Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2009

Four persons were killed and two others kidnapped in separate incidents in Swat District of NWFP on January 1, The News reported. A person identified as Sardar Ali was dragged out of his house and his head was chopped off at the Green Square. In another incident at the same location, unknown assailants shot dead a man, whose identity could not be ascertained. The body of one Zahir Shah was found at a roadside while the body of an unidentified man was recovered from Nishat Square. Two farmers were abducted at gunpoint from fields and were shifted to an unidentified location. Read less...

Three Policemen were killed and six injured in two bomb blasts in Peshawar and Bannu districts, Police said on January 1, Daily Times reported. Unidentified men blew up a Police check-post near Jabba Mosque in the Mathra Police station precincts of Peshawar, killing constable Asif Khan. Senior Police official Jamilur Rehman said the attack could be a reaction to the ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency. Read less...

Two Policemen - Abbas Ali Khan and Muhammad Ali Khan - were killed and six injured when a bomb being defused by officials of the Bannu Bomb Disposal Squad exploded. Read less...

In the Shakardarra area of Matta sub-division, two persons, Ameer Hameedullah and Muhammad Kareem, were shot dead by unidentified assailants. Read less...

Seven persons, including an Awami National Party leader and two Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel, were killed in different parts of the Swat District on January 2, according to The News. Police sources said the militants kidnapped two FC officials, identified as Hameed and Rehmat Gul, from the Balogram Police post. Later, their mutilated bodies were found on roadside in Odigram. Read less...

Suspected militants also shot dead a female dancer at Green Chowk in Mingora city. Ziarat Gul, the husband of the slain dancer, had reportedly expelled her from his house. 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 militants ringed the Prince Hotel in Mingora and abducted two persons from there. The militants claimed that their colleagues were attacked from the same hotel the other day in which one had sustained bullet injuries. Sources also said the militants kidnapped Muhammad Sher from Sarbanda area in Matta and an FC trooper Daulatmand from Mingora Bazaar. Militants also stormed the houses of Inspector Amjad Khan and Fazle Rabbi, a professor at Jehanzeb College in Saidu Sharif, in the Charbagh area. The militants later set ablaze their household items. Read less...

Unidentified gunmen shot dead Deedar Gul, president of the Kalam chapter of the ruling Awami National Party. The assailants subsequently escaped from the incident site after the attack. Read less...

A senior Taliban leader was arrested from Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, on January 3, Daily Times reported on January 4. A senior Policeman confirmed Ustad Yasir was arrested, but declined to give details. Formerly a leader of Abdurrab Rasool Sayyaf’s Ittehad-e-Islami group in Afghanistan, Yasir joined the Taliban in 2001 after Sayyaf announced support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He was arrested from the NWFP in 2005 and released from Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi prison in exchange for kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Read less...

Eight bodies were recovered from different parts of the District on January 3, Daily Times reported. According to a private TV channel, three bodies were found at Green Chowk while two bodies were recovered from the Ode Gram area of the District. Three more bodies were found from a house in the Shakardara area of Matta sub-division. According to the channel, the killings were part of a series of targeted killings in the valley. Read less...

A suicide bomber was killed while two people sustained injuries near a check-post in Officers’ Colony in Bannu in the NWFP on January 4, according to Daily Times. The suicide bomber blew himself up in an attempt to target a check-post but could not succeed as the bomb exploded before he could reach his target. Read less...

Five persons, including two Security Force (SF) personnel, were killed in separate incidents of violence in the Swat District on January 4, The News reported. Frontier Corps official Sabir Khan from Chhuta Kalam and a Police official from Mamdheri, Azizur Rahman, who were abducted by the militants on January 3, were killed the next day. Aziz’s bullet-riddled body was thrown at the Green Chowk in Mingora city. Sabir Khan’s head was chopped off and hanged on a pole in same area. Read less...

Taliban militants killed the Traders Association President Jameel Khan in Barikot. Read less...

Ten persons, including four Policemen, were killed and 27 others injured in two bomb blasts near the Polytechnic College in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP on January 4, The News reported. Sources said an explosive device, planted by militants near the main gate of the Polytechnic College, went off at 7:07 pm, injuring four persons. Eyewitnesses said soon after the blast, Police personnel and people rushed to the spot. As a large number of Policemen and people gathered at the site, a 16-year-old suicide bomber forced his entry into the crowd and blew himself up, killing 10 persons, including four Policemen, and injuring 21 others. Read less...

Unidentified assailants shot dead three persons at the Matta College Square and later escaped from the incident site. Read less...

According to Dawn, six bullet-ridden bodies of Security Force (SF) personnel, who had been abducted by Taliban militants a few days ago, were found in the Mingora city of Swat District on January 6. The militants brought the six persons to the College Square here in the night of January 5 and shot them dead. Approximately 32 people have been killed in Swat in the six days since the beginning of the New Year. Read less...

Four persons, including two militants, were killed in continued incidents of violence in the Mingora city of Swat District on January 5. Two persons, identified as Javed and Nisar, were killed in the Mingora city and their bodies thrown at the Green and Suhrab squares. The duo was identified as local militants. Read less...

Some unidentified gunmen barged into a house at Watkay in Mingora and shot dead a woman. Read less...

Unidentified assailants shot dead a former councillor, Muhammad Sahib, in the Aligram area of Charbagh. Read less...

Unidentified persons in the Shakardara area of Matta sub-division blew up the house of a local journalist, Hameedullah. Read less...

A girls’ high school was set ablaze by suspected militants in the Fatehpur area of Khwazakhela sub-division. While no casualty was reports, the furniture and record of the school were destroyed. Militants in Swat have so far reportedly set ablaze or blown up 104 girls’ and 62 boys’ schools. Read less...

