Taliban frustration leads to continued attacks on peace activists

 

 

By Zia Ur Rehman

Oct 23, 2012

http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/main/2012/10/23/feature-01

PESHAWAR – As the Taliban continue to oppose those who symbolise peace, they are actually fanning the flames of popular desire to achieve harmony in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

That has frustrated the Taliban’s efforts to spread terror among the local residents, observers and tribal elders say. “Instead of becoming terrorised from the attack, Swati people not only condemned the coward act of targeting a young peace activist but also show their unity against the terrorism and militancy,” Swat human rights activist and analyst Sardar Ahmed Yousafzai told Central Asia Online.

A woman October 11 holds a picture of Malala Yousafzai and a candle during a Karachi rally to condemn the October 9 attack on Malala, who survived. Taliban militants in a state of frustration are attacking peace activists to spread terror, analysts say. [REUTERS/Athar Hussain]

Most recently Taliban militants in Mingora October 9 boarded a school bus and shot Malala Yousafzai, a 15 -year-old who earned international fame for blogging about the atrocities of the Taliban during their reign of terror in Swat in 2007-2009. She and two wounded schoolmates are recovering.

Though the Taliban might have temporarily silenced Malala, they have amplified her message of peace, Sardar said.

“The terrorists wanted to send a wrong message to rest of the country and the international community that there is no peace or security in Swat,” Sardar said. In reality, though, the attack on Malala sparked anger in Pakistan and worldwide support and sympathy, he said.

Militants not interested in peace process

The targeting by Taliban militants of several influential Pakistani peace-seeking figures who disagree with their version of Islam indicates that the Taliban are not interested in the peace process, Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies security analyst Muhammad Nafees said.

“Although the violence is getting utterly inhuman and sickening, there are hopeful signs as well,” Nafees said. “More and more are joining the struggle to end the menace of terrorism.”

For example, there is a broader support for peace lashkars. Ethnic Pashtuns traditionally raise lashkars (armed peace groups) or amns (unarmed peace committees) when they face a common enemy.

Over the past few years, tribes have organised lashkars in Bajaur, Peshawar, Dir, Buner, Lakki Marwat, Khyber Agency and other areas with support from the government. The Salarzai tribes have also made a more active commitment to fighting terrorists.

With the increase in militant atrocities, the Taliban have crossed the line, Salarzai peace committee member Malik Shah Zaib said.

“We’ve seen in the past in both Afghanistan and Pakistan that when the Taliban commit heinous and barbaric acts – like bombing mosques and funerals, targeting schools and killing tribal elders – it galvanises popular opinion against them,” he told Central Asia Online.

“We have paid a heavy price to maintain peace in our area as dozens of our elders and young members have been martyred by the militants,” he said. “We will not allow them to sabotage peace in our area.”

Assaults on peace activists

But taking a stand for peace carries a risk.

Although no official statistics are available, at least 89 attacks – 32 in KP and 57 in FATA – on peace activists and lashkars were reported in 2011, according to the Pakistan Security Report 2011, prepared by the Pak Institute of Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank.

The actual figures may be much higher, according to tribal elders, as many cases go unreported. Militants have killed tribal elders in public places, in their houses, during jirgas, and at mosques and funerals, they said.

Besides Malala, militants have conducted the following attacks on peace activists:

On October 6, at least five lashkar members in the Akakhel area of Bara Tehsil, Khyber Agency, were killed and seven others were injured.

A remote-controlled explosion July 14 killed Kamarkhel tribal lashkar head Rasheed Khan and injured his associate in the Takhtaki area of Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency.

An unknown attacker July 12 fatally shot Afzal Khan Damghar, who played a key role in maintaining peace in the Swat Valley.

Pro-government tribal chief Malik Abdul Wazah Khan was gunned down July 7 in the area of Buggan in Para Chinar. A June 19 bomb in Nawagai Tehsil, Bajaur, killed tribal elder Malik Atta Khan and critically injured his nephew Fauji Khan.

Tribal elder Sultan Baachazad was shot to death May 13 in the Mamonzai area of Kurram Agency.

And Malik Waris Khan, a pro-government Ferozkhel Amn Lashkar chief and presidential award recipient, was killed March 9 in Jalaka Mela Ferozkhel, Orakzai Agency.

 

Where killing comes easy

Taking advantage of the ongoing ethnic violence in Karachi, Taliban militants are hunting down their opponents with ease

by Zia Ur Rehman

The News on Sunday

January 15, 2011

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2012-weekly/nos-15-01-2012/dia.htm#2

On January 5, 2012, Saeed Ahmed Khan, district president of Awami National Party (ANP), was killed in an attack on his house in the Metroville area of SITE Town in Karachi. Belonging to Manja village of Tehsil Kabal, Swat, he was an influential political figure in both Swat and Karachi. One of the attackers was shot dead by a police constable assigned to Saeed Khan’s security while four others managed to flee from the scene.

