Saturday, March 26, 2011

12 freed out of 45 kidnapped in Kurram Agency


 12 freed out of 45 kidnapped in Kurram Agency

 Updated at: 1047 PST,  Saturday, March 26, 2011
12 freed out of 45 kidnapped in Kurram Agency PARACHANAR: Twelve persons including women and children were set free out of the 45 kidnapped by the armed persons at Bagun area of Kurram Agency yesterday.

Sources said that out of the 45 persons, who were yesterday abducted by the armed persons at Bagun area of Lower Kurram Agency, 12 have been released, which included five women and seven children. 

While out of the 13 dead in yesterday incident, the bodies of three persons were shifted over here and buried after the funeral prayer.

The injured shifted to Ali Zai and Parachanar hospitals are under medical care.
 

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Militants kill 13, abduct 45 in Kurram ambush

The Nation Newspaper Pakistan

Militants kill 13, abduct 45 in Kurram ambush

Published: March 26, 2011
Militants kill 13, abduct 45 in Kurram ambush
PESHAWAR - At least thirteen persons were killed and 10 others injured while 45 passengers were kidnapped along with three vehicles, when armed militants ambushed a convoy of buses in Lower Kurram Agency on Friday. 
Tribal sources said passenger buses were on way from Peshawar to Parachinar when unknown militants ambushed them with sophisticated weapons in Bagan area of Lower Kurram Agency. The militants after attacking the convoy of buses kidnapped 45 passengers. They also drove away three vehicles with them, besides setting two of them to fire. The incident resulted in the killing of 13 persons and wounding 10 others. The injured were shifted to Ghalezai and Parachinar hospitals. 
The injured told media persons that when they reached Bagan area, some masked militants attacked their vehicles with sophisticated weapons. They said some of the passengers were kidnapped while those who tried to escape were beaten up brutally. They informed that militants have kidnapped around 45 passengers who were taken away in three vehicles. 
It bears mentioning here that Bagan area is one of the sensitive areas of Kurram Agency where more than 300 persons have so far been killed and hundreds of others kidnapped in deferent terrorist activities. 
After a peace agreement with Taliban, it was the fourth time that peaceful passengers were targeted in the area. 
Agencies add: Militants ambushed a convoy of vehicles carrying members of an anti-Taliban Shia tribe in Kurram Agency on Friday, killing thirteen and wounding ten.
Those killed belonged to the Turi tribe in the Kurram region, whose people have blocked Taliban militants from the Haqqani network - one of the most dangerous Taliban factions - from using their territory to cross into Afghanistan. Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between the Turi and their Taliban-backed rivals in recent months.
There have been attempts by Taliban to strike peace deals with the Turi tribe that could give them access to remote strategic areas on the Afghan border.
Government officials in the region confirmed the attack but said they did not have any details about the kidnapping.
 

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New attack on Parachinar road; 8 killed, 45 kidnapped


New attack on Parachinar road; 8 killed, 45 kidnapped

By Hussain Afzal | From the Newspaper
The attack is the latest blow to a peace deal signed in February to end a four- conflict which has claimed lives of hundreds of people belonging to both sects. – File Photo by AP
PARACHINAR: Masked terrorists ambushed four mini-buses near Bagun town in Kurram agency on Friday. They set on fire one minibus and kidnapped 45 passengers and seized the three other vehicles. According to agency reports, at least eight people were killed in the attack.
The vehicles were coming to Parachinar from Peshawar and, according to sources, most of the passengers belonged to the Shia community.
The sources said that the gunmen later freed five women and seven children.
In a similar attack in mid-March terrorists killed nine people on the Parachinar road.
A tribal elder in Alizai town said that three bodies had been retrieved and the two injured had been taken to hospitals.
"We have reports that eight people have been killed and 45 others have been kidnapped," he said.
The attack is the latest blow to a peace deal signed in February to end a four- conflict which has claimed lives of hundreds of people belonging to both sects.
The agreement was enforced after all the players concerned pledged to honour it in letter and spirit.
People of Kurram travelling between Parachinar and Peshawar have been frequently attacked in Hangu district.
A few days ago, a minibus coming from Parachinar was attacked and 11 passengers were killed. A few days later, eight people were injured in a similar attack.
The Thall-Parachinar road was closed to traffic as tension gripped the volatile area after Friday's ambush.
Local people said the political administration and law-enforcement agencies are saying nothing about the number of casualties.
"Officials are hiding information about fatalities," said a tribal elder in Alizai which is adjacent to Bagun.
According to Mehbood Ali, one of the injured passengers, the vehicles were attacked with automatic weapons by masked terrorists. He said anyone trying to flee was shot, adding that the 45 passengers who were kidnapped appeared to have been taken to central Kurram.
There is widespread unease in the region over the increasing number of attacks on passenger vehicles despite the peace agreement.
Meanwhile, terrorists fired mortar shells at a school in Piwar village near the Afghan border on Friday, but there was no casualty.


