WEEKLY REPORT 16 TO 22 JANUARY 2012
North Waziristan Agency:
On 16 January, Intercepted militant radio communications indicate that the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Hakimullah Mehsud, may have been killed in a recent US drone strike, intelligence officials said on Sunday. However, a Taliban official denied the death of TTP supremo.
On 16 January, The Pakistani Taliban on Sunday denied reports of the killing of their leader Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack in North Waziristan Agency and termed it an enemy tactic to locate his whereabouts.
On 18 January, Annoyed with the silence of the government and other players over the US drone intrusions, gun-totting tribesmen took things in their hands on Tuesday and fired at the drones that appeared over North Waziristan Agency.
On 22 January, The Taliban have warned masked men belonging to various Jihadi groups against detaining people on suspicion of spying, said a pamphlet distributed in Miranshah, the headquarters of lawless North Waziristan Agency.
Bajaur Agency:
On 16 January, Speakers at a seminar here on Sunday urged the educated people of the country to create awareness about the bad impact of early marriages on the society.
On 20 January, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) has condemned the militants` activities in the tribal areas saying that some elements wanted to create lawlessness and terrorize local people by indulging in such activities.
Khyber Agency:
On 16 January, The Political Agent of Khyber Agency has suspended 80 ‘Khasadar’ (local militia) personnel and three political ‘moharrars’ (record keepers) of the Takhta Bag check post over charges of corruption and bribery.
On 18 January, Pakistan on Tuesday assured Afghanistan that it would resolve within 7 to 10 days the issue of 700 Afghan containers held up due to policy of suspension of NATO supply. Both countries have also resolved to enhance the current trade volume from $2.5 billion to $5 billion by 2015.
On 18 January, Three persons were injured when a remote-controlled explosive device was detonated in Sadukhel village in Landikotal, tribal sources said on Tuesday.
On 19 January, At least three militants were killed when they clashed with volunteers of a peace committee in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Wednesday.
On 20 January, Pakistan has said that the NATO supply route to Afghanistan has not been reopened, as Islamabad is reviewing the current situation.
On 21 January, The number of destroyed schools rose to 64 in Khyber Agency on Friday when another government-run school was blown up by suspected militants at the Torkham border, official and tribal sources said.
On 21 January, Four militants and two security men were killed in different incidents in Khyber Agency while an elder of Mohmand tribal region was shot dead in Peshawar on Friday.
On 22 January, The security forces foiled a terror bid by defusing a an explosive device attached to 16 mortar shells in Sultankhel village of Landikotal subdivision Khyber Agency, officials said on Saturday.
On 22 January, A militant was killed by unidentified gunmen in Shalobar area of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency on Saturday, local sources said.
On 22 January, Around 390 families from Khyber Agency took refuge in Jalozai (internally displaced persons (IDP) camp on Saturday as an intensified crackdown on militants has triggered displacements from the areas of Shalobar tribe, officials said.
On 22 January, Security forces on Saturday arrested 35 people in the wake of Friday’s bombing of a school in Torkham.
Kurram Agency:
On 22 January, A security official was killed and two others injured in bomb blasts in Kurram Agency on Saturday.
Mohmand Agency:
On 17 January, Journalist community have strongly condemned the murder of their tribal colleague Mukaram Khan Atif and announced three-day mourning.
On 22 January, An official of the Levies Force sustained injuries while defusing an explosive device at an under-construction check post in Halimzai tehsil of Mohmand Agency on Saturday, official said.
On 22 January, Four security men received injuries when their vehicle was targeted with a remote controlled explosive device near Mian Mandi Bazaar in Haleemzai tehsil of Mohmand Agency on Saturday.
Peshawar:
On 17 January, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said the United States talks with the Afghan Taliban won’t be result-oriented unless Pakistan and Afghanistan are included in the quest for peace.
On 17 January, Two cops were killed when unidentified gunmen ambushed a van near the cement factory on the Kohat-Rawalpindi Road, local sources said on Monday.
On 17 January, The Fata Lawyers Forum has expressed concern over delay in implementation of amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
On 17 January, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar has said that law and order situation in the province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is far better than that of past few years.
On 17 January, Inspector General of Frontier Corps Maj. General Nadir Zeb has rejected having any type of contact with Taliban and said that security forces were determined to restore peace in the tribal areas.
On 17 January, Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani is not the first chief executive who has been served with a contempt notice by the apex court as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif faced a similar case in 1997.
On 18 January, Mukarram Khan Atif, a senior tribal journalist and correspondent for the Voice of America and a private TV news channel, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in a local mosque in the Shabqadar Tehsil of Charsadda district on Tuesday, police sources said.
On 18 January, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will seek continued foreign assistance from international aid agencies and donor organizations for rehabilitation of militancy-affected Malakand Division.
On 19 January, Terrorists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have launched a new psychological campaign to hire recruits to fight against the Pakistan security forces, sources here revealed.
On 19 January, Journalists in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas held protest demonstrations against killing of their colleague Mukarram Khan Atif, who was shot dead by unidentified persons in Shabqadar on Tuesday.
On 19 January, Lack of funds was hampering the efforts of FATA Olympic Association to start sports activities in all the militancy-battered tribal areas to a desired level, sources said.
On 19 January, The Dir Scouts personnel have flushed out militants and restored peace in Dir by rendering great sacrifices during the ongoing fight against terrorism, said Dir Scouts Operation Commander, Col Kamran Aslam while addressing the passing out parade of the 300 new Frontier Corps recruits here at Balambat on Wednesday.
On 20 January, The local police defused explosive devices planted at a school in Kotla Syedan on Thursday, official sources said.
On 20 January, Six people, among them a police official, were injured when a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up to avoid arrest, sources said.
On 20 January, Condemning the murder of journalist Mukarram Khan Atif of Mohmand Agency, media-person of Peshawar and different tribal agencies hold a protest demonstration and a rally here on Thursday, asking the Taliban leadership to clarify why they were targeting journalists.
On 21 January, Security officials have said that though one suicide bomber had blown himself up at a checkpoint in Nowshera district on Thursday, there was one more around and had managed to reach Mardan where he could carry out an attack any time.
On 21 January, The police claimed to have arrested another militant in a raid conducted on a house in the outskirts of Nowshera city on Friday.
On 21 January, The militants fired three mortar shells at the Bannu Sugar Mills in the limits of Ghuriwala Police Station on Thursday night but it caused no loss of life, sources said.
On 21 January, The five-member leadership council of different Taliban groups on Friday issued a leaflet which declared that masked men of “jihadi” groups were not authorized to pick up people on spying or other charges without informing the council members.
On 22 January, A government school in Narshak area of district Mardan was partially damaged when an explosive device planted by unidentified miscreants went off.
On 22 January, Fifteen soldiers stood blindfolded, handcuffed to each other on a barren hilltop as one of their bearded Taliban captors held an AK-47 rifle and spoke with fury about revenge. He left no doubt what would come at any second.
Mehran Ali Khan, Research Asst. FATA Research Centre, Islamabad