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Committee formed to restore peace in Hangu |
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| Sunday, February 15, 2009 A 23-member committee was formed in a grand jirga held at the office of the district coordination officer (DCO) here Saturday to bring a lasting peace in the area. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=162639
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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Committee formed to restore peace in Hangu, to hold talks with the militants to check the incidents of kidnapping
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Iranian cleric slams Pakistan silence over Parachinar events
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TEHRAN, Feb. 11 (ISNA)-An Iranian grand religious leader Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi criticized Pakistan's government silence on crimes against Shiites in Parachinar, Pakistani northwestern city. Pakistan should support its people, Parachinar is a part of Pakistan, but the government has remained silent while the genocide in that area is even worse than the one which occurred in Gaza Strip, he said. Wahhabis, Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups are killing Shiites in that area; they have beheaded 600 people and cut the hands of women and children, he continued. He then called for Iran's Foreign Ministry to make international organizations aware of crimes in Parachinar and ask them to dispatch a group to look into the crimes. Parachinar has been sealed over 10 months and foodstuffs and medicine has not arrived there, he added. He then said the media should make their best to make the world aware of these crimes. According to reports, lack of Pakistani government control in Kurram Agency, the capital of which is Parachinar has resulted in Taliban's raised presence in that area. Also Taliban devised a deadly attack against Shiite enclave in Parachinar and have blockaded the city since April 2007 after sectarian violence in that city due to Wahhabis comments on historical Shiites figures. http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1288850&Lang=E News Code: 8711-14490 |
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
14 abducted from Hangu in January
14 abducted from Hangu in January
By Manzoor Ali Shah
PESHAWAR: At least 14 persons were kidnapped during the month of January from Hangu district of NWFP, security officials in Peshawar told Daily Times on Monday.
The officials said that 10 of them were abducted from the limits of Doaba Police Station, three from Tull and one from Hangu Police Station's jurisdiction during the past one month.
The kidnapped persons were from both Shia and Sunni communities. One of them, Asif, was the Awami National Party (ANP) Naryab area's president while the kidnappers also managed to abduct Noor Rehman, brother of former Hangu nazim and former provincial minister Ghaniur Rehman, along with his driver on January 26. Besides, three policemen were also kidnapped on January 6.
According to local sources, militants lifted around 35 Mushtikhel tribesmen from Shahukhel area of the district on charges of spying for government, working for NGOs and others. Some of the abducted tribesmen have returned to their homes while others are still being held by militants of Orakzai Agency after they were presented before militant courts in the agency. Mushtikhel tribe belongs to Orakzai Agency, but some of its members are settled in Shahukhel area.
On Friday, militants in Kutch Union Council of Hangu district announced ban on women's coming out of their homes for household chores and ordered them to strictly observe purdah (veil).
The officials said that at least 31 people were killed while 38 others injured during sectarian clashes that sparked in the district after security agencies enforced curfew and city was handed over to army on the request of district administration due to fear of terrorist activities during Muharram (January).
The city though remained peaceful during Muharram as no procession was taken out, but after that a mob coming from Kohat clashed with security forces following which, clashes spread to the city that resulted in 31 deaths.
The officials said that the sole reason of sectarian tension in the area is a road, through which a Muharram procession passes.
"The bazaar lies in the Sunni area who are not ready to allow passage of any procession through the bazaar, while the Shias are also not ready to change the route of the procession despite efforts by the administration," they said.
They further said that main reason of growing lawlessness is the presence of criminals and militants in the district, who have not only made the life difficult for public, but also are attacking security forces.
Hangu district shares borders with two tribal agencies - Orakzai Agency in the north and Kurram Agency in the northwest, and with the no-go area of Karak district in south, spreading from Gurguri to Laachi.
Tull, Darsmand, Naryab, Zarguri, and Doaba areas of the troubled district are situated close to Orakzai and Lower Kurram tribal agencies, while Shahukhel area of the district is situated close to Upper Orakzai Agency. The local sources said that militants and criminals slip into tribal areas after kidnapping people from Hangu due to close proximity of tribal areas.
