Blast in Kohat refugee camp

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Responsibility for the blast has been claimed by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and this confirms the sectarian nature of the attack, like the one in Quetta yesterday. The two tribes had also raised Laskhar's against the Taliban and other extremists.

This is not the first time the Laskhar-a-Jhangvi has targetted Shia in collaboration with Al Qaeda, and the goal of these organizations, along with their associates the Taliban and others, remains to instigate sectarian conflict in Pakistan and use that as a means to instigate wider chaos across Pakistan.

This report from September 2009 talks about the sectarian terrorism of the LeJ, Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Kohat Blast and Shift in Taliban Strategy​

Today around 11 o clock, a suicide bomber, striked Asterzai area in Khacha Pakha bazaar, some 17 miles away from Kohat ,on the border of district Hangu, killing at least 25 and injuring more then 64 people and destroying more then 30 shops completely

This was a second attack in Kohat in two days. Two days earlier, three persons were injured in a blast that ripped through a shop of electronic appliances.

Attack was targeted at a crowded location to do maximum damage .The stop of Khacha Pakha is used by passengers as change over to their journey to next destination and this road also linked to Aurak zai Agency.

The area where the attack took place is mixed area but dominated by Shia, most of the injured are and dead are Shia’s. According to analysts this attack was directed towards Ahle Tashie with aim of triggering Shia Sunni clash.

According to BBC Lashker Jhungvi, main ally of TTP and Al Qaeda in Pakistan has taken the responsibility of the suicide attack. According to BBC Urdu LJ spokesman Usman Haider claimed the responsibility and revealed that the attack was revenge of killing of Mollana Amin.

TTP has announced ceasefire with Security forces during holy month of Ramadan but today’s attack proves how un-reliable and liars Taliban are. Recently a shift in Taliban strategy is being felt by some analysts. In this new strategy Taliban are trying to instigate sectarian clash in Pakistani society. They are more interested in killing Shias and other minorities then fighting Security forces.

In Gojra Hangu, DI khan, and Kurram, Aurak Zai agencies , TTP and its Al Qaeda allies were involve in sectarian killings of minorities.

An important source has told me that this attack was a retaliatory attack by Terrorists who blame Shia population supporting Security forces and helping them by providing information and intelligence.

According to a reliable source, sectarian terror group LJ has a very strong base in Aurak Zai agency. Late Hakeem Ullah Mahsud who was operational commander of Baitullah Mahsud had his entire support base in Aurak zai agency. It is believed that Hakeem ullah at some time was member of Lashker e Jhungvi. His hand in killings of Shia’s in Kurram, Aurak zai and Hangu area proves this suspicion.

Aurak zai has a very important strategic Value for Taliban. It joins Dara Adam Khel, an important Arm Market to rest of Tribal Areas and acts as a jugular vain for Taliban movement in Tribal agencies.

Aurak Zai agency traditionally is a conflict area between Shia and Sunnies. Interestingly in Aurak zai three Shia tribes namely Maani Khel, Baramad Khel and Atman Khel have joined forces and have created Qaumi Lashker and kicking out Taliban from their area. Few days ago Taliban attacked school going children in Atman Khel area killing two children in revenge.

After death of Hakeem ullah Mahsud, Commander Tariq and Saif Khan has Taken Charge of sectarian Operations. According to a source, Aurak zai agency is a place where suicide bomber bazaar takes place. Two suicide bombers were purchased by Lashker Islam Mangal Bagh group from here in 2 million rupees who detonated in Khyber.

Suicide bombers coming from Afghanistan, South Punjab and Tribal Areas are trained and indoctrinated here under commander Tariq. Before operation Rah e Nijaat in SWA, Baitullah’s Area was Main training area where Qari Hussein used to train bombers. But after death of Baitullah Mahsud he and other big names are hiding in caves to escape US drone or Pakistan Air Force air attacks.

PAF and Pakistan Army are hitting TTP positions in the agency. TTP is under pressure and according to report on media in few weeks ago, two TTP groups clashed in Kalaya district of Aurak Zai due to frustration.

Analyst believe instead of SWA or NWA, operation in Aurak Zai is required more. People of Pakistan are with government and the way Pakistani forces have gained in past two three months , if forces starts operation on ground against TTP whole Pakistan will be behind its forces and it will be matter of days to finish them from Aurak Zai and destroying their Sectarian base.

Chronicles of Abu Abdul Samad: Kohat Blast and Shift in Taliban Strategy

That part about neutralizing Orakzai appears to have been correct, since Pakistani forces have faced far more opposition from Taliban fighters in Orakzai than they did in SW.

Time for me to get on my soapbox for a minute though - I have mentioned in the past how some of my cousins (the same age as me at the time 12-14) denigrated Shia's to my face and abused them, despite knowing that one of my parents was a Shia. Obscene accusations such as 'Shia have orgies in Imamabargah's, Shia spit in the food of others, Shia kidnap and kill the children of Sunnis' etc. were said to my face.

If this kind of hatred and prejudice can be displayed by cousins towards another cousin's parents, then it is not hard to see why terrorists in the Muslim world have the kind of support they do, and why they continue to operate.

All of you can do your part in changing the Pakistan we live in to one that is civilized and bereft of hatred and prejudice such as that displayed by my cousins by standing up against such prejudice when it is expressed - whether it be your own parents, friends relatives or just some guy at the local mosque.

This is where the accusation leveled by some in the West, that Muslims do not speak up against hatred and prejudice, is true in my opinion.

May the victims RIP, and may the perpetrators, their supporters, and those who in their hearts condone the vilification and murder of Shia or any other sect, rot in hell.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

RIP to the dead.

The archiac Frontier Crimes Regulations which sanction collective punishment on the tribes along with the usual taliban barbarism is to be blamed for this tragedy.
Repealing it would be the first step in dispensing with the mindset which condones collective punishment in the tribal areas.

Please read my previous post - this attack had nothing to do with the FCR, and every thing to do with sectarian terrorists allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. While the lack of education, development and opportunity has allowed these terrorists groups a wider pool to recruit their cannon fodder from, the fact is that the leadership of these groups has no interest in 'development' or whether the FCR is repealed or not.

Perhaps you are forgetting what Sufi Mohammed said, as soon as the Peace Deal in Swat (The Nizam-e-Adl) was signed - democracy is 'un-Islamic', 'the justice system is un-Islamic' education for women is un-Islamic. These terrorists have no legitimate demands, they have nothing that any civilized society can engage in dialog over.

 

[iPhone]

^dude all of that is a simple fix to some extent. Good economic conditions and jobs. People in Pakistan have too much time on their hands to get involved in petit things like these. They are deprived of jobs, education etc they sit around all day and as the saying goes, khali demagh (brain) shaitaan ka ghar hota hai. Give them their basic necessities, give them jobs and a responsibility to spend and pay their bills and we'll see how many are bothered by what shia do in their congregations and what not.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

^dude all of that is a simple fix to some extent. Good economic conditions and jobs. People in Pakistan have too much time on their hands to get involved in petit things like these. They are deprived of jobs, education etc they sit around all day and as the saying goes, khali demagh (brain) shaitaan ka ghar hota hai. Give them their basic necessities, give them jobs and a responsibility to spend and pay their bills and we'll see how many are bothered by what shia do in their congregations and what not.

I don't buy that - I don't buy it because my cousins were pretty pampered and upper middle class. They, and their parents, were not wanting things such as jobs and education.

While a lack of education does play a role, my guess is that a lot of this poison is picked up by kids from their peers and/or relatives. To not recognize that we have a problem in that there are people who feed children and Imams who feed their flock this poison is to hide our heads in the sand, and this issue will continue to fester.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

Please read my previous post - this attack had nothing to do with the FCR, and every thing to do with sectarian terrorists allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. While the lack of education, development and opportunity has allowed these terrorists groups a wider pool to recruit their cannon fodder from, the fact is that the leadership of these groups has no interest in 'development' or whether the FCR is repealed or not.

Perhaps you are forgetting what Sufi Mohammed said, as soon as the Peace Deal in Swat (The Nizam-e-Adl) was signed - democracy is 'un-Islamic', 'the justice system is un-Islamic' education for women is un-Islamic. These terrorists have no legitimate demands, they have nothing that any civilized society can engage in dialog over.

I will add few things.
For instance, people who believe/believed that Taliban are the "man" than I have a question for you.

If Taliban came into power than what would have they changed besides old mentality to label everything "un-Islamic"
People need education, jobs, basic infrastructure etc.
Talibans cannot provide it and our politicians or political generals cannot provide it either.

 

[iPhone]

I don't buy that - I don't buy it because my cousins were pretty pampered and upper middle class. They, and their parents, were not wanting things such as jobs and education.

While a lack of education does play a role, my guess is that a lot of this poison is picked up by kids from their peers and/or relatives. To not recognize that we have a problem in that there are people who feed children and Imams who feed their flock this poison is to hide our heads in the sand, and this issue will continue to fester.

and that's exactly my point. now your cousins and their families are doin well but some people they interact with aren't. Their school friends or acquaintance or some friends' friends they just hung out with. The poison gets transfered from one place and one individual to the other. Now if a huge majority of people in Pakistan had half decent jobs and were getting a good education and were paying their taxes and bills they wouldn't be bother by such venomous talk and wouldn't spread it as much and wont steal electricity as much either. I know that has nothing to with it but when you deprive people of, ..... almost everything, you take away their decency, their ability to reason, their humanity in fact.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

and that's exactly my point. now your cousins and their families are doin well but some people they interact with aren't. Their school friends or acquaintance or some friends' friends they just hung out with. The poison gets transfered from one place and one individual to the other. Now if a huge majority of people in Pakistan had half decent jobs and were getting a good education and were paying their taxes and bills they wouldn't be bother by such venomous talk and wouldn't spread it as much and wont steal electricity as much either. I know that has nothing to with it but when you deprive people of, ..... almost everything, you take away their decency, their ability to reason, their humanity in fact.

