 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. Visit or join |
Sunday, March 8, 2009
3 militants killed by Turi tribesmen:
Thursday, March 5, 2009
More Shia Muslims killed in Pakistan
| More Shia Muslims killed in Pakistan Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:30:33 GMT | |
The men were killed when Taliban-linked militants opened fire on their car in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.. The victims belonged to the Shia Hazara community and were traveling to the city in a van when they were targeted. The gunmen then fled the scene and all of the passengers on the van died, police said. Quetta has witnessed several instances of violence directed against the Hazara community in recent months. Earlier on Friday outside the town of Hangu in the troubled North West Frontier Province, Taliban insurgents ambushed a minibus carrying Shia children to school, killing three and injuring several others. Some reports have cited grave human rights abuses against Shias in the northwestern Pakistani city of Parachinar. Taliban-linked militants in the towns of Parachinar and Hangu and other areas in the Kurram tribal region have killed hundreds of community members during the last six months, Pakistani media reports have revealed. Taliban's influence is also rapidly increasing its grip on the major cities and even the so-called settled areas in the country. The violence continues despite an order issued by Pakistani Interior Chief Rehman Malik that demands the protection of the Shia minority. Shia sources say they make up one-third of Pakistan's population of nearly 160 million. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in violence-related incidents in Pakistan. |
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Media blackout on Parachinar Shia killings
Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:41:45 GMT
Leading Pakistani scholars strongly condemn the 'western media censor-policy' over the Shia Muslim killings in the northwestern city of Parachinar.
Political experts and religious scholars, attending a summit in the Iranian city of Qom, emphasized on the necessity to launch a regional media campaign to raise global awareness about the issue.
The summit held in Iranian city of Qom under the banner "Holocaust of Shias in Parachinar," came in the wake of the killings of hundreds of Shia community-members over the past six months in Parachinar and Hangu.
Pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants, who are reportedly behind the killings, have imposed an economic blockade against the Shia-dominated population areas.
The frequent incidents have raised concerns among human rights group, while moderate Pakistani Sunni groups have described the issue as a conspiracy against the country.
Taliban leaders, who were toppled in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, took refuge to tribal regions in Pakistan and rapidly began to extend heir influence from tribes to major towns and cities.
The pro-Taliban anti-Shia groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims, and are stretching the campaign toward the restive southwestern Pakistan as well.
Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province has witnessed several instances of violence directed against the Hazara Shia community in recent months.
Several Shia religious gatherings have also been targeted in central province of Punjab over the past some months.
Tehran has repeatedly cautioned Islamabad over the 'silent massacre' of its Shia community by the Taliban in the country. "The incidents that have occurred against Pakistan's Shia community are a plot to create conflict between the region's Sunni and Shia population," said Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
"We have warned Islamabad over the incidents and we will follow up on the matter," he added.
Shia sources say they make up one-third of Pakistan's population of nearly 160 million. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in sectarian-related incidents in Pakistan.
Political experts and religious scholars, attending a summit in the Iranian city of Qom, emphasized on the necessity to launch a regional media campaign to raise global awareness about the issue.
The summit held in Iranian city of Qom under the banner "Holocaust of Shias in Parachinar," came in the wake of the killings of hundreds of Shia community-members over the past six months in Parachinar and Hangu.
Pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants, who are reportedly behind the killings, have imposed an economic blockade against the Shia-dominated population areas.
The frequent incidents have raised concerns among human rights group, while moderate Pakistani Sunni groups have described the issue as a conspiracy against the country.
Taliban leaders, who were toppled in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, took refuge to tribal regions in Pakistan and rapidly began to extend heir influence from tribes to major towns and cities.
The pro-Taliban anti-Shia groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims, and are stretching the campaign toward the restive southwestern Pakistan as well.
Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's restive southwestern Balochistan province has witnessed several instances of violence directed against the Hazara Shia community in recent months.
Several Shia religious gatherings have also been targeted in central province of Punjab over the past some months.
Tehran has repeatedly cautioned Islamabad over the 'silent massacre' of its Shia community by the Taliban in the country. "The incidents that have occurred against Pakistan's Shia community are a plot to create conflict between the region's Sunni and Shia population," said Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.
"We have warned Islamabad over the incidents and we will follow up on the matter," he added.
Shia sources say they make up one-third of Pakistan's population of nearly 160 million. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in sectarian-related incidents in Pakistan.
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The massacre the world ignored: Parachinar
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The massacre the world ignored: Parachinar
by 'Ya Baqiyatullah'
Very few open crimes against humanity are as disregarded as the assault against Shia Muslims in Parachinar, an area west of Islamabad. Many European and American media outlets have completely ignored the onslaught against Shia civilians at the hands of the Taliban and Sunni extremist militants. Parachinar is a town of 20,000 individuals, with almost all being exclusively Shiites and belonging to the Turi and Bangash tribes.
Extremist Sunni tribesmen from the North Waziristan agency along with militants from the Arab countries and the Caucasus have been attacking the Shia civilians for he past two years. Hundreds if not thousands of Shias have already been killed, and the important supply routes are also controlled by the militants. The supply of food and medical equipment has been badly affected, consequently doctors have had to operate without anesthesia. Power and water supplies are sparse and subject to sabotage and lack of functionality.
Interview of a native of Parachinar by 'Ya Baqiyatullah'
YB: To begin with, can you please give a brief introduction about yourself?
SZ: My name is Sayed Zeeshan, I am currently residing in Islamabad but occasionally visit my village in the North West Province of Pakistan, where the conflict is going on. I have a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and am currently working as a Research Engineer in a research organization in Islamabad.
YB: To understand the situation at hand in Parachinar one needs to look at the historical aspect of the situation to see the current situation, can you summarize for how this struggle began and what have been the major events of this struggle?
