At least 16 killed in Pakistan violence
ISN SECURITY WATCH (08/01/06) – At least eight people have been killed in an explosion at a house in Pakistan’s North Waziristan agency, near the Afghan border, in an incident Pakistani tribal elders are blaming on US forces, though the US military has denied it is operating in the troubled area.
Tribal elders said US helicopters fired rockets on a house in the village of Saidgai, killing eight tribesman and taking several others away in the helicopter.
Pakistani military officials said they were unaware of the details of the incident, which nearly coincided with an attack on a nearby Pakistani military checkpoint that killed eight soldiers and left two unaccounted for.
“Normally, we don’t operate in the area so late at night [2.30am on Saturday] for a variety of reason,” a Pakistani military official told ISN Security Watch on condition of anonymity.
“Most likely, it is a case of American hot pursuit and in their trademark fashion, the rockets and fire only targeted one particular house,” a source at the Governor House in Peshawar told ISN Security Watch.
The Associated Press quoted a tribal elder identified as Salimullah as saying: “Helicopters bombarded the house late on Friday night, leaving eight people dead.”
The tribesman said nine people, including women and children, were injured in the attack.
In a separate attack about an hour earlier, eight Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed in a rocket attack by unidentified militants at a checkpoint in Hasu Khel, also in the volatile North Waziristan tribal agency, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan confirmed for ISN Security Watch.
Two others soldiers are still missing, the general said.
A tribal elder told ISN Security Watch via telephone that the militants were acting to prevent the construction of another military checkpoint in the region at Mir Ali. He said the paramilitary troops were punished for the new checkpoint.
Military officials have so far avoided fixing the responsibility on an individual leader, a tribe, or even the Taliban.
The military spokesman said the attack took early on Saturday morning and the assailants were neither pursued nor identified. He denied some media reports that the militants had taken nine soldiers hostage, saying only two soldiers had been reported missing.
He said the soldiers were attacked with rockets, grenades, and assault rifles and that their bodies had been removed from the scene and fresh troops have been deployed to man the checkpoint.
Since last year, militants in South and North Waziristan have killed over two dozen pro-military tribal elders or influential figures.
Major General Shaukat Sultan said the military was investigating both incidents, but that the two did not seem to be linked.
He could not confirm reports on the number of casualties in the alleged US bombing of the house in Saidgai.
In the meantime, violence in the area has snow no sign of abating.
On Thursday, unidentified gunmen killed at least seven people in the neighboring South Waziristan tribal agency.
Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, Islamabad has arrested and handed over to Washington more than 600 “terror” suspects and killed some 300 others in clashes.
Pakistan has deployed some 80,000 troops to its tribal areas as part of an operation to root out “foreign and local militants”.
Though the pro-Taliban militants in the South and North Waziristan agencies have inflicted heavy losses on the Pakistani armed forces, hopes for peace soared in November when the 35 most-wanted tribal militants announced they would give up their fight against the Pakistani military after tribal elders and lawmakers reached a peace deal with the North Waziristan Agency administration.
The peace deal, which followed over a year-and-a-half of fighting between security forces and tribal militants near the Pakistani-Afghan border, was brokered by hard-line Islamic parliamentarians from the region in a jirga (tribal court) with the local administration.
Analysts have been skeptical of lasting peace as long as US troops remain in Afghanistan and Pakistani paramilitary and regular troops maintain a heavy presence in the region.
(By Naveed Ahmad in Islamabad)
Tribal elders said US helicopters fired rockets on a house in the village of Saidgai, killing eight tribesman and taking several others away in the helicopter.
Pakistani military officials said they were unaware of the details of the incident, which nearly coincided with an attack on a nearby Pakistani military checkpoint that killed eight soldiers and left two unaccounted for.
“Normally, we don’t operate in the area so late at night [2.30am on Saturday] for a variety of reason,” a Pakistani military official told ISN Security Watch on condition of anonymity.
“Most likely, it is a case of American hot pursuit and in their trademark fashion, the rockets and fire only targeted one particular house,” a source at the Governor House in Peshawar told ISN Security Watch.
The Associated Press quoted a tribal elder identified as Salimullah as saying: “Helicopters bombarded the house late on Friday night, leaving eight people dead.”
The tribesman said nine people, including women and children, were injured in the attack.
In a separate attack about an hour earlier, eight Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed in a rocket attack by unidentified militants at a checkpoint in Hasu Khel, also in the volatile North Waziristan tribal agency, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan confirmed for ISN Security Watch.
Two others soldiers are still missing, the general said.
A tribal elder told ISN Security Watch via telephone that the militants were acting to prevent the construction of another military checkpoint in the region at Mir Ali. He said the paramilitary troops were punished for the new checkpoint.
Military officials have so far avoided fixing the responsibility on an individual leader, a tribe, or even the Taliban.
The military spokesman said the attack took early on Saturday morning and the assailants were neither pursued nor identified. He denied some media reports that the militants had taken nine soldiers hostage, saying only two soldiers had been reported missing.
He said the soldiers were attacked with rockets, grenades, and assault rifles and that their bodies had been removed from the scene and fresh troops have been deployed to man the checkpoint.
Since last year, militants in South and North Waziristan have killed over two dozen pro-military tribal elders or influential figures.
Major General Shaukat Sultan said the military was investigating both incidents, but that the two did not seem to be linked.
He could not confirm reports on the number of casualties in the alleged US bombing of the house in Saidgai.
In the meantime, violence in the area has snow no sign of abating.
On Thursday, unidentified gunmen killed at least seven people in the neighboring South Waziristan tribal agency.
Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, Islamabad has arrested and handed over to Washington more than 600 “terror” suspects and killed some 300 others in clashes.
Pakistan has deployed some 80,000 troops to its tribal areas as part of an operation to root out “foreign and local militants”.
Though the pro-Taliban militants in the South and North Waziristan agencies have inflicted heavy losses on the Pakistani armed forces, hopes for peace soared in November when the 35 most-wanted tribal militants announced they would give up their fight against the Pakistani military after tribal elders and lawmakers reached a peace deal with the North Waziristan Agency administration.
The peace deal, which followed over a year-and-a-half of fighting between security forces and tribal militants near the Pakistani-Afghan border, was brokered by hard-line Islamic parliamentarians from the region in a jirga (tribal court) with the local administration.
Analysts have been skeptical of lasting peace as long as US troops remain in Afghanistan and Pakistani paramilitary and regular troops maintain a heavy presence in the region.
(By Naveed Ahmad in Islamabad)
posted by Marko at 1/08/2006 09:33:00 AM
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