Clashes between the SFs and militants took place in the Matta and Manglawar areas of the valley, The News reported. Troops shelled the suspected positions of militants but no loss of life was reported. SFs have also reportedly started patrolling across the District, particularly the Mingora city, in wake of increasing incidents of terrorism. A press release of the Swat Media Centre said patrolling was started to “eliminate the scourge of terrorism and ensure protection to the life and property of the people”. Read less...

Sub-Inspector Rehamtullah of the Bomb Disposal Squad in Bannu District Police was killed while defusing a bomb in Bannu on January 6. Read less...

According to Daily Times, the Taliban in Hangu District of NWFP killed three Policemen and abducted three others when they stormed a Police check-post early on January 7. Officials said the Taliban attacked the Police post in Dalan area of Tal tehsil (revenue division) using heavy weapons. Three Police personnel - Taimoor, Fazal Rahim and Daulat Shah - were killed, while Mohibullah, Tariq and Akhlaq were abducted by the militants, who also set ablaze the check-post. Read less...

Militants abducted the son of District Revenue Officer Sultanat Khan from the Kaymalpur area of Charbagh. Read less...

Militants attacked a check-post of the SFs in the Koza Bandai area of Kabal sub-division, which triggered a gunfight between the two sides. Five SF personnel were wounded and two vehicles of the troops destroyed in the clash while a vehicle was taken away by the militants. The SFs shelled suspected positions of the militants in the area and consequently, a mortar shell hit a house owned by one Aurangzeb, killing his daughter and injuring three others. Read less...

SFs arrested two suspected militants from Mingora Bazaar during patrol Read less...

Three persons were killed and eight others, including five Security Force (SF) personnel, were injured in the ongoing military operation in the Swat District of NWFP on January 7, The News reported. Read less...

Two persons were shot dead in separate incidents in Kabal and Matta. Unidentified assailants shot dead a person, identified as Shuja Khan, near a hospital and threw his body by a water tank. In Aghal Barthana, unknown gunmen killed one civilian, identified as Bahr-e-Karam. Read less...

Militants kidnapped two relatives of official Jamal Nasir and allegedly demanded ransom for their release. A member of the family told The News that militants abducted Najiullah from village Arkot on January 8 and also kidnapped his uncle Haleem Khan the next day. A member of the family said the militants were demanding PKR three million for the release of each captive. Read less...

The militants kidnapped two alleged drug-peddlers, identified as Fazl and Barkat, from the Gunban Meera area of Mingora. In Nawey Kalay, the militants took away a rickshaw driver, along with his rickshaw. Read less...

A bomb blast at the Nehar Chowk area of Mardan destroyed a CD centre and some other shops in the morning of January 9. However, no casualty was reported in the incident. Read less...

According to The News, the relative of a retired Superintendent of Police (SP) was among two persons killed while two relatives of the district administrator were abducted in the Swat District of NWFP on January 9. The militants had abducted Ziaullah, a relative of ex-SP Taj Muhammad, some days ago and killed him on January 9. His body was found in the Jehanabad area of Manglawar. Another body, which could not be identified, was also found in the same area. Read less...

Four people are reported to have died and dozens of others injured after clashes erupted in the Hangu town and its surrounding areas of NWFP on January 9. According to The News, a mourning procession from Ustarzai, Ibarhimzai, Sherkot and Chakarkot villages was heading for the Hangu city despite a curfew. Sources said militants allegedly attacked the procession with rockets from the hilltops when it reached near Bahadur Banda, prompting an exchange of fire with the mourners. Consequently, four people were killed in the clashes, which were continuing till last reports came in. Police sources said both sides were using heavy weapons against each other. “Both sides are targeting each other’s positions with rockets and other heavy weapons and many houses have been damaged,” an unnamed official said. The areas where the clashes erupted included Charbagh, Gangyan, Serai Banda, Lakhtay Banda, Ibrahimzai, Bahadur Banda and city bazaar areas, the sources said. The official said that the number of casualties might be higher as the incident happened in the evening and there was no direct access to the area due to an electricity breakdown. Read less...

Police in the provincial capital Peshawar arrested three alleged would-be suicide bombers and six other suspects from various parts of the city after a tip-off about the plot to disrupt the processions on the Muharram day, The News reported. Police received information that three would-be suicide bombers, Qari, Asad and Amjad, had been tasked to carry out bombings during the Ashura processions. Police subsequently arrested the three would-be suicide bombers as well as six other suspects from different urban parts of the provincial capital. Read less...

The militants burnt another Government Girls’ High School in the Sheen area of Khwazakhela in the early hours of January 9. Read less...

A bomb blast partially damaged two cellular phone shops in Naurang bazaar in Lakki Marwat on January 10, Dawn reported. Read less...

At least 17 people were killed and 30 others injured on January 10 in the ongoing sectarian clashes in Hangu in the NWFP, officials told Daily Times. Officials said that fighting between the rival Shia and Sunni groups had been continuing since late January 9 while army helicopter gun ships were pounding the warring parties’ positions to control the situation. The clashes erupted when people from Kohat, who were protesting against the imposition of curfew in Hangu on the eve of Ashura, were attacked by the rival sect. The two groups started targeting each other with heavy and light weapons. According to the officials, the clashes are going on in the Khanbari, Singhar, Paskalay, Gungano Kalay, Malik Abad and Ibrahim Zay areas of Hangu city. Read less...