SZ: Indeed, the historical perspective to every conflict is very important. Instead of focusing on the conflict in Parachinar, I must deal with it as a problem which affects the whole area of North West Frontier Province including Parachinar, Hangu, Kohat, Orakzai and Dera Ismail Khan. Except for Dera Ismail Khan the other regions are loosely interconnected geographically. Prior to 1980s the Shia-Sunni conflict was muted if even existent. Orakzai was the only area where there are known instances of hostilities before 1980. In 1977, Army Chief Zia-ul-Haq overthrew democratically elected President, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in a coup d'état and later hanged him in 1979. USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and the Afghan war started which lasted ten long years from 1979-1989. Being a Military dictator, Zia, sidelined the popular parties and backed Islamist Parties, which were rather unknown till then, prime among them were Jamat Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulama Islam (JUI). These parties were used to prepare militias for the Afghan war which primarily consisted of Islamist Jihadists. This war was funded by Arab oil money and the US. It was a part of the ongoing cold war between USSR and the US which US has vowed to win no matter what forces they had to support. With the coming of Saudi and Arab money a mushroom growth of Doebandi madrasas (religious seminaries) was witnessed in the North West and Baluchistan provinces in the areas adjoining Afghanistan.
At around the same time another group called Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was emerging in South Punjab lead by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, the ex- provincial vice chief of JUI. Their sole agenda was to declare the Shia population of Pakistan as non Muslim as was done to Ahmedis in 1974. With the emergence of SSP and LJ (Lashkar Jhangvi, a splinter group of SSP) a wave of Shia target killings began. Most of the operatives of these terrorist groups had directly/indirectly taken part in Afghan War and had very good working relations with other jihadist organizations that were active in Kashmir and Afghanistan. This all was ignored by the government and the security agencies (primarily ISI) because of the strategic partnership with the Jihadist Organization for their agendas in Kashmir and Afghanistan to gain "strategic depth". These organizations were sectarian up to the hilt. Although only a few of them saw Shias as their prime enemies they all thought of Shias as antagonists up to a certain degree. In Hangu and Parachinar the war affected Afghans settled their throughout 80s and 90s. SSP and LJ started recruiting them and then used them to attack Shia targets. This is the backdrop in which this conflict started.
The important incidents were the attacks on Shia Turi tribesmen of Parachinar by the Afghans in 1986. Another significant incident was the tribal war that started in Hangu and Orakzai in 1998 after a clash over flag rising on the event of Nauroz (Spring Solstice celebrations). Taliban from Orakzai attacked Shia village of Shahu Khel and razed it to ground; killing scores of Shia men, women and children. Hundreds of families were dislocated and took refuge in neighboring Shia villages. Army intervened afterwards to calm the situation. Since 2005, when a suicide bomber attacked Ashura Procession in Hangu and managed to kill 40 people, every year the local Shia and Sunni tribes clash with each other using heavy weapons to target each others' positions and at times civilian population. Usually it's because of the intransigence of the radical local Sunni groups, inspired by SSP, that the Ashura processions are not allowed to be taken out.
External forces, like Taliban from the nearby areas like Douaba and Orakzai and some tribesmen from Parachinar also took part in this conflict. In fact, in 2008, the ceasefire was only enforced when the Army provided a safe passage to the external Taliban forces that were adamant to continue hostilities. In Kurram, the capital of which is Parachinar, gunmen attacked a Shia procession and killed several people. This kick started a series of events that gave rise to a full blown tribal war between Turi (Shia) tribesmen on one side and Bangash (Sunni) tribesmen on the other side, whom were also helped by the Taliban from Waziristan and Orakzai. The road links were closed for all kinds of traffic and a severe shortage of food and medicine started. This conflict was escalated by a particular gory incident. Army wanted to transport some foodstuff in trucks to Parachinar, which was blockaded for months, but Taliban attacked the convoy, the Army marooned the convoy and absconded; the truck drivers were taken by the Taliban. They executed them in a very brutal fashion, reminiscent of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, severing the heads and limbs of the victims in an animalistic fashion.
This exacerbated the situation still further and the Turi tribesmen went on offensive taking several of Bangash villages. It ensued in a deadlock situation and after several rounds of talks between the tribal elders of both sides in Islamabad a ceasefire agreement was reached in October, 2008. This fragile agreement is holding on by thin strings. There have been several killings and kidnappings after the agreement. The roads are open but people travel on these roads with throbbing hearts, waiting for something gory to happen. Shias from Parachinar and Hangu areas have also been killed in Dara Adam Khel, a lawless town connecting Kohat to Peshawar. People were stopped and based on the ID card information (name, residence etc.) decapitated. The situation is particularly difficult for Shias who are killed indiscriminately for the only reason of being Shia.
YB: Do you have an estimate for the population within the affected region?
SZ:The figures I am providing are rather crude and are used here to give an idea of the population. The population of Kohat is roughly about a million people. That of Orakzai and Parachinar will add another million to this figure.
YB: What is the demographic makeup in the North-West region of Pakistan, with particular emphasis on the sectarian composition of the population?
SZ: Quite a few villages in Kohat consist of a majority Shia population; they are mainly located between the districts of Kohat and Hangu and a few in Orakzai. Upper Kurram also consists of mainly Shia villages and the town of Parachinar is primarily Shia. There is a zone separating Kurram from Hangu populated by primarily Sunni population.. Towards the south of Parachinar is the restive North Waziristan which is the stronghold of Taliban.
YB: How would you describe the nature of sectarian relations over the years?
SZ: There wasn't any big conflict going on in this region prior to the Zia's Jihad campaign. This question has been dealt with in detail in the answer to the second question.
