Acts of Terrorism in Pakistan

[Flintlock]

Seven police killed in Pakistan

Police in Pakistan say seven officers have been killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Mianwali in Punjab near restive North-West Frontier province.

Residents in the town heard gunfire and an explosion as the checkpoint building was attacked before dawn.

Pakistani officials said it was not clear who had carried out the attack.

On Thursday a suicide bomb attack killed 33 people, and left dozens more injured, in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, also in Punjab.

Troops and police have been fighting pro-Taleban militants in North-West Frontier province.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Seven police killed in Pakistan

 

[RabzonKhan]

Moral dilemma of our times

By Irfan Husain
February 07, 2009

AS we enter into an era of unending asymmetric wars against non-state warriors with a wide range of goals, we need to re-examine the rules of engagement.

For instance, when terrorists are trying to topple the state and all the institutions it rests on, should they be given the protection a constitution guarantees citizens? When we learn of the public beheadings and floggings being carried out by the Taliban in Swat and the tribal areas in the name of the version of Islam they want to impose, the temptation is to argue that they should be served a dose of their own medicine.

To an extent, this is already happening. Witness the case of the ‘disappeared’: scores of people have been kidnapped and tortured on the suspicion that they are connected to one or the other of the terrorist organisations that have found Pakistan so hospitable. Several accounts have appeared in the press alleging that these suspects were locked up in safe houses run by various intelligence agencies for months, and subjected to the most appalling treatment.

Elsewhere, too, this erosion of personal liberties and the recourse to torture has raised questions about the moral foundations of modern states in a time of conflict. Images from Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other infamous detention centres underline the dilemma we face. The question boils down to whether those wishing to inflict their agenda on the rest of us through the use of indiscriminate violence and unspeakable atrocities deserve the protection of the very state they seek to dismantle.

This question takes on added urgency in the wake of wholesale arrests of Lashkar-i-Taiba/Jamaatud Dawa members in Pakistan. In our legal system, the burden of proof rests on the prosecution. Can the state really build a solid case against 125 suspects? Do the prosecutors have the kind of proof that can stand up to the scrutiny of a court? And more to the point, should people sworn to pulling down the legal system be tried by its rules?

Given the reality of our inefficient, archaic legal process, we can safely assume that the majority of those being tried will get bail, and then be released on grounds of insufficient evidence. They will then go off and cause further carnage in Pakistan, and perhaps abroad. This has been the pattern thus far, and there is no reason to expect that things will be any different this time.

Another cause for concern is the fear these jihadis inspire. Some judges have refused to preside over the trials of terrorists. Similarly, witnesses have abruptly changed their testimony. Confessions have been deemed to be tainted because they are alleged to have been extracted under duress.

Given these practical difficulties in obtaining convictions in many cases of terrorism, how does society protect itself from these killers? In other countries, laws have been tightened to deal with terror suspects. Human rights activists have been rightly concerned about the possible misuse of such draconian laws. The Patriot Act that was made law by Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 contains provisions that have caused much hardship, especially among immigrant Muslim communities.

Those responsible for maintaining law and order argue that citizens must be prepared to surrender some freedom as a price for their security. Advocates of personal freedom maintain that if we give up our hard-won liberties, the terrorists will have succeeded to a large extent.

In Pakistan, where we are at the sharp end of the struggle against jihadi killers, the outcome of this debate can mean the difference between life and death. In Sri Lanka, the state has put human rights on the back burner as it has battled the Tamil Tigers. The army is now on the verge of victory, albeit at a huge cost in terms of Tamil misery. But as the government rightly argues, the Tamils in the north were being held hostage by the LTTE, and now the survivors have a reasonable chance of living normal lives once Prabhakaran and his evil gang are history.

Can we use this argument in our fight against the Taliban and their offshoots? In practical terms, the government does not have the kind of consensus the Rajapaksa regime has forged in Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, a large segment of the population is either ambivalent towards the jihadis, or support their cause, if not their methods. The media is full of Taliban sympathisers. Even moderate politicians like Nawaz Sharif advocate negotiations instead of force.