 

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Friday, March 25, 2011

8 killed, 20 abducted in lower Kurram

8 killed, 20 abducted in lower Kurram

Updated at 1445 PST Friday, March 25, 2011
HANGU: At least eight persons were killed and four wounded in armed persons' firing on passenger vehicles besides twenty persons were also abducted along with the vehicle, Geo News reported.

Unknown armed persons opened fires on a caravan of vehicles on way to Parachanar from Tul at Bugan area of lower Kurram Agency. Two vehicles were set on fire by the armed persons, report said. The injured have been shifted to Sada Hospital of Kurram Agency. 

Following the incident, the forces cordoned off the area and started search operation.

More than twenty persons have lost their lives in four attacks on passenger vehicles since the peace agreement made one and a half month ago. 
 

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Convoy in Pakistan ambushed by gunmen

BBC

breaking news

Convoy in Pakistan ambushed by gunmen

At least eight people have been killed and 15 kidnapped as gunmen attacked vehicles travelling through a volatile district of north-west Pakistan, officials say.
The ambush is said to have occurred in the Bagan area of the Kurram tribal agency. About five others were injured.
It is unclear how many vehicles were attacked by the gunmen. Reports say those targeted were Shia Muslims.
There have been a number of sectarian attacks in the area in recent years.
But the area in question has seen a recent peace deal between rival Shia and Sunni Muslim tribes, correspondents say.
The attack is said to have occurred on the main road that runs through the Kurram tribal agency connecting the regional capital with the city of Peshawar.
Violence had kept the road closed until the peace deal earlier this year, the Associated Press news agency reports.
 

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Eight killed in Kurram attack

The Express Tribune

Eight killed in Kurram attack

By AFP / Express
Published: March 25, 2011
Security forces kill seven militants in Lower Orakzai. PHOTO: FILE/APP
Eight people were killed and five wounded Friday when gunmen opened fire on two vehicles carrying Shiite Muslims in Pakistan's lawless tribal region in suspected sectarian violence, officials said.
The vehicles were ambushed in Bagan town of Kurram district, near the Afghan border, and the victims "were all Shiite Muslims", a security official said.
The area has a history of sectarian clashes between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shiites.
Local administration official Fazal Hussain told AFP the Shiites in a three-vehicle caravan were heading from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
"The attackers came in two vehicles. They opened fire and fled, leaving eight people dead, including a woman and a child," he said.
Security forces kill 7 in Lower Orakzai
Security forces on Friday targeted militant hideouts and killed seven suspected terrorists in Upper Orakzai Agency.
The forces attacked militant hideouts in Shakartangi, Ghaljo and Mamezai areas of the agency, destroying two of them.
In continuing operations to restore law and order in the region, security forces also arrested several militants.
Militants blow up girls' schools
Unidentified militants blew up two girls' primary schools in Khyber Agency on the same day.
The militants targeted Hukum Khan Girls' School and Azam Khel Primary School with explosives in the Landi Kotal area.
The school buildings were completely destroyed however no casualties were reported in the incidents.
Militants have often targeted schools in the region, 16 of which have been in Landi Kotal alone. A total of 45 schools have been destroyed in Khyber Agency.
Militants arrested in Lower Dir
Security forces rounded up 140 suspects during a search operation in various areas of Lower Dir.
DPO Lower Dir Saleem Marwat said that a mobile van of the security forces was targeted by the unidentified attackers during the operation.
In a remote control blast, two security personnel were killed and two others were injured.
A First Investigation Report (FIR) was registered against the attackers at the Munda Police Station.