YB: Militant terror groups like the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba are said to operate in the region, and are blamed for the ongoing violence. Did these groups receive any support from regional and international players; would you care to kindly elaborate on the local and regional context of the developments within the region?
SZ: This question is a bit tricky and the information regarding the financial aspect of these organizations is a bit hazy. Although it is well known that the Arab oil money and the CIA money played a big role in arming and maintaining the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan but the sectarian phenomenon, which although intertwined with the global Jihad, is relatively recent. It is concurrent with the advent of Taliban in Afghanistan, which drew its force from Pakistani madrasas. Taliban were helped financially by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as asserted in the famous book Taliban by Ahmed Rashid. They were also helped by the drug money that came to Afghanistan through the poppy and heroin trade. Some of the groups like SPP and LJ were helped by local and Middle Eastern traders. After 9-11, Pakistan joined the war against terror but didn't stop supporting the jihadist groups completely. Now this strategy has backfired and TTP, which consists of a plethora of Jihadist groups, sectarian or otherwise, has gained significant clout in regions bordering Afghanistan and several settled areas like Swat Valley. These groups operate by looting weapons from security forces and NATO convoys, getting money from local population and Middle Eastern traders under charity organizations and kidnapping wealthy people, especially Shia. Some of the money comes from Arab countries which they give to madrasas to export Salafism. It is asserted by some political analysts that some rouge elements of the ISI are still backing these groups but the validity of this claim is still unverified.
YB: Do they still receive support from these quarters? And what is the nature of this support?
SZ: They still receive support from these quarters. They mainly receive money from wealthy businessmen in Arab countries. Some of the money comes from drug trade and some from Arab countries that use this money to gain support for Salafism.
YB: Are there any Shia groups operating in the area to ensure safety of the Shia residents there and around that area?
SZ: There are several groups operating in the area but they usually have local roles. These groups aren't very organized and lack command and control structure and therefore aren't too much effective. Although, they successfully defend their areas in time of conflict and provide a buffer between the attackers and the civilian population, they still lack leadership. They consist of local people who have some knowhow of the warfare and are supported by small donations from the locals in form of defense funds.
YB: According to experts, the central policy of the former government in Pakistan was said to have unleashed a "violence-accommodation cycle". What is your assessment and do you think the present administration will treat these militant groups any differently?
SZ: This is a very old policy of cozying up to jihadists to achieve the ends in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Although a certain level of reversal of this policy has been witnessed in recent days but it's too little too late. For instance, the radical madrasas which spread sectarian hatred are thriving with impunity. Maulvis have been given free hand to preach sectarianism from mosque pulpits. The target killings of Shias have risen exponentially since the arrival of the democratic government. All these factors indicate that there is no serious effort going on to eradicate these ills from the society.
YB: As we speak today, many towns in the Kurram Agency have been under virtual siege from early 2007 - a period of two years. Can you describe the humanitarian situation on the ground? Additionally, have humanitarian aid organizations, particularly international ones, played any significant role in dealing with the humanitarian situation?
SZ: Things are a bit better now since the ceasefire that came in effect in October, 2008. But this agreement is very fragile. It's waiting like a time bomb to blast any day. It is because the root problem has not been addressed. The monster has been put under the carpet for now but it will raise its head again with much ferocity than previously witnessed. As for the international aid agencies, there has been no significant help. One reason is the closure of the transportation routes heading towards Parachinar from Pakistan but the routes from Afghanistan were open. International aid agencies were in a better position to help because of their presence in Afghanistan, but they chose to ignore this problem or weren't well informed.
YB: What is the reason for the muted coverage of the crisis in the region by Western media outlets? Can anything be done to place the spotlight on the grave human costs and tales of sorrow from the region?
SZ: The local media covered this event somewhat, although insignificantly, without divulging any details about the sectarian aspect of this problem and made it look like a tribal war between warring factions. In fact this is the case with any sectarian event. The logic they give is that this issue is too sensitive to be discussed publicly. It would flare conflict in other parts of the country. This is the kind of apathy we are dealing with in Pakistan. As for the international media, the tribal areas are too remote and restive for the international journalists to operate. But that is not a good reason for them to ignore such significant events.. There are other ways in which these events could be covered. BBC Urdu did cover the event in somewhat detail but it doesn't have an international outreach.
YB: Any final words, particularly to the Shias situated in the West?
SZ: I would say that the apathy has gone for too long and if something significant is not done a massacre is in waiting. It has happened before in Mazar Sharif (Afghanistan) in 1998, it could happen in any of these areas again. Hundreds of people have been killed; scores of children died of lack of medicines and this conflict is far from over. The Western Shias should put pressure on the Government of Pakistan through demonstrations and lobbying and by writing to different news agencies, informing them of the scale of the atrocities. This is the least that anyone can do. They could also help by donating for the orphans of the conflict which number in hundreds if not thousands.
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Commentary: I am deeply grateful to 'Ya Baqiyatullah' for offering this amazingly interesting and important information on my blog. Many topics touched upon here (the role of Pakistan, Sunni extremism, ISI, the Taliban, etc.) are, I believe of immense importance not only to the region, but to the entire world. As my readers already know, I strongly believe that the kind of extreme Sunni Islamism (Wahabism, Salafism, Deobandism, Qutbism, etc. - they all have a common root) which is now growing in influence in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and much of the Sunni Muslim world is a major threat to, literally, the entire planet. Likewise, I believe that the opposition that many feel to the 'imperial' policies of the elites which have now taken control of the USA should not obscure the fact that there are other, equally dangerous, foes out there, some even possibly harder to defeat than the "last superpower" (since the latter is well on its way to deafeat itself having become a de-facto Israeli colony and client state).