What's wrong with the Saudis then?

I don't think education necessarily prevents hatred and prejudice - OBL, Zarqawi, Zawahiri etc. are/were all pretty educated and in some cases pretty wealthy individuals.

There is a need for constant vigilance and active negation of sectarian hatred.

 

[Lilo]

Please read my previous post - this attack had nothing to do with the FCR, and every thing to do with sectarian terrorists allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. While the lack of education, development and opportunity has allowed these terrorists groups a wider pool to recruit their cannon fodder from, the fact is that the leadership of these groups has no interest in 'development' or whether the FCR is repealed or not.

Perhaps you are forgetting what Sufi Mohammed said, as soon as the Peace Deal in Swat (The Nizam-e-Adl) was signed - democracy is 'un-Islamic', 'the justice system is un-Islamic' education for women is un-Islamic. These terrorists have no legitimate demands, they have nothing that any civilized society can engage in dialog over.

AM, You have missed the point i was trying to make by bringing up FCR.

In this attack the taliban/LeJ had the temerity to target a group of refugees queued up for food and later they blew up people rescuing survivors of the first blast. The barbarity of these attacks on innocent civilians would blow the top off any ordinary populace.
But in this case the population in FATA may be rationalizing it already (mostly subconsciously) with thoughts like :

• "its a shia-sunni sectarian thing"
• "the two tribes who are victim of the attack raised a lashkar (tribal militia) to fight Taliban in orakzai - so this is a case of collective collective punishment meted by taliban".

Even if much cant be done immediately about the first thought the second thought premised upon the acceptability of "the collective punishment" can be addressed by repealing FCR. So in the future the victims and the perpetrators of such attacks will get the full measure of sympathy and denunciation which they deserve respectively from the tribal populance and not some thing lesser tempered by claims of "collective responsibility".

To sum it up it is I who demand a repeal of FCR not the taliban.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

AM, You have missed the point i was trying to make by bringing up FCR.

In this attack the taliban/LeJ had the temerity to target a group of refugees queued up for food and later they blew up people rescuing survivors of the first blast. The barbarity of these attacks on innocent civilians would blow the top off any ordinary populace.
But in this case the population in FATA may be rationalizing it already (mostly subconsciously) with thoughts like :

• "its a shia-sunni sectarian thing"
• "the two tribes who are victim of the attack raised a lashkar (tribal militia) to fight Taliban in orakzai - so this is a case of collective collective punishment meted by taliban".

Even if much cant be done immediately about the first thought the second thought premised upon the acceptability of "the collective punishment" can be addressed by repealing FCR. So in the future the victims and the perpetrators of such attacks will get the full measure of sympathy and denunciation which they deserve respectively from the tribal populance and not some thing lesser tempered by claims of "collective responsibility".

To sum it up it is I who demand a repeal of FCR not the taliban.

Are you suggesting that the Tribes are rationalizing the violence of the Taliban against them and therefore are ambivalent to them? I would argue that is an inaccurate assessment, since the majority of the Tribes in areas that have been cleared by the PA are pretty openly supportive of the PA and GoP efforts against the Taliban.

What keeps the tribes from opposing the Taliban all over the place and without a PA presence is not because they are rationalizing the violence, but because the Taliban are able to keep the Tribes quiet through force and intimidation (over 400 Tribal elders killed by the Taliban so far).

The reactions from the Tribes, after Taliban/AQ/LeJ terrorist attacks have not necessarily been that different from reactions in Lahore or Peshawar.

In any case, the FCR is not the problem in itself - the problem is the lack of development and opportunity, and repeal of the FCR, today even, will not address those issues.

 

[iPhone]

What's wrong with the Saudis then?

I don't think education necessarily prevents hatred and prejudice - OBL, Zarqawi, Zawahiri etc. are/were all pretty educated and in some cases pretty wealthy individuals.

There is a need for constant vigilance and active negation of sectarian hatred.

and out of that much saudi population how many people did you mention? ok let's add a couple more in fact a couple thousand more and that still won't be 1 percent of saudi population. Look, I'm not saying a good economic condition alone will evaporate all the hatred, I'm saying it will play a huge, huge, role in it. Why are we (gov't and the army) are insisting on a rebuild of FATA after the operation? putting schools, hospitals, factories etc there to create jobs for people. You give people work so they can afford and pay their expenses that will solve tons of problems, of course an a-hole here and there will surface but that is a far cry from hordes of people focused on sectarian and religious violence.