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

Is Pakistan a Failed State on the Verge of Collapse?

       (Afghanistan and Myanmar in the
         map are not members of SAARC)

Complicity Uninterrupted

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

There is some indication that the India-Pakistan dialogue, frozen since the terrorist attack in Mumbai in November 2008, is set to resume. However, there is also, more ominously, intelligence that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and other Pakistan-based militant groups are planning the next big-ticket terrorist attack against India.

The LeT, arguably the most lethal among the mélange of India-oriented terrorist groups based in Pakistan, has regrouped rather well, despite the global censure in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 (26/11). While it continues to maintain a relatively low profile in Pakistan’s heartland Punjab (where it is headquartered), its paraphernalia in Sindh, Balochistan, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Waziristan are both intact and visible. Crucially, recent intelligence indicates,

the LeT’s infrastructure in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), is, in fact, expanding rapidly. While Islamabad’s sham ‘crackdown’ against the LeT after the carnage in Mumbai led to a momentary displacement of its mobile training camps, the outfit has, in the months since then, reorganized rather effectively, especially in PoK – the launching ground for the Kashmir jihad.

Along with the Lashkar, all the other militant groups waging the Kashmir jihad are currently active in PoK. According to the latest assessment of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), the nodal agency for all terror-related intelligence under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi, there are 34 ‘active’ and eight ‘holding’ camps operational across the border in Pakistan. The Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have 17 ‘active’ and four ‘holding or dormant’ camps each, according to the MAC assessment, based on inputs from different security agencies. An official disclosed that approximately 2,200 militants are present in these camps. After 26/11 many of these camps had emptied out or relocated. While some are currently back to their original status, new ones have also been formed. According to the MAC assessment, among the 2,200 militants in the 42 terrorist training camps in Pakistan, roughly 300 are affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, some 240 to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and around 130 to the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), while the rest are reportedly of "mixed" allegiance.

In PoK, the camps are located in Tattapani, Garhi Dupatta, Barnala, Sensa, Forward Kahutta, Peer Chinasi, Shavai Nallah, Bhimbher, Kotli, Skardu, Abdullah Bin Masud, Nikial, Gulpur, Samani and, Jhandi Chauntra, among others.
Within the militancy-wracked NWFP, there are several seminaries which also function as terrorist training camps in the mountainous Manshera region. These include Jangal Mangal, Shinkiari, Andher Bela, and Jalo Gali. Elsewhere in the Frontier, there are camps located in Oghi, Boi, and Attar Shisha.
Furthermore, there are also camps situated at other locations within Pakistan, including Muridke, Sialkot, Beesian, Garhi Habibullah and Jalogali.
The Indian Army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, had stated, on March 25, 2009, that the LeT was attempting the biggest ever push of around 300 terrorists over the Line of Control (LoC) into India. "There are at least 300 militants waiting to crossover to our side over LOC," Kapoor said.
"Terror infrastructure in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan remains intact and infiltration attempts by terrorists are continuing," Defence Minister A. K. Antony said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) on July 15, 2009.

PoK Police has claimed that the outlawed Jama’at-ud-Da’awa (JuD, the LeT front) is expanding its operations and recruitment in the region. A confidential report submitted to the Federal Government has revealed it had purchased 65 kanals (a kanal is equal to 0.125 acres or 605 square yards) of land in the Dulai area of Muzaffarabad, the PoK capital, to construct a mosque, a school and a dispensary, Daily Times reported on July 1. The PoK Inspector General of Police Javed Iqbal told a private TV channel that his force was ‘closely monitoring’ the group’s activities.