'Ya Baqiyatullah's' interview clearly shows that Sunni extremists make absolutely no difference between the infidel kafirs and their fellow Muslims if the latter dare to confess a different type of Islam. Nor will they make any distinction along ethnic lines: they will murder anyone, including their fellow Pakistanis, just like they murdered Daniel Perl or Russian conscripts in Chechnia: by slitting their throats and cutting off their heads. In their mind, just like in Dubya's, you are "either with us or against us" and if you choose the latter, well, then murdering you is a pious act.
From the many comments to my recent piece on Afghanistan (I thank you all for sharing them with us!!) I get a strong sense that many are still dubious about the reality of the threat presented by this type of Sunni Islamism. I will therefore try to regularly post articles here which describe some important feature of this phenomenon.
Very few open crimes against humanity are as disregarded as the assault against Shia Muslims in Parachinar, an area west of Islamabad. Many European and American media outlets have completely ignored the onslaught against Shia civilians at the hands of the Taliban and Sunni extremist militants. Parachinar is a town of 20,000 individuals, with almost all being exclusively Shiites and belonging to the Turi and Bangash tribes.
Extremist Sunni tribesmen from the North Waziristan agency along with militants from the Arab countries and the Caucasus have been attacking the Shia civilians for he past two years. Hundreds if not thousands of Shias have already been killed, and the important supply routes are also controlled by the militants. The supply of food and medical equipment has been badly affected, consequently doctors have had to operate without anesthesia. Power and water supplies are sparse and subject to sabotage and lack of functionality.
Interview of a native of Parachinar by 'Ya Baqiyatullah'
YB: To begin with, can you please give a brief introduction about yourself?
SZ: My name is Sayed Zeeshan, I am currently residing in Islamabad but occasionally visit my village in the North West Province of Pakistan, where the conflict is going on. I have a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and am currently working as a Research Engineer in a research organization in Islamabad.
YB: To understand the situation at hand in Parachinar one needs to look at the historical aspect of the situation to see the current situation, can you summarize for how this struggle began and what have been the major events of this struggle?
SZ: Indeed, the historical perspective to every conflict is very important. Instead of focusing on the conflict in Parachinar, I must deal with it as a problem which affects the whole area of North West Frontier Province including Parachinar, Hangu, Kohat, Orakzai and Dera Ismail Khan. Except for Dera Ismail Khan the other regions are loosely interconnected geographically. Prior to 1980s the Shia-Sunni conflict was muted if even existent. Orakzai was the only area where there are known instances of hostilities before 1980. In 1977, Army Chief Zia-ul-Haq overthrew democratically elected President, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in a coup d'état and later hanged him in 1979. USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and the Afghan war started which lasted ten long years from 1979-1989. Being a Military dictator, Zia, sidelined the popular parties and backed Islamist Parties, which were rather unknown till then, prime among them were Jamat Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulama Islam (JUI). These parties were used to prepare militias for the Afghan war which primarily consisted of Islamist Jihadists. This war was funded by Arab oil money and the US. It was a part of the ongoing cold war between USSR and the US which US has vowed to win no matter what forces they had to support. With the coming of Saudi and Arab money a mushroom growth of Doebandi madrasas (religious seminaries) was witnessed in the North West and Baluchistan provinces in the areas adjoining Afghanistan.
At around the same time another group called Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was emerging in South Punjab lead by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, the ex- provincial vice chief of JUI. Their sole agenda was to declare the Shia population of Pakistan as non Muslim as was done to Ahmedis in 1974. With the emergence of SSP and LJ (Lashkar Jhangvi, a splinter group of SSP) a wave of Shia target killings began. Most of the operatives of these terrorist groups had directly/indirectly taken part in Afghan War and had very good working relations with other jihadist organizations that were active in Kashmir and Afghanistan. This all was ignored by the government and the security agencies (primarily ISI) because of the strategic partnership with the Jihadist Organization for their agendas in Kashmir and Afghanistan to gain "strategic depth". These organizations were sectarian up to the hilt. Although only a few of them saw Shias as their prime enemies they all thought of Shias as antagonists up to a certain degree. In Hangu and Parachinar the war affected Afghans settled their throughout 80s and 90s. SSP and LJ started recruiting them and then used them to attack Shia targets. This is the backdrop in which this conflict started.
The important incidents were the attacks on Shia Turi tribesmen of Parachinar by the Afghans in 1986. Another significant incident was the tribal war that started in Hangu and Orakzai in 1998 after a clash over flag rising on the event of Nauroz (Spring Solstice celebrations). Taliban from Orakzai attacked Shia village of Shahu Khel and razed it to ground; killing scores of Shia men, women and children. Hundreds of families were dislocated and took refuge in neighboring Shia villages. Army intervened afterwards to calm the situation. Since 2005, when a suicide bomber attacked Ashura Procession in Hangu and managed to kill 40 people, every year the local Shia and Sunni tribes clash with each other using heavy weapons to target each others' positions and at times civilian population. Usually it's because of the intransigence of the radical local Sunni groups, inspired by SSP, that the Ashura processions are not allowed to be taken out.
External forces, like Taliban from the nearby areas like Douaba and Orakzai and some tribesmen from Parachinar also took part in this conflict. In fact, in 2008, the ceasefire was only enforced when the Army provided a safe passage to the external Taliban forces that were adamant to continue hostilities. In Kurram, the capital of which is Parachinar, gunmen attacked a Shia procession and killed several people. This kick started a series of events that gave rise to a full blown tribal war between Turi (Shia) tribesmen on one side and Bangash (Sunni) tribesmen on the other side, whom were also helped by the Taliban from Waziristan and Orakzai. The road links were closed for all kinds of traffic and a severe shortage of food and medicine started. This conflict was escalated by a particular gory incident. Army wanted to transport some foodstuff in trucks to Parachinar, which was blockaded for months, but Taliban attacked the convoy, the Army marooned the convoy and absconded; the truck drivers were taken by the Taliban. They executed them in a very brutal fashion, reminiscent of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, severing the heads and limbs of the victims in an animalistic fashion.
