Parachinar

Shias under siege in NW Pakistan

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Shias under siege in NW Pakistan

2009-03-27 India-Pakistan

Taliban have imposed a crippling blockade on Shia communities in northwestern Pakistan raising concerns of a 'dire humanitarian crisis'.

In a Tuesday peace summit held in northwestern city of Parachinar in Kurram Agency, political and religious leaders said the lack of government control had allowed the Taliban to pursue their aggressive agenda in the region.

The summit comes after reports of grave human rights abuses against Shias in Parachinar, which later turned in to a complete siege.

Although Shias are the majority in Kurram, they are surrounded by the Taliban-linked aggressive militants who have gone so far as to cut off roads over the past few months. The militants are also accused of kidnapping or killing those trying to deliver supplies to the Shia areas.

Shia farmers have been forced to sell their agricultural produce in Afghanistan instead of the markets in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Taliban-linked militants in Parachinar, Hangu district and much of the Kurram tribal agency have killed 25 to 30 people on a daily basis over the last six months. Some local media say more than 1,300 Shia community members have been killed in the region since 2007.

They claim that security forces in the tribal regions are 'under the influence of local Taliban groups', adding that law enforcement officers have 'willingly or unwillingly' launched a clamp down on Shia Muslims.

The killing of Shias is to such extent that has caused international outrage with rights groups and regional countries including Iran expressing concern over the 'genocide'.

The leading Shia figure in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a ruling (fatwa) with respect to the treatment of the Shia in the Parachinar. The fatwa encourages all Shia Muslims in Pakistan to do everything within their power to help their "brethren."

Shias say they make up one-third of Pakistan's 160 million-strong population. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in violence-related incidents in Pakistan by extremist groups - who have embarked on an 'ominous mission' to 'eliminate' Shia elites across Pakistan.

They have killed hundreds of Shia medical doctors, university professors, lawyers and police officers across the violence-wracked country over the past few years.

Moderate Pakistani Sunni groups believe that leaving Shias at the mercy of the Taliban is a conspiracy against the country.

SOURCE: http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?D=2009-03-27&ID=266175

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Tension after beheading of kidnapped passengers F.P. Report

Today is:
Saturday,March 28, 2009,

Rabi-ul-Awwal 30, 1430 A.H.

Tension after beheading of kidnapped passengers F.P. Report

PARACHINAR: Thousands of tribals on Friday protested against the beheading of two kidnapped passengers of Turi and Bangash tribes by militants which has created tension in troubled kurram Agency. The mourners present in the funeral procession raised slogans against what they called as "state supported terrorism" against the Turi and Bangash tribes of Kurram Agency beside chanting slogans against the militants. According to details militants beheaded two persons named Javed Hussain and Ali Asghar belonging to Upper Kurram, two of the twelve passengers kidnapped on Feb 23 while travelling from Parachinar to Peshawar at Lower Kurram area near Chapari Check post. It is worth mentioning here that on the same day i.e. Feb 23 a school clerk Ashtar Hussain was also murdered on the spot who tried to resist the militants. After the murder of the school clerk for more than a month the main Parachinar-Peshawar Road remained blocked by the armed militants for the people of Turi and Bangash tribe, which has increased the miseries of common people creating shortage of daily use commodites, food stuff and life saving medicines. After the recovery of the two dead bodies the elders of Turi and Bangash tribes called thier emergency meeting and Tribal Jirga on Friday in which they accused the authorities of state terrorism against the innocent people of Upper Kurram. They said this was the 29th incident of kidnapping and beheading the passengers of Turi and Bangash tribe on main Parachinar-Peshawar Road in bright day light by violating the peace treaty and tribal Jirga ceasefire, but no action had been taken against militants. The elders said majority of these incidents took place a few metres away from the security forces checkposts especially Chapari check post, the last checkpost of Kurram Agency touching down districts. Elders of Turi and Bangash tribe also warned the government and the authorities concerned to punish the militants responsible for this inhuman incident, otherwise they will take revenge according to tribal traditions.

SOURCE: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=4367&ad=28-03-2009

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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Shias under siege in NW Pakistan

Shias under siege in NW Pakistan
Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:27:14 GMT

Human rights groups protest against Shia blockade in Parachinar

Taliban have imposed a crippling blockade on Shia communities in northwestern Pakistan raising concerns of a 'dire humanitarian crisis'.

