Sources said SFs, backed by artillery and tanks, continued demolishing houses of militants in the Habibzai area of Safi sub-division for the second consecutive day. However, the militants opened fire on the troops in Sandokhel, which triggered a clash, leaving two militants and a soldier dead. Read less...

At least 15 Taliban militants and a soldier were killed when clashes broke out between the Taliban and Security Forces (SFs) in Mohmand Agency, a security official said on January 18, Daily Times reported. The clashes, which broke out late on January 17, occurred as the SFs cleared a road linking Bajaur Agency with Peshawar, the unnamed official said. “Fifteen militants were killed in a successful raid by security forces on their stronghold in Darwazgai area of Mohmand Agency… One security force personnel embraced martyrdom in the encounter,” he stated. Read less...

The Taliban militants in the North Waziristan Agency of FATA killed an Afghan national, Asadullah, on January 17, accusing him of spying for the United States (US), locals said. They told Daily Times that the dead body of the victim was found in Miranshah’s Nariwala area, near the Miranshah-Razmak road. A note found near the body said that anyone spying for the US would be treated in the same manner. Read less...

Supplies to western forces in Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass were briefly suspended on January 19 after the Taliban attacked an army camp in Landikotal in the Khyber Agency, killing a soldier and injuring 10 others, an official told Reuters. A Government official in Khyber had said early on January 19 that supplies through the pass had been suspended indefinitely after the Taliban attacked a military camp with rocket-propelled grenades, Daily Times reported. But he later said the route had been reopened after Security Forces arrested 10 men suspected of carrying out the attack. An unnamed official told AFP that the Taliban launched the pre-dawn attack on the Security Forces’ camp close to the Torkham border crossing. “The rebels fired eight rockets on the camp,” the official said. Read less...

A senior Government official was released on January 20, nine days after being kidnapped at gunpoint in South Waziristan, Daily Times reported. Additional Political Agent (APA) Aamir Latif was abducted near the Speen area, east of Wana, by armed people. “APA Aamir is back and he is ok,” an unnamed official told Daily Times. The Government, however, declined to comment on which group had kidnapped the official and the ransom paid for his release. Read less...

Taliban militants in the North Waziristan Agency on January 20 shot dead six more people on charges of spying for the US forces stationed in Afghanistan, The News reported. Tribal sources in agency headquarters Miranshah said that two of the six slain spies were Afghan nationals. One of them, whose bullet-riddled body was dumped near the Miranshah Bazaar, was identified as Guldar Ali, hailing from Afghanistan’s Khost province. Similarly, four more bodies were recovered from the Tehsil Road near Mirali. They were identified as Shah Madeen Khattak, a barber hailing from Karak district, 65-year-old electrician Shahi Haider Khan, teenager Nisar Ali and an Afghan citizen, whose name could not be ascertained. A handwritten letter placed near the bodies blamed all the four persons for spying for the US forces on the Mujahideen. With the recent killings, the number of alleged spies killed by the Taliban rose to 24 since last month. Read less...