A cease-fire between rival factions was reached in Hangu in the NWFP late on January 11, after 30 persons were killed and 50 injured in sectarian clashes that broke out on January 9, according to Daily Times. However, The News put the death toll in the three days of sectarian clashes at 40. 20 houses – including that of the District Zakat committee chairman – were set ablaze in fresh clashes despite an earlier truce in the afternoon of January 11, as helicopter gunships targeted ‘miscreant’ hideouts. A private TV channel said the house of local Awami National Party leader Yahya Qureshi was also torched. Sources said three local commanders, Maulvi Nadeem, Momin and Ihsanullah, were among the six militants killed in sectarian clashes in Saidan Banda and Pass Kellay, while six civilians were also injured. Clashes between the armed groups continued in various areas, including Sangarabad, Bahadur Ghari, Saidan Banda, Mardokhel Banda, Kach Banda, Ibrahimzai, Nerobaag, Sheikhan Kellay and Lakhtay Banda throughout the day. Heavy weapons, including rockets, mortar shells and missiles were used in the clashes. The second truce was reached in a jirga (assembly of tribal elders) headed by Kohat Division Commissioner Umar Afridi around midnight, Hangu District Coordination Officer Syed Mujibur Rehman told a private TV channel. Rival groups would vacate bunkers they have captured in each other’s areas and there will be a ban on the display of weapons according to the pact, said jirga member Shah Hussain. An earlier truce was rejected by one of fighting groups. The TV channel said tribal elders held talks with Taliban to persuade them to leave the District, but the Taliban refused to comply unless instructed to do so by their commander. Officials told Daily Times that Security Forces would take positions in the city on January 12 (today), as reinforcements arrive. “We targeted the hideouts of miscreants with helicopter gunships,” Mujibur Rehman told AFP, without giving any details about the results of the operation. “The troublemakers have set up bunkers on hilltops and in some houses, and were firing on each other to trigger sectarian violence,” he added. The supply of electricity to the city remained suspended for the third day. Read less...

Militants awarded lashes to three drug addicts in the Kanju Dherai area while four persons were killed in fresh incidents of violence elsewhere in the valley. Read less...

On New Road in Mingora town, unidentified gunmen shot dead a person Hakim Siraj while the body of another person, whose name could not be ascertained, was found in Matta Bazaar. In Durushkhela village of Matta sub-division, the body of Ahmad Jan and his son were found at the roadside. Read less...

Some troops were pulled out of parts of the Swat District on January 11 but military officials insisted it was not a withdrawal but readjustment and rotation of forces, The News reported. Reports from different troubled areas of the valley suggested that the Security Forces (SFs) withdrew from some key locations. Sources said the SFs vacated Golibagh, Charbagh, Sherpalam and Gashkor. They also said troops billeted in Paithom Hotel in Golibagh left the building. Sources said the SFs were facing problems in the provision of foodstuff to check-posts in Paithom and Gashkor, and more troops could also leave the area in a few days. Sources added that helicopters could not land there while route supplies often came under attack by the militants. However, a military official said it was not a pullout but a readjustment and rotation of troops. Read less...

The militants attacked the house of NWFP Minister for Science and Technology Ayub Ashari. The attack led to a brief clash between the militants and family members of the minister. However, no loss of life on either side was reported. Read less...

The militants flogged three alleged drug addicts 30 times each in Kanju Dherai area. Read less...

A soldier was killed and nine persons, including five soldiers and four civilians, sustained injuries when shells reportedly hit SFs’ bunkers. Further, the bodies of Abdul Ali, Arif, Ali Askar and an unidentified man were recovered from Ganjiyano Kellay. Read less...

At least 127 people were killed and 205 injured in 51 cases of sectarian violence across the NWFP during the first 11 months of the year 2008, The News reported. Official statistics disclosed that 26 people were killed and 20 injured in 23 incidents of sectarian strife in 2007. The figures do not include the mass killing in sectarian clashes from both sides in Kurram and other tribal agencies. Two persons were killed in a single sectarian incident in 2003 while another was killed in one such incident the subsequent year. Five people died in seven sectarian clashes in 2005 while 13 were killed in 11 incidents in 2006. Read less...

One soldier and four other persons were killed and 13 others, including nine Security Force (SF) personnel, were injured on January 12 as sectarian clashes between rival groups continued in the Hangu District despite announcement of a cease-fire, The News reported. Sources said gunship helicopters continued shelling different areas, including Pas Kellay and Ibrahimzai check-post. Read less...

Police recovered 35 rocket shells, 30 misfired mortar shells and 13 rockets during a search operation launched after taking control of the violence affected areas. Read less...

A beheaded body was recovered near the Raheemabad Police station in Mingora. It was subsequently identified as that of Ahmad, a rickshaw driver from Saidu Sharif, who was abducted a few days ago. Read less...

A child was killed and two others sustained injuries when mortar shell allegedly fired by the SFs landed on a house in Janabad village. Read less...

A man identified as Khona Gul was killed in another attack allegedly by the SFs. Read less...

A remote-controlled bomb exploded near the convoy of SFs in Sambat near Matta town. However, no casualty was reported. Read less...

A security official was killed while three others sustained injuries when suspected militants attacked the SFs convoy in Durushkhela area of Matta, according to the Swat Media Centre. The troops instantly retaliated and killed an unspecified number of the attackers. A petrol station was also reportedly set ablaze in Matta. Read less...

A trooper was killed when militants attacked the Kotal check-post in Kohat District on January 13, Dawn reported. The militants fired dozens of rockets at the Frontier Constabulary check-post and the army retaliated with artillery from Kohat side. The SFs subsequently targeted the hideouts of militants in Bosti Khel area. Read less...

Eight persons, including a security official and four children, were killed and as many sustained injuries in the Swat District of the NWFP on January 13, The News reported. Sources said a mortar shell - allegedly fired by the Security Forces (SFs) - hit a house in the Gulagai area of Matta sub-division, killing three children and injuring a woman. Read less...

In the provincial capital Peshawar, after paramilitary troops were withdrawn from NATO terminals on the Ring Road for Muharram, militants once again launched attacks on parking bays of two terminals in the wee hours of January 13, firing six rockets. “Militants attacked the Faisal Terminal and the Khyber Ittifaq Terminal at midnight with rockets from the nearby fields. Four containers were gutted in the Khyber Terminal and two in the Faisal Terminal,” a Police official told The News. Two of the containers were empty while the rest were filled with different items being trans-shipped for the allied forces in Afghanistan. Police rushed to the spot, the unnamed official said, and engaged the attackers. Firing from both sides continued for quite some time after which the attackers fled. Read less...

Several militants attacked the house of Mohammad Ayub, the NWFP Minister belonging to the ruling Awami National Party, in Asharay village in Matta. However, SFs deployed there repulsed the attack. There were no reports of casualties in the incident. Read less...

There were also reports of clashes between SFs and militants in the Charbagh area of the Swat valley throughout January 13. However, there were no reports of causalities suffered by either side in the fighting. Read less...

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on an oil tanker in Matta area, killing driver Naseem Khan on the spot. The cleaner of the tanker, Fazal Wahid, sustained injuries in the attack. Read less...

Several CD shops and offices were completely destroyed when three time devices planted by suspected militants at three separate markets exploded in the wee hours of January 14. Six other shops and the house of a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader were partially damaged while three more bombs recovered from the markets were defused, The News reported. Sources said that about 10 masked men, equipped with pistols and hand grenades, came and made the watchman, Sher Muhammad, hostage before placing six bombs in a plaza and two markets at 4:20 a.m. Three offices were completely destroyed when a bomb exploded in the plaza, owned by former PPP legislator Qurban Khan, on GT Road. The house of the PPP leader was also partially damaged in the blast. Similarly, two other bomb blasts in the Fawad and Shaheen markets destroyed Dildar CD House, Hameed Electric Store, Bobi CD House and electronics shops owned by Abdul Wahab, Riaz, Hamid and Zeeshan. Six other shops were also damaged in the blast. However, no casualty was reported, as nobody was present in the market. Read less...

About 400 private schools in Swat in the NWFP have announced to abandon girls’ education in their institutes in the wake of the deadline (January 15) given by the militants to discontinue the practice, depriving more than 40,000 students of their basic right to get education, The News reported. In addition, 84,248 girl students of state-run schools are unlikely to attend schools due to the fear of militants despite attempts by the local administration to reopen the schools on March 1. Maulana Fazlullah-led militants had asked all Government and private schools on December 24, 2008, to stop imparting female education by January 15, 2009. Read less...

At least 20 shops were damaged when an explosive device went off in a market in Shabqadar early on January 15. However, no loss of life was reported. Read less...

The Security Forces (SFs) on January 15 claimed to have killed and injured ‘a large number of hardcore militants’ including their ‘operations commander’ in Manglawar in the Swat District of NWFP when an attack was repulsed, The News reported. However, a spokesman for the Swat Media Centre could not tell the exact number of militants killed in the clash. Giving details, he said the militants attempted to attack a SFs’ check-post at Manglawar early on January 15 morning but it was effectively repulsed. Read less...

Amid reports that militants had destroyed a house owned by the ruling Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan in the Madyan Chaktari area, 18 more people, including 12 militants and three Security Force (SF) personnel, were killed in different parts of the Swat District on January 16, The News reported. A press release of the Military’s-run Swat Media Cell (SMC) claimed that 12 militants were killed and many others injured in a clash in the Chamtalai area of Khwazakhela sub-division. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat chapter leader Shah Dauran also claimed killing several SF personnel in the clash. “Several troops were killed and five vehicles were destroyed in the attack,” he claimed on his illegal FM radio. The SFs subsequently clamped a curfew in Khwazakhela and started shelling suspected hideouts of the militants. Read less...

In the Alamganj area of Khwazakhela, a man identified as Dost Muhammad was killed when a mortar shell allegedly fired by the SFs hit his house. Read less...

Owais Ahmad Ghani, the Governor of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is reported to have told a delegation of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in Peshawar on January 16 that there are approximately 15,000 militants in the tribal belt, who have no dearth of ration, ammunition and equipment. The Governor said that a militant was normally given PKR 6,000 to PKR 8,000 per month while their leaders got PKR 20,000 to 30,000 per month. Read less...

The militants destroyed a house owned by the ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan in Madyan Chaktari area. The militants reportedly planted explosives in the house, completely destroying it. However, no loss of life was reported as the house had been abandoned by the family of Asfandyar Wali. Read less...

Two people were killed when unidentified gunmen started indiscriminate firing in the Qambar area of Mingora sub-division. The deceased were identified as Arsalan Khan, a retired Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, and Shareef Khan, reportedly a relative of Shah Dauran, the TTP commander in Swat. Read less...

Unidentified gunmen dragged Ameer Zeb, a Police constable, out of his house in Charbagh and shot him dead. Read less...

In the first incident of its kind in the provincial capital Peshawar, religious scholar Pir Hafiz Rafeeullah, who was kidnapped on January 16, was reportedly slaughtered and his decapitated body was found in the Matani area of the capital on the morning of January 17. Read less...

Suspected militants on January 17 blew up a Police post and a Government high school in Swat. The militants reportedly blew up an abandoned police post in the Balogram area of. Police have abandoned several posts in certain parts of the valley. In addition, the militants destroyed another Government high school in Qambar, the native town of TTP Swat deputy chief Shah Dauran. Read less...

The militants shot dead a person accused of spying on them in the Shalpin area of Khwazakhela sub-division on January 17, The News reported on January 18. Read less...

A civilian, Omar Rehman, is reported to have died during aerial firing by the SFs. Read less...

A faith-healing centre on the Circular Road in Peshawar was damaged when an explosives device went off late on January 18. However, no loss of life was reported. Read less...

Four persons, including a Security Force (SF) personnel, were killed and two others sustained injuries in separate incidents of violence, while a Police check-post was blown up in the Shahdherai area of the Swat District on January 18, The News reported. Sources said unidentified armed men shot dead a soldier, Arshad, at the bus terminal in Mingora town. Read less...