In a Tuesday peace summit held in northwestern city of Parachinar in Kurram Agency, political and religious leaders said the lack of government control had allowed the Taliban to pursue their aggressive agenda in the region.

The summit comes after reports of grave human rights abuses against Shias in Parachinar, which later turned in to a complete siege.

Although Shias are the majority in Kurram, they are surrounded by the Taliban-linked aggressive militants who have gone so far as to cut off roads over the past few months. The militants are also accused of kidnapping or killing those trying to deliver supplies to the Shia areas.

Shia farmers have been forced to sell their agricultural produce in Afghanistan instead of the markets in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Taliban-linked militants in Parachinar, Hangu district and much of the Kurram tribal agency have killed 25 to 30 people on a daily basis over the last six months. Some local media say more than 1,300 Shia community members have been killed in the region since 2007.

They claim that security forces in the tribal regions are 'under the influence of local Taliban groups', adding that law enforcement officers have 'willingly or unwillingly' launched a clamp down on Shia Muslims.

The killing of Shias is to such extent that has caused international outrage with rights groups and regional countries including Iran expressing concern over the 'genocide'.

The leading Shia figure in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a ruling (fatwa) with respect to the treatment of the Shia in the Parachinar. The fatwa encourages all Shia Muslims in Pakistan to do everything within their power to help their "brethren."

Shias say they make up one-third of Pakistan's 160 million-strong population. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in violence-related incidents in Pakistan by extremist groups - who have embarked on an 'ominous mission' to 'eliminate' Shia elites across Pakistan.

They have killed hundreds of Shia medical doctors, university professors, lawyers and police officers across the violence-wracked country over the past few years.

Moderate Pakistani Sunni groups believe that leaving Shias at the mercy of the Taliban is a conspiracy against the country.

RSM/JG/JR/MMN

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Kohat varsity students demand holding of viva

Kohat varsity students demand holding of viva

Thursday, March 26, 2009
Our correspondent

PARACHINAR: Students who appeared in MA/MSc examinations recently conducted by the Kohat University have expressed their reservations over delayed viva.

Some of the candidates, wishing not to be named, told The News: "Due to unknown reasons the university authorities have declined to hold the viva though the written exams concluded two weeks ago."

They said the refusal by the varsity authorities had hurt the feelings of the students, fearing their future had plunged into darkness. They appealed to NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani to look into the matter and direct the university authorities to hold viva in Parachinar because of the closure of roads.

No end to sufferings in Parachinar

No end to sufferings in Parachinar

Thursday, March 26, 2009
By By Mumtaz Alvi

ISLAMABAD: Another humanitarian crisis is in the making in the Kurram Agency, as the main roads leading to the tension-plagued area remain blocked for the last four weeks.

Some residents of Parachinar (the capital of Kurram Agency), who managed to safely move out and settle down here in Islamabad, told The News that the bulk of the agency area was under siege, facing an economic blockade, and presented the look of another Gaza.

They were of the view that NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani and the federal government were required to show greater interest in bringing normalcy to the agency, after ensuring that the decisions taken during the Jirga sessions in the recent months were implemented in letter and spirit.

When approached on telephone for comments, Sajid Hussain Turi, who is an MNA from NA-37 Kurram Agency, said the inhabitants were fed up with the seething tensions and bloody clashes, which had been the order of the day for about two years.

"The rival sides are desperately waiting for peace to return and are prepared for peace moves," the parliamentarian maintained and added that he would be accompanying a Jirga, likely to leave for the Kurram Agency on Thursday for defusing the tension there.

He explained that representatives from Khyber Agency, Bajaur Agency, Mohmand Agency and Orakzai Agency, including Malik Abdullah Bangash, Malik Waris Afridi, Syed Badshah Mian, Fazal Advocate, Bismillah Khan Orakzai and Najmul Hasan Orakzai would be part of the team.

To a question as to how much the federal government and the governor had been helpful in facilitating this initiative, he said that besides the Ministry of Interior, the Fata Secretariat in Peshawar had been handy in arranging their trip by a helicopter.

All members of the Jirga, he noted, were Sunnis and Shias, who had great concern like everyone in Pakistan to help bring back peace to the agency, ridding it of tensions, sieges and terrorism.

"Presently, both sides have taken hostage some locals. If they are not freed through peaceful intervention, this can lead to eruption of fighting again," he cautioned while replying to another question.

Generally speaking, the law maker stated that the residents were peace loving and had realised that certain elements, who had come from the tribal areas, were hell-bent on destroying peace and tranquility.