Troops backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships killed at least 38 Taliban militants in an ongoing military operation in the Mohmand Agency on January 20 - raising the Taliban death toll to 60 over 24 hours, Daily Times reported. A statement said the Frontier Corps (FC) had advanced and secured Darwazgai-Lakaro-Mamad Ghat Road in the operation and “militant strongholds of Habibzai and Mulakhel were destroyed.” It also said that ‘leading commanders’, Umar Khitab, Qari Mumtaz, Haroon Rashid, Bilal, Yaqub, Yar Syed, Yousuf and Hamza, were among the dead. Troops have also “engaged Taliban strongholds of Krair and Chingai”, it added. The Security Forces reportedly launched the crackdown in Mohmand Agency as early as the weekend, but a paramilitary official told AFP that ‘hardcore militants’ were killed in the last 24 hours. The agency quoted another unnamed official as saying that the Taliban suffered losses in attacks by “war planes, helicopter gunships and use of artillery and shelling by tanks.” “We [also] have confirmation that commander Anwar Sayed and commander Shakirullah were killed in the operation today,” he said, adding that troops demolished or torched at least 27 houses belonging to tribesmen who offered shelter to the Taliban. A paramilitary official told Dawn that the FC and Mohmand Rifles, backed by warplanes, helicopter gunships, tanks and artillery, targeted suspected hideouts of militants in five villages of Lakaro and Pandyali sub-divisions, said to be stronghold of the Taliban’s Mohmand chapter. Three civilians, including the owner of a restaurant and his two sons, were killed in Danish Kol, residents said. 12 civilians were reportedly injured in the air strike and mortar attacks. According to a press release issued by the Frontier Corps headquarters in Peshawar late on January 20-night, 60 militants, including several key local commanders, were killed in the operation since the previous night. It said 22 militants had been killed on January 19 and 38 on January 20. Read less...

Seven suspected militants were arrested in a pre-dawn operation in the Bara Qadeem area of Khyber Agency in the FATA on January 21, Dawn reported. According to Reuters, a senior al Qaeda operative alleged to be involved in the 2005 bombings of London transport system was among the seven arrested men. Officials said some foreigners were among the seven arrested by Mehsud Scouts during a raid on the house of a local militant. Identified as Bakhshi, the owner of the house, Rustam, Khalid, Ayaz, Riaz, Nisar and Zahir, the militants were reportedly taken to Peshawar, the NWFP capital, for interrogation. Officials said the arrested men were al Qaeda militants believed to have planned attacks on trucks taking supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan. “They were planners behind all the attacks on NATO supplies,” an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. He said those arrested included four Arabs and three Afghans. An unnamed security official said the arrested militants included a senior al Qaeda operative allegedly wanted in connection with the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings in London. He identified the man as Zabi ul Taifi, an Arab. Read less...

Several militants, including top commanders of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Mohmand chapter, were killed on January 21, as the military intensified its operation against the militants in Mohmand Agency, The News reported. Sources said Security Forces (SFs) targeted the hideouts of the militants in the Lakaro and Pindyali sub-divisions and elsewhere in the tribal agency with gunship helicopters, killing several militants and destroying their hideouts. Sources said the house of Omar Khalid, the TTP Mohmand Agency chief, was also destroyed in the aerial raids. More than 15 militants, including some important commanders, are reported to have died in the attack, while approximately 40 shops in the Qayyumabad and Askarabad bazaars on the Peshawar-Bajaur Road and 33 houses were also destroyed. Sources added that the SFs occupied the militant hideout after killing six militants in Ghaziabad area. Severe fighting and shelling was also reported from the Kamardin, Amarai Kor, Karair, Chingai, Palosai and Habibzai areas. Unconfirmed reports said Omar Khalid and a number of his fighters were staying in a hideout on the hilltop near Haji Sahib Tarangzai shrine when SFs attacked the place with heavy weapons in the evening. A fierce encounter took place between the troops and militants in which Omar Khalid and TTP Halimzai sub-division chief Wajihullah were reportedly killed and several others, including the TTP deputy chief in Mohmand, Qari Shakeel, injured. However, neither SFs nor the Taliban confirmed the killing of Khalid. Read less...

A Frontier Corps (FC) soldier was killed and five others sustained injuries when militants attacked a check-post in Darra Adamkhel in the night of January 22, The News reported. Sources said the militants attacked the Security Forces (SFs) check-post in Tor Chappar with light and heavy weapons, killing an FC trooper, identified as Zahid, and injuring five others. Sources said SFs targeted the hideouts of militants soon after the attack with gunship helicopters and the mortars but there were no reports of casualties. Read less...