This exacerbated the situation still further and the Turi tribesmen went on offensive taking several of Bangash villages. It ensued in a deadlock situation and after several rounds of talks between the tribal elders of both sides in Islamabad a ceasefire agreement was reached in October, 2008. This fragile agreement is holding on by thin strings. There have been several killings and kidnappings after the agreement. The roads are open but people travel on these roads with throbbing hearts, waiting for something gory to happen. Shias from Parachinar and Hangu areas have also been killed in Dara Adam Khel, a lawless town connecting Kohat to Peshawar. People were stopped and based on the ID card information (name, residence etc.) decapitated. The situation is particularly difficult for Shias who are killed indiscriminately for the only reason of being Shia.
YB: Do you have an estimate for the population within the affected region?
SZ:The figures I am providing are rather crude and are used here to give an idea of the population. The population of Kohat is roughly about a million people. That of Orakzai and Parachinar will add another million to this figure.
YB: What is the demographic makeup in the North-West region of Pakistan, with particular emphasis on the sectarian composition of the population?
SZ: Quite a few villages in Kohat consist of a majority Shia population; they are mainly located between the districts of Kohat and Hangu and a few in Orakzai. Upper Kurram also consists of mainly Shia villages and the town of Parachinar is primarily Shia. There is a zone separating Kurram from Hangu populated by primarily Sunni population.. Towards the south of Parachinar is the restive North Waziristan which is the stronghold of Taliban.
YB: How would you describe the nature of sectarian relations over the years?
SZ: There wasn't any big conflict going on in this region prior to the Zia's Jihad campaign. This question has been dealt with in detail in the answer to the second question.
YB: Militant terror groups like the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba are said to operate in the region, and are blamed for the ongoing violence. Did these groups receive any support from regional and international players; would you care to kindly elaborate on the local and regional context of the developments within the region?
SZ: This question is a bit tricky and the information regarding the financial aspect of these organizations is a bit hazy. Although it is well known that the Arab oil money and the CIA money played a big role in arming and maintaining the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan but the sectarian phenomenon, which although intertwined with the global Jihad, is relatively recent. It is concurrent with the advent of Taliban in Afghanistan, which drew its force from Pakistani madrasas. Taliban were helped financially by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as asserted in the famous book Taliban by Ahmed Rashid. They were also helped by the drug money that came to Afghanistan through the poppy and heroin trade. Some of the groups like SPP and LJ were helped by local and Middle Eastern traders. After 9-11, Pakistan joined the war against terror but didn't stop supporting the jihadist groups completely. Now this strategy has backfired and TTP, which consists of a plethora of Jihadist groups, sectarian or otherwise, has gained significant clout in regions bordering Afghanistan and several settled areas like Swat Valley. These groups operate by looting weapons from security forces and NATO convoys, getting money from local population and Middle Eastern traders under charity organizations and kidnapping wealthy people, especially Shia. Some of the money comes from Arab countries which they give to madrasas to export Salafism. It is asserted by some political analysts that some rouge elements of the ISI are still backing these groups but the validity of this claim is still unverified.
YB: Do they still receive support from these quarters? And what is the nature of this support?
SZ: They still receive support from these quarters. They mainly receive money from wealthy businessmen in Arab countries. Some of the money comes from drug trade and some from Arab countries that use this money to gain support for Salafism.
YB: Are there any Shia groups operating in the area to ensure safety of the Shia residents there and around that area?
SZ: There are several groups operating in the area but they usually have local roles. These groups aren't very organized and lack command and control structure and therefore aren't too much effective. Although, they successfully defend their areas in time of conflict and provide a buffer between the attackers and the civilian population, they still lack leadership. They consist of local people who have some knowhow of the warfare and are supported by small donations from the locals in form of defense funds.
YB: According to experts, the central policy of the former government in Pakistan was said to have unleashed a "violence-accommodation cycle". What is your assessment and do you think the present administration will treat these militant groups any differently?
SZ: This is a very old policy of cozying up to jihadists to achieve the ends in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Although a certain level of reversal of this policy has been witnessed in recent days but it's too little too late. For instance, the radical madrasas which spread sectarian hatred are thriving with impunity. Maulvis have been given free hand to preach sectarianism from mosque pulpits. The target killings of Shias have risen exponentially since the arrival of the democratic government. All these factors indicate that there is no serious effort going on to eradicate these ills from the society.
YB: As we speak today, many towns in the Kurram Agency have been under virtual siege from early 2007 - a period of two years. Can you describe the humanitarian situation on the ground? Additionally, have humanitarian aid organizations, particularly international ones, played any significant role in dealing with the humanitarian situation?
SZ: Things are a bit better now since the ceasefire that came in effect in October, 2008. But this agreement is very fragile. It's waiting like a time bomb to blast any day. It is because the root problem has not been addressed. The monster has been put under the carpet for now but it will raise its head again with much ferocity than previously witnessed. As for the international aid agencies, there has been no significant help. One reason is the closure of the transportation routes heading towards Parachinar from Pakistan but the routes from Afghanistan were open. International aid agencies were in a better position to help because of their presence in Afghanistan, but they chose to ignore this problem or weren't well informed.
YB: What is the reason for the muted coverage of the crisis in the region by Western media outlets? Can anything be done to place the spotlight on the grave human costs and tales of sorrow from the region?