Outlawed groups, including the LeT and JeM, are expanding operations and recruitment in PoK, according to the region’s Police. According to a BBC report of June 30, a detailed assessment, submitted by the Police to the PoK Cabinet on March 25, 2009, states that three banned groups – Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), JeM and LeT – are active in Muzaffarabad. This is clear evidence (from within) of Pakistan’s deceit and the fake crackdown it organized after 26/11. The HuM and JeM are reportedly planning to open madrassas (seminaries) in Muzaffarabad, where the LeT is already operating a madrassa. "No officials are allowed to enter these premises to gather any sort of information...We fear these madrassas may be a cover for furthering militant activities," the BBC quoted the report as saying. However, Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki, the Jama’at-ud-Da’awa deputy chief, told BBC that his group had not purchased any properties in PoK or been involved in any quarrel with locals.

The Police report is believed to have mentioned how militant groups are increasing in size and number across PoK. It especially mentioned Neelum District, where the groups are said to be the most powerful.
The report states the militants are involved in the logging of trees, the most lucrative commerce in the region. The militants have also reportedly set up offices at Kandal Shahi market in Neelum, where they have become a major law and order problem. For instance, the report mentioned an incident (no date or other details were given) which led to the killing of some locals and a resulting stand-off with the militants. "The situation was only resolved by the intervention of the local administrator and senior army officials," the report stated, adding that authorities should take up the matter with the "intelligence agency responsible for the militants".

Intelligence inputs and information revealed by some recently arrested militants in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have indicated that the hitherto unaffected Tauheed hills, an isolated forest area of Muzaffarabad, has become a new militant hub, especially for recently inducted cadre of the LeT and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfits, Daily Excelsior reported on July 17, 2009. The camps here, being run with clandestine support of the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), are being used for training militants in the handling of sophisticated weapons and explosive devices. Sources indicate that at least 200 militants each of the LeT and HM are receiving training from commanders of the two groups in Tauheed hills, located about 40 to 50 kilometers north-west of Muzaffarabad. According to Intelligence inputs, youth from Pakistan’s NWFP and Peshawar areas were among the trainees in various PoK camps, including Tauheed hills.

''Trust me, the ISI has other hits in mind,'' US analyst Ralph Peters remarks, echoing reports from various quarters in India about another and imminent terrorist attack. The United Nations (UN) has also indicated that the LeT is planning to target India again. "LeT tactics are quite obvious. It is trying to increase tensions between India and Pakistan at a time when they and their associates are particularly under pressure in western Pakistan," said Richard Barrett, Coordinator of the UN Security Council’s Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Committee, in New York on July 15. "They may do that again," Barrett asserted, adding that "this is the real risk".

Seven months since 26/11, intelligence reports indicate high probabilities of another attack on India. Sources disclose that there is specific intelligence which points directly to the LeT. Apart from Hindu targets (temples, right-wing politicians, offices of right-wing groups, etc.), intelligence sources in New Delhi said States in south India are particularly vulnerable, because the LeT is known to be working on plans to attack soft targets in these States.

Official sources also revealed that six terrorist plots by the LeT have been foiled since 26/11. Of these, two were thwarted in Jammu and Kashmir and one module had targeted the national capital, New Delhi.

Notwithstanding significant global censure and scrutiny, the LeT leadership at Muridke and Lahore and its operational commanders in PoK are undoubtedly planning another spectacular attack in India. Intelligence sources said Zarar Shah and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT leaders currently ‘in prison’, have unimpeded access to communications, facilitating the planning process. The bogus crackdown against the outfit in PoK and elsewhere has done nothing to diminish its operational capabilities. In fact, Indian security agencies have identified new LeT modules in Nepal and Bangladesh as well as in India, a clear indication of augmenting Lashkar capabilities, as well as of potential terrorist attacks on Indian soil. Crucially, all of this is clearly happening under the tutelage of the outfit’s handlers in Pakistan’s security agencies, including the ISI.

Intelligence available with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs suggests that the next terrorist attack in India could even be executed from the air. Among the plausible targets for the Pakistan-based terrorist groups, including the LeT, are key defence establishments, including the INS Viraat, India’s lone aircraft carrier, and VVIPs. One of the many intercepts recently made by a central intelligence agency indicated that top Lashkar leaders, including its communications cell chief Zarar Shah, had been analyzing India’s helicopter charter services, especially those in south India. The intercept reportedly suggested that the LeT was considering using a chartered flight, among other available options, to launch attacks. The intercept also indicated that a hired/hijacked charter flight could be used to target airports and VVIPs. The ministry has consequently alerted around 100 operators of air charter services across the country.

Further, at least 15 militants are reportedly being trained in PoK to target the 450 MW Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project (built on River Chenab in Ramban District of J&K) and a secret tunnel is being dug from Sialkot to connect PoK with J&K, two arrested LeT militants revealed, on July 12, 2009. The two terrorists, Mohammad Shafakat and Mohammad Adnan, were arrested from the Shamashabari forest in Kupwara District. The duo, residents of Chinchawatni revenue division in Sahiwal District of Punjab in Pakistan, also said the secret tunnel must have been completed by now. Adnan later revealed to Times Now that teenagers from poor households are being brainwashed to wage Pakistan's proxy war against India. Adnan said he was 18 years-old and that there were 20 to 30 boys in his group who were trained along with him at Muzaffarabad.

There is also some evidence that militant groups are using the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad trade route for hawala transactions intended for their cadre in J&K. A July 10, 2009, report indicated that a leading businessman in Srinagar, the J&K capital, had been arrested by the Police for alleged hawala payments to over-ground workers of a militant outfit, in lieu of goods received from PoK via the Kaman Bridge. Police sources said the businessman paid INR 1,000,000 in three transactions. The Police are also examining records of eight other businessmen, who they suspect made similar hawala payments. Cross-LoC trade, which currently operates on a barter system, came under the Police scanner after the arrest of over-ground workers of a militant group in Sopore, who subsequently confessed they received INR 1,000,000 from a Srinagar businessman in three different installments. Sources said the trader received consignments worth INR 3,000,000 from Chikoti in Muzaffarabad, but sent goods worth INR 2,000,000 to PoK. The trader was instructed by his Pakistani counterpart to hand over the remaining INR 1,000,000 to the over-ground workers.

While Pakistan has initiated some action against renegade militant groups like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which direct their ire against Islamabad, jihadi groups that target India have escaped state action, despite the global pressure. In fact, the US has, to a significant extent, winked at this duplicity, on the logic that groups like the LeT and JeM are not targeting the US. This is clearly an irrational perception, since the militant groups in Pakistan – be it the TTP, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, LeT, JeM, or others – have the same ideological worldview, and are integrally interlinked. These linkages and common ideological ground underpin the essential logic and dynamic of their operations. Appallingly, the current US administration has failed to exert adequate pressure on Pakistan to bring to justice the Lashkar operatives, including outfit chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who orchestrated 26/11, despite the fact that three Americans were killed and two injured in the attack. Significantly, Juan Zarate, the Deputy National Security Adviser for counter-terrorism in the Bush administration, had told Chicago Tribune in March 2009 that "We are and should be concerned about the threat LeT poses, given its global network… It doesn’t just reside in South Asia. It is an organisation that has potential reach all over the world, including the US." Bruce Riedel, chairman of the Obama administration’s Pakistan-Afghanistan strategy review team, stated that he believed a "global jihadist syndicate" of disaffected young Pakistanis was the most likely mechanism for launching an attack on US soil. Clearly, the US engagement with Pakistan on prosecuting the war on terror without any action on groups like the LeT will prove fruitless.

Amidst all this, a significant incident in PoK brought the region into sharp focus. On June 26, 2009, a suicide bomber killed two soldiers when he blew himself up near an Army vehicle, in the first such attack in PoK. The military stated that another three soldiers were injured in the early morning bombing at the Army barracks at Shaukat Lines in Muzaffarabad, the PoK capital. The junior section of the Army Public School, several other educational institutions, and the 5-AK Brigade headquarters are located in the area where the attack took place. The 18-year old suicide bomber has since been identified as Abid, a TTP militant from Waziristan. Muzaffarabad is now getting a taste of its own medicine.

Hakimullah Mehsud, a deputy of the TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud, told AP that the attack was launched to prove that Baitullah had not been weakened by more than a week of military strikes on his suspected hideouts in South Waziristan Agency. "We are in a position to respond to the Army’s attacks, and time will prove that these military operations have not weakened us," Hakimullah declared. A Police Officer told Dawn on June 27 that the Army installation had probably been attacked to give a message to the authorities that militants could expand their area of operation and hit Security Forces anywhere. The barracks fall under the 5-AK Brigade of the Azad Kashmir (AK) Regiment which is reportedly taking part in the operation against militants in Swat and adjoining areas.

The first suicide bombing on the Pakistan Army in PoK was certainly not anticipated by authorities. None of the militants groups in PoK, which concentrate largely on India and remain Islamabad’s strategic assets, have ever launched attacks on Pakistani targets. More importantly, groups like the LeT and JeM are believed to have operational links with the TTP. There is a strong possibility that the TTP has now decided to up the ante by targeting the Pakistan Army in PoK to generate instability in a region that is crucial for Pakistan in its terrorist campaign and proxy war against India. The underlying idea is to try and open another front for Islamabad in PoK, in order to ease the pressure in FATA and the Frontier. However, the TTP would incline to calibrating its operations in PoK, in order not to invite hostility from its jihadi brethren in the region. Islamabad, consequently, is not expected to be unduly troubled by the suicide bombing in Muzaffarabad.

Nevertheless, political groups like the United Kashmir People’s National Party have called on Pakistani authorities to take preemptive measures to stop the spread of Talibanisation in PoK. There is also some evidence that militants from PoK are fighting in the NWFP and Tribal Areas of Pakistan. For instance, 34-year-old Muhammad Owais and 30-year-old Ubaidullah, of the militant group Ghazi Force (named after the slain Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and active primarily in the Hangu District of NWFP) were arrested by the Islamabad Police on July 13, 2009. The two are accused of recruiting young men from Islamabad and PoK for training at terrorist camps.

There is little evidence of coherent action against the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, and state agencies remain deeply embroiled with a number of terrorist proxies, even while they fight groupings that have turned renegade, and that are now attacking targets within the country. Pakistan’s continuing support to externally oriented terrorist formations, however, is creating the very spaces within which groups that target Islamabad flourish. Unless the Pakistani state entirely abandons the instrumentalisation of jihadi terror as a strategic tool, neither the country nor the wider region can hope for any possibilities of peace.

[South Asia Intelligent Review]

News Briefs

230 militants and 11 soldiers among 245 persons killed in NWFP during the week: Security Forces (SFs) killed a local Taliban ‘commander’ in the Swat District and 13 militants in the Lower Dir District on July 26, 2009. "Security forces conducted a search operation in the area around Tal, Kamari Banda and Maira Banda, killing local commander Maaz of Qambar," said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). In Lower Dir, the bombardment came late on July 25. "At least 13 Taliban were killed and 15 of their hideouts destroyed," a security official in the area told AFP.

SFs on July 25 shot dead at least 14 Taliban militants during operations across Malakand, Buner and Swat. "During last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand division", the ISPR said. 10 Taliban were killed in Buner, while four were killed in Swat, and the SFs also arrested 29 militants from various areas of the two Districts.

16 militants were killed by SFs in the Maidan area of Dir Lower District while five militants and a soldier were killed in different areas of the Swat Valley and Malakand Agency in the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Rast on July 24. 16 militants were killed by the SFs in Maidan, the hometown of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in Dir Lower, the paramilitary Frontier Corps said without giving any other details.

SFs claimed to have killed eight militants and recovered a Prado used by the Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah during search operations in the Mauja Kandao and Dadrah areas of Kabal sub-division in Swat District on July 23. A spokesman for the Swat Media Centre told reporters that the SFs launched operations in Mauja Kandao, killing six militants. He said that a Prado used by Maulana Fazlullah was also recovered, besides another one. A media update of the ISPR said the SFs killed two militants and arrested three others in Dadrah area during a search operation. In addition, two bodies of militants, identified as Bakht Bedar and Akhtar Ali, were found in Mingora city. Further, a soldier and two militants were killed and another trooper sustained injuries in an encounter in the Thana area of Malakand Agency on July 23. Sources said a convoy of the SFs was on its way to Swat from the Malakand Agency when unidentified militants opened fire at it around 1:00 pm, killing a solider and injuring another. The troops retaliated by killing two militants.

28 militants were killed and several houses were razed during military operations in the Swat, Buner and Dir Lower Districts on July 22. Locals from Swat said the SFs took action in parts of the Kabal sub-division to track down the hiding Taliban militants. They said six suspected militants in Ningolai and two in Malukabad were killed during search operations by the troops. It was also reported that the body of a suspected militant was found at the Aqba Pull in central Mingora city. The ISPR also said SFs had killed eight militants in the Swat valley during the last 24 four hours. The ISPR media update said SFs killed two militants and arrested another during a search operation in Malukabad. The troops also conducted a search operation in Ningolai in which six terrorists were killed and four suspects were arrested, the update said. In Buner, the SFs launched an operation against the Taliban remnants on Chagharzai strip to neutralise the threat of the Taliban in the District. The SFs claimed they had killed three militants during an encounter with the Taliban in Dewana Baba.

SFs killed 11 Taliban militants in the Swat District, while suffering three fatalities on July 21. Locals said seven militants, including two local ‘commanders’ identified as Khalifa and Pehlwan, were killed in the Damghar and Mamdherai areas of Kabal sub-division. A media update of the ISPR on July 21 said "During a search operation at Damgarh and Mamdherai, security forces spotted five terrorists clad in Burqa, trying to escape from the area. They were apprehended, along with short machine guns, while five terrorists were killed." It said three soldiers, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, were also killed during an encounter with the militants in the area. Locals told The News that three militants were killed in Shahdherai area of Kabal during an operation by the SFs. They also said four farmers were killed in the evening of July 20 in the Bara Bandai area of Kabal. Further, continuing their operation in the Maidan revenue division of Lower Dir District, SFs claimed on July 21 to have killed 12 militants, including two ringleaders, identified as Qari Hakimullah and Sher Khan. According to official sources, troops have taken control of militants’ strongholds in Takatak, Undak, Misri Khani, Safaray and Kala Dag. Army officers told local journalists who visited the violence-hit areas of Maidan that 80 per cent of the revenue division had been cleared of militants. More than 100 militants were killed over the past two days.

SFs on July 20 claimed to have killed around 100 Taliban militants in a massive military operation in a cluster of villages in the Maidan area of Dir Lower District. Military sources said the SFs launched action in five villages of Maidan to dislodge the militants from their hideouts as they were launching rocket attacks from there on the Scouts Fort in Timergara. "We have inflicted huge human loss on them. According to the information we have received, the casualties of the militants must not be less than 100," a military official stationed in the area said. He said a large number of foot soldiers backed by tanks, artillery and mortars stormed the positions of the militants in Sherkhanay, Shedas, Misrikhanay, Sangolai and Saparay on July 19. The official said troops continued their operation for around 18 hours to destroy the Taliban hideouts. Some 250-300 Taliban militants were hiding in these five or six villages, according to the official. In addition, 14 militants, including two ‘commanders’, and an Army officer were killed in clashes between the SFs and Taliban in the Swat District on July 20. Locals from the valley said the exchange of heavy gunfire and mortar shell firing were heard from Koza Bandai village of Kabal area when the two sides clashed. Locals said the fighting resulted in the killing of 14 militants, including two ‘commanders’ identified as Zarqavi and Zulqarnain. Major Zahid of the Pakistan Army was also reported to have been killed during the encounter. Separately, suspected militants of the Mangal Bagh group killed four Policemen in an ambush on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, on July 20. According to official sources, the Police team was patrolling the Sarband cattle fair on Bara Road at around noon when was attacked. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, July 21-27, 2009.

18 militants and five civilians among 25 persons killed in FATA during the week: In the Bajaur Agency, the Security Forces (SFs) targeted Taliban hideouts in Babra, Manugai, Chinar, Kohi Matak and Karkanai, killing six militants. Two soldiers were killed in an explosion near Sarkari Qila of Bajaur. Separately, bodies of three alleged US spies were found in the Bechi area of Mirali in North Waziristan Agency on July 26. Local people said that a note found with the bullet-riddled bodies said the three were spying for the US.

Two militants were killed and four others sustained injuries when the Army’s gunship helicopters targeted Taliban hideouts in the Bajaur Agency on July 24. Official and tribal sources said gunship helicopters pounded the hideouts and also used heavy artillery and mortars in the Matak area of Nawagai sub-division, killing two militants and injuring four others. The sources also said gunship helicopters destroyed a training centre and the militants’ headquarters. Over the last several weeks of intensified operations, troops have reportedly flushed out militants from various areas of Charmang valley in Bajaur, including Matak, Hashim and Chinar villages.

Ten militants were killed when military planes bombed suspected positions of militants in the South Waziristan Agency on July 22. The AFP quoted an official as saying that the planes bombed two places in the Sarwakai area of South Waziristan. "Our jets hit a militant base in Gurguri and a Taliban compound in Ous Pass in Sarwakai. Both were destroyed and a total of four militants were killed," the military official said. The militants killed in the strikes reportedly belonged to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, he said. Official sources said that a training centre run by Baitullah Mehsud’s group was destroyed in Gurguri while some houses were bombed in the Ous Pass area. Further, four bodies, including two of sons of a slain militant commander, were found on the Tank-Jandola road on July 22, Police said. The bullet-riddled bodies, said to be of Idrees and Sher Qanoon, the sons of late militant commander Gul Pir, Jamshed and Younus, were found near the Fauji bridge. Gul Pir, a supporter of Baitullah Mehsud, was killed during an operation in the Sheikh Utar area two days ago.

Two volunteers of a tribal militia were killed when their companions mistakenly opened fire on them at Ambar sub-division in Mohmand Agency on July 20. Sources said the two militia men, identified as Khayal Shah and Yousuf, came under fire by their own colleagues, who mistook them for militants. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, July 21-27, 2009.

ISI spreading terrorism in India, says US Admiral Mike Mullen: US Admiral Mike Mullen affirmed ahead of a meeting with the visiting Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s external intelligence, has been fomenting terrorism in India and Afghanistan. Mike Mullen, who told the Arabic television network Al Jazeera hours before of his meeting with General Deepak Kapoor on July 23, 2009 that in the long run the ISI has to change its strategic thrust, which has been to foment chaotic activity in its border countries. ‘‘What I mean is that they have clearly focused on support of ... historically, of militant organizations both east and west. I mean that’s been a focus of theirs in Kashmir, historically, as well as in FATA. And I think ... that fundamentally has to change.’’ Mullen added. Times of India, July 25, 2009.

Osama bin Laden’s son may have been killed in US missile attack: One of Osama bin Laden’s sons "may be dead", a US counter-terrorism official told AFP on July 23, 2009 after reports he was likely killed by a US missile strike in Pakistan earlier in 2009. "There are some indications that he may be dead, but it’s not 100 per cent certain," the unnamed official said, adding "If he is dead, Saad bin Laden was a small player with a big name. He has never been a major operational figure." An administration official said the Al Qaeda leader’s third-oldest son "was likely killed in Pakistan". National Public Radio (NPR) reported on July 22 that Saad bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by Hellfire missiles fired from a US Predator drone "sometime this year". US intelligence agencies are "80 to 85 per cent" sure that Saad bin Laden is dead, a senior counter-terrorism official told NPR, acknowledging it was difficult to be completely sure without a body to conduct DNA tests on. It was unclear whether Saad bin Laden was close to the location of his father, who is believed to be hiding in the mountainous tribal belt along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, when he died. According to the US Treasury, Saad bin Laden, who is believed to have been in his 20s, was part of a small group of Al Qaeda operatives who helped manage the organisation from Iran, where he was arrested in 2003. He also allegedly helped facilitate communications between Al Qaeda’s number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, following an Al Qaeda attack on the US embassy in Yemen in 2008. The News, July 24, 2009.

164 militants and nine soldiers among 177 persons killed in FATA during the week: 12 militants were killed in shelling by fighter planes on suspected hideouts of the Taliban in Sarwakai sub-division of South Waziristan Agency on July 12, 2009. Sources said the fighter planes targeted the compounds and hideouts of the militants in Parwand and Novely Khan Serai areas. Unconfirmed reports said 12 militants were killed in the operation. A military statement said one soldier also died in an exchange of fire with the militants in South Waziristan.

Three militants were killed and several others injured during a military operation in the Bajaur Agency on July 11. The Security Forces (SFs) attacked the Chinar, Kohi Manogai, Karkanai and Zirat areas in Charmang Valley with artillery, killing the three Taliban militants.

Ten militants and six SF personnel were killed in various areas of Bajaur Agency on July 10. Sources said the SFs targeted hideouts of the militants with heavy artillery and gunship helicopters in the Charmang, Chinar and Manogai areas, killing 10 militants. The sources added that two soldiers were killed and five others sustained injuries in the clashes. Meanwhile, four Levies troopers were killed when unidentified militants attacked a check-post in Khar, the Bajaur Agency headquarters.

Two suspected US missile strikes hit South Waziristan on July 10, killing at least eight Taliban militants. The first strike targeted one of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud’s communication centres, killing at least three people, intelligence officials said. Separately, quoting a private TV channel report, the Online news agency claimed at least five militants were killed in a drone attack in the Tiyarza area.

39 militants were killed when military planes bombed Taliban hideouts in the Orakzai Agency on July 9. According to unconfirmed reports, about 14 camps of the militants were destroyed in the Starsam, Drogai and Behram Garh areas of Chappri Feroze Khel in the lower and Ghiljo in upper Orakzai agency. Independent sources confirmed that 39 militants had been killed and eight injured in the strikes. Further, a woman and her child were killed when a house owned by local tribesman Ghuncha Gul came under strikes by the planes. Separately, 12 militants were killed when Pakistan Air Force fighter planes targeted their suspected hideouts in South Waziristan Agency on July 9. The jets pounded suspected Taliban hideouts in four villages in Ladha and Kani Guram areas, according to four unnamed intelligence officials. Further, SFs on July 9 claimed to have killed three militants and injured five others in the ongoing operations in various areas of Bajaur Agency.

48 militants were killed and several others injured in two separate attacks by US drones in the South Waziristan Agency on July 8. However, some reports quoting officials of law-enforcement agencies and political administration put the death toll in the two attacks at 58. According to sources, besides the tribal militants, the dead also included four Arabs and seven Uzbeks. "Almost 90 per cent of the militants traveling in the convoy were killed in the drone attack," said an unnamed security official. In addition, two militants were killed in fresh military action in different areas of Charmang Valley of Bajaur Agency on July 8.

A suspected US drone fired two missiles at a militant training centre in the Laddha subdivision of South Waziristan Agency on July 7, killing 16 militants and injuring 10 others. Five foreigners were among the dead, security officials said. The camp allegedly run by militants loyal to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsud was in Chenakai area of the Shabikhels, a sub clan of Mehsud tribe