In the Gulkada area, unidentified gunmen entered a house and opened fire on the inmates, killing two brothers, Hazrat Ali and Zafar Ali, on the spot. Two other persons also sustained injuries in the attack. Read less...

SFs also continued shelling the suspected positions of the militants, which resulted in the death of a woman. However, there were no reports of any casualty among the militants. Read less...

Taliban blew up five boys’ and a girls’ school in Swat. Militants reportedly planted bombs around the buildings of five schools, which detonated late on January 18, while the sixth was detonated in the afternoon of January 19. However, no reports of casualties were received. Read less...

The federal and NWFP Governments will use their powers to ensure that the girls’ schools affected by the Taliban in Swat are reopened by March 1, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said on January 18, Daily Times reported. Talking to reporters in Karachi, she said the Government would also ensure protection of all female students in Swat and all other restive areas. “Along with our ally in the NWFP, the Awami National Party, we will get the girls schools reopened. No ‘non-state actor’ will be allowed to burn female educational institutions,” Sherry told reporters. Read less...

Two Security Force personnel were injured in a remote-controlled bomb attack on their vehicle in the Shand area of Madian in Swat District on January 19, Daily Times reported. Read less...

After proscribing female education in the Swat District, the militants reportedly issued another decree on January 20, asking the local people to wear caps and stop shaving beards after January 25, according to The News. The militants set January 25 as deadline for keeping beards in the Matta sub-division and also asked people to wear caps in order to implement Sharia (Islamic law) in the area. They had already stopped barbers from shaving and trimming beards in the valley while following their fresh decree all barbers reportedly displayed “shave is banned” posters at their shops. Taliban sources said after the expiry of the deadline, no one in Matta would be allowed to trim beard as they were trying for the establishment of a complete Islamic society. Read less...

Four Policemen and four civilians were injured when a Police patrol van was hit by a roadside bomb on Ring Road in the Hazarkhwani area of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, on January 20, The News reported. The blast took place at about 8:03am (PST) near a security check-post when Pandu Police Station officials were patrolling the Ring Road. “Almost 1kg explosives, planted in a gas pipeline, exploded when the police patrol vehicle was passing through the spot,” Superintendent of Police (City Circle), Mohammad Ashraf, told reporters. Read less...

Militants blew up the house of an activist of the ruling Awami National Party (ANP), Muhammad Ilyas, in the Manja area of Kabal sub-division. Local sources said Ilyas was brought outside and his house was blown up in front of him. Read less...

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani tasked ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman to aid talks between the Government and the Taliban in Swat during a meeting on January 20, Daily Times reported. “Force is being used as a last option,” a private TV channel quoted President Zardari as saying. According to the channel, the leaders discussed national and regional security and “other important matters” in the meeting at the President’s House that also included Interior Adviser Rehman Malik. Another news channel, however, said Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, had denied he was assigned such a task but said he would play his part in the peace efforts if he was given the responsibility. Read less...

The cabinet of ANP Mingora city tendered en-bloc resignation over what they called flawed and anti-people policies and the ongoing military operation in the valley. They also reportedly resigned from the party. Read less...

The NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti offered dialogue to the Taliban on January 20 to restore peace in the troubled areas. He said the dialogue offer was still intact, asking the Taliban to come to negotiate without weapons as problems could not be solved by force. Read less...

Taliban militants destroyed two more Government-run schools and a health centre as violence continued in the Swat District of NWFP on January 21, Dawn reported. Explosive devices planted at the high school for boys and a basic health unit in Sher Falam in the Matta sub-division, and the girls primary school in Mangalstan in Charbagh sub-division, went off early in the morning, razing the buildings to the ground. With the destruction of these two schools, the number of schools torched and blown up in the Swat valley increased to 189. The Swat District Coordination Officer Shaukat Khan Yousafzai confirmed destruction of the schools, saying that most of the 189 schools destroyed by the Taliban were for girls. He said that over 100,000 students had been affected. Read less...

21 persons, including 11 militants, were killed and an unspecified number of them injured in the ongoing military operation and fresh incidents of violence in the Swat District of NWFP on January 22, The News reported. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)-run Swat Media Centre (SMC), 11 militants were killed and nine injured in Qamber and Koza Drushkhela. The SMC spokesman claimed that a militants’ hideout was destroyed in shelling at Qamber and four militants, identified as Abu Hamza, Ismail, Abdul Rauf and Qari Ghaffar, were killed. Sources added that Security Forces (SFs) also carried out a ground assault in the Koza Drushkhela area of Matta sub-division, the stronghold of Maulana Fazlullah-led militants, and killed seven militants besides injuring three others. Read less...

A dumper truck was attacked in the Chamtalai area of Khwazakhela sub-division by the militants, killing the driver and a passer-by on the spot. Read less...

Assailants reportedly opened fire at Abdullah in Kanju Bazaar, Kabal, killing him on the spot while another man Shah Wali, who sustained injuries, was rushed to hospital. Read less...

Eight persons were also kidnapped from the area. Read less...

In Terat area of the upper Swat town, Madyan, beheaded bodies of two persons, including a prayer leader identified as Khanzada, were found. Read less...

ISPR Director General, Major General Athar Abbas, said on January 22 that the peace deal signed with the Taliban in Swat has provided them an opportunity to re-emerge in the area, and the Sharia (Islamic law) imposed by them is terrorism. Talking to a private TV channel, Abbas said the Taliban had regrouped in Swat as the SFs had changed their strategy after the peace deal, Daily Times reported. He said the Government’s writ was intact in the areas where SFs were present. Read less...

A civilian wounded during shelling in the Qamber area on January 22 succumbed to his injuries on January 23. Read less...