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source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\10\story_10-2-2009_pg7_40
End to trauma of missing tribesman’s family not in sight
 End to trauma of missing tribesman's family not in sight |
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| Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Javed Aziz Khan PESHAWAR: Another tribesman has been added to the infamous list of missing persons after he was picked up by the intelligence agencies and police from somewhere in Bhanamari in October last year and is yet to be located. Cops of the Bhanamari Police Station and intelligence officials arrested Syed Kamal Hussain, 40, originally belonging to Parachinar, Kurram Agency, over a tip-off on October 18. Since then, nobody knows about his whereabouts. Jamila, young wife of the missing tribesman, has moved the court to find her spouse. The court has summoned police officials for February 14 to know where the nabbed person has been kept. According to the wife of the arrested tribesman, Syed Kamal was on way to visit doctor in Dabgari Gardens when picked up by the forces. He has been missing since then as police are expressing ignorance about the arrest of my spouse. I have knocked at every door during the past three and half months but useless,Ó Jamila told 'The News'. The woman said that her spouse was serving as a contractor with a construction company. The family has been living in Swati Phatak locality for the past many months. The couple has five children, Mohammad Kamal, 13, Batool Kamal, 11, Taimur Kamal, 8, Naveed Kamal, 6 and their youngest 2-year-old baby. The younger children inquire about their father every evening when they don't find him at home. I tell them he would come back soon but how can I continue dodging them through false statements,Ó Jamila told this scribe with welled-up eyes. Wife and other family members of the missing tribesman have demanded of the authorities to produce Kamal before the court of law if they have any charges against him. The family is going through trauma. Also, they are suffering from the worst financial crises as Kamal was the lone source of income for his family,Ó said a relative. He asked the government authorities to release Kamal or produce him before the court. |
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Sectarian scourge
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| Sectarian scourge |
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| Saturday, February 07, 2009 |
| Just as we were celebrating what seemed to have been a peaceful month of Muharrum, the sectarian killers have struck again. A suicide bombing near a mosque in Dera Ghazi Khan killed at least 30 people, most of whom had been participating in a 'chehlum' procession to mark the death of Hazrat Imam Husain (RA). The terrible incident was followed by protests through the town that disrupted normal life for several hours. We have lived with sectarianism for over two decades now. The killings and counter-killings reached their peak during the mid-1990s, when fanatical organisations struck virtually at will. Despite the massive crackdown against them staged at the time, the sectarian scourge has stayed with us since then. Indeed it has eaten into the very heart and soul of our society, filling it with a new hatred and a new intolerance. Splinter groups have been formed and groups that were banned have simply gone underground, while continuing their activities. Members of minority sects narrate incidents in which they were asked about their affiliations and in some cases ostracised on the basis of their replies. Others have been threatened; many now employ security guards outside homes or offices fearful of an attack carried out simply because of the sect they belong to. In school text books, a bias that promotes sectarianism can sometimes be found. Attempts to eliminate it are reported to have been only partially successful. In seminaries, the majority of which remain unregistered, the process of building hatred for minority sects is of course still more forceful. The few surveys conducted show that these efforts are succeeding. The determination to fill the minds of the next generation with prejudice is great. People have already felt their effects. Towns in the Kurram Agency and elsewhere have suffered a brutal ethnic cleansing. In other places, ordinary citizens sometimes insist those belonging to a minority sect are 'non-Muslim'. Some fear the time may come when they are officially labelled as such. There is another aspect to that must be addressed. While we hear at regular intervals of sectarian killings and mayhem in our cities and of inquiries being initiated, news of arrests or trails or jail sentences is far less common. The impression at least is that the killers are getting away with their crime. The message then to others is that it is quite possible they will not be punished when imambargahs or other places of worship are bombed. This perception must change. The government must make it clear it is not willing to tolerate sectarianism in any form. Action under the law must be taken against those responsible, not only for murder but also the distribution of inflammatory literature and recordings. Only then will it become possible to prevent sectarianism from spreading and ensuring the coming decades are less violent than those that have already passed. |
Iran to probe into Parachinar 'genocide'
Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:31:18 GMT
 Pakistani Shias lie on the road in protest at the killing of their brethren in sectarian violence in the Kurram tribal region. |
A report to the Iranian parliament has cited grave human rights abuses against Shias in the northwestern Pakistani city of Parachinar.