SZ: The local media covered this event somewhat, although insignificantly, without divulging any details about the sectarian aspect of this problem and made it look like a tribal war between warring factions. In fact this is the case with any sectarian event. The logic they give is that this issue is too sensitive to be discussed publicly. It would flare conflict in other parts of the country. This is the kind of apathy we are dealing with in Pakistan. As for the international media, the tribal areas are too remote and restive for the international journalists to operate. But that is not a good reason for them to ignore such significant events.. There are other ways in which these events could be covered. BBC Urdu did cover the event in somewhat detail but it doesn't have an international outreach.
YB: Any final words, particularly to the Shias situated in the West?
SZ: I would say that the apathy has gone for too long and if something significant is not done a massacre is in waiting. It has happened before in Mazar Sharif (Afghanistan) in 1998, it could happen in any of these areas again. Hundreds of people have been killed; scores of children died of lack of medicines and this conflict is far from over. The Western Shias should put pressure on the Government of Pakistan through demonstrations and lobbying and by writing to different news agencies, informing them of the scale of the atrocities. This is the least that anyone can do. They could also help by donating for the orphans of the conflict which number in hundreds if not thousands.
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Commentary: I am deeply grateful to 'Ya Baqiyatullah' for offering this amazingly interesting and important information on my blog. Many topics touched upon here (the role of Pakistan, Sunni extremism, ISI, the Taliban, etc.) are, I believe of immense importance not only to the region, but to the entire world. As my readers already know, I strongly believe that the kind of extreme Sunni Islamism (Wahabism, Salafism, Deobandism, Qutbism, etc. - they all have a common root) which is now growing in influence in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and much of the Sunni Muslim world is a major threat to, literally, the entire planet. Likewise, I believe that the opposition that many feel to the 'imperial' policies of the elites which have now taken control of the USA should not obscure the fact that there are other, equally dangerous, foes out there, some even possibly harder to defeat than the "last superpower" (since the latter is well on its way to deafeat itself having become a de-facto Israeli colony and client state).
'Ya Baqiyatullah's' interview clearly shows that Sunni extremists make absolutely no difference between the infidel kafirs and their fellow Muslims if the latter dare to confess a different type of Islam. Nor will they make any distinction along ethnic lines: they will murder anyone, including their fellow Pakistanis, just like they murdered Daniel Perl or Russian conscripts in Chechnia: by slitting their throats and cutting off their heads. In their mind, just like in Dubya's, you are "either with us or against us" and if you choose the latter, well, then murdering you is a pious act.
From the many comments to my recent piece on Afghanistan (I thank you all for sharing them with us!!) I get a strong sense that many are still dubious about the reality of the threat presented by this type of Sunni Islamism. I will therefore try to regularly post articles here which describe some important feature of this phenomenon.
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Monday, March 2, 2009
4 students kidnapped in Hangu not found yet
4 students kidnapped in Hangu not found yet
Updated at: 1125 PST, Monday, March 02, 2009
HANGU: The four students kidnapped in district Hangu have not been recovered yet.The driver of a van was killed and four students were kidnapped in Hangu district on Friday. Two students of were injured in the attack near Moebak Kandao. The efforts of the recovery of abducted students are still underway.
Meanwhile, 12 tribesmen kidnapped in Tut Kas area of Kurram Agency a week ago have not been recovered so far. The local administration is negotiating with abductors for the release of kidnapped persons.
http://www.geo.tv/3-2-2009/36316.htm
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Sunday, March 1, 2009
Hangu kidnapping
sunnday, March 01, 2009, Rabi-ul-Awwal 03, 1430 A.H
| Hangu kidnapping |
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| Sunday, March 01, 2009
============================= SOURCE: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=165075 |
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Saturday, February 28, 2009
Rs 150m price tag for Senate seat?
Rs 150m price tag for Senate seat?
* Tribal candidate claims it is easy to win polls if aspirants have this much money
By Iqbal Khattak
PESHAWAR: Some FATA aspirants for the Senate are willing to 'pay as much as Rs 150 million' for a single seat in the Upper House, a tribal parliamentarian heading a nine-member group of MNAs from the Tribal Areas told Daily Times on Friday, but denied that seats are being sold.
"There are candidates who have money and are willing to pay as much as Rs 150 million for a single Senate seat," said MNA Munir Orakzai. Allegations over the purchase of Senate votes by tribal candidates is not anything new, but the difference this year is the outrageously high money being offered. There are 12 National Assembly (NA) seats for seven tribal districts and six frontier regions, but elections for NA-41 have not yet been held because of security problems – leaving behind 11 votes for the Senate polls.
'Simple': A tribal candidate for Senate elections from Khyber Agency told Daily Times, "It is simple to win a seat in the Senate if you have that much money." With a total of 34 tribesmen from Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai and North Waziristan contesting the polls for four Senate seats, 11 FATA MNAs will vote four candidates into the Upper House on March 4. Sources close to the FATA MNAs said that 'serious and strong Senate candidates' were to deposit 'a substantial sum in advance' and the remaining after the elections. "If a candidate who deposits money with the MNAs loses the elections, the original sum will be doubled and given back."
'Acknowledgement': MNA Sajid Hussain Toori also acknowledged that Senate seats were being sold, but said the 'price tag of Rs 150 million' this year was outrageously high.
"During the last Senate elections, a winning candidate did not have to spend more than Rs 30 million," the MNA from Kurram Agency told Daily Times. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Kashmir, asked President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday to take serious notice of the 'horse trading'. Sources said Fazl also asked the president at a meeting to discourage the alleged use of money in the Senate elections by FATA candidates. He said that the MNAs should vote to elect the four senators from FATA.