"The stocks of food, medicines and other needs of daily life are about to exhaust which, if not averted, can further compound hardships of people there because of the continuous blockade of roads," he cautioned.

Meanwhile, this correspondent received an e-mail from the Voice of Parachinar on March 23. It was learnt that the website was run by some local youths. Through the communication, the residents urged Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice of the worsening state of affairs in the Kurram Agency. The e-mail also accompanied four bone-chilling pictures of slaughtered persons. The way they were slaughtered could not be translated into words.

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Sectarianism in Pakistan’s Kurram Tribal Agency

Sectarianism in Pakistan's Kurram Tribal Agency

Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 6

March 19, 2009 03:08 PM

By: Mariam Abou Zahab

A U.S. drone missile attack on a Taliban training camp on March 12 highlighted the growing importance of Pakistan's Kurram Tribal Agency in the war along the frontier with Afghanistan. Unlike Pakistan's other six tribal agencies, the conflict in Kurram is complicated by sectarian divisions that have flared into violent encounters between the region's Sunni and Shi'a Muslim communities.

Communities in Conflict

Sectarian violence is not a new phenomenon in Kurram, which is the only tribal agency with a significant Shi'a population. Around 40 percent of the region's 500,000 inhabitants are Shi'a. Upper Kurram is inhabited largely by the Turi (the only Pashtun tribe which is wholly Shi'a) while Lower Kurram is inhabited by Sunnis.

Historically the Turis were under Bangash domination until the 18th century when they attacked the Bangash, turned them into hamsaya (dependants) and pushed them into Lower Kurram. The Bangash clans living in Lower Kurram are all Sunnis, while other Bangash clans are Shi'a, Sunni, or a mix of both.. The Afghans renounced their claim over Kurram as a result of the Treaty of Gandamak in 1879 and the Turis requested the British take over the administration of the area. This occurred with the establishment of the Kurram Agency in 1892. The agency headquarters at Parachinar is less than 100 km from Kabul.

There are disputes over land and water resources between Sunni and Shi'a tribes and sporadic incidents of communal violence have taken place since the 1930s, particularly during Muharram or Nowruz (the Iranian New year as celebrated by the Shi'a). The massive influx of Afghan refugees in the 1980s caused a distortion in the demographic balance of the area. Afghan refugees introduced a militant brand of Sunni ideology at a time when the Shi'a of Parachinar under the leadership of cleric Allama Arif Hussain al-Hussaini (trained in the Shi'a theological centers of Najaf and Qom) were being radicalized by the Iranian revolution. As modern weapons became available, clashes grew in frequency and intensity, while the local administration was viewed as indifferent or seen as taking sides (Dawn [Karachi], November 19, 2007). The first large-scale attack took place in 1986 when the Turis prevented Sunni mujahideen from passing through to Afghanistan. General Zia ul-Haq allowed a "purge" of the Turi Shi'a at the hands of the Afghan mujahideen in conjunction with the local Sunni population (Daily Times [Lahore], November 11, 2007). Allama Hussaini was killed in 1988 and the Turis held General Zia responsible. There were major clashes again in 1996, in which over 200 Sunnis and Shi'a were killed after a college principal was murdered by Shi'a activists (Gulf Times, September 7, 2005).

Impact of the Collapse of the Taliban State

The Shi'a did not offer shelter to al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban fleeing Tora Bora in 2001. One tribe agreed to shelter the Arabs but another betrayed them to the authorities, who took them to the jail in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) city of Kohat.. A gunfight on the way to Kohat left ten Arabs dead.

The nature and the dimension of the sectarian conflict have changed since 2001. Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have become a sanctuary for Punjabi members of Sunni extremist groups banned in 2002 who took shelter in the tribal areas, particularly in Lower Kurram and Orakzai Agency. These groups included the Sipah-e Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), the Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LJ) and the Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM). After the earthquake of October 2005, militants belonging to Lashkar-e Taiba and other groups active in Kashmir relocated in FATA and the Kohat area.

Kurram is now in the grip sectarian of violence—in the last two years, more than 1,500 persons have been killed and 5,000 others injured (The News [Islamabad], September 19, 2008). The violence started in April 2007 after a procession in Parachinar was fired on (Dawn, April 9, 2007). In the clashes that followed, mortars and RPGs were used, resulting in heavy casualties that left 215 people dead and over 600 injured (The News, April 6, 2008). The Sunnis accused Iran of providing weapons to Shi'a fighters. Mast Gul of the Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) alleged in an April 9 press conference in Peshawar that Iran was providing money and weapons to the Shi'a and that if the Pakistan army did not take action, Sunnis would come from other parts of the country to help the local Sunnis.