Five members of a family, including three children, were killed when a mortar shell hit a house in the Manpetai village of Khwazakhela sub-division. A couple and their three children died and their house was destroyed in the incident. Read less...

In an improvised explosive device attack in the Takhtaband area of Mingora town in Swat District on January 23, three civilians, including a woman, were killed and a soldier sustained injuries, The News reported. The militants reportedly intended to target a convoy of the Security Forces but failed in their bid. The Taliban claimed responsibility and warned of more attacks. "As long as bullets are fired at us, such attacks will continue to take place," a spokesman for the Swat chapter of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan threatened. Read less...

In the Kalakot area of Kabal sub-division, a mortar shell killed Babar Shah and injured three others. In a similar incident, a man on way to his home was killed in a mortar attack in the Chaqo area of Matta sub-division. Read less...

NWFP Minister for Science and Technology addressed a press conference in Gul Kada in Swat on January 23, reiterating the Government’s resolve to give amnesty to those laying down their arms. Ayub Asharay said that the Government was ready to announce a general amnesty if the militants abandoned their armed movement and stopped challenging the writ of the Government. Read less...

Suspected militants shot dead a bank manager, Shah Rahman, in the Banora area of Fatehpur. Read less...

Two Security Force (SF) personnel were killed in a suicide attack near Mingora town on January 23, Dawn reported. According to a press release issued by the Swat Media Centre, a car laden with explosives blew up near the Fizagat check-post, killing two SF personnel and injuring 22 others. Troops had signaled the suspicious vehicle to stop and also fired on it, but it accelerated and hit the post. Read less...

Eight Taliban militants, including commander Noor Bakhtiar, were killed by the Security Forces (SFs) during clashes in the Nangolai area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division) in Swat in the NWFP on January 24, a private TV channel reported, according to Daily Times. The SFs also recovered a large cache of arms from the Taliban’s hideout after the operation. Troops also took control of schools in Swat following Taliban militant’s threats against their reopening, the channel reported. According to the channel, the decision was made to protect educational institutions in the district, where, according to official figures, 174 schools have been destroyed by Taliban militants during the past one and a half year. The forces established their check posts near the schools to thwart further attacks by the Taliban militants, who are against female education in the district. In December 2008, the Taliban had warned the Government to close all girls’ schools in Swat, threatening to kill any female student that dared receive education. Read less...

Swat Taliban released a list of 43 people – including former and incumbent ministers – who they have declared ‘wanted’ and liable to punishment under the Taliban sharia (Islamic law). The ‘wanted’ men also include former and current members of the national and provincial assemblies, District and local nazims (chief elected official of local government), officials of political parties, local elders and other influential residents of the valley. The announcement that the leaders were liable to punishment and must appear in Taliban courts was made by rebel cleric Mullah Fazlullah on his FM radio channel in the morning of January 25, locals said. The 43 people on the list were the Taliban’s enemies, he said, and would be arrested or killed by his men. If arrested, they would be produced before the Taliban courts, which will punish them in line with the ‘sharia’, Fazlullah was heard saying on the radio channel. The rebel cleric announced ‘amnesty’ for some political leaders and influential people who had stopped opposing Taliban in Swat, said locals who heard the speech. Fazlullah said they would not be harmed if they do not oppose the Taliban in future. According to BBC Urdu, Fazlullah also said Swat residents other than those on the list would not be harmed, and that the people who had fled the area could return to their homes. The announcement comes only two days after a provincial minister from the Awami National Party (ANP) and two members of the NWFP Assembly visited the valley to express support for the people of Swat against the Taliban. The ANP leaders in Peshawar are also speaking, in public and in private, of a changed strategy in Swat. Three days ago, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar and Senior Minister Bashir Bilour had made separate claims that the people of Swat would hear ‘good news’ in 15 days. The leaders did not elaborate. The warning by Fazlullah coincides with ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan’s statement on January 25 that the Taliban must lay down arms if they want to solve the problem in Swat through dialogue. Read less...

Unidentified miscreants fired four rockets at the Kotal Pass security check-post on January 25, The News reported on January 26. However, no loss of life was reported. Sources said the rockets were fired from Bostikhel area of Darra Adamkhel. Read less...

A day after 43 officials were summoned to Taliban courts for opposing the group, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on January 26 that a parallel Taliban judiciary is unacceptable, Daily Times reported. “We will not accept a policy like this,” Gilani told reporters after attending the inaugural session of a conference in Islamabad. He admitted that the situation in Swat and Balochistan was not normal, but said he had sought a report on developments in these areas to make future plans. On January 25, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Swat chapter, had issued a list of 47 ‘wanted persons’, including former and serving federal and provincial ministers, incumbent Members of National Assembly and Members of Provincial Assembly, deputy parliamentary leader of the PML-Q in the National Assembly, district Nazim and other prominent political and social figures, asking them to appear before the Taliban court or face dire consequences. “The decision was taken at a Shura meeting with Maulana Fazlullah in the chair. Around 50 members of the Shura participated in the meeting and there was consensus on the names of 45-47 people declared as wanted for opposing the Taliban. All of them will have to appear before the Taliban court, otherwise they will face action,” Swat TTP spokesman Muslim Khan told The News by phone from an undisclosed location. Read less...

Four bodies were recovered from the Ningolai area of Kabal sub-division. One of those killed was later identified as Abdul Aziz. Read less...

Nine people, including two children and two women, were killed and 17 others sustained injuries in different incidents of violence in various parts of the Swat District on January 26, The News reported. Sources said a woman and her two children were killed when a mortar shell, allegedly fired by the Security Forces (SFs), landed in a house in Serai area near Manglawar. Three persons were wounded in the incident. Read less...

SFs, in addition, reportedly arrested nine people for violating curfew. The curfew remained in force from Shakardarra to Koza Bandai for the second consecutive day. Read less...