The Munir Orakzai-led tribal parliamentarians, however, rejected that seats were being sold. "We know why Fazl is saying this … we will disclose the details after the Senate polls," the group said without elaborating. Relatives of seven FATA MNAs are also among the 34 candidates. "Will we vote for our own relatives or for those who are ready to pay the money? Obviously, we want our relatives to win the Senate elections," Munir argued.
Taliban kills Shia school children in Pakistan
| Taliban kills Shia school children in Pakistan Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:55:58 GMT | |
At least eight other Shia Muslim children appear to have been kidnapped by the attackers. The incident happened on Friday morning outside the town of Hangu in the troubled North West Frontier Province, state-run television PTV reported. The driver of the minibus was also killed in the lethal attack. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured children are said to be in critical condition, according to medics. Hangu is located about 175 kilometers (110 miles) west of the capital Islamabad. Taliban-linked militants in Parachinar, Hangu towns and the other areas of the Kurram tribal agency have killed 25 to 30 people on a daily basis during the last six months, local media reports say. Some reports have cited grave human rights abuses against Shias in the northwestern Pakistani city of Parachinar. Taliban has established its rule in the restive Swat valley and its influence is also rapidly increasing its grip on the major cities and even the so-called settled areas of the country. Shia sources say that the community makes 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. Moderate Pakistani Sunni groups believe that leaving Shias at the mercy of the Taliban is a conspiracy against the country. Earlier, Tehran cautioned Islamabad over the 'silent massacre' of its Shia community by the Taliban in the country. "The incidents that have occurred against Pakistan's Shia community are a plot to create conflict between the region's Sunni and Shia population," said Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. "We have warned Islamabad over the incidents and we will pursue the matter," he added. |
Friday, February 27, 2009
Is Osama in Parachinar? by dr ghayoor
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Is Osama in Parachinar?By
Dr Ghayur Ayub
I was born in a village six miles from Parachinar and received my primary education in a local school. Since then, I have been visiting Parachinar off and on till the present day. During all this time, I haven't noticed any major changes in the town. The buildings, the streets and everything else seem the same. It has a close-knit community where everyone knows every other person. Z.A Bhutto fell in love with the town for its location, natural beauty and of course the militia-mess. He decided to open a medical college. A huge area was allocated for the purpose along Parachinar-Sadda road which became the only major constructions erected in the town all these years. I lived and worked in these buildings in the early eighties as surgical specialist running the surgical department of the newly built Agency HQ Hospital.
Before I come to the topic of whether it is possible for Osama to hide in Parachinar, let me say a few words about Kurrum Agency. Kurrum Agency is like a beak of a bird pecking into Afghanistan enclosing itself from three sides by that country. It is divided into three areas; upper Kurrum inhabited mainly by Shia; Lower Kurrum occupied primarily by Sunnis; and FR Kurrum populated only by Sunnis. The latter is also called 'Alaaqa-e-Ghair' making it a 'no-man land'. Here, the indirect control of political agent has lost its effectiveness. The second largest town, Sadda, sits at the mouth of this area. Parachinar, on other hand, is at the peak of the beak in upper Kurrum where the offices of the high civilian and military officials are located. So Parachinar is not only in a comparatively protected area but is also the hub of the Shia community. A few Sunni families which had been living in Parachinar for decades were forcefully evacuated at the height of Shia-Sunni strife two years ago. I saw the burnt-out and smoke-dusted rubbles in the two main Bazaars of the town when I went to contest elections for National Assembly in February 2008. The only Sunni mosque in the middle of the town was locked giving a deserted look.
There are strong built-in anti Taliban sentiments among the Shias of Parachinar. In early 2002 when Taliban were on the run, my sources told me that Osama along with his close associates might be hiding in Parachinar as it was the closest town to Tora Bora. I decided to write a book on this subject and during my research I found that at one stage in the early 1990s, he had actually rented one of our houses in university town Peshawar. I also found that the environment was too hostile for him to take refuge in Parachinar. The Shias had already killed a few Taliban and handed over others to the authorities. So, instead, I decided to write a part-fiction and part-factual novel revolving around Osama and a local Shia leader. I labelled the book 'Breaking Barriers' and published it in UK, USA, Canada and Pakistan. In my research during writing the book, I also found out that if he ever wanted to take refuge in Kurrum Agency, it could only be in the FR area close to Sadda. So when I read the essay 'Finding Osama bin Laden' in MIT International Review, published on 17 February 2009, I was taken aback.
The work is based on application of bio-geographic theories and satellite imagery. The former consists of two theories; first, the distance-decay theory which states that "as one goes further away from a precise location, there is an exponential decline in the turnover of species and a lower probability of finding the same composition of species"; And second, the theory of island biogeography which states that "large and close islands will have higher immigration rates and support more species with lower extinction rates than small isolated islands" The study is carried out by two professors of geography namely Thomas W. Gillespie and John A. Agnew at UCLA who, to my knowledge, had never been to the region.
They presume that by using bio-geographic theories and remote sensing data over global, regional and local spatial scales, they would be able to identify where Osama could be living. At global scale, they used Tora Bora as his last known location to create distance-decay probability maps over satellite imagery. At regional scale, they overlaid the distance-decay map on the city islands to identify cities with the highest probability of his presence based on island biogeography theories. At local scale, they searched the city with the highest probability of his taking shelter according to the six life history characteristics. Those characteristics include his; height; health; physical protection; privacy; body guards; and his protection from aerial view. Accordingly to these characteristics, he needed; tall building; a generator; walls over three meters; space between the structure; and trees to cover him from air viewing.