The storming of Islamabad's Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in July 2007 was a turning point. The militants entrenched in the mosque were made to believe that the soldiers who led the assault were all Shi'a. From the summer of 2007, sectarian killings in FATA and the beheading of captured Shi'a members of the Army and the Frontier Corps were revenge for the assault on Lal Masjid.

JeM reorganized under Mufti Abdul Rauf, who established a training camp in Kohat, long a hotbed of sectarian violence and a stronghold of the SSP. Javed Ibrahim Paracha, a former Member of the National Assembly, has declared openly that he is at war with the Shi'a. After JeM and SSP militants regrouped in Kohat and in Lower Kurram (traditionally a SSP stronghold), there was an upsurge in sectarian attacks both in FATA and in the settled areas, notably Dera Ismaïl Khan and Hangu.

The Latest Round of Violence

A new spell of sectarian violence started in November 2007. Sunnis accused the Shi'a of hurling a hand grenade at the central mosque in Parachinar during Friday prayers, while the Shi'a accused Sunnis of firing rockets at homes and mosques. The army used helicopter gunships to control Parachinar and Sadda (headquarters of Lower Kurram), but the fighting continued in the rural areas. Local Sunnis were joined by al-Qaeda fighters and Taliban from Waziristan who targeted the paramilitary forces (Frontier Post, December 27, 2007). According to the UNHCR, 6,000 Sunnis, mostly women and children, fled to Afghanistan in January 2008 (Daily Times, January 2, 2008). In the following month a suicide attack in front of the election office of the Pakistan Peoples Party candidate (a Shi'a) killed 47 people and wounded roughly 100 (Daily Times, February 18, 2008). The clashes intensified during the summer and the government was blamed for doing nothing to stop the influx of militant outsiders from North Waziristan. In June 2008, people from Kurram staged a demonstration in front of Parliament House in Islamabad seeking the intervention of the federal government, but to no avail. Instead of intervening to stop the violence, the government kept claiming that there was no sectarian problem in Kurram, blaming a foreign hand for pitting the tribes against each other (Dawn, September 26, 2008).

As the violence continued, the road from Parachinar to Peshawar was blocked, resulting in a shortage of food and medicines. Shi'a truck drivers were abducted and beheaded. Shi'a communities were besieged as Sunnis controlled the road from Parachinar to Thal. People going to Peshawar were forced to travel via Paktia and Kabul. Those who took the risk of traveling through Kohat and Dara Adam Khel –where the Taliban have been active since early 2007 - were often abducted: "They stop every vehicle, ask the passengers to remove their shirts [to identify Shi'a by the marks left on their back by Muharram flagellations] and also check their ID cards" (Dawn, September 6, 2008). Paramilitary troops were frequently abducted - while Sunnis were generally released, Shi'a soldiers were often beheaded.

A unilateral ceasefire was declared by the Turis ahead of Ramadan, but the bloodshed continued (Dawn, September 2, 2008). A peace jirga was later convened in Islamabad under the supervision of the Political Agent of Kurram. An agreement was reached, the road reopened, power restored and dozens of people who had been abducted by rival clans released (The News, December 7, 2008; December 17, 2008). A general perception that the Shi'a had emerged as the winners in the struggle led to retaliatory violence in other parts of Pakistan. A December 5 bomb blast in the Kucha Risaldar district of Peshawar that killed as many as 34 people and wounded over 120 others targeted a local Shi'a community that mostly hailed from Parachinar. There were also clashes in Hangu (NWFP) during Muharram.

