The United Nations sanctions committee has imposed global sanctions on the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, considered a major threat to US and allied forces in Afghanistan, and its ‘chief of suicide operations’, Qari Zakir. The committee ordered all 193 UN member states on Monday to freeze the assets and institute an arms embargo against the network, saying the group was linked to Al Qaeda and other militant organizations and was responsible for suicide attacks and targeted assassination as well as kidnappings in Kabul and several other Afghan provinces. The committee also ordered an asset freeze, arms embargo and travel ban against Afghan-born Abdul Rauf Zakir, also known as Qari Zakir, who it said oversaw training of suicide attackers and provided instructions on how to construct improvised explosive devices. The Security Council committee described him as “chief of suicide operations for the Haqqani Network” under its leader, Sirajuddin Jalaluddin Haqqani, “and in charge of all operations in Kabul, Takhar, Kunduz and Baghlan provinces.” Dawn, The News, Daily Times, The Nation.
Afghanistan welcomes the United Nations’ decision to impose sanctions on the Haqqani network and would not negotiate for peace with the group blamed for several high-profile attacks in the country, the presidential spokesman said on Tuesday. On Monday the UN Security Council’s Taliban sanctions committee added the Haqqani network to a UN’s blacklist, the United States said. Aimal Faizi, Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s chief spokesman, said Kabul backed the UN decision, but added it should have been made a long time ago to weaken the Haqqanis, who, he said, had carried out most of the terrorist attacks in the nation over the past 10 years. Although the Afghan government is engaged in reconciliation talks with members of the Taliban, it rules out dialogue with the Haqqani group, believed to be based in the unruly border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “We don’t want any kind of deal with the Haqqanis, who were behind many of the attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians including women and children,” Faizi told Reuters.“We have certain negotiating conditions with the armed opposition groups but the Haqqanis do not meet the criteria and they are in the service of a foreign spy agency.” The News, Daily Times, The Nation.
Pakistan is already cracking down on the Haqqani network and does not need to impose extra measures following the group’s addition to the UN’s blacklist, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. “The three elements of the ban — arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban — are all already in place in Pakistan,” Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told Reuters. The News.
Four persons including a cop and two alleged criminals were killed in an encounter in the jurisdiction of the Urmar Police Station on Tuesday, police sources said.The sources said Hamidullah, Sardar Ali and Sattar allegedly opened fire on a shopkeeper, Abdul Hannan in Shamshatoo area. The armed men also fired at the police when the cops from a nearby checkpost rushed to the site, an official said. A cop named Asmatullah and a passerby Mir Kalam were killed in the fire. “The other cops retaliated and gunned down Hamidullah and Sardar Ali while Sattar fled. The News, Daily Times, Dawn.
Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday gave a last chance to the authorities to present a complete list of missing persons by December 4, otherwise action would be taken against them. During the hearing of 57 missing persons’ case, the two-member bench of the PHC, comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Seth Waqar, said that it was the responsibility of the courts to award punishment. He pointed out that the COAS had also made it clear that an accused could not be described as a convict. The Defence Ministry told the court that the number of missing persons was being exaggerated and assured the bench of cooperating with it in the case. The chief justice said that 1,100 persons had been released, but still 1,095 people were in the internment centres. He directed the authorities that a joint meeting of the security agencies, field commanders, unit commanders, the chief secretary, the home secretary and the FATA additional chief secretary be convened to prepare a final list of all the missing persons. The Frontier Post, The Nation.
Expressing concern over the prolonged military operation and curfew in their area, the internally displaced persons of Bara have decided to meet leaders of different political parties to devise a plan for resolving the issue through negotiations. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Tehrik-i-Mutasireen Bara chairman Suhbat Khan Afridi said that IDPs were unable to live in camps and with relatives any longer. He appealed to the government to end operation and lift curfew in the area. Flanked by Sohail Ahmad Afridi, Ikhtiar Afridi and Umar Afridi, he said that a large number of people had been rendered jobless owing to closure of bazaars and markets in Bara. Mr Afridi said that government should take effective steps for winding up the operation, restoration of peace and revival of business activities by announcing a comprehensive financial package for the IDPs. Dawn, The Frontier Post, The News, The Nation.
The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has released an amount of Rs.50 million for payment as compensation to the victims of bomb blasts and other terrorist activities, said state issued here by the Department of Home & Tribal Affairs on Tuesday. It said that the released amount has been placed at the disposal of the Commissioner, Peshawar Division, for timely disbursement subjected to observance of all codal formalities and laid down procedure.
