Four people including three children were injured in a bomb blast on Sunday. According to details, unidentified men planted explosives along the boundary wall of a house located in Gunj area of Peshawar. As a result of the blast, the house was partially damaged and four people were injured. The injured were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where, according to hospital sources, the condition of all the injured was stable. Bomb Disposal Squad said that about 2.5 kilogramme explosives were used in the blast. The police were of the view that the reason of the incident was personal enmity. Daily Times, The News, The Nation.
An important commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been reportedly killed during clashes with the security forces in the Zarmelan village of South Waziristan Agency. Sources said Sunday that eight days back key commander of TTP Aftab Khan Mehsud was killed during clashes between the security forces and TTP fighters in Zarmelan village of SWA. Official sources said that Aftab Alam was the right hand man of TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud. The Frontier Post, Daily Times, The Nation.
Militants blew up a government primary school for girls in lower Orakzai Agency on Sunday, officials said. They said that explosives were planted at the school, located near Khail Maat Shah village in Storikhel area, that exploded before dawn. The school building was destroyed completely in the blast, they added. Militants have destroyed 93 schools for boys and girls in the troubled tribal region so far. Officials said that around 10,000 students were affected owing to destruction of schools in the area. Dawn, The News, The Nation.
Pakistan has agreed to provide safe passage to the Taliban leaders willing to participate in reconciliation talks with the Afghan government, US and diplomatic sources told Dawn. Separately, a US State Department spokesman said at a briefing that the Obama administration hopes to stay engaged with the Taliban, including the Haqqani network, even though it has designated the group a foreign terrorist organisation. After Friday’s designation, two US officials told a news briefing in Washington that the issue of providing safe passage to Taliban leaders living in Pakistan was discussed in a meeting between US and Pakistani officials in Islamabad last week. Dawn.
The security forces on Sunday claimed to have recovered 19 bodies of militants during a search operation in areas along the border in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency. All the militants active in the area had been pushed back into Afghanistan, they said. Officials said the security forces and volunteers of Salarzai peace committee conducted a joint operation in the areas cleared of militants after receiving information that the fleeing militants had planted bombs and other explosives in different parts of the tehsil. They said the bodies were recovered in twos or threes along the border. A huge quantity of weapons and explosives was also found. They said that bomb disposal experts were taking part in the search operation while some areas had been cleared of planted explosives. Dawn, The News.
A barber shop was blown up on Charbagh road in Landikotal town in Khyber Agency Sunday evening, local sources said. The sources said that explosive devices planted by unidentified persons near a barber shop went off at 8:35pm. The explosion was heard far and wide. The shop was destroyed while there was no casualty as it was closed, the source said. The News.
Pakistani security forces pushed Taliban militants who came from Afghanistan back across the border after more than two weeks of fighting in a mountainous tribal region, spokesmen for both sides said on Sunday. The government says over 100 people were killed in the offensive. The violence in the north western Bajaur area highlighted the growing problem of Taliban militants using sanctuaries in Afghanistan to attack Pakistan. The frequency of the raids has increased, and this was the first instance in which Pakistani Taliban militants coming from Afghanistan seized and held territory in Pakistan for a significant period of time. Pakistan has called on Afghan and NATO forces to do more to stop militants from crossing into the country. Kabul and the international coalition have acknowledged the problem, but also want Pakistan to do more to stop militants holed up on its territory from launching attacks into Afghanistan.The Frontier Post.
Like other parts of the country “World Literacy Day” was also observed in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on Sunday. Various ceremonies were organized at educational institutions of Orakzai and Mohmand Agencies to mark the day, where the importance of literacy was highlighted. Additional Political Agent Mohmand Agency Said Ahmad Jan and Assistant Political Agent Orakzai Agency Rafiq Khan were the chief guests while Agency Education Officers, concerned principals, teachers and hundreds of students from across the agencies attended the functions. The Frontier Post.
The political administration Bajaur Agency has setup five registration points for those affectees of Salarzai area of Bajaur Agency who left their homes because of the militant attack.Talking to the media men soon after attending the meeting regarding the safety of all those who left their home and shifted to safer places, Assistant Political Agency Bajaur Agency Sheikh Imran said that all appropriate measures have been taken to facilitate the displaced families.
He said on the directives of Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA Secretariat the distribution of edible commodities to thousands of families have been started like provision of flour, ghee, sugar, etc. Imran Sheikh said that he had a meeting with officials of the health department, FDMA and other departments in order to provide all facilities to the affactees. The Frontier Post.
A retired Pakistan Army soldier has been trying for almost a year now to seek attention of the army and Frontier Corps (FC) authorities to properly investigate the death of his 21-year old son while on duty at a security post in Bajaur Agency in October last year. Mohammad Ilyas, who retired as a Lance Naik on December 11, 2001 after serving for 18 years in the Army Supply Corps of the Pakistan Army, told The News that he and his family don’t believe that his young son, Tasawar Hussain, committed suicide as claimed by his colleagues at the FC’s Ismail Post in Bajaur. “There was no reason for him to commit suicide. He had a reasonable job and had got married only three months before he died,” he argued. The News.
The tribal elders on Sunday announced strengthening the Salarzai Qaumi Lashkar for improving the security situation in the border areas in Bajaur Agency. A grand jirga was held at the tehsil headquarters, Pashat, and was attended by Political Agent Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah, Commandant Bajaur Scouts Colonel Muhammad Shakil Janjua and tribal elders. Speaking on the occasion, tribal elders Nazimuddin Khan and others said the lashkar had rendered huge sacrifice to maintain law and order in the area.They said many elders and volunteers had been killed by militants in the last four years. The News.
Tribal elders and hundreds of parents have expressed concern over closure of the lone government degree college for boys in Darra Adamkhel and asked Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani to shift the security forces to another suitable place and allow the students to continue their studies in the college building. Haji Wali Sher, Malik Zaryab Khan, Haji Fazal Din, Malik Wazir Gul, Haji Lal Sher, Haji Wisal Khan and Haji Deedan Gul complained that the college building had been in the use of security forces for the past seven years and hundreds of students have no option but to attend their classes in tents established in the building of a school. The News.
Nawaf Khan, Sharafat Ali Chaudhry