Sectarianism Spreads to the Orakzai Agency

The sectarian clashes spilled over to the Orakzai Agency where 10 to 15% of the Orakzai tribe is Shi'a. The agency does not share a border with Afghanistan and was at relative peace until October 2008 (Herald Monthly [Pakistan], October 2008). The conflict in Orakzai is mainly over the ownership of Mir Anwar Shah Shrine at Kalaya. This shrine, which originally belonged to the Shi'a, was given to the Sunnis during British rule. Later the Shi'a were allowed to visit and ensure its maintenance. In 2000 the Taliban declared this agreement un-Islamic and warned the Shi'a not to return. The militants occupied a hilltop and fired RPGs and mortars on neighboring villages (Afghan News Center, January 18, 2001). The Taliban also expelled the Shi'a from fertile land and forced them to pay jiziya (poll tax on non-Muslims). In October 2006, the shrine was reduced to rubble after a seven day battle over its ownership. People from both sects were banned from entering the disputed area. The trouble in Kalaya continued, with a suicide car-bomb killing six people at a jirga called by the Shi'a to settle a dispute with the Sunnis in December, 2008.
The Taliban based in Lower Orakzai have also been stirring sectarian violence in Kohat and Hangu. (Reuters, December 5, 2008). Moreover, access for Kurram is through Orakzai and by blocking the road, the Taliban are effectively putting the Kurram Shi'a under siege.

Conclusion

Both sects accuse each other of drawing support from outside; the Sunnis are alleged to be backed by the Taliban and the Shi'a by Iran and the Afghan Hazaras. Traditional leaders from both sects have lost control over the situation as very young fighters fill the ranks on both sides of the conflict (The News, September 2, 2008). Jirgas are no longer effective in resolving issues, particularly in the rural areas of Kurram. Even as American drones target sites within the Kurram tribal agency, the continuing struggle between Sunnis and Shi'a shows few signs of abating.

source;: http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=34730&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=af50ac9645

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Saturday, March 14, 2009

US drone strike death toll tops 25

US drone strike death toll tops 25
Bureau Report

PESHAWAR—The death toll in the suspected US drone missile strike in Kurram Agency rose to 25 on Friday, most of them Taliban militants, local officials said. The US drone had fired two missiles at a suspected Taliban training camp on Thursday evening. "We have handed over 25 bodies after cleaning and wrapping them in cloth," official sources added. Local administration officials also confirmed that at least 25 bodies were recovered from the debris of the suspected militant's training facility.
According to initial reports on Thursday, 18 people were killed in the attack. The death toll in a suspected US missile strike in Khurram Agency has risen to 24, with most of those killed said to be Afghan Talibans. Two missiles fired by a predator drone stuck a Taliban training camp in Kurram Agency when a combat training session was on, thus, resulting in high casualties. "Twenty-four bodies were recovered from the rubble and handed over to local authorities," officials said.

SOURCE: http://dailymailnews.com/200903/14/news/dmheadlinepage01.html

Friday, March 13, 2009

Drone Strike Kills 21 in Pakistan . NY TIMES

Friday, March 13, 2009 Last Update: 8:00 AM ET

Asia Pacific

Drone Strike Kills 21 in Pakistan

By PIR ZUBAIR SHAH

Published: March 13, 2009

ISLAMABAD —

Three missiles thought to have been fired from remotely piloted American aircraft struck a Taliban training camp in the Kurram area of northwestern Pakistan late on Thursday and killed 21 militants, according to a local government official and news reports on Friday.

Nine other people were injured in the strike around 9.30 p.m. to 10 p.m., directed at a training camp some 20 miles from Parachinar, the capital of the remote tribal area where 31 people were killed in a similar attack on Feb. 16. of Kurram Agency, according to the official, who spoke in return for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The camp was under the command of Fazal Saeed, a local militant commander aligned with Baitullah Mehsud who heads a militant network seeking to topple the beleaguered Pakistan government. The attacks on Mr. Mehsud's camps over the past month represent an expansion by the Obama administration of the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency, carried out largely by drone aircraft.

Under President Bush, the United States frequently attacked militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban involved in cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, but had stopped short of raids aimed at Mr. Mehsud and his followers, who have played less of a direct role in attacks on American troops.

Residents and officials in Kurram said on Friday that they see drones flying over the area most days, including on Thursday before the attack in a remote and inaccessible area. The official said it would take some time to evaluate the full impact of the attack.

More than 30 drone strikes have been reported since last September.

The two attacks on camps run by Mr. Mehsud follow his decision to unite with two other militant commanders last month to launch joint attacks against NATO and American forces in Afghanistan.

The Obama administration has announced plans to send 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, where militants fighting allied troops include those based in Pakistan's remote and lawless tribal areas.

The drone strikes are deeply unpopular with many Pakistanis. Some of the attacks have killed civilians, enraging Pakistanis and making it harder for the country's shaky government to win support for its own military operations against Taliban guerrillas in the country's lawless border region.

