Western Resistance

« Indonesia: Ahmadiyya Sect Told To Renounce Its Claims To Be Muslim | | Afghanistan: Four Albanians Kidnapped By Islamists »

March 11, 2006

Pakistan: Islamists Killed in Waziristan

News from Pakistan's Daily Times, Australia's The Age and the BBC reports that in the border region near Afghanistan, Pakistani forces have killed at least 25 Islamists killed.

North Waziristan Agency in North West Frontier Province is a region which has a large contingent of troops from Pakistan, estimated at up to 70,000, whose aim is to flush out the foreign Islamists who have support from many of the tribespeople in the region. Osama din Laden and Mullah Omar of the Taliban are believed to be residing in this region.

Today's Telegraph reports that last week, Pakistani forces lost control of Miranshah (Miran Shah), main town in North Waziristan, to forces loyal to Al-Qa'eda and the Taliban. The army claimed last week that it had killed at least 100 militants, while civlian casualties are unknown.

The BBC states the number of dead from last weeks quashed insurgency as 140, and quotes Gen Shaukat Sultan, an army spokesperson, who said helicopter gunships were employed in the most recent incident. He said the attack happened after informants reported a large cache of explosives and weaponry was being gathered by the Islamists. The arsenal was mostly destroyed in the attack.

The Daily Times states that yesterday, an announcement was made in adjacent South Waziristan by tribal clerics during Friday prayer sermons. "We are glad to announce that an Islamic judge will decide cases from now on and not the jirga (tribal council)", one cleric is quoted as saying.

An imam claimed that letters from local Taliban commanders had been sent to Muslim clerics, ordering the shift to sharia rule. "We were under great pressure from the commanders to announce the enforcement of Sharia in Waziristan," he claimed. A select group of clerics wil have absolute power, which would "strengthen the Taliban's influence in the area."

On the recent incident in Miranshah, which also took place in Mir Ali in North Waziristan Agency, the Daily Times states that a huge cache of arms and explosives were found. A military statement claimed: "The security forces also busted a terrorist planning and organisation centre established in the hostel of the Madrassa Gulshanul Uloom, run by Maulvi Abdul Khaliq, near Miranshah."

The BBC quotes Pakistan's Interior Minister, Aftab Khan Sherpao, who told the National Assembly in Islamabad today that since the beginning of this year, more than 120 pro-government tribal elders have been killed by Islamist (Taliban and Al-Qaeda) militants.

The Age states that the recent insurgency in Miranshah was a revenge for a government attack on March 1, which killed 45 of the Islamists' comrades.

We reported that on Thursday December 1, five people were killed in an explosion close to Miranshah. It was soon revealed that Abu Hamza Rabia, Al-Qaeda's third in command, had been killed in the attack.

A disturbing trend has also emerged in this region, of supposed gang-members being killed in clashes with madrassa students, whose allegiances may be to the Islamists and not the government.

The Telegraph states today that DVDs of atrocities connected with these clashes have been filmed, and are now being distributed for as little as the equivalent of $0.25 in markets and shops in the region, and also across the border:

Qari Amanullah, a DVD shopkeeper in the town, said: "These jihadi DVDs have made our businesses flourish. There is a great demand for such films because they are popular with all age groups.

"Young boys used to watch movies, particularly Indian blockbusters, but now these DVDs have replaced movies and even young boys are going to be addicts.

"The DVD showing the recent killing of bandits by the Taliban and then hanging their dead bodies from electricity pylons is the current top of the chart."

He said that a DVD about Taliban fighters, The Young Eagles of High Mountains, is another hit with about 20,000 copies already sold.

The Pakistani authorities have acted where possible to confiscate these jihadist snuff-movies, and have tried to counter their influence by leaflets and messages broadcast on the three government radio stations in the Tribal Areas.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 11, 2006 11:03 PM

Comments

Post a comment