“Swat’s Taliban militants hiding in Karachi are behind Khan’s killing,” Saifullah, head of Nekpikhel Qaumi Jirga, Swat, claims confidently, adding that the attacker killed in encounter on the occasion was a Taliban commander identified as Aminullah, who is a resident of Totano Bandai. “Aminullah was a fugitive living in Karachi,” he tells TNS.

Khan was not the first target of Swati militants hiding in Karachi. They have selectively killed dozens of elders and political figures of Swat who were travelling to or living in Karachi, TNS has learnt.

Following the military operation in Swat, a large number of militants belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), locally headed by Maulana Fazlullah, went underground and shifted to different parts of the country including Karachi. More than 5 million Pashtuns live in Karachi, a city with a population of about 18 million, where it is very easy for militants to find sanctuaries, security experts opine.

The low-profile members or simple sympathizers have fled to Karachi and majority of them have shaved their beards and cut their long hair. A large number of such people work there as petty labourers, but some of them are waiting for the right time to settle their scores with their rivals in the city, experts believe.

“Taking advantage of the ongoing ethnic violence in the city, the militants kill their rivals and in most cases the police consider these killings as result of ethnic violence,” says a Karachi-based ANP leader, requesting anonymity. He adds that the number of such killings is not more than 30 but all the killed were members of anti-Taliban peace committees, leaders of ANP or ‘informers’ to law enforcement agencies. “Majority of those killed in the ongoing ethnic violence are Pashtuns,” he says.

Anti-Taliban Swati people travelling to Karachi are being targeted and killed by these militants. On December 29, 2011, Javed Khan, member of Kabal Peace Committee, was killed in Banaras area. Muhammad Rahim, a resident of Dherai village of Kabal, was also shot dead in Karachi on December 23, 2011. Rustam Khan, a local ANP leader and member of a peace committee in Kanju, was killed in Banaras on January 2 last year. In another case, Fazal Muhammad, a constable of Swat’s Special Police Force and a resident of Charbagh, was killed on November 9, 2011, in Pathan Colony. Similarly, Nisar Muhammad Khan, a leader of anti-Taliban Peace Committee of Kabal, was shot dead on October 28 last year in Pathan Colony area. Mian Azam Shah, an anti-Taliban leader in Matta, was assassinated in Baldia Town on October 19 last year. Similarly, Humayoon Khan, former councillor and leader of peace committee in Taal area of Swat, was also killed in Karachi.

Sher Shah Khan, an elected parliamentarian from Swat valley, says, “The people killed by militants in Karachi were very helpful to the government during the military operation, and I believe they have been targeted for this very reason. Khan tells TNS killing a pro-government elder is very easy in Karachi rather than Swat.

“The militant group involved in the killings of pro-government elders of Swat in Karachi is mainly led by Ibn-e-Aqeel alias khog and Sher Muhammad alias Yaseen,” says a well-informed elder in Matta, adding that both are among the most wanted people in Swat. He says that the task of such assassinations was handed over to them two years ago by TTP Swat’s commander Ibn-e-Amin of lower Shawar area of Swat. It is pertinent to mention that Ibn-e-Amin, a most dangerous commander in Swat and linked with al Qaeda, was killed in a drone attack in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency in December 2010.

“We have nothing to do with the killing of common people. We just target our rivals who helped the security forces in the operation against us in Swat,” a militant hailing from Charbagh area tells TNS. He claims that some of their hardcore members had joined other local banned jihadi organisations linked with TTP in Karachi.

Dozens of pro-government elders of other parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas have been killed in the past year for speaking against Taliban atrocities in their respective hometowns. Abdul Manan, the elder brother of Dilawar Khan, a prominent leader of a Peshawar-based armed lashkar formed against the Taliban militants operating in Matani and Darra Adam Khel, was also gunned down in Shireen Jinnah Colony of Karachi in January 2009. Tariq Afridi-led Darra Adam Khel militants had claimed responsibility for Manan’s killings.

Similarly, Mohmand agency-based militants are also active in Karachi and killing anti-Taliban people. Haji Tor Babazai, an anti-Taliban elder of Mohmand Agency, was killed in Karachi on September 29, 2010. “Qari Shakil, deputy amir of TTP Mohmand, operates a network of Mohmand militants in Karachi which not only collects extortions from Mohmand-based businessmen but also kill anti-Taliban people,” an elder of Mohmand agency based in Karachi tells TNS on condition of anonymity.

“Law enforcement agencies have arrested dozens of TTP militants belonging to KP and other tribal areas,” an official at Crime Investigation Department (CID) says, adding that some of them had suicide jackets and huge quantities of explosives and weapons and were involved in target killings of pro-government elders of Swat.

Experts and tribal elders suggest that law enforcement agencies should launch a “selective and surgical” operation in Karachi against militants who have migrated to Karachi which will help stop the target killing of pro-government elders of KP and tribal areas.

The writer is a journalist and researcher. Email: zia_red@hotmail.com

CID nabbed the militants involved in target killing of Swat’s anti-Taliban leaders in Karachi

by Zia Ur Rehman

2011-05-23

Central Asia Online

KARACHI – Sindh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested three suspects belonging to the Abu Mansoor group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The three were involved in assassinations of “pro-government” Swat residents visiting Karachi, officials said.

Central Asia Online exclusively reported that TTP Swat militants who fled to Karachi after a military operation began in Swat have been assassinating pro-government Swat residents under cover of the targeted killings.

After reports from intelligence agencies and media suggested dozens of Swat anti-Taliban peace committee members had been killed in the past year in Karachi, CID personnel raided Orangi Town’s Sector 10-1/2 under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (SP) Fayyaz Khan May 19, said a CID official.

Police arrested Alamzaib (alias Noor Shah), Hassan Daar (alias Sheena) and Enamur Rehman, Karachi Police Chief Ahmed Mirza said. Hit lists containing names of political leaders and officials from CID Sindh and intelligence agencies were found in their possession, he said.

Police also recovered 20kg of explosives, two hand grenades and other arms, he added.

The arrested militants were associated with TTP Swat’s Abu Mansoor Group in the valley but in Karachi, they were working for the Omer Mufi group of the TTP, he said, adding that the held militants were also involved in robberies and kidnapping the businessmen for ransom to generate funds for the militant outfit, he added.

Alamzaib, in Swat, worked for a TTP local commander Akram aka Mohsin, belonging from Fateh Pur area and after joining the group, the former started to target government and military installations, said a CID official, citing the information obtained upon interrogation at the department.

Alamzaib aka Noor Shah

Following the successful military operation against the TTP in Swat, Alamzaib fled to Karachi, where he joined the TTP’s Omar Mufti and allegedly killed 18 people who were either suspected for providing information on the militants to law enforcement agencies or those who were key member of anti-Taliban peace committees in Swat, the CID official added.

Daar, another held suspect, was also an active member of the TTP and worked for the Adeel, a local commander in Matta area of Swat. Daar was also deputed with the task of targeting military personnel in Swat but due to the military operation, he also fled to Karachi where he targeted Swat’s people residing here who were suspected for giving information to Police, the CID disclosed.

Hassan Daar aka Sheena

Enamur Rehman, the third suspect, was trained for carrying out suicide attacks and was waiting for a directive from Mufi. Rehman, who joined the TTP in 2008 in Swat and worked under the local commander Hamzullah, also moved to Karachi following the military operation against militants in Swat, the CID official told the Central Asia Online.

Enamur Rehman

The three held militants were suspected of being involved in the murders of dozens of anti-Taliban people which include: Fazal Mohammad (a constable of Swat’s special Police Force) in SITE-A, Nasir Khan (A leader of Swat’s anti-Taliban peace committee in Kabal) in Peerabad, Farman Ali in Peerabad, Zahoor Ali in SITE-A, Mohammed Shakirullah Khan in SITE-A, Mohammed Ali in Peerabad and Farooq Ahmed in Momin Abad, along with several others.

The militants hiding in Karachi have been killed many elders of Swat in Karachi who were very helpful to the government during the military operation”, said She Shah, a parliamentarian from Swat valley, told the Central Asia Online.

“Government should also launch a “selective and surgical” operation against the militants who are working in different outfits in Karachi and killing peace committee members there”, Shah said.

“Recent arrests of the Swat’s militants by the CID in Karachi are of significant importance as the held militants were hardcore members of TTP Swat chapter, an official in Swat Police told the Central Asia Online.

Ibn-e-Aqeel aka Khog ans Sher Muhammad aka Yaseen are also key commanders of Swat militants hiding in Karachi who are also amongst the most wanted people in Swat, he said, adding that both are leading a group which mainly targets the anti-Taliban elders of Swat travelling to Karachi for personal and business reasons, he added.

Most of the militants fled from Swat following the military operation to Karachi have joined the ranks of the TTP-linked banned Jihadi outfits especially Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, in Karachi, he said.