According to Dawn, gunship helicopters attacked several suspected Taliban positions on January 22, killing seven persons, including four women and two children, in the Mohmand Agency. According to local people, a bomb hit the house of tribesman Zain Khan in Shekhan area, killing two women. Two more houses were hit in Ghunget Choher village of Lakaro sub-division, killing two women, two children and a man. Read less...

Taliban in South Waziristan Agency on January 22 fired three rockets at the Wana Scouts Camp, Daily Times reported. However, no loss of life or property was reported. Security Forces retaliated against the militants, forcing them to flee. Read less...

The body of an alleged US spy was found in the Derpakhel area of North Waziristan Agency on January 22, according to Dawn. The deceased was identified as Noor Farid, who had been kidnapped from Miranshah a few days ago. Read less...

Volunteers of a tribal Lashkar (militia) in the Salarzai area of Bajaur Agency have claimed to have seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition from Taliban hideouts on January 22. Read less...

20 people, majority of them local tribesmen, were killed and several others were wounded in two different missile strikes by US drones in North and South Waziristan agencies on January 23-evening, The News reported. In the first incident, 10 persons were killed and several others injured when a US drone fired three Hellfire missiles on a Hujra (male guest house) of Khalil Dawar in Zyaraki village of North Waziristan. According to sources, two spy planes were seen flying over Mirali town during the strike. The guest house adjacent to Khalil’s house in Zyaraki, five kilometers west of Mirali, was razed to the ground in the attack. Sources close to the militants told The News the drone fired missiles after some guests, probably foreign militants, entered the Hujra of Khalil Dawar. They said besides Khalil, his two sons, brother Mansoor, a nephew and six other people were killed in the attack. However, a senior Government official in Miranshah said six among the dead were hardcore militants, including four Arabs and a Punjabi Taliban militant. It was the first missile attack by US spy planes in North Waziristan in 2009. Read less...

In the second incident, 10 more persons were killed in the adjoining South Waziristan Agency when a US drone fired two Hellfire missiles on the house of a local tribesman, Dil Faraz Gangikhel Wazir, in Gangikhel village, near Wana. Official and tribal sources said all those killed were local tribesmen. They said Dil Faraz, his three sons, two nephews and some guests were killed in the attack. A Wana-based official of the political administration said the drone had probably missed the target and killed only innocent people. He said four children also lost their lives in the attack. It was the third attack by the US drones in South Waziristan in January 2009 and the first after Barack Obama became the US President. Read less...

A local militant commander and his 14 associates surrendered to the political administration in the Yakaghund sub-division of lower Mohmand Agency on January 25, The News reported. Sources said that a jirga (council) of Tarakzai elders and officials of the political administration was held at Yakaghund headquarters where a commander and 14 militants were handed over to the authorities. However, the administration freed the militants after the jirga furnished personal surety bonds that the wanted persons would not indulge in militant or criminal activities in future. Earlier, the political authorities had handed a list of 220 wanted men to the elders of Qasimkhel and Dadokhel, the two sub-tribes of Tarakzai, asking it present them to the administration. The jirga has so far handed over 215 alleged militants while five are still at large. Read less...

Security Forces continued their operation in Bajaur Agency on January 26, targeting several Taliban hideouts in various areas of the agency, Daily Times reported. However, no reports of casualties to the Taliban were received. Troops targeted Taliban positions in the Charmang, Banda, Bhai Cheena and Kausar areas using artillery and mortars, with officials claiming to have destroyed several militant hideouts. Read less...

Taliban abducted a person from the agency headquarters Khar. The political administration has reportedly strengthened security measures in the agency by deploying additional law enforcement personnel in various areas of Bajaur. Residents complained they were facing problems in obtaining basic commodities because of the closure of business centres in the area for the last two months. Read less...

The Taliban in North Waziristan on January 26 killed a local tribesman, accusing him for spying for the United States, Daily Times reported. The body of Muhammad Hussain, resident of village Madda Khel in Datta Khel tehsil (revenue division), was found by the roadside, 30 kilometers west of Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan. The Taliban had also chopped off the right hand of Hussain, who was abducted a week ago. A note found nearby said Hussain was a US spy and those spying for the US would meet the same fate. Read less...