Six people were killed and 22 others sustained injuries when a bomb rigged to a bicycle exploded in a populated area in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP on January 26, Dawn reported. Three of the victims were in a car while the other three were walking past the bicycle parked in front of the main gate of the town hall. The remote-controlled bomb apparently targeted a Sunni leader. Locals told Daily Times that the explosion occurred when NWFP assembly member, and leader of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Khalifa Abdul Qayyum, was passing through the area. They said Qayyum escaped unhurt, but his car was damaged in the blast. Talking to reporters later, Qayum said he was the apparent target of the blast, as he had been involved in efforts for bringing peace to the district, APP reported. He said it was a terrorist attack, adding he did not have personal enmity with anyone. Police said the bomb weighed around 10 kilograms and seemed to be foreign made. Read less...

Two persons, including a woman, were killed and 14 injured in Sangota when mortar shells hit their houses. There were reports that several houses were also damaged in the shelling. Read less...

In the Matta sub-division, a convoy of SFs was targeted in a remote-controlled bomb attack, but there were no casualties. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) killed more than 16 militants in Darra Adamkhel in the NWFP on January 27, Dawn reported. The SFs claimed that they had besieged a large number of militants after a fierce battle which claimed the life of an army officer and injured five soldiers in Tor Chappar. The troops had reportedly been attacking the militants’ hideout in the area with artillery fire and shelling for the last four days. The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a press release from provincial capital Peshawar on January 26 that 16 militants were killed in a gun battle in Tor Chapper on January 25. The operation was planned after the military was told that the Tor Chappar Valley, “is again witnessing terrorist activity”, the statement said, Daily Times reported. It said, “The operation was planned and executed for one day.” However, a Taliban spokesman denied the report of the death of 16 people and said that all of them were safe and alive. Read less...

Taliban blew up two more schools at Kabal in Swat on January 27, taking the number of destroyed schools to 188, according to The News. Read less...

The authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew in the main city of Swat, said a statement by the army’s media centre on January 27 - hours after the Security Forces (SFs) launched the third phase of a military operation in the valley, Daily Times reported. Military sources said the third phase of Operation Rah-e-Haq had been launched in light of a list released by the Taliban which contains names of officials ‘wanted’ by the group. After the operation began – five civilians were killed by artillery and mortar fire. Locals said a man, a woman and three children were killed when mortar shells hit four houses in Mangalawar area of Charbagh sub-division in the night of January 26 as SFs targeted Taliban positions. After the start of the intensified operation late on January 26, official sources and locals told Daily Times on January 27 that the Government had already imposed curfews in Nengolai, Bara, Koza Banadai, Shakar Dara and Charbagh towns for an indefinite period, and issued shoot-at-sight orders for violators. The curfew in Mingora was imposed after about 100-150 Taliban militants stormed the streets of the town displaying arms. While no violence was reported, a private TV channel said the Taliban had taken over bus stands in Mingora town. Read less...

Unidentified gunmen killed a Shia civilian in Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP on January 27 in at least the second sectarian-linked attack during the last 48 hours, Daily Times reported. “Unidentified gunmen shot dead Athar Hussain Shah on the Dayal road while he was returning to town from his nearby farm and then escaped,” local police official Tauqir Abbas said. Abbas added the victim was the son of a caretaker at a local Shia mosque. “It seems to be a sectarian killing,” the official said. There was, however, no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Read less...

16 more people, including seven militants, were killed and 23 others injured in the Swat District on January 28, even as Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani vowed to establish the writ of the Government, The News reported. On the eve of the COAS’s visit to Swat, the military spokesman, Major Nasir Ali said the military operation would be “decisive and final” and the militants would be completely crushed, while their strongholds would be destroyed or captured. The spokesman claimed that Security Forces (SFs) had killed seven militants and injured 11 others in Manglawar and Sanghota towns during a ground action backed by helicopters. “The two were strongholds of the militants but we have completely secured them now,” he claimed. Earlier, General Kayani made an unannounced visit to the Swat valley and issued fresh directions about the operation. Read less...

Four militants were killed and several others, including a Policeman, sustained injuries when suspected militants attacked a police post near Baran Bridge in Bannu in the NWFP with rockets and heavy arms late in the night of January 28, according to The News. Read less...

Meanwhile, the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs in North West Frontier Province, Malik Zafar Azam, said in Peshawar that registration of Madrassas had begun in the province and 720 religious seminaries had been registered thus far. Read less...

SFs abandoned the fortified security check-post in the Venai area near Matta. It was the last military post before the Taliban-controlled area. The abandonment of the Venai security post prompted both the militants and SFs to take new positions in the adjacent Sarbanda and Aghal areas. Read less...

The militants’ commander and presenter on FM Radio channel, Maulana Khalil, who recently replaced Shah Dauran, claimed to have killed 35 SF personnel in Qambar. As an indefinite curfew remained in force in Manglawar near Mingora, six people were reportedly killed for curfew violation. Those shot dead by the SFs were reportedly attempting to migrate from the troubled area. Read less...

Three persons, including a child, were killed and 12 others wounded when mortar shells landed on their houses in Sanghota. Several houses were also destroyed in the daylong shelling by the SFs in the same area. Sources said SFs also used gunship helicopters to target suspected hideouts of militants in Sanghota and its adjacent areas. SFs also continued targeting suspected hideouts of militants in the Chuprial area. One of the shells fired by the troops landed in a taxi stand in the village. However, no human or material loss was reported. Read less...

A person was killed and eight others abducted in several incidents of violence in the Hangu District of NWFP, official sources said on January 29, Daily Times reported. They said unidentified armed men opened fire on a vehicle near Tutkas graveyard in the District’s Tal sub-division. The passengers were reportedly traveling from Kurram Agency to Hangu. A man, identified as Johar Ali, was killed in the firing, while the assailants abducted the other three men. Read less...