Lack of government control over the highly sensitive border areas of Kurram Agency, the capital of which is Parachinar, has lead to an increased Taliban presence in the area.
Local Pakistani media reported last week that Taliban-linked militants in Parachinar, Hangu district and much of the Kurram tribal agency have during the last six months been engaged in sectarian violence and have killed 25 to 30 people on a daily basis.
Military forces based in the areas usually avoid the violence which has caused uproar in the territory bordering the Tora Bora region in Afghanistan, the media report said.
The National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Majlis (parliament) has received a report on the situation in Parachinar.
"The report provides evidence of a humanitarian disaster in that region, which unfortunately due to the crisis in Iraq and Gaza has not garnered media coverage," Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh told Tabnak on Saturday.
Falahat-Pisheh affirmed that the parliament would investigate the "genocide" through relevant international agencies.
"We are pressuring international human rights organizations to dispatch fact-finding missions to the area," he added.
Taliban militants have launched deadly attacks against the enclave of Shiites settled in Parachinar and have blocked road routes to the city since April 2007 when sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis broke out after provocative remarks by a Wahhabi against historical Shiite figures.
The Taliban sided with the Sunni majority in the country, imposing an ongoing 20-month blockade which has caused serious food shortages.
The Pakistani government has on various occasions dispatched relief convoys loaded with food and medicines to the area, but most supplies are confiscated by the militants and the drivers are killed or kidnapped.
In a recent incident, the militants beheaded a police officer on Thursday and kidnapped four Shia Muslims on their way to Parachinar.
"Taliban militants beheaded a policeman and kidnapped four Shias in Tal, a town 45 km northeast of Miranshah," a security official told the European strategic intelligence and security center last week.
The grave situation has also prompted the leading Shiite figure of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to issue a ruling -- known as a fatwa -- encouraging all Shiites in Pakistan to do what they can to help their "brethren" in Parachinar.
"Pakistan says it cannot control the situation in the area, but this is a lie, they have got troops inside Parachinar but the population are better off without them," Hussein Ali Shahriyari, another Iranian lawmaker, said.
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Friday, February 6, 2009
15 NWFP, FATA senators to retire on March 11
15 NWFP, FATA senators to retire on March 11
By Zakir HassnainPESHAWAR: As many as 11 Senators from the NWFP and four from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) will retire from the Senate after the expiry of their term of office on March 11.
Out of the 11 Senators belonging to the NWFP, seven are retiring from Senate's general seats, and two each from seats reserved for women and technocrats/ulema.
Among those from NWFP retiring on March 11, two are independent senators, two belong to Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao (PPP-S), five are from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), one from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and one from the Awami National Party (ANP).
The retiring senators are:
1) Maulana Rahat Hussain (MMA, general seat) son of Hamayun Khan. Maulana Rahat comes from Shangla District.
2) Sahibzada Khalid Jan (MMA, general seat), son of Sahibzada Ahmed Jan, from Malakand Agency.
3) Dr Kausar Firdaus (MMA, seat reserved for women) wife of Muhammad Azam. Dr Firdaus come from Tehkal Payan, Peshawar.
4) Waqar Ahmed Khan (independent, general seat) son of Gulzar Ahmed Khan.
5) Shujaul Mulk (PPP-S, general seat). Shuja comes from Swat district.
6) Gulzar Ahmed Khan (independent, general seat) son of Ghulam Qadir Khan.