The News reported that five American CIA-operated spy planes on January 27 intruded into the North Waziristan Agency and flew over various villages of the border area. Official and tribal sources said five drones, three white and two of black colour, intruded into the tribal region from across the border in Afghanistan. In the evening, the spy planes were seen hovering over various villages at a low altitude. Read less...

Unidentified men blew up a girls’ school in the Bajaur Agency of FATA, according to Daily Times. However, no loss of life or injuries was reported. A private TV channel reported on January 27 that the school was located in Nangolai sub-division. The incident was the first of its kind in Bajaur. Read less...

According to Daily Times, around 25 projects operated by USAID in the FATA and settled areas of the NWFP have been temporarily closed over security concerns, a private TV channel reported on January 28. According to the channel, staff members working on several projects in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, and North and South Waziristan agencies have been called back due to worsening security in those areas. The work on the projects would resume once the law and order situation improves, the channel said. USAID was working on a comprehensive programme to support short, medium and long-term objectives of the government of Pakistan’s FATA Sustainable Development Plan (FSDP) 2006-2015. USAID’s objectives included enhancing the Government’s legitimacy and writ in FATA, improving economic and social conditions for local communities, and supporting sustainable development. To achieve the objectives, USAID had expanded its earlier programmes and initiated new activities that included, building the capacity of FATA institutions to deliver services to citizens; improving livelihoods; strengthening health and education services; and developing FATA’s infrastructure. Read less...

The Security Forces demolished the main bazaar of Lakaro sub-division while three persons, including two children, were injured in air raids and a bomb blast in the Mohmand Agency on January 28, The News reported. Read less...

Taliban in North Waziristan killed a local tribesman on January 29, accusing him of spying for the United States, Daily Times reported. The body of Ameer Khoon was found dumped in a drain in Baigaan area, 30 kilometers west of Miranshah. A note found nearby declared Khoon a US spy and said anyone spying for the US would meet the same fate. Read less...

Taliban in the Orakzai Agency took over two check-posts vacated by the SFs, official sources said on January 29, Daily Times reported. The locals said there was no writ of the Government in Orakzai, as SF personnel have vacated check-posts for fear of the Taliban. The Taliban announced the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law) in the agency in December 2008, barring women to visit bazaars and banning all modes of audio and video entertainment. Read less...

Taliban militants beheaded a Policeman and kidnapped four Shiites in Tal, a town 45 kilometers northeast of Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziirstan Agency, on January 29, Dawn reported. The five victims were traveling in a private vehicle to Parachinar, the main district in Kurram Agency, when they were ambushed by a group of 15-20 militants, a security official told AFP. "Militants slit the throat of a policeman and kidnapped four Shiites," said the unnamed official. The attackers later dumped the body of the slain Police official, also a Shiite, in a vehicle at the roadside and took away their captives to an unknown location. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on January 30 continued dismantling hideouts of militants with heavy artillery besides blowing up the house of a militant commander in the Nawagai area of Bajaur Agency, The News reported. Sources said SFs continued targeting positions of militants with heavy weapons in the Momand sub-division. However, there was no report of causalities inflicted on the militants in the targeted areas. Meanwhile, search and cordon operations continued in the Nawagai area and the house of a militant commander, Imtiaz alias Sheikh, was destroyed with explosives. Read less...

The Taliban on January 30 distributed leaflets in Miranshah and Mir Ali in the North Waziristan Agency warning the Pakistan Army not to set up medical camps, open schools or hospitals in the area, Daily Times reported. The Taliban warned the army and the NGOs to stop their activities in the agency as ‘through these activities they were misleading the tribal people’. "We warn the army and NGOs to refrain from mischief and carrying out such work otherwise they will be responsible for any losses," said the leaflet in Urdu, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. Read less...