The strikes may also be pushing the Taliban, and some Al Qaeda elements, out of the tribal belt into areas such as the Swat valley, where the government recently struck a truce with the Taliban.

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/world/asia/14drone.html?ref=world

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Deaths in Pakistan drone strike , aljazeera

UPDATED ON:
Friday, March 13, 2009
11:27 Mecca time, 08:27 GMT

Deaths in Pakistan drone strike

At least 18 people in Pakistan, including suspected al-Qaeda fighters, have been killed in a missile attack thought to have been carried out by an unmanned US drone.

Security officials said the raid targeted a Taliban camp in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.

Two missiles fired by a drone hit the alleged camp in the tribal area of Kurram, one of seven semi-autonomous regions near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

A senior security official, speaking anonymously, said: "Twelve militants, mainly Afghan Taliban, were killed in the missile strike at their training centre in Kurram. Dozens are wounded.

"The training centre was run by local Taliban commander Fazal Saeed and training was under way at the time of the strike."

The Taliban has sealed off the area and was retrieving bodies from the rubble of the building, officials said.

Kurram is a known hub for fighters loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan's most wanted man, and Sirauddin Haqqani, de facto commander of Taliban-aligned groups on the border.

Security officials had earlier said that at least seven fighters had been killed in the attack, including "foreigners" - using a term adopted to mean al-Qaeda operatives.

Repeated strikes

More than 30 such missile attacks have been carried out since August 2008, one month before Asif Ali Zardari was sworn into office as president of Pakistan, killing more than 320 people.

The US military does not confirm drone attacks, but it and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces to deploy drones in the region.

It was the fifth missile attack blamed on unmanned US aircraft since Barack Obama, the US president, came to power, dashing the Pakistani public's hopes that the new administration would abandon the policy.

Obama says fighters in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where US troops are battling the Taliban, pose a grave threat.

Islamabad has repeatedly protested to Washington that drones violate its territorial sovereignty and deepen resentment among the 160 million people of the nuclear-armed Islamic nation.

SOURCE: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/03/200931218510270742.html

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US missile strikes kill 14 in Kurram Agency

GEO Pakistan

US missile strikes kill 14 in Kurram Agency

Updated at: 2216 PST, Thursday, March 12, 2009
US missile strikes kill 14 in Kurram Agency

KURRAM AGENCY: At least 14 people were killed Thursday in suspected US missile strikes in Kurram Agency.

According to eyewitnesses, US drones fired four missiles on a residential building situated in Barjo area of Kurram Agency, killing at least 14 people.

Sources said that some foreigners were also among the dead. However, it was yet unconfirmed.

SOURCE: http://www.geo.tv/3-12-2009/37165.htm

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SOURCE: http://news.chennaionline.com/newsitem.aspx?NEWSID=88debbd6-da2e-48b7-861d-e681d3af4d19&CATEGORYNAME=INTER

Death toll from drone attack in NWFP rises to 24

Pakistan: 10 killed in US missle attack

Hussain Khan
Dawn
Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:48 UTC

© Reuters/File photo

Drone attacks have continued despite official government protests

A suspected US drone targeted a militant hideout in Berju area of Central Kurram tribal region on Thursday evening, officials said. According to unconfirmed reports 10 people had been killed in the attack.

Political Agent Arshad Majeed said that missiles had been fired in Central Kurram, but did not give details about casualties. He told Dawn in Parachinar, the regional headquarters, that four to five missiles were fired in the area.

This was the second drone attack in Kurram tribal region. Two missiles were fired at a suspected compound in Ahmadi Shama village in Lower Kurram on February 16 which resulted in 30 casualties.

Local people said that missiles hit suspected hideouts in Berju, some 80 kilometers east of Parachinar city. The area, they said, was a hub of local and foreign militants. Sources said that local people had started an operation to retrieve bodies and rescue the wounded.

Militants have sufficient concentration in lower and central Kurram which has been encircled by Afghanistan from three sides. Residents said that spy planes were hovering over the area and believed that missiles were fired from a drone.

======================================

Mar 12, 2009

Islamabad, Mar 12 At least seven persons were killed in missile strikes carried out by a US drone in Pakistan's Kurram tribal region today.
The US drone fired at least four missiles at a home in a village in Kurram agency, official sources were quoted by TV channels as saying.

There was no official word on the casualties though TV channels and witnesses said seven persons were killed in the attack.