7) Haji Muhammad Adeel (ANP, general seat) son of Hakim Abdul Jalil Nadvi. Haji Adeel is a resident of Peshawar.
8) Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (PML-Nawaz, general seat) son of Malik Muzaffar Khan. Jhagra hails from Peshawar district.
9) Aneesa Zeb Tahir Kheli (PPP-S, seat reserved for women) daughter of Muhammad Aurangzeb. Aneesa comes from Haripur district.
10) Dr Muhammad Said (MMA, technocrat) son of Muhammad Hamid from Peshawar.
11) Maulana Samiul Haq (MMA, seats reserved for ulema) son of Maulana Abdul Haq, a resident of Akora Khattak, Nowshera.
The four retiring senators from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are:
1) Engineer Rashid Ahmed Khan (independent) son of Malik Zareef Khan, FR Kurram Agency.
2) Nasar Khan (independent) son of Haji Amin Shah.
3) Syed Muhammad Hussain (independent) son of Syed Jalaluddin, Kotak, Orakzai Agency.
4) Abdul Malik (independent) son of Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Orakzai becomes new haven for Taliban
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Orakzai becomes new haven for Taliban
"Talibanisation has taken strong roots in Orakzai and the region is now run by the Taliban council, which has introduced sharia law," tribesmen who have moved from Orakzai to escape Taliban-style rule told Daily Times on Tuesday.
Orakzai, which borders Kurram in the west and Hangu district in the east, provides a means to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to expand its influence to Peshawar through Khyber Agency. The organisation has already made its presence in the region known by attacking truck terminals for Afghanistan-bound supplies for NATO and US forces. Despite government attempts to block their infiltration, the Taliban recently celebrated their "complete control" over the region by inviting a group of journalists to the area in a show of power.
According to former residents, the Taliban have set up their own courts to provide 'justice' to the people. They said that the traditional tribal jirga system had been abolished and all development schemes had been halted. The anti-polio drive has also failed and local and foreign militants are seen manning checkposts that were previously held by government forces. "The Taliban have set up sharia courts in Ghaljo, Kundi Mishi, Dabori, Mashti Meli and Ferozkhel in Upper Orakzai," the residents added.
They said the Taliban council had banned women from travelling outside their homes without the escort of male family members. "There is a ban on music and dancing during wedding ceremonies; working of NGOs; and development works," they added.
Each area now has its own Taliban chief and is patrolled by Taliban militants to keep the local population under the control of the TTP, the residents said.
Warning: With the increasing Taliban presence in Orakzai, the pressure is now mounting on Hangu district, where analysts suggest the TTP is fuelling sectarian strife to extend their base. They have warned that unless the government acts to protect the strategic Kohat garrison from the TTP, the group could easily extend its reach to Peshawar.
'Taliban targetting Shias in Pakistan'
| 'Taliban targetting Shias in Pakistan' | |
The Taliban linked militants have been killing 25-30 members of Shia community in Parachinar, Hangu and much of the Kurram tribal agency during last six months on a daily basis, Pakistani media reports said on the weekend. Military forces based there usually do not intervene to end the sectarian wars, according to the reports. Human rights and religious groups in Kurram have warned of a humanitarian crisis in the Shia areas. The groups have been holding protests in major cities against the killings of Shia Muslims in Kurram Agency and Parachinar. The Taliban fighters usually target the community members in the region. Although Shias are the majority in Kurram, but they are surrounded by the Taliban-linked aggressive militants who have cut off road routes since some past months. The militants are also accused of kidnapping or killing those trying to get supplies to the Shia areas during the past months. Pakistan's main media outlets had earlier said that the democratic forces in the country should take immediate notice of the killings of innocent Shias in the region. Moderate Pakistani Sunni groups believe that leaving more than 500,000 Shias at the mercy of the Taliban is a conspiracy against the country. Taliban's influence is also rapidly increasing in the major cities and so-called settled areas of the country. JR/DT |
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Jirga continues in Kurram Agency