The professors concluded that OBL could only take shelter in Parachinar as the town fits the requirements they outlined, stating that 'the further he moves from his last reported location into the more secular parts of Pakistan or into India, the greater the probability that he will find himself in different cultural surroundings, thereby increasing the probability of his being captured or eliminated.' This statement is wrong on two accounts; first, OBL lived all his life moving into difficult terrains when he was chased by CIA in the nineties even before the attacks of 9/11; secondly, he had equal opportunities to move to other parts of eastern Afghanistan and take refuge with local Taliban who already went underground and with whom he had been living for well over ten years. So why to move to a new unchartered place?
Writing further, they say that OBL should be in a region inhabited by people with similar 'religious and political beliefs.' Again, the authors got it wrong as Parachinar would be the most hostile place for OBL vis-à-vis his religious cum political beliefs. Then they say that OBL has a small entourage of body guards. As I mentioned earlier Parachinar is a place where a new comer is spotted easily not to speak of a group of foreign body guards. Arguing in favour of their theory they state, that 'Parachinar has a long history of housing mujahideen during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s'. Wrong again; the local Shias did not allow Mujahideens to stay in and around Parachinar during Afghan resistance in 1980s. Similarly, when a group of Shia Hazara tribe migrated and occupied a place near village Zeran in the vicinity of Parachinar, the Sunnis from nearby village of Teri Mengal, complained to Gen Fazal Haq, the then governor of NWFP, who shifted them to Quetta. In such atmosphere it was difficult to house mujahideen soldiers in Parachinar.
They also talk about OBL living in caves. The only place which has dwelling caves in Kurrum agency is Khomasay, near my late mother's village Badama which is about 8-10 kilometres from Parachinar. As a young boy I used to go to that village and play with my friends. The dwellings are so small that I can't imagine a tall person like OBL with long history of chronic illness would survive for a long time. So this theory also looses credentials. Further more, the professors contradict their own theory when they say that 'Smaller cities would greatly reduce his security and privacy, and there are only a small number of structures that appear well-protected in smaller towns'. Parachinar is a small town which hasn't changed for decades, and protecting OBL would be a phenomenal task.
Lastly, the possibility of three buildings projected as the most probable places is pretty non-convincing. Unless they suspect, the residence of political agent, governor's rest house, the residences of government officials, the militia-mess, shalowzan house, the hospital or even the jail, I can't think of any other place, where Osama could be hiding in Parachinar. Theories made on assumptions without knowing about the ground realities could be dangerous especially in the current global environment when western powers are keeping a close watch on a nuclear Pakistan which is facing destabilisation at the hands of the Taliban. And what about those people who believe that OBL is not alive. Late Benazir Bhutto was one of them. Talking to David Frost on Al Jazeera in 2007, she categorically stated that Osama Bin Laden was dead. Her statement was downplayed by the world media for reasons only known to them. The main question is; is Osama alive, if he is; where is he? I don't believe he is in Parachinar as suggested by the two professors from UCLA.
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Firing on school bus
| وقتِ اشاعت: Friday, 27 February, 2009, 07:08 GMT 12:08 PST |
سکول بس فائرنگ میں ڈرائیور ہلاک
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| ضلع ہنگو سُنی شیعہ فسادت کے لحاظ سے انتہائی حساس ہے |
صوبہ سرحد کے ضلع ہنگو میں پولیس کا کہنا ہے کہ نامعلوم مسلح افراد نے سکول کے بچوں کی ایک گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی ہے جس کے نتیجہ میں گاڑی کے ڈرائیور ہلاک جبکہ دو بچے زخمی ہوگئے ہیں۔زخمی بچوں کو ہنگو کے سول ہسپتال میں داخل کرا دیاگیا ہے۔
پولیس کے ایک اہلکار عمر حیات نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ جمعہ کو ہنگو شہر سے چار کلومیٹر دور جنوب کی جانب بہادر بانڈہ کے علاقے میروباک میں نامعلوم مسلح افراد نے سکول کے بچوں کی ایک گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی جس کے نتیجہ میں گاڑی کے ڈرئیور ہلاک جبکہ دو بچے زخمی ہوگئے ہیں۔
پولیس اہلکار کا کہنا تھا کہ اس واقعہ کے بعد ہنگو سے پولیس کی بھاری نفری علاقے میں پہنچ گئی اور مختلف راستوں میں ناکے لگا کر تلاشی شروع کر دی۔لیکن تاحال کسی قسم کی گرفتاری عمل میں نہیں آئی ہے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ فائرنگ کرنے والے مسلح لوگ پیدل تھے اور فائرنگ کے بعد فرار ہوگئے ہیں۔
علاقے میں موجود ایک مقامی صحافی نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ جمعہ کی صبح آٹھ بجے مسلح افراد نے سکول کے قریب ایک سپیڈ بریکر کے اوپر گاڑی پر فائرنگ کی جس کے نتیجہ میں گاڑی کے ڈرائیور اصغر خان ہلاک جبکہ دو بچے ظفر علی اور فرحان علی زخمی ہوگئے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ بچوں کا تعلق اہل تشیع سے بتایا جاتا ہے جو ایک گاؤں سے سکول جا رہے تھے۔انہوں نے کہا کہ علاقے میں سخت کشیدگی پائی جاتی ہے۔اور اس واقعہ کے بعد تمام راستے غیر اعلانیہ طور پر بند کر دیےگئے ہیں۔
یاد رہے کہ ضلع ہنگو سُنی شیعہ فسادت کے لحاظ سے انتہائی حساس ہے۔جہاں ایک دوسرے پر حملے معمول بن گئے ہیں۔لیکن یہ پہلی دفعہ ہے کہ سکول کے بچوں کی گاڑی کو نشانہ بنایا گیا ہے۔
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