End

Karachi targeted killings of Pashtuns tied to militant groups

By Zia Ur Rehman
For CentralAsiaOnline.com
2011-04-01

KARACHI – Tribal-area militants hiding in Karachi have brought their fight to the streets of Karachi, killing pro-government Pashtuns under the guise of targeted killings, Central Asia Online has learned.

“The militants, taking advantage of ongoing ethnic violence in the city, kill their rivals, (and) in most cases, the police consider these killings a result of ethnic violence,” said a senior police official who runs the anti-extremism cell in the city.

“]

Police officers carry the coffin of Fazal Muhammad, a constable of Swat’s Special Police Force, who was killed in Pathan Colony in Karachi last November. Militants have singled out pro-government Pashtuns like him for assassination in Swat and the tribal areas. [Zia Ur Rehman

That concealment makes it difficult for officials to put a number on the militancy-related deaths. But security officials have arrested dozens of hard-core militants from Swat and other tribal areas suspected of involvement in such killings, said a senior police official in Karachi’s SITE Town.

That militants have migrated to Karachi from Swat, tribal areas and elsewhere is nothing new. They began taking refuge there after the government launched military operations in the tribal areas and Swat in 2009. Karachi, with a population of about 18m, provides them sanctuary because about 5m Pashtuns inhabit the city.

In the tribal areas, where the population is sparser, residents had an idea of who was involved in the militancy. In Karachi, the militants shaved their beards, cut their long hair and blended right in, said a leader of Karachi-based Swat Qaumi Ittehad (SQI), requesting anonymity. SQI is an organisation for Swatis living in Karachi.

What is new, however, is that pro-government Pashtuns travelling to Karachi for personal or business reasons are being targeted and killed. Officials explain the disturbing trend by saying the militants are killing Pashtuns in Karachi to silence anti-Taliban voices in the tribal areas.

Dozens of members of peace committees from different parts of the tribal areas have been killed in the past year in Karachi for speaking out against Taliban atrocities in the former “valley of terror,” said Ziauddin Yousafzai, spokesman for the Swat Qaumi Jirga.

The list of Karachi victims with ties to the tribal areas and Swat includes:

Rustam Khan, an Awami National Party (ANP) leader and member of a peace committee in Kanju, killed in Banaras January 2.

Fazal Muhammad, a constable of Swat’s Special Police Force, killed in Pathan Colony November 9.

Nisar Muhammad Khan, an active leader of Swat’s anti-Taliban peace committee of Kabal, shot to death October 28 in Pathan Colony.

Mian Azam Shah, an anti-Taliban leader in Matta, assassinated in Baldia Town October 19.

Abdul Manan – the older brother of Dilawar Khan, who formerly led the Adezai Qaumi lashkar in the suburbs of Peshawar – gunned down in Karachi in January 2009.

Haji Tor Babazai, an anti-Taliban elder of Mohmand Agency, killed in Karachi on September 29.

Accomplices of Maulana Fazlullah, head of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Swat, were behind the targeted killings of some Swati’s anti-Taliban elders in Karachi, Yousafzai said. The men assassinated by the militants in Karachi were very helpful to the government during military operation, and I believe they have been targeted for this very reason,”, agreed Sher Shah Khan, a parliamentarian from Swat and district general secretary of the ANP.

The killings have engendered fear in Swat, he said.

The militant group involved in the killings of pro-government elders of Swat in Karachi in mainly led by Ibn-e-Aqeel, alias khog, and Sher Muhammad, alias Yaseen, said a Matta local elder who is now in Karachi. They were among the most wanted people in Swat, he added.

Police have arrested dozens of Taliban militants from the tribal areas, said a police official, adding that some of them had suicide jackets and huge quantities of explosives and weapons.

“I personally know a dozen hard-line militants who killed innocent Swati people and burnt their houses have been arrested in Karachi by local police”, said Jamal Nasir Khan, a former Swat district mayor.

Most militants in Karachi are low-profile TTP members. “They hide here, work here as labourers, and some of them perhaps waiting for the right time to settle their scores with their rivals in the city,” said the senior police official involved in fighting extremism.

The militants hiding in Karachi have joined the ranks of banned jihadi organisations, especially Jaish-e-Muhammad, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, he said.

Law enforcement agencies should launch a “selective and surgical” operation in Karachi against militants who have migrated to Karachi, Khan and Yousafzai said.

Indeed, evidence from the spate of recent “targeted killings” has indicated that they have links to the tribal area militancy, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

“We have directed law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown against the militants hiding in Karachi,” Malik said.

End