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December 27, 2006
Pakistan: Islamists Bomb Girls' School
Peshawar is the administrative capital of North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan. The province adjoins Afghanistan, and some agencies within it (North and South Waziristan in particular) are under the control of the Pakistan "Taliban".
News from the Daily Times reports that yesterday, a girls' school in Noor Ali village in Darra Adam Khel, which lies between Peshawar and Kohat, was bombed by the Pakistan Taliban. Darra Adam Khel is predominantly inhabited by Pashtuns of the Afridi clan. The town produces military ordnance.
The girls' school had leaflets left at the scene, after a bomb went off near the principal's office. Three rooms at the Government Girls Middle School were destroyed, and four others were damaged. The bomb went off at 00.45 am. The leaflets, in Urdu, read: "Be veiled, otherwise we will bomb you again." No-one was injured in the explosion.
The local Taliban, like their counterparts in Afghanistan, had been campaigning for girls to stop attending schools. A local source said that: "They have however allowed veiled students to go to middle and high schools".
The local Taliban have been active in closing down many businesses, such as video centers, and have recently warned opium growers and car-thieves that if they do not cease their activities within six months, they will "face action".
In Afghanistan on December 8, two women teachers in Narang district, Kunar province in Afghanistan were shot dead by Taliban. They died with three other members of their family. The Taliban had earlier warned them several times to stop teaching. It appears that the Taliban in Pakistan are adopting the same methods as their counterparts across the border.
A peace accord was signed in North Waziristan on Tuesday September 5 by members of the Pakistan Taliban, and this Sunday (December 24) it was announced that the local tribal leaders who had convened the accord are to hold a council, or jirga. There are serious problems with the accord, as it has done nothing to stop Pakistani militants from entering Afghanistan, one its key points. Nor has it it prevented targeted killings. The accord has been severely criticized by Western media and politicians (apart from Britain's naive Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Kim Howells).
Yesterday, the Pakistani government announced that to prevent cross-border passage by Islamists into Afghanistan, a border fence will be erected at key points. Additionally, mines will be laid on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border, Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan said.
He said: "Mining (the border) is easier and can be done expeditiously while fencing, of course, requires a huge budget and time. However, the decision will be taken after we get suggestions from the armed forces. There is an extraordinary situation which needs extraordinary measures."
"Pakistan needs no permission or agreement with any country, including Afghanistan, while carrying out any such project within its territorial boundaries. We have publicly stated this many times."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 27, 2006 12:19 AM
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