The Daily Times, Pakistan, Monday, January 25, 2010

* Notes attached to bodies threaten similar fate for ‘others spying for United States’

MIRANSHAH:

Taliban fighters killed seven people across North Waziristan Agency on Sunday on suspicion of spying for the US.

Five bodies were found in Kum Sarobi, one in Norak and another in Haihur.

Notes attached to the bodies read “anyone spying for the US will meet the same fate”.

“All seven people appeared to have been killed last night and hand-written notes were attached to the bodies, claiming they were American spies,” a security official in Miranshah told Reuters by telephone.

An intelligence official and local tribesmen confirmed the incidents, AFP reported.

Militants frequently kidnap and kill tribesmen, accusing them of spying for the government or US forces operating across the border in Afghanistan, where Taliban are leading an insurgency.

A volley of drone strikes this month, all in North Waziristan Agency, has the Taliban and the Haqqani network, known for staging attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

More than 740 people have been killed in about 80 US drone strikes in the country since August 2008.

Pakistan Army launched a major ground offensive in South Waziristan Agency in mid-October, triggering a wave of retaliatory violence, mainly suicide bombings, killing more than 600 people.

The rugged tribal regions have been beset by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants fled across the border to escape the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Washington says the tribal regions, where security forces are battling militants, have become a safe haven for extremists. staff report/agencies

Suspected US drone crashes in Miranshah

PESHAWAR:

A suspected US drone crashed in North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Sunday, a rare mishap for a programme Washington has increasingly relied on to kill Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, said intelligence officials and a local resident.

The crash occurred around 6pm in the Hamdhoni area of the agency, some four kilometres northwest of the main town of Miranshah, said two intelligence officials. Local tribesmen were congratulating each other for shooting down the drone, a resident said.

But the army rejected similar claims after a drone crashed in neighboring South Waziristan in 2008, saying it was a technical problem. ap

Soldier, 3 Taliban fighters killed in Khyber Agency

PESHAWAR:

A security official was killed when a roadside bomb targeted a vehicle of security personnel in Khyber Agency, while troops killed three Taliban fighters in a subsequent search operation in the area.

A statement by the Frontier Corps said a soldier died in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast and another sustained injuries. The statement said three militants, including senior commander Gul Hakim, were killed during the search operation in the area following the attack. The statement added that 12 militants had also been arrested in the last 24 hours. The security forces also arrested four militants from Bara. staff report

Car bomb attack kills four in Pakistan

AFP, Saturday, January 23 04:55 pm

Lehaz Ali

A suicide bomber killed at least four people including two children on Saturday while militants destroyed a NATO tanker, outside of Peshawar, Pakistan.

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The attacker detonated a car bomb outside a police station in Gomal, near the northwestern city of Tank, which neighbours the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan where Pakistani troops are battling Taliban fighters.

"The bomber struck... outside the police station, killing one policeman and three passers-by including two children," district police chief Ejaz Abid told AFP.

He said 11 people including five policemen, three passers-by and three prisoners in the police lock-up were wounded.

"This was a car bomb attack, which is a reaction to the ongoing operation in South Waziristan region," Abid added.

Pakistan sent about 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships into battle against the Taliban in South Waziristan in October, and says they are making progress and militants are fleeing.

During a visit to Pakistan that ended Friday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he would ask Islamabad about plans to broaden its campaign to neighbouring North Waziristan.

Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas responded by saying it would take "between six months to a year to completely stabilise" South Waziristan, which was needed before security forces opened up any new fronts.

Attacks blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) show no sign of abating, with bombings increasingly killing and maiming civilians.

Another senior police official Ghazanfar Hussain, who confirmed the incident and casualties, said he was carrying out routine desk work inside the station when a large blast rocked the building.

Attacks blamed mostly on the Taliban have killed more than 2,900 people across Pakistan since July 2007, concentrated in the northwest and major cities.

Taliban militants meanwhile attacked and destroyed a fuel tanker in northwest Pakistan supplying NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

A group of 15 armed militants ambushed the truck outside Peshawar, opened fire and set the tanker on fire, senior police official Mohammad Karim Khan said.

Militants launch frequent attacks on supplies shipped through the troubled Khyber region for US and NATO-led forces fighting Taliban insurgents across the border.

Elsewhere, gunmen on a motorbike Saturday shot dead two soldiers and wounded two others in Khuzdar town, 350 kilometres (217 miles) south of Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, police said.

Hundreds of people have died in Baluchistan since late 2004, when rebels rose up to demand political autonomy and a greater share of profits from natural resources.