Dozens held, madrasa blown up, in Pakistan crackdown
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, March 15 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have arrested at least 30 people, blown up a religious school and banned sale of weapons as part of an effort to suppress Islamist militancy in a troubled tribal region.
The North Waziristan tribal agency was the scene of military strikes before and after a March 3-4 visit to Pakistan by U.S. President George W. Bush that officials say killed nearly 200 pro-Taliban militants.
A curfew was imposed in the capital Miranshah 11 days ago.
Early on Wednesday, the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary blew up the town's Anwar-ul-Uloom (Light of Knowledge) madrasa, which officials said has served as a sanctuary for militants.
They said the religious school was built by Afghan refugees in the 1990s and no one was in it at the time it was destroyed.
North Waziristan's senior official, Political Agent Zaheerul Islam, told Reuters that 29 people, 19 of them Afghans, had been arrested since authorities announced a drive to force out Afghans living illegally in the region on Monday.
Witnesses saw another Afghan being arrested in Miranshah when the night-time curfew ended at dawn on Wednesday.
Islam said the Afghans were arrested as "they are no longer refugees but foreigners living without travel documents". He said some Pakistanis were arrested for possible links with militants.
He said those arrested would be interrogated for possible links with an estimated 400 foreign militants living in the area.
Authorities have also ordered Miranshah's 130 arms shops to remove weapons from their premises immediately.
The head of the town's arms dealers' association, Haji Akhtar Khel, said authorities had said the ban on arms sales was aimed at denying militants easy access to weapons.
He said dealers had been told they would be held responsible for the consequences if they did not comply.
Officials have blamed unrest in North Waziristan on Islamist radicals among thousands of Afghans who took up residence there after the Soviet occupation of their country in the 1980s.
A relative calm has returned to Miranshah area since security forces killed up to 30 pro-Taliban militants and local supporters in a village about 10 km (six miles) west on Friday night.
But sporadic instances of violence have continued.
In Janikhel, a nearby tribal area adjoining neighbouring North West Frontier Province, two irrigation department engineers were abducted with their driver on Tuesday night, intelligence sources said.
And the same night, suspected militants blew up an empty post of the Frontier Constabulary about 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Miranshah, intelligence sources said.
Pakistani forces have been trying to clear out foreign militants from Waziristan since 2004.
Many Pashtun tribesmen, who live on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, sympathise with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding somewhere in the frontier region.
The North Waziristan tribal agency was the scene of military strikes before and after a March 3-4 visit to Pakistan by U.S. President George W. Bush that officials say killed nearly 200 pro-Taliban militants.
A curfew was imposed in the capital Miranshah 11 days ago.
Early on Wednesday, the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary blew up the town's Anwar-ul-Uloom (Light of Knowledge) madrasa, which officials said has served as a sanctuary for militants.
They said the religious school was built by Afghan refugees in the 1990s and no one was in it at the time it was destroyed.
North Waziristan's senior official, Political Agent Zaheerul Islam, told Reuters that 29 people, 19 of them Afghans, had been arrested since authorities announced a drive to force out Afghans living illegally in the region on Monday.
Witnesses saw another Afghan being arrested in Miranshah when the night-time curfew ended at dawn on Wednesday.
Islam said the Afghans were arrested as "they are no longer refugees but foreigners living without travel documents". He said some Pakistanis were arrested for possible links with militants.
He said those arrested would be interrogated for possible links with an estimated 400 foreign militants living in the area.
Authorities have also ordered Miranshah's 130 arms shops to remove weapons from their premises immediately.
The head of the town's arms dealers' association, Haji Akhtar Khel, said authorities had said the ban on arms sales was aimed at denying militants easy access to weapons.
He said dealers had been told they would be held responsible for the consequences if they did not comply.
Officials have blamed unrest in North Waziristan on Islamist radicals among thousands of Afghans who took up residence there after the Soviet occupation of their country in the 1980s.
A relative calm has returned to Miranshah area since security forces killed up to 30 pro-Taliban militants and local supporters in a village about 10 km (six miles) west on Friday night.
But sporadic instances of violence have continued.
In Janikhel, a nearby tribal area adjoining neighbouring North West Frontier Province, two irrigation department engineers were abducted with their driver on Tuesday night, intelligence sources said.
And the same night, suspected militants blew up an empty post of the Frontier Constabulary about 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Miranshah, intelligence sources said.
Pakistani forces have been trying to clear out foreign militants from Waziristan since 2004.
Many Pashtun tribesmen, who live on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, sympathise with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding somewhere in the frontier region.
posted by Marko at 3/15/2006 07:51:00 AM
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