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Eight killed in suspected sectarian shooting in Kurram

Eight killed in suspected sectarian shooting in Kurram

AFP

The area has a history of sectarian clashes between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shias. — Photo by AFP
PESHAWAR: Eight people were killed and five wounded Friday when gunmen opened fire on two vehicles carrying Shia Muslims in Pakistan's Kurram tribal region in suspected sectarian violence, officials said.
The vehicles were ambushed in the Bagan town of Kurram district, near the Afghan border, and the victims "were all Shia Muslims", a security official said.
The area has a history of sectarian clashes between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shias.
Local administration official Fazal Hussain told AFP the Shias in a three-vehicle caravan were heading from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
"The attackers came in two vehicles. They opened fire and fled, leaving eight people dead, including a woman and a child," he said.
 
SOURCE: http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/25/eight-killed-in-suspected-sectarian-shooting-in-kurram.html

 

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Gunmen kill 8 in attack on minibus in Pakistan

AP Associated Press
Gunmen kill 8 in attack on minibus in Pakistan
By HUSSAIN AFZAL 
Associated Press
Mar 25, 2011

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Gunmen attacked a minibus carrying mostly Shiite Muslims and killed eight people on Friday in a stretch of northwestern Pakistan that has seen a recent peace deal between rival Sunni and Shiite tribes, a government official said.
The gunmen who carried out the ambush in the Bagan area of the Kurram tribal region also kidnapped 18 people from the bus, said Javid Khan, a local administrator. The attack was the latest blow to the peace deal, which was meant to end a four-year conflict that cost hundreds of lives, but has failed to extinguish violence in the area.
The bus was attacked as it was traveling on the main road that runs through Kurram that connects the main town in the region, Parachinar, with Peshawar, the capital of nearby Khyber Pakhtunwkha province, said Khan.
Violence had kept the road closed until the peace deal was struck in February.
Five people were wounded in the attack, said Khan. The bus was mostly carrying people from the Toori tribe, one of the main Shiite tribes that struck the peace deal, he said.
A similar attack killed nine people in mid-March who were traveling on the road from Parachinar, a Shiite-dominated town.
It is unclear how the Shiite tribes will respond following Friday's incident and whether the peace deal will be scrapped.
Tribesmen in Kurram have reported that the Haqqani network - a fiercely independent branch of the Afghan Taliban and a major enemy of U.S. and NATO forces - had helped cut the deal with the Shiites so it could use Kurram as a staging ground for fighting in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, who adhere to a hard-line interpretation of Sunni Islam, have at times exploited sectarian and tribal feuds to spread their influence along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
 

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Action urged against Kurram peace deal violators

PARACHINAR: Local leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) on Wednesday urged the governor to take action against the militants violating the Kurram peace agreement.

Speaking at a press conference, Senior Vice-President of PML-Q Youth Wing (Fata) Ashtar Ali Turi, Israr Hussain and others said the militants were trying to sabotage the nascent peace accord by attacking passenger vehicles on the Thall-Parachinar Road and other routes in Kurram tribal region.

"The attacks on passenger vehicles are highly deplorable. It speaks volumes about the failure of the government to implement the peace deal," Ashtar Ali Turi said, adding that the militants were bent upon vitiating peace in Kurram. He said the tribesmen welcomed the peace deal as it had put an end to their miseries. "We had assured the government and grand tribal jirga of our cooperation in the implementation of the peace accord but the militants started targeting Turi tribesmen to sabotage it," he added. 

He said eleven persons were killed and scores of others injured in attacks on passenger coaches in Doaba town and Thall tehsil in Hangu district. "Several tribesmen have been kidnapped. Those involved in the attacks and kidnapping incidents have been identified but the authorities are unwilling to take them to task," Ashtar Ali Turi claimed. He said the peace accord would receive a serious setback if the government failed to take stern action against those flouting the agreement.
 

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Militants release 20 Kurram tribesmen; four still missing


Militants release 20 Kurram tribesmen; four still missing

DAWN.COM

Efforts made by the tribal elders forced militants to free the abducted men.—AP/File photo
PESHAWAR: Militants on Wednesday released 20 people who were kidnapped from Lower Kurram, DawnNews reported.
Militants had kidnapped 24 tribesmen along with their 15 vehicles from the Baggan, Parao and Talokunj areas of Lower Kurram Agency and shifted them to their hideout in the central Kurram on Tuesday.
Efforts made by the tribal elders forced militants to free the abducted men, however, four of them were still missing, said sources.
The political administration has taken notice of the incident and started investigation
 

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