The problem with this approach is that it has been tried before, and has failed every time. What is there to talk about with people who want to deny girls an education? How do you negotiate with somebody who insists that women must stay at home, and be denied any public role in society? These basic rights are simply not negotiable. One can talk to people who want a greater share of the pie, or a bigger piece of land. But one cannot negotiate with people who want to drag us back to the dark ages by force. After all, we have the example of what the Taliban did when they were in power in Afghanistan.

So we return to the dilemma of how to treat these people: are they citizens who deserve the same rights as the rest of us, or do we subject them to the rigours of the benighted law they seek to impose on society? If we descend to their level of barbarism, do we not become their mirror image? And yet, if we play by conventional rules, we run the real risk that they will win.

Striking the right balance is a challenge most democracies face in these troubled times. Across the world, there have been gross miscarriages of justice, and the innocent have suffered incarceration and disgrace. At least one innocent person in Britain was killed under new shoot-to-kill powers given to the police. But equally, many terror plots have been thwarted.

For my part, I am convinced that only a robust response will deter the killers who have now taken control of large swathes of Pakistan. They have only contempt for the existing legal system, as well as for the constitution, and have thus placed themselves outside its protection.

 

[TruthSeeker]

The Patriot Act that was made law by Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 contains provisions that have caused much hardship, especially among immigrant Muslim communities.

There is a tremendous amount of misguided "hype" surrounding the Patriot Act. What is the factual basis for the statement above? People seem to forget that ANY human system has flaws that result in a certain amount of unintended negative consequences. Look at auto transportation (car crash deaths), medicine (misdiagnosed patients, wrong drug applications), food (salmonella poisoning), education (mishandled students who have learning disabilities), criminal justice (wrong convictions due to police corruption), etc., etc. For all the belly-aching about torture by the US in the WoT, only 3 prisoners were subjected to waterboarding. We need to have some perspective and stop demanding perfection of the human beings that are trying their level best to protect us from the inhumanity of these terrorists.

 

[Flintlock]

Mortar shells kill 12 in Pakistan
February 10, 2009 - 12:34AM

At least 12 people, including several children, were killed when mortar shells slammed into a town in northwest Pakistan on Monday, local officials and residents say.

Several shells landed in an open area on the outskirts of Darra Adam Khel, where children were playing and people were watching, they said.

"At least 12 people were killed and six injured, all were civilians," local official Atif Khan told AFP. The casualties were caused by mortar shells, which also damaged some nearby houses, he added.

Nobody claimed immediate responsibility for the shelling.

Security forces denied involvement. "No military operation is currently underway in the area," a security official said, requesting anonymity.

An angry mob of around 200 people protesting against the killings blocked a highway linking the town with Peshawar, the main city in North West Frontier Province, and southern Pakistan.

The town, known for its weapons market, has become a stronghold of Taliban extremists. A Polish engineer, who was beheaded at the weekend, was kidnapped by a Taliban group in the area last September.

Unrest is spreading along Pakistan's northwest border with Afghanistan. Government troops have pressed offensives against Islamist militants in the semi-autonomous tribal region and the once scenic valley of Swat.
Mortar shells kill 12 in Pakistan

 

[Flintlock]

GEO Pakistan
Two alleged US spies killed in N Waziristan
Updated at: 1925 PST, Monday, February 09, 2009
Two alleged US spies killed in N Waziristan MIRANSHAH: The militants killed two persons in North Waziristan and Mohmand Agency on charges of spying for the United States.

The body of an Afghan national was found on Monday near roadside in the Spinwam area of Miranshah. A note found near body said that he had been spying for the US.

The bullet-riddled body of a tribesman, Rafiq Khan, was found from Gongat Jawar area in Bajaur Agency.

The notes found with the bodies’ said that anyone spying for would meet the same fate.
Two alleged US spies killed in N Waziristan - GEO.tv

 

[S-2]

The surest way to off somebody in Pakistan is accuse them of spying for America-or India. Dead men. Doesn't have to be true and won't be checked. There's too much satisfaction by killing a "spy" for the yanks, nevermind the facts.

If we've spies in FATA then they carry ISI identity cards and run their own networks. This isn't Britain and C.I.A. networks in FATA are almost certainly a mirage. The idea certainly is convenient though and I've little doubt that AQAM leaders are looking over their shoulders these days.

Never know who'll blow the whistle that calls in PREDATOR nor the reason. Vendetta is too commonplace up there.

 

[Flintlock]

Civilians, kids among 33 killed in Darra, Landikotal, Swat

18 cops wounded in Bannu suicide bombing

Tariq Saeed

Peshawar—A number of districts and tribal areas of NWFP continued to be in the grip of violence and bloodshed as at least eighteen innocent people including five kids were reportedly killed by mortar shells in Darra Adam Khel, while as many as 18 cops were injured seriously when a suicide bomber struck at a check post in Bannu district.

Likewise, as the security forces intensified their operation in volatile Swat, the planes heavily pounded militant’s hideouts in the region killing five people including a civilian.

Reports reaching here said the fighting between the security forces and the militants in Darra Adam Khel, FR Kohat, led to tragic killing of some 17 innocent tribals who were hit by a mortar shell. Sources said it all started when the militants launched an assault at a security post at Abbas Chowk killing a security personal and injuring a few others.

The security forces, as the reports say, retaliated with full might — and resorted to heavy shelling on the insurgent’s dens using artillery from the Kohat Cantt. In the meanwhile, as the locals say, a mortar shell fired from unknown destination hit a Hujra in Qasim Khel killing a civilian and wounding a few others. As large number of people gathered on the scene, another shell landed at the site this time killing 14 more people. Five innocent children also fell prey to the mortar shells.

While the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the mortar shell was fired by the militants, the locals and the independent sources told Observer it was fired by the security forces who they said were acting against the militants in haphazard style without caring of the collateral damage which has assumed alarming proportion.

Soon after the incident thousands of infuriated inhabitants of the Qasim Khel thronged to the roads and blocked Indus Highway near Darra for all kind of traffic by placing the dead bodies in the centre of the road. They were chanting slogans asking the government to stop killing innocent people while operating against the militants.

On the other hand some 18 policemen were wounded when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives laden vehicle near a police post some three kilometer west of Bannu City.

Reports reaching here said a suicide bomber wanted to ram his explosive laden vehicle into a police check post at Baran Bridge Monday early morning. However , sensing his intentions the cops on duty fired at him in order to keep him away from the post. In the meanwhile, the suicide bomber blew up the vehicle a few yards away from the post injuring at least eighteen cops.

Police officials say the checkpost was destroyed completely. The cops were rushed to the district headquarters hospital Bannu for treatment where the reports say two cops were in critical condition. Those wounded include 16 policemen and two FC Jawaans.

Meanwhile around a dozen tribesmen were killed when a factional fighting broke out between two rival groups in remote Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency on Monday. Many more were wounded seriously, confirmed the officials.

According to political authorities one of the two rival groups occupied Hyder Kando and other key points in the region. The law enforcers rushed to the site to stop the fighting.

Sophisticated arms were being used in the fighting between two factions of religious organizations. A group has claimed to capture 12 persons of the rival faction. The situation was tense in the area till the filing of this report.

In Swat, as the officials confirmed, the security forces have intensified the ongoing operation against the militants challenging the writ of the government and the gunship helicopters, struck hard on their hide outs in the outskirts of Swat killing at least four militants while a civilian also reportedly fell victim to the strikes.

The militants also torched a boy’s school and a Basic Health Unit (BHU) in Matta Tehsil in Swat district on Monday while a bridge was blown up at Kaladand area near Mingora city. According to security officials, some unknown miscreants put on fire a boy’s school and BHU in Nazirabad area on the outskirt of Matta. Furniture and buildings of school and the BHU were fully damaged due to arson attack. The religious hardliners , according to rough estimates, have so for set ablaze around 200 girls and boys schools.

Meanwhile, a bridge (Takta Band by-pass bridge) near Mingora city was blown up on the night between Sunday and Monday. The miscreants used explosives which exploded with a big bang and razed the bridge to ground. It was the 22nd connecting bridge blown up by the militants.

In Wana, South Waziristan Agency Naib Ameer a central chief of Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud has reportedly survived attempt on his life. One commander was killed when their vehicle was detonated with remote control bomb in Makeen area in South Waziristan Agency late last night.

Political Naib Tehsildar Tehsil Tiarza Jamshed Khan told PO that unknown people targeted the vehicle of Naib Ameer Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (TTP) Maulana Noor Sayyed with remote control device while he was on his way back home to Barond village after attending a meeting in Makeen. The vehicle smashed into pieces after the blast, he added.

The explosive device planted on a road side near Tanga Quresh in Tehsil Tiarza exploded with big bang resultantly Commander Abdul Malik Shimankhel died on the spot. Sources said adding the TTP deputy chief remained unhurt.

Top Stories | Pakistan Observer Newspaper online edition

 

[waraich66]

The surest way to off somebody in Pakistan is accuse them of spying for America-or India. Dead men. Doesn't have to be true and won't be checked. There's too much satisfaction by killing a "spy" for the yanks, nevermind the facts.

If we've spies in FATA then they carry ISI identity cards and run their own networks. This isn't Britain and C.I.A. networks in FATA are almost certainly a mirage. The idea certainly is convenient though and I've little doubt that AQAM leaders are looking over their shoulders these days.

Never know who'll blow the whistle that calls in PREDATOR nor the reason. Vendetta is too commonplace up there.

Some body believe or not when there is WAR on going element of spy of first thing come in mind,you are right there is no need to send spy in settle areas but in FATA where PA have limited control need US paid spy ,same practice Russian were also doing during Afghan-Russian War.

 

[Jihad]

EDITED

Bye bye!

 

[RabzonKhan]

Terrorist targets

Editorial
Tuesday, February 10, 2009

We sometimes fool ourselves into believing that the curse of militancy is limited chiefly to the remote, tribal areas where the Taliban and their allies are in command. From time to time we are reminded that we are wrong and that the militants have the ability to strike virtually anywhere in the country. The attack on a police check-post at Mianwali, in which eight policemen died, is the latest indication of just how far the killers can reach. As has happened before, words of customary regret have been spoken by ministers and compensation promised to the families of the young men who died after militants first shot at them and then hurled an explosive device at the building they occupied.

As has happened before, there is every possibility that the killers will not be apprehended. This means that more such acts of violence are encouraged. It also shows that the terrorists are able to do as they please. The messages from this are many. Ignoring the issue is obviously foolhardy. Intelligence reviews say that the militant outfits which had initially aimed to take control of the tribal areas now seek command over the whole of NWFP. There is indeed evidence they may be looking beyond this with organized efforts now on to gain influence in Quetta. The threat then is very real. We would be blind to imagine that the terrible events we have seen in Swat cannot take place elsewhere. The destruction of life in that valley has been swift and the assault came unexpectedly. The same sequence of events can be replicated in other places. The most recent attack has shown the terrorists are capable of striking in Punjab too. They have in the past hit targets in major cities. For these reasons we need a holistic, carefully planned policy to defeat them. There is no alternative. All the provincial governments and the federal setup must work together for this. The men carrying out attacks such as the one in Mianwali must be identified and brought to trial. Otherwise the dangers we face will grow and the demoralization within security forces will increase, further impeding the ability to tackle terrorism.

 

[S-2]

"For these reasons we need a holistic, carefully planned policy to defeat them. There is no alternative. All the provincial governments and the federal setup must work together for this."

I fear that Pakistan will not react in sufficient time.

Look at Afghanistan. David Kilcullen has called THIS year the one which is critical for Afghanistan. Yet B.O is conducting a "comprehensive policy review" which won't be completed before April. We may not see any of the promised reinforcements before then. We'll be well into (beyond) the planting season.

Some have suggested that were we to identify brigades today for Afghanistan that we couldn't get them on the ground and effectively deployed and oriented in time to assist the pre-elections and election. This is a critical event for Afghanistan but we've squandered so much time and may be continuing in light of urgent near-term needs that require immediate attention.

So too Pakistan. It's very, very late in the game for these comprehensive reviews, inclusively drawn, and soliciting all viewpoints. It's time to begin translating these vague notions of "civil assistance" and "security enhancements" into real on-the-ground production.

Still appears too much political posturing given the urgency of the situation...

 

[RescueRanger]

"For these reasons we need a holistic, carefully planned policy to defeat them. There is no alternative. All the provincial governments and the federal setup must work together for this."

I fear that Pakistan will not react in sufficient time.

Look at Afghanistan. David Kilcullen has called THIS year the one which is critical for Afghanistan. Yet B.O is conducting a "comprehensive policy review" which won't be completed before April. We may not see any of the promised reinforcements before then. We'll be well into (beyond) the planting season.

Some have suggested that were we to identify brigades today for Afghanistan that we couldn't get them on the ground and effectively deployed and oriented in time to assist the pre-elections and election. This is a critical event for Afghanistan but we've squandered so much time and may be continuing in light of urgent near-term needs that require immediate attention.

So too Pakistan. It's very, very late in the game for these comprehensive reviews, inclusively drawn, and soliciting all viewpoints. It's time to begin translating these vague notions of "civil assistance" and "security enhancements" into real on-the-ground production.

Still appears too much political posturing given the urgency of the situation...

In Your opinion... Do you feel 60,000 troops will be a sufficient number?
Newsweek: "Obama's Vietnam" Is Afghanistan

 

[S-2]

"In Your opinion... Do you feel 60,000 troops will be a sufficient number?"

Thanks for the Newsweek article.

For the near term, with allies and the full 30,000 reinforcements, that number would actually be closer to 90,000.

It might be barely, if this year matters and depending on the force-mix, just enough. Here are some thoughts on guidelines for success from Fred Kagan-

Planning Victory In Afghanistan- Fred Kagan NRO

Here are some abridged (Kilcullen did a self-editing) comments courtesy of SWJ's Blog provided by David Kilcullen to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently-

Crunch Time For Afghanistan-Pakistan- SWJ Blog w/David Kilcullen

Perversely, we benefited to some degree when other nations began dropping from the fold in Iraq. If a principle of war remains UNITY OF EFFORT we achieved that in-house largely by default. Nonetheless, it was helpful. That's not the case in Afghanstan and everybody has suffered by inclusiveness at the risk of operational efficiency and employment of "best practices" management.

Consider NGOs. Everybody considers their work valuable. NGOs consider their own contributions the same. In fact, they often consider their work as MOST valuable. Understandable given that they've self-selected to a narrowly-defined mandate. Their security requirements, though, must be established from a manpower pool which a battle commander uses to shape his GENERAL responsibilities within a specific area of operation. In cases like this, it's often not enough to have a private security detail.

So security, to me, is number one. I know that, over and over again, we are told that there's no "military victory". What seems missing though is an understanding of establishing base-line security which affords all the other possibilities.

To me that's the point of departure to better things. Without it we're DOA on either side of the border.

 

[Anwar2]

Rabzon

Moral dilemma of our times
By Irfan Husain

Honorable Irfan Hussein sahib has simply repackaged the arguments of L K Advani and Nirendra Moodi supporting POTA.

Each person “recycled” through the Intel Agencies Safe houses wakes up the conscience of 20 more people to rebel against the gross desecration of Pakistan’s sovereignty by our rulers and Generals.

 

[Anwar2]

Dear S-2:

Option “A” proposed by Senator Joseph Lieberman in his “” Crunch Time in Afghanistan-Pakistan”” is about the only workable option.

However the US$ 50 b / year price tag is pure wishful thinking (US$ 25 b on force sustainment + US$ 25 b Stabilization, Aid, Rebuild).

The US has to stay engaged in Iraq on the periphery; has to bribe its way with Russia, has to make a lucrative deal with Iran, has to live with Chinese current account surpluses. Above all, the US has to invest some decent numbers in Pakistan.

The so-called “prevention of 9/11 type repeat attack from Afghan-Pak salient” has an attached tag of perhaps about US$ 100-150 b / year for about two decades.

If the US spends just about 10-15% of the money on a direct “Poll Payout” to the Pashtun people of Afghanistan and Pakistani FATA there will be no problem left. That will be about US$ 10,000 per person in direct aid; a bit less than what the US spends on each Israeli citizen!.

War is an expensive business … perpetual wars cost a helluva lot more!