It further said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Home and Tribal Affairs is making all out efforts to arrange payment of compensation as early as possible to the victims (dead/injured) of terrorists\’ activities/ bomb blast incidents, deaths caused due to electrocution, collapse of roofs, walls, during working in mines and thunder-lightening etc to provide some sort of relief and financial aid to the legal heirs of the bereaved families. The Frontier Post.
To mobilize the disabled persons and to bring them back into the main stream of the society, the political administration of Orakzai Agency distributed wheelchairs and tricycles among the deserving physically challenged persons of the agency. PA Orakzai Khushal Khan distributed the wheelchairs, tricycles and other special gifts among the special persons. A press release issued by FATA Secretariat stated that a simple but dignified distribution ceremony held in Jirga hall where government officials, tribal elders and a large number of community members were present. Around 35 wheelchairs, 25 tricycles and other gifts have been distributed among the male and female physically challenged kids and persons to help improve their lives. These disables were previously sidelined from the mainstream but now the Government has upraised their status and helped the poor and needy in every respect. The Political Agent Khushal Khan himself supervised the activity and distributed the items among the deserving people. The Frontier Post.
The political administration on Tuesday beefed up security on all the checkposts in the Mohmand Agency a day after a suicide attack in Ekkaghund in which four Levies personnel sustained injuries. Assistant Political Agent Fahad Wazir told reporters on Tuesday that the Levies personnel foiled the suicide attack at the offices of the political administration in Ekkaghund Tehsil. He said the injured security personnel were now in stable condition. He asked the tribesmen to cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order in Mohmand Agency.He said that checking had been intensified at the entry points and asked the tribesmen to keep a vigilant eye on suspected persons. The News.
Two suspected militants were killed during search operation in the limits of Cantonment Police Station, official sources said on Tuesday. Following a tip-off from locals about the presence of the militants in Shankandi Sarai in Mamandkhel, the sources said the security forces started search operation in the area early in the day. The News.
The government has not yet started rebuilding the 59 state-run boys and girls schools destroyed by militants in lower and upper parts of militancy-hit Orakzai Agency. Sources said only four schools including two girls’ schools and two boys’ schools were rebuilt by the security forces in Mirobak, Chan Jana and Jalka Mela villages in Orakzai in the last two years. However, the rest of the schools could not be reconstructed despite the fact that the education office in Orakzai had sent the list and estimated cost of the schools to the authorities in the Fata Secretariat, they added. Official statistics revealed that 43 boys and 16 girls’ schools had been blown up by the militants in the Orakzai Agency where literacy rate had already been low.The sources said after successful military action in lower Orakzai Agency and subsequent return of the internally displaced persons, the authorities reopened the destroyed schools by arranging tents for the students. The News.
One militant was killed and another sustained injuries in a clash with the police and local anti-militants volunteers on Tuesday. Talking to reporters here, District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed said the police with the support of the volunteers of Bagato Welfare Society tried to arrest two militants in Sarakdana village. Instead of surrendering, he said, the militants opened fire on the police and the exchange of fire continued for two hours. During the clash, he said one militant Adil, hailing from Orakzai Agency, was killed and another named Saeed sustained injuries. Also, one person was killed and five others were injured when militants attacked a house in Sarakdana village on Monday.President of the Bagato Welfare Society, Rahim, told The News that the militants had been carrying out attacks on the members of the society. He said the militants had kidnapped two of their members on Tuesday. He asked the government to extend support to the members of the society and ensure their security. The News.
A government school was damaged in an explosion in the lower Kurram Agency, official sources said on Tuesday. The sources said that militants had fixed explosive materials to the boundary wall of the Government Gharib Shah Baba School in Gharib Shah Baba village in Sadda and triggered the explosions with a remote-control device. The building developed cracks. The News.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausar on Tuesday said after establishing peace in Kurram Agency the government had been assisting the return of the displaced people to their hometowns in the tribal region. Addressing a jirga of the tribal elders in Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency, he said the government was making strenuous efforts to mitigate the hardships of the tribal people. He argued that extending the Political Parties Act to Fata and amendments in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) were aimed at developing the tribal region. He urged all the political parties to come to Fata and play their role for the development of the tribal people. The News
FRC REPORT:
Wana: Eight solar plates from a telephone tower were stolen by unknown persons in Zharanai area located some sixteen kilometers from Wana, the SWA headquarters, last night. As a result the land lines connections of Speen and Tannni areas of the agency remained out of service which complicated the problems of the locals. The locals requested the Administration to dissolve this crisis on priority basis.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHRY
