South Asian Outlook : An Independent e-Monthly | South Asia: Pakistan: Balochistan

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Balochistan: Unrelieved Estrangement

Kanchan Lakshman
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
Assistant Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution

On October 31, 2008, two days after an earthquake killed over 215 persons and injured more than 500 others in Balochistan, President Asif Ali Zardari said in Islamabad that "the people of Balochistan have first right over their natural resources and the Government will develop the resources in a manner that local people will become stakeholders and partners in the development projects." While the President was only reiterating the customary platitudes in times of a natural calamity, the state of play in the strategic and resource-rich Balochistan province, which has long remained on the periphery of Pakistan's projects and perceptions, is fairly grim. The "dialogue with those who are up in the mountains" in Balochistan is unraveling, with several complexities emerging.

The momentum of the Baloch insurgency declined relatively in 2007, as some leaders either fled Pakistan or were neutralized by the state. The operational capacity of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent insurgent group in Balochistan, was considerably reduced in 2007. Violence was at relatively lower levels in 2007, with at least 245 persons, including 124 civilians, killed. By comparison, approximately 450 persons, including 226 civilians, 82 soldiers and 142 insurgents, were killed in 772 incidents in 2006. There has been a gradual increase in violence in 2008 and, despite the dialogue process, the insurgency continues to simmer, with a steady stream of bomb and rocket attacks on gas pipelines, railway tracks, power transmission lines, bridges, and communications infrastructure, as well as on military establishments and government facilities. The insurgents retain capabilities to carry out acts of sabotage on a daily basis across the province and a political solution to the insurgency is nowhere in sight. Acts of violence are, importantly, not restricted to a few districts but are occurring in practically all of them, including the provincial capital Quetta. According to the Institute for Conflict Management database, in 359 incidents of insurgency-related violence in Balochistan, approximately 320 persons were killed and 484 others were wounded during 2008 (data till November 7). [Since media access is heavily restricted in the troubled areas of the Province, and there is only fitful release of information by Government agencies, the actual figures could be much higher].

Presently, there are at least five active insurgent groups in Balochistan: the BLA, the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), the Baloch People’s Liberation Front (BPLF), the Popular Front for Armed Resistance (PFAR), and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). According to Muhammad Tahir, "The number of BLA activists is not known, but Pakistani military sources suggest that there are currently 10,000 Baloch insurgents involved in separatist activities, of which 3,000 are active in the insurgency."

The insurgent movement, however, continues to defy unity. There was some expectation that some form of unity would emerge in the aftermath of the assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, arguably the most powerful insurgent leader, on August 26, 2006. Islamabad’s counter-insurgency strategy has been a significant factor in sustaining the disunity. Mass arrests, long periods of imprisonment and assassinations have complemented military operations, resulting in a gradual and strategic decapitation of the insurgents over the last three and half years. During 2008, the operational priorities of the Balochistan Police have been to reduce the overall incidents of terrorism in the province, neutralize the capacities of BLA, reduce attacks on Punjabi settlers across the Province, especially in capital Quetta, minimize attacks on security forces (SFs) across the Province, especially in the capital Quetta, and arrest the most wanted militants notified for reward in the CID Red Book of the Balochistan Police.

Hectic efforts have been underway for some time now to bringing the Baloch to the negotiating table. President Asif Ali Zardari had "apologised" to the Baloch nation for the assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, and his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had, in February 2008 called for an end to military operations in Balochistan. Subsequently, the PPP-led provincial Government of Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani began efforts to build a consensus. Events picked up pace in August and Rehman Malik, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs, announced in Quetta on August 28 that the names of all political leaders of Balochistan had been removed from the Exit Control List and 35 of the 54 checkpoints of the Frontier Corps (FC) in Balochistan were being abolished and relocated from urban areas to the Province’s borders. Malik announced that security agencies operating in the province are to work under the Chief Minister and new confidence building measures would be taken up to bring the tribal sardars (chieftains) to the negotiating table. The federal Government also stated that all detained political workers would be released and cases registered against them would be dropped after a committee formed to investigate their cases had forwarded its recommendations. As part of the reconciliation process, while the Balochistan National Party chief, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, has been released, the FC check posts have been removed from Quetta and Gwadar. There has also been a modest shrinkage in the control over Dera Bugti, the nerve centre of the insurgency. And on October 28, the Balochistan Reconciliatory Committee declared a three-pronged strategy to resolve the long-standing issues facing the province. The declared 3R strategy reportedly involved reconciliation with all political forces, rebuilding national institutions and reallocating resources. In response to the Government’s peace overtures, a unilateral cease-fire was announced by three insurgent groups – the BLA, the BRA and the BLF – on September 1.

All of this has, however, not had the desired impact in Balochistan as far as Islamabad is concerned. Violence continues to be an everyday reality in the Province, with approximately 84 persons killed and 38 others wounded in 29 incidents across Balochistan just between September 1 and November 7, 2008. Further, sources in Quetta say that the current ‘peace process’ has so far ignored the fundamental issues that sustain the insurgency and Islamabad is only involved in peace-keeping. Above all else, there is a tremendous trust deficit, since the Baloch find little reason in their history to put their faith in Islamabad. Such distrust is not likely to disappear soon. For instance, even with the ‘peace process’ underway, National Party information secretary Jan Mohammad Buledi disclosed, on August 16, 2008, in Quetta that about 600,000 acres of land had been allotted to a particular company at a price of PKR One per acre and another 200,000 acres of land was allotted to the Pakistan Air Force in the Lyari area of Lasbela District. The influx of populations from other Provinces into Balochistan has been another major issue for long.

Moreover, the fundamental issues, which include control over resources, equal authority, and autonomy, are yet to be addressed. There is also the crucial issue of missing persons. Rehman Malik has acknowledged that there are more than 1,000 missing people in Balochistan. General Abdul Qadir Baloch, a former provincial Governor and Army commander in Quetta, believes reports that hundreds of Balochis have been stripped naked, hung upside down, electrocuted, dunked in wells and killed. According to the nationalist parties, Islamabad will have to account for the mass arrests of leaders and insurgents during the last four years of disappearances and military operations. Many of the Baloch nationalists are demanding legal action against those responsible for military operations in the province and are not willing to hold any reconciliation dialogue with stakeholders of the previous regime. Baloch nationalists, consequently, remain disconnected from the current reconciliation process.

There is also the issue of endemic neglect and backwardness. Balochistan accounts for over 65 per cent of Pakistan’s gas output but, the Daily Times notes, is 78 percent without electricity; and 79 percent of its population has no gas supply. The province accounts for just 3.4 percent of all gas consumers in the country, as compared to 64 percent in Punjab. According to the Quetta-based analyst Arif Tabassum, "Natural gas is taken out from Balochistan but hardly two per cent of the Province's population gets benefit from it. The transporters of the whole province have access only to three CNG stations, located in Quetta city. The natural gas of Balochistan is purchased at many times less rate than of the other Provinces. The natural resources of Saindak and Rekodak are given to foreign entities on the orders of federal government. Gwadar Port is neither providing employment opportunities to the local population nor does the Province have any say in its functions… The agriculture and livestock sectors are not provided with the federal subsidised services that could improve the local economy. The posting and transfers of higher provincial bureaucracy is controlled by the federal government."

Successive regimes in Islamabad and Quetta have procrastinated on the issue of giving the Baloch a sense of ownership of their Province and are yet to recognise the aspirations for provincial autonomy. A significant issue that Islamabad, the insurgents and other stakeholders will have to engage with is how to alter the current fiscal arrangement, which is evidently unfavourable to the concept of provincial ownership of natural resources. The federal Government will have to rethink the National Finance Commission (NFC) award with special regard to Balochistan when it plans to apportion revenue shares among the provinces. Most parties in Balochistan oppose the idea of apportioning being based on the population criterion alone and have, for long, demanded that that the NFC give weightage to provincial area, poverty and backwardness as well. Robert Wirsing of the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies notes:

Baloch leaders have been arguing for years that turning the situation around required, among other things, an overhaul of the rules governing intergovernmental fiscal relations — including both those pertaining to how the central government shares the divisible pool of tax revenues with the Provinces, and those pertaining to how the provincial share is divided up among the four provinces… As it now stands, revenues are distributed among the provinces in accord with a strict per capita population criterion. This formula finds favor in the Punjab, and to some extent also in Sindh and the NWFP. It means, of course, that Balochistan, with just short of 5 percent of the country’s population, inevitably gets a very small share of the pie. Possessing, on the other hand, 43.6 percent of the country’s area, with the unique costs entailed thereby, along with an exceptionally low level of development, Balochistan, say its advocates, requires a different distributional formula."

Practically, Quetta-based analyst Arif Tabassum points out, the recent confidence building measures can only "create some flexibility in nationalists to come close to the overall reconciliation process, but if these actions are propagated as the solution of problems, it will prolong the distance and create new resentments."

The federal Government’s commitment that the FC will be withdrawn and replaced by other security agencies has also been met with serious reservations in the Province. While the FC presence is strongly opposed, the Police is also not seen as an acceptable alternative. Indeed, one of the demands of the nationalists is the revival of the Balochistan Levies, which have been merged with the local Police in recent years, since the "local levies are better suited to serve the local communities; the predominantly non-Baloch Police is eyed with suspicion by locals and considered repressive and corrupt." For the record, one of the key recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan formed under President Musharraf’s regime was to retain the Balochistan Levies.

Furthermore, there has been no significant movement on the idea of troop withdrawal. For instance, the Government is yet to withdraw the FC from the Dera Bugti and Kohlu Districts, which are the hub of insurgency. Considering the strategic importance of these two districts, the FC troops are unlikely to be withdrawn from there in the proximate future. For the insurgents, troop withdrawal is a pre-requisite for any dialogue.

Rehman Malik, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs, has announced the formation of a committee to review cases against political leaders in Balochistan. According to him, "We are trying to persuade our angry Baloch brothers to throw away their weapons and join the mainstream to serve Balochistan and Pakistan." However, there have been no surrenders since he made that statement on August 28. Evidently, the Baloch insurgent is not ready to eschew violence under the prevailing circumstances.

At a certain level, the ‘peace process’ is seen merely as a tactic by Islamabad to buy time. Pakistan’s security forces are immensely over-stretched combating Islamist militancy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and elsewhere in the country. The momentary political management of the protracted insurgency in Balochistan would certainly give the SFs some relief.

It is, moreover, still not clear that Islamabad is now ready to radically transform the power sharing structure. Any fundamental changes in centre-state relations directed towards neutralizing the insurgency in Balochistan will surely be opposed by the long dominant Punjab and other provinces. More importantly, "the state is hardly in control of its territory elsewhere, its institutions are weak to the point of non-delivery, and there are foreign elements freely challenging the writ of the state." The protracted nature of the Baloch insurgency makes it clear that Islamabad’s overwhelming reliance on a military solution has failed in the Province, as it has elsewhere. Attempts at political management have also failed repeatedly in the recent past. Clearly, doubts still persist on Islamabad’s capacity to save Balochistan’s descent into absolute estrangement.

[South Asian Intelligence Review]

News Briefs

111 persons killed in NWFP: At least 111 persons were killed in militancy-related violence in the NWFP during the week November 17-23, 2008. Five people, including two children, were killed when a bomb exploded at the Sewa Gul mosque in the Tull tehsil (revenue division) of Hangu District on November 22. A day earlier, an angry mob torched shops and vehicles and pelted Police with rocks in Dera Ismail Khan after a bomb exploded at the funeral procession of a Shia cleric killed in the night of November 20. 10 persons were killed and approximately 40 others were wounded in the blast. Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanaullah Khan said a remote-controlled bomb exploded during the funeral of Syed Iqbal Shah at 11am. Further, fighter jets targeted Taliban hideouts in the Ghat Piocher area of Matta tehsil in Swat on November 20. AFP quoted security officials as saying that 20 militants were killed in the bombing. Meanwhile, in the Khwazakhel tehsil, at least eight civilians, including six women, were killed and 33 injured as the troops tried to target Taliban positions in the Alam Ganj area.

Nine persons, including five militants, were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries in the ongoing military operation in Swat Valley on November 19. Sources said gunship helicopters shelled hideouts of the militants, killing five of them and injuring several others. Separately, two women were killed when mortar shells fired by the security forces (SFs) landed at a house of one Manzaray in Khwazakhela. It was also reported that two persons were killed and as many injured when a mortar shell hit a house in Kabal tehsil.

A suspected US drone fired two missiles on a residential compound in the Janikhel area of Bannu District in the night of November 18, killing four: one Arab, two Turkmen and a local militant. Five militants were killed while nine persons, including five militants, sustained injuries during a gun-battle in the Shabqadar sub-division of Charsadda District on November 18. Separately, two women were killed when a shell hit a house in Norano Kellay. 15 militants were killed and several others wounded in military operations in the Swat Valley on November 18. Helicopter gunships shelled alleged militant hideouts in Akhund and Zora Kellay in the Kabal Sub-division, killing seven militants. APP reported that eight militants were killed in an encounter with the SFs in the Gashkor area of Khwazakhela. On November 17, SFs killed 12 militants and arrested eight others in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda District. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, November 18-24, 2008.

75 militants and 10 civilians killed in Bajaur: At least 75 militants and 10 civilians were in military operations in the Bajaur Agency during November 17-23, 2008. Five militants were killed and several others sustained injuries in air raids and artillery shelling in different areas of the agency on November 23. Security forces (SFs), backed by jet fighters, gunship choppers and artillery, moved towards the headquarters of Nawagai tehsil (revenue division) and adjoining villages and took control of the area. The area, which was once a stronghold of the militants in Bajaur, fell to the SFs for the first time after the launch of ‘Operation Sher Dil’ against the militants on August 6, 2008. Earlier, four militants and three women were killed in bombing by fighter aircraft in the Bajaur Agency on November 22. Officials said the aircraft attacked suspected hideouts in Kas, Gatki and Kharki areas of Mamoond tehsil (Revenue Division).

22 militants were killed and five others sustained injuries when the SFs targeted hideouts of suspected militants in the Damadola area on November 21. SFs targeted hideouts in Damadola, Tanikhwar, Sapray, Charmang, Kotki, Zorbandar, Glokas Shenkot, Kharkay and Gutki areas of Mamoond and Nawagai sub-divisions. At least 24 Taliban militants, including 11 foreigners and one local commander, were killed in the military operation on November 20. The slain foreign fighters were suspected to be Uzbek nationals, Frontier Corps sources told Daily Times. They said the Taliban casualties came when security forces targeted militants in the Darbari, Saparai, Gatki, Bagori and Zorbandar areas of Mamoond and Nawagai Sub-divisions. A day earlier, 12 militants died and several others were injured when SFs targeted their suspected hideouts in different areas of Bajaur Agency on November 19. The SFs, with artillery and gunship helicopters, targeted suspected hideouts in the Damadola, Saparay and Shinkot areas of Mamond tehsil and Charmang, Zorbandar and Sagi areas of Nawagai sub-division.

At least 10 persons were killed in clashes between the Taliban and pro-government tribal leaders on November 18. The Taliban on November 17 intercepted a convoy carrying 12 pro-government elders of the Mamoond tribe, local Government official Israr Khan told AFP. The tribesmen opened fire and killed three Taliban militants, including their commander, he said. The elders later took refuge in a guesthouse belonging to a local tribal chief, but more militants arrived, who besieged the house and demanded the local chief hand over the elders. "They opened fire and lobbed hand grenades inside, killing four elders and three servants of the tribal chief," Khan said. Earlier, five Taliban militants were killed on November 16 when the SFs targeted their hideouts in the Bajaur region. The five were killed in Siprai village, where the SFs have been engaged in fierce clashes with militants for the past three months. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, November 18-24, 2008.

Tribal militia chief among nine persons killed in suicide attack on mosque in Bajaur: The chief of a tribal Lashkar (militia) and eight other persons were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in the Badan village of Bajaur Agency on November 20, 2008. Eyewitnesses said the bomber succeeded in entering the mosque on the premises of the house of one Malak Rehmatullah during prayers. Rehmatullah, a tribal chieftain and head of the Mamond militia, and eight of his close relatives, including a nephew, were killed. Dawn, November 21, 2008.

Four soldiers among 10 persons killed in suicide bombing in Swat: Ten persons, including four soldiers, were killed and 17 others were wounded in a suicide blast in the Khawazakhela area of Swat District in the NWFP on November 17, 2008. A military statement said the suicide bomber struck the security forces' check post in an explosives-packed vehicle at 11:15 a.m. near Gashkor. The bomber was believed to be a teenager. Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the attack, adding that attacks against Security Forces would continue if military operation in Swat continued. Daily Times; Dawn, November 18, 2008.

Anti-Taliban offensive continues in Bajaur: At least 25 Taliban militants and two civilians were killed in the past week in a continued air and land offensive by the security forces (SFs) against Taliban militants in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). On November 10, six Taliban militants were killed in the Sewai and Damadola areas when jets bombarded Taliban hideouts. Security forces also targeted Taliban positions in the Zorbandar and Sabagi areas of Khar, but there were no casualties. On November 11, seven Taliban militants were killed as troops targeted Taliban positions in Nawagai and Mamoond tehsils (revenue divisions). Artillery shells also hit civilian areas, but there were no reports of casualties. Security forces arrested 25 Afghan nationals from different areas of the Agency on November 13. Operations continued on November 14, in the Nawagai and Mamoond tehsil areas destroying Taliban hideouts. No casualty was, however, reported. On November 15, six Taliban militants were killed by troops in Mamoond. On November 16, another six Taliban militants and two civilians were killed by SF shelling in the Tanai area of Mamoond tehsil and Umrai area of Nawagai tehsil.

The Government supported tribal lashkars (militias) have also been able to inflict some damage on the militants. On November 16, a lashkar of the Orakzai clan killed 10 militants, while losing its chief Malik Fazal Mabud and important tribal leader Malik Jamdar Khan in gun-battles in Gutkai and Bandarae. Taliban spokesman Maulana Umer claimed that none of his men had been killed and said his fighters had captured 25 members of the lashkar. Previously, on November 11, 12 Taliban commanders surrendered to the political administration at a jirga (council) of Otmankhel tribes. On November 14, a tribal jirga of the Orakzai clan of Mamoond tribe held in Kuga area of Mamoond tehsil set a two-day deadline for the Taliban to surrender before a tribal lashkar or leave. The jirga told the Taliban that upon failure to leave by November 16, a tribal lashkar would torch their houses.

The three-day official deadline for Afghans to leave Bajaur expired on November 12. Earlier, the administration had given a deadline in September to all Afghans to leave the area or face deportation. But the order had been largely ignored. A notification recently warned the local population that they risked confiscation if they purchased property from Afghans. Dawn; Daily Times; Jang, November 11-17, 2008.

Anti-Taliban operations launched in Mohmand Agency: On November 13, security forces, backed by helicopters and tanks, launched an operation to flush out militants from areas around Charsadda and Peshawar as part of a wider plan to establish the Government’s writ in Mohmand Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). While officials claimed that 21 militants had been killed and several others wounded in the operation, the local population put the death toll at 13, including seven militants and six civilians. One soldier was killed and another injured. A curfew has been clamped on parts of Charsadda, Peshawar and Mohmand and people in large numbers are reportedly leaving the area. With Cobra helicopters flying overhead, troops backed by tanks have advanced towards Pir Qalla, Juma Khan Korona and Michni areas considered to be militant hubs. Reports indicate that suspected hideouts of militants in 25 villages of Yaka Ghund subdivision adjacent to Mohmand Agency were attacked. Helicopters destroyed an explosive-laden militant vehicle in Badai Korona, killing six people. The house of a Taliban leader was destroyed in Qala Shah Begg. Raids also targeted militant hideouts in Lakaro subdivision of the Agency adjoining Bajaur. Militant bases in Qanadaro and Karier areas were destroyed. A Government school previously taken over by the militants in Sandokhel was also attacked.

On the day operations started, the political administration in the Agency warned the Mohmand tribes of imminent military operation if they did not sever ties with local and foreign Taliban. Pamphlets printed in Urdu language were distributed to the people. "We inform the people of Mohmand Agency that the (outlawed) Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has attacked Islam and Pakistan by killing innocent Muslims. The TTP has [hurt the cause of] Islam more than ever before," the pamphlet read. It further said, "We warn the Mohmand tribes to sever ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban’s Abdul Wali group as the Government is planning action against the group." "Get all elements of Abdul Wali group out of your homes, otherwise they will be targeted by helicopters and jet bombers", it added. Dawn; Daily Times; Jang, November 11-17, 2008.

Country suffered $34.5 billion losses in war on terror, says Foreign Minister: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a news briefing in New York on November 13 that the country suffered huge losses, amounting to $34.5 billion, since 2001 for its role in the war on terror. Speaking to reporters after President Asif Ali Zardari’s participation in the trilateral summit, involving Saudi Arabian King Abdullah and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Qureshi said, "Pakistan paid a huge price, both in economic and human terms, to protect itself and the world." He said that the Government was still compiling figures of the losses and would reveal these in a report soon. He further said there has been a "visible change" in the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan since President Zardari assumed his office. Daily Times; Jang, November 14, 2008.

Anti-Taliban offensive continues in Bajaur: At least 99 Taliban militants and six civilians were killed in the past week in a continued offensive by the security forces (SFs) against Taliban militants in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). On November 3, 18 Taliban militants were killed in SF operations in the Mamoond tehsil (revenue area. On the next day, five Taliban militants were killed and several others injured in artillery fire and bombing by jet planes on suspected Taliban hideouts in the Dama Dola area of Mamoond tehsil. Operations were also carried out in several other areas of the Agency. On November 5, 11 Taliban militants were killed as SFs targeted Taliban hideouts in Gat Agra, Damadola and Janzai areas of Mamoond tehsil. On November 6, another 19 Taliban militants were killed during SF operations in the Mamoond and Nawagai tehsils. Officials said the dead include Taliban commander Wali Rehman who was known to shelter foreign Al Qaeda militants. Frontier Constabulary sources also claimed that the house of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) deputy commander Maulvi Faqir Muhammad was destroyed in an air strike in Damadola along with a major Taliban ammunition dump in the area. At least 20 Taliban militants were killed and 10 others injured on November 7 as forces carried out air raids targeting Taliban hideouts in Damadola, Seweai, Sparay, Kharkay, Shinkot areas of Mamoond tehsil and Charmang and Zoorband areas of Nawagai tehsil. Jets also bombed the Aareb area of Mamoond tehsil targeting the house of Jaish-e-Islami leader Wali Rehman killing six members of Rehman's family. 16 Taliban militants were also killed during operations in the Sapri, Banda, Khakai, Damadola and Sewai areas of Mamoond tehsil on November 9. Six militant bases and an arms depot were destroyed in the offensive.

Meanwhile, in the Agency Headquarters Khar, a grand jirga (council) of tribal elders decided to take strict action against those found involved in anti-State activities. They said the houses of those found sheltering the Taliban would be set ablaze and they would be expelled from the area. The jirga decided to impose a fine of PKR Two million on those who sheltered the Taliban in their areas. The jirga members assured the Government of their full co-operation, and said they would fight alongside the SFs for restoration of peace in the Agency. Similarly, On November 5, the chief of the lashkar of the Barozai tribe in Ward Mamond, Haji Rahmatullah, claimed that more than 12 villages had been cleared of the militants over the past few weeks. He said most of the militants were either killed or injured during the drive, adding that the remaining fled to mountainous areas along the Afghan border. He said that tribal forces would continue to chase the militants till their complete elimination from the tribal region.

A suicide attack killed 22 tribesmen and injured 45 others at a Salarzai tribe jirga on November 6. The blast targeted a lashkar in Batmalani, about 40-kilometres northeast of the Agency Headquarters at Khar. "Two to three hundred members of the lashkar were finalising their strategy after demolishing houses of Taliban when the blast occurred," local Police sources said. Among the dead were lashkar head Malak Fazal Karim and his aides Malak Wazir Khan and Malak Sakhi. A man claiming to be a member of a previously unheard-of ‘Karwan-e-Nematullah’ accepted responsibility for the attack in telephone calls to journalists. Daily Times; Jang, November 4-10, 2008.

Afghan Government adviser abducted from Chitral in NWFP: Unidentified militants abducted Akhtar Kohistani, an adviser to the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) from the remote Chitral Valley late in the night of November 2. He was on a personal visit to the township. A Police official disclosed that armed men abducted Kohistani from the house of one of his relatives, located in Seerdoor Kadak village of Darosh Valley. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the abduction. Chitral shares a long border with Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. Kohistani is the fourth high-profile Afghan national to have been abducted from the Frontier province or adjacent tribal areas during the past one-and-a-half months. Earlier, Afghanistan’s ambassador-designate to Pakistan, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, was abducted by four armed men from Hayatabad Township, Peshawar, on September 22, 2008. On October 31, unidentified gunmen abducted Zia-ul-Haq, younger brother of the Afghan Finance Minister, Anwarul Haq Ahady. A professor of Jalalabadís Aryana University, Abdul Haq Danishmal, was abducted from the tribal Khyber region on November 1. Jang, November 4, 2008.

Former Deputy Attorney-General admits to have lost son fighting alongside Taliban: A former deputy attorney-general, Raja Mohammad Irshad has admitted to have lost his son who was fighting alongside the Taliban against the American-led forces in Afghanistan soon after September 11, 2001. During a media interview Raja Irshad said, "He was a very brilliant Hafiz-e-Quran, he crossed border, he got martyred, in 2001, because he was inspired by Quran, I can never forget him." Raja Irshad served from 2002 to September 2008 as a deputy to various chief law officers. Dawn, November 4, 2008.

13 Taliban militants killed in Swat: Security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, killed 13 Taliban militants and injured nine in clashes in various areas of Swat valley of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) on November 1. Two security force personnel were killed during the clashes that took place when the Taliban attacked a patrolling party in Matta tehsil. Troops retaliated and killed four Taliban. Separately, the Taliban militants fired two rockets at a SF camp in Kabal tehsil and troops killed four Taliban and injured two in the clash that followed the attack. Troops also pounded suspected Taliban hideouts in Sardara and Shamozai areas, killing five of them and injuring three others. Taliban also abducted four Policemen from Swat’s Nangolai area. Daily Times, November 3, 2008.

Anti-Taliban offensive continues in Bajaur: At least 15 Taliban militants and eight civilians were killed in the past week in a continued air and land offensive between the SFs and the Taliban militants in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). On October 28, four Taliban militants were killed in fighting with the security forces (SFs) as raids were carried out in the Mamoond, Nawagai and Khar tehsils (revenue divisions). The SFs claimed to have strengthened their position in Loyesam and surrounding areas of Khar. Two persons were killed and another injured when a shell accidentally hit a house in the Bai Cheena area of Khar tehsil. On October 31, six persons were killed and five others, including two women and three children, were injured in the shelling by fighter planes in Sapri area of the Mamoond tehsil. The SFs claimed to have captured a strategically important mountain in Dabar in the same area, which militants previously used for targeting the SFs. The volunteers of the Mamoond tribal lashkar (militia) captured the headquarters of the Taliban militants in Sewai area of the Mamond tehsil and deployed several of their colleagues there. They also arrested four important commanders of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). On November 1, eight Taliban militants were killed and 10 others injured as helicopter gunships targeted Taliban positions in the Damadola and Mataro Sha areas under Mamoond tehsil. On the same day, the Mamoond tribe lashkar reportedly captured several check posts abandoned by the Taliban in different areas. On November 2, three Taliban militants were killed and four others were injured in air strikes and artillery shelling in different areas of the Agency.

On October 31, Maulvi Omer, spokesperson for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), speaking to Press persons over telephone for the first time since the beginning of the military operations in August, made an offer to the Government to settle the dispute through negotiations. "We will not refuse to talk to the Government," Omer said. Daily Times; Dawn, October 28-November 3, 2008.

32 Al Qaeda and Taliban militants killed in US missiles strike in North and South Waziristan: 20 Arab fighters of the Al Qaeda were killed when two suspected US missiles struck a pick-up truck and a house, west of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan area of FATA on October 31. Security officials said Abu Akash al-Iraqi, an ageing Al Qaeda leader, was suspected to be killed in the attack. He was living in the rented house. On the same day, in South Waziristan, at least 12 suspected Taliban militants were killed as a US drone fired two missiles at a militant hideout near Wana. An unnamed senior security official said that top Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was also wounded in the strike. Daily Times, November 1, 2008.

[South Asian Intelligence Review]