Kurram agency was in the news recently for intense sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni tribesmen that killed hundreds of people.

There were reports of Taliban militants infiltrating the area to back the Sunni tribesmen.

The US has not stopped drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal belt despite Islamabad's protests that such strikes are counter-productive and a violation of the country's sovereignty. There have been more than six drone attacks since US President Barack Obama assumed office. (Agencies)

===========================================================

US missile strike in Kurram agency levels Taliban training camp

By Bill RoggioMarch 12, 2009 1:50 PM

The US targeted a Taliban compound in a cross-border strike into Pakistan's tribal areas today. The strike took place in the Kurram tribal agency and was the second attack there since December 2008.

The Predator airstrike hit a Taliban compound and training camp in the Barjo region in Kurram. "The training camp was completely destroyed," a villager told Reuters. At least four Hellfire missiles were reported to have been fired at the camp.

Unconfirmed reports indicate up to 14 people, including "foreigners," were reported killed in the attack. The term "foreigners" is often used to describe al Qaeda operatives sheltering in Pakistan's tribal areas. No senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders have been reported at this time.

Today's attack is the first since March 1, when Predators targeted a Taliban compound in a region of South Waziristan controlled by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

The first US attack in Kurram took place on Feb. 16 of this year. More than 30 people, including Arab al Qaeda fighters, were reported killed in the attack.

Previous airstrikes have focused on Taliban and al Qaeda training camps and safe houses in the tribal agencies of Bajaur and North and South Waziristan. One other strike hit a Taliban camp in the settled district of Bannu in the Northwest Frontier Province.

The Taliban have expanded their control into Kurram by backing the wave of sectarian fighting between Sunni and Shia in the region. The Shia have been forced into small enclaves in Parachinar and other areas as the Pakistani military has refused to come to their aid.

The Taliban have used Kurram as a training ground for their forces and have established several bases in the agency, an intelligence official familiar with the situation in Pakistan's tribal areas told The Long War Journal on the condition of anonymity.

HAKEEM%20ULLAH%20MAHSUD-web-version.JPG

Taliban commander Hakeemullah Mehsud is behind the attacks on NATO convoys in Khyber and Peshawar. Photo provided to The Long War Journal by Bill Longley..

The Taliban in Kurram are led by Hakeemullah Mehsud, a rising star in the Pakistani Taliban. Hakeemullah is a senior lieutenant and cousin of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud; he is also a cousin of Qari Hussain Mehsud, the notorious Taliban commander who trains child suicide bombers in South Waziristan.

Hakeemullah has been leading operations against NATO's supply lines in Khyber and Peshawar. He also commands the Taliban in the Arakzai and Khyber tribal agencies.

Background on US strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban networks in northwestern Pakistan

Click map for full view.

Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, the Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal.

US intelligence believes al Qaeda has reconstituted its external operations network in Pakistan's lawless, Taliban-controlled tribal areas. This network is tasked with hitting targets in the West, India, and elsewhere. The US has struck at these external cells using unmanned Predator aircraft and other means in an effort to disrupt al Qaeda's external network and decapitate the leadership. The US has also targeted al Qaeda-linked Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan, particularly the notorious Haqqani Network.

As of last summer, al Qaeda and the Taliban operated 157 known training camps. Al Qaeda has been training terrorists holding Western passports to conduct attacks, US intelligence officials have told The Long War Journal. Some of the camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm, some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups, some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West, some train the Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army, and one serves as a training ground for the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and other senior al Qaeda leaders.

There were 36 recorded cross-border attacks and attempts in Pakistan during 2008, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal. Twenty-nine of these attacks took place after Aug. 31. There were only 10 recorded strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined.

During 2008, the US strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas killed five senior al Qaeda leaders. All of the leaders were involved in supporting al Qaeda's external operations directed at the West.

Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in a strike in North Waziristan in January 2008.

Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al Qaeda's external operations chief, was killed in a strike in Bajaur in March 2008.

Abu Khabab al Masri, al Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction chief, and several senior members of his staff were killed in a strike in South Waziristan in July 2008.

Khalid Habib, the leader of al Qaeda's paramilitary Shadow Army, was killed in a region controlled by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan in October 2008.

Abu Jihad al Masri, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Group and member of al Qaeda's top council, was also killed in North Waziristan in October 2008.

