Top Taliban leader feared dead in Bajaur air strike
Friday, August 15, 2008
By Mushtaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Amid reports of the killing of prominent militant Taliban commander Maulana Faqir Mohammad in Bajaur Agency, the security forces on Thursday intensified the ongoing military operation against the militants in the troubled tribal region, killing 33 more Taliban fighters.
Military officials based in the troubled Bajaur Agency seemed quite satisfied with their success against the militants in Bajaur, saying two vehicles carrying important Taliban commanders, including their regional chief Maulana Faqir Mohammad and his close aides, were targeted in Damadola on Thursday afternoon.
Two vehicles carrying senior Taliban commander Maulana Faqir Mohammad and his close aides were targeted by two gunship choppers. But I am not sure whether he (Maulana Faqir) died in the attack or not, said a senior military official, wishing not to be named.
The sources said Maulana Faqir and his men were crossing a seasonal stream in Damadola village when all of a sudden two choppers attacked their vehicles. Military authorities said 11 militants were killed in the attack on the vehicles.
The officials said they were following both the vehicles right from the beginning when the militants were camouflaging these pick-up trucks with mud and maize crops near Omari area. The choppers opened fire when the vehicles drove toward Damadola. One of the vehicles, which was loaded with ammunition and explosives, exploded, said the military sources.
Spokesman for Taliban Maulvi Omar confirmed the air attack on double-cabin pick-up truck of Maulana Faqir, saying the vehicle was badly damaged. However, he said Faqir Mohammad remained unscathed in the attack, as he had just alighted from the vehicle.
The seemingly panicked and upset Omar said first two gunship choppers targeted the vehicles and then artillery and mortar shells were fired at the same position, which caused heavy loss to their people, but didnt provide exact figures of his men lost in the attack. Sources close to Maulana Faqir also disagreed with reports about his death.
Similarly, four gunship helicopters continued blitzing militants suspected hideouts in their strongholds in Seway, Mamond, Mulla Said Banda, and Utmankhel Tehsil. According to military officials, 22 suspected militants were killed and several others injured when gunship choppers targeted a madrassah run by ameer of Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), Bajaur Agency and Taliban commander Maulana Mohammad Munir at Seway in Mamond subdivision.
Officials said the militants were using the madrassah, built in middle of orchards, as their hideout. However, there were no details whether Maulana Munir, who is head of transport wing of the Taliban militants in Bajaur, was killed in the attack or not.
Tribal sources told The News from Bajaur Agency that there was a huge intensity in the week-long military operation against militants on Thursday.For the first time I saw the military helicopters targeting accurate locations and hideouts of Taliban, a tribesman Haji Rahmanullah told The News from militant stronghold Mamond tehsil.
On the other hand, government officials said the security forces first wanted local population to vacate the area so that they could easily figure out the militants and target them in their hideouts.
Majority of the population had already fled their homes and shifted to Dir, Mardan, Peshawar and rest of the districts where they are living in miserable conditions. PPI adds: The victims of Bajaur operation observed Independence Day as Black Day against the ongoing military operation and staged a demonstration here in front of Peshawar press club on Thursday.
The protestors holding banners and placards chanted slogans against military operation, displacement of common people and increasing number of civilian casualties during the operation.They demanded of the government to immediately stop the operation and compensate the affectees.