Darra Adamkhel unit of the Tehrik-i-Taliban on January 29 issued a one-week deadline to the NWFP Government to accept their demands and in case of non-compliance they would kill the kidnapped Polish geologist. A Taliban spokesman told Dawn: "We cannot wait more as the government has taken acceptance of our demands (in return) for the release of Polish geologist Peter (Stanczak) very light. So, our Shura has decided to wait till Feb 4 evening for a positive reply from the government and in case of refusal we will kill him." The spokesman, who identified himself as Mohammad, said they had demanded from the Government complete withdrawal of SFs from tribal areas and release of their captured associates. He also said, "We are not interested in ransom and just want the government to accept our two longstanding demands." The Polish geologist working for the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) is in the custody of the Taliban reportedly at a place near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He had been kidnapped from an OGDCL facility near the Jand town of Attock district in Punjab province four months ago. He had been shifted from Attock in a boat through the Indus River to Kohat and then taken by the Taliban to their hideout. The Taliban had released his video in which the victim had appealed to his Government to request Pakistan for acceptance of demands of the Taliban to save his life. Read less...

In another incident in the Spairdad area of Matta sub-division, two persons were killed when SFs on a hilltop opened fired on their car, they were travelling in. Read less...

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik told the Senate on January 29 that a new strategy had been worked out to combat militancy in Swat, Dawn reported. While he did not divulge details of the new strategy, the adviser said the situation in Mingora had been brought under control in four to five days through the new policy. He said the groups behind the insurgency in Swat included al Qaeda, the Tehrik-i-Taliban led by Maulana Fazlullah, Tanzeem-i-Islami, Tora Bora group and Qari Mushtaq group. He said that a Taliban ‘commander’, Qari Hussain Ahmed, ran a training camp for suicide bombers in Waziristan and Maulana Naamdaar had a role in bringing suicide bombers from Waziristan to Swat. Qari Hussain was reported killed in January 2008 when his house was destroyed in an air strike. Malik said the objective of the militants was not to enforce Sharia (Islamic law), but to destroy Pakistan. He told the Senate that around 1,200 civilians had been killed and 2,000 injured in violence, while 189 military personnel had lost their lives. He said 123 Government schools and 10 private schools had been destroyed and many CD shops and barbers’ salons set ablaze. He also said a so-called ‘Taliban court’ had ‘summoned’ 40 people. Read less...

The SFs, meanwhile, after capturing Manglawar are reportedly advancing to secure more Taliban-infested areas. They shelled suspected positions of the militants, which claimed the life of Rahman Ali, besides injuring three others, when a mortar shell hit his house in Manglawar. Several houses were also reportedly damaged during the shelling. Read less...

Three more persons were killed and four others injured in the Swat District on January 29 amid several abortive attacks by the militants on Security Forces (SFs), The News reported. Read less...

Unidentified men abducted two persons from Tura Waray road in the Doaba Police station precincts. An Afghan private security guard, Syed Agha, was abducted from Tal city, while unidentified men abducted a Government contractor, Fazal Akbar, and Imtiaz, an employee of NADRA in Orakzai Agency, from separate areas of the District. Read less...

A private TV channel said that Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah had ‘permitted’ education for girls in the valley up to the fourth grade. Read less...

Civilians appealed to the SFs for safe passage and facilities for internally displaced persons, The News reported. People in all those areas where the military has been carrying operations for the last few days have been complaining against the SFs for targeting the civilian population. Read less...

Four soldiers were killed and eight injured when an Army convoy was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb in Malakand in the NWFP on January 30, Daily Times reported. A private TV channel reported that Security Forces (SFs) cordoned off the area after the attack, which occurred in the Jalala area. Official sources told The News that a military convoy of the Sindh Regiment was on its way to provincial capital Peshawar from the militancy-hit Swat valley when a remote-controlled explosive device, planted by militants near a school building on Ghat Koto Road, went off, killing four soldiers and injuring eight others. Read less...

Officials of Peshawar’s Yakatoot Police station arrested two suspected terrorists from the Ring Road area. Read less...

Six persons were killed as the military operation in Swat continued on the sixth day on January 30, according to Daily Times. The Security Forces (SFs) continued targeting Taliban hideouts in several areas of the Chaharbagh sub-division, including Coat and Darul Uloom. Troops reportedly advanced into the valley and consolidated their positions in Matta and Manglawar areas of the District. The curfew in Sangota, Koozabandai, Darra Bandai, Nangoi and parts of Shakardara also continued on January 30. Read less...

The militants attacked Matta Police station, which triggered a clash between the two sides. However, there was no report on casualties, according to The News. Read less...

10 persons were killed on January 31 in fresh incidents of violence in the Swat District of NWFP, according to Daily Times. Locals said three people were killed in a clash between Security Force (SF) personnel and the Taliban militants in the Dherai area of Kabal tehsil (revenue division). Those killed were identified as Bakht Buland, Mian Pirzada and Akbar Zada, they said, adding a Taliban militant was also killed in the clash. Read less...

In the Aligrama area of Kabal, the Taliban militants attacked a SF’s convoy killing three SF personnel while another was injured in the attack. Read less...

Peshawar city Police arrested 15 people suspected of having links with the Taliban, during a crackdown in the Mathra Police station precincts, Police said. Report indicates that one of the arrested people was a Taliban commander, suspected of training suicide bombers. Read less...

Three people were killed as helicopter gun ships targeted Taliban positions in Kabal. The SF’s air attack also destroyed a self-proclaimed Taliban court building. Meanwhile, the district’s Kooza Bandai, Bar Bandai, Tangolai and Shakardara areas remained under curfew for the seventh day. Read less...