In 2009, US strikes have killed two senior, long-time al Qaeda leaders. Osama al Kini and his senior aide, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were killed in a New Years Day strike in South Waziristan. Kini was al Qaeda operations chief in Pakistan. Both men were behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya; which killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.

US attacks inside Pakistan during 2009:

• US missile strike in Kurram agency kills 14
March 12, 2009
• US airstrike kills eight in South Waziristan
March 1, 2009
• US airstrike in Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency kills 30
Feb. 16, 2009
• US Predator strike in South Waziristan kills 25
Feb. 14, 2009
• US strikes al Qaeda in North and South Waziristan
Jan. 23, 2009
• US hits South Waziristan in second strike
Jan. 2, 2009
• US kills four al Qaeda operatives in South Waziristan strike
Jan. 1, 2009

SOURCE: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/us_missile_strike_in.php

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Suspected U.S. Missile Strike Kills 7 In Pakistan

CBS News Interactive: Pakistan In Crisis

Missiles believed fired from a U.S. unmanned plane slammed into a house used by militants in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing seven people, a government official and a witness said.

The identities of the victims in the attack in Kurram region were not immediately known.

A senior official in the region said the house targeted was believed to be frequented by Islamist militants. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Villager Ismail Khan said spy planes were seen hovering over the area shortly before the attack, adding that local militants had retrieved seven bodies from the destroyed house.

The United States has launched more than 30 missile strikes on al Qaeda and Taliban targets close to the Afghan border since last year, killing many militants, including some senior ones, but also civilians.

The missiles are believed fired from drones launched from neighboring Afghanistan, but the United States rarely acknowledges firing them.

Pakistan routinely protests the attacks as violations of its sovereignty, but many people speculate the two countries have an unwritten deal allowing them.

SOURCE: http://cbs13.com/national/us.missile.strike.2.957527.html

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Death toll from drone attack in NWFP rises to 24

Published: March 13,2009

Islamabad

The death toll in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's troubled NWFP has risen to 24, with most of those killed said to be Afghan Talibans.

Two missiles fired by a predator drone stuck a Taliban training camp in Kurram Agency when a combat training session was on, thus, resulting in high

"24 bodies were recovered from the rubble and handed over to local authorities,"officials said. Senior security officials quoted by local Television said 50 others were injured in the attack and most of these were foreigners, a term used by locals to identify al- Qaeda militants.

It was not immediately known if among those killed there were high value targets. The training camp, TV channels said, was run by a local Taliban commander Fazal Sayeed.

Kurram is one of the seven semi-autonomous regions near Pakistan's volatile border with Afghanistan and has been recently a scene of armed sectarian clashes between Shia and Sunni tribesmen.

SOURCE: http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/522953/International/2/20/2

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SOURCE: http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/general-electric/suspected-us-drone-strike-hits-taliban-hideout-officials-US3696041033-632983

Suspected US Drone Strike Hits Taliban Hideout -Officials

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Suspected US Drone Strike Hits Taliban Hideout -Officials

Thursday March 12nd, 2009 / 19h00

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP)--A suspected U.S. missile strike struck a Taliban den in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least seven militants, including suspected Al-Qaeda operatives, security officials said.
"The strike was in the Kurram belt. It destroyed a suspected den used by Taliban militants, killing at least seven militants, including foreigners," a senior security official said, adopting a term used to mean Al-Qaeda members.
A second senior security official confirmed the strike and the same details, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. military as a rule doesn't confirm drone attacks, but it and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy drones in the region.

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Sunday, March 8, 2009

3 militants killed by Turi tribesmen:

Sunday,March 08, 2009, Rabi-ul-Awwal 10, 1430 A.H.

3 militants killed by Turi tribesmen:

Turi tribesmen have repulsed the attack of militants killing three and injuring five militants in Lower Kurram. The militants attacked Chardiwar village early Saturday morning. The Turi tribesmen resisted the attack which resulted in the death of three militants and injuries to five others. The rest of militants had no option but to flee away. This is the fourth time that the militants have violated the peace treaty. Earlier the militants had kidnapped and murdered the Turi tribesmen travelling from Peshawar to Parachinar and vice versa. Peshawar-Parachinar Road has been blocked by militants for the last two weeks and half a million population is under siege but the concerned authorities have done nothing to break this siege. Tribal elders of Kurram Agency through Turi Bangash Supreme Council have urged the authorities to end this drama and punish the militants. The US rarely discusses the missile operations. Col. Greg Julian, the top US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said he couldn't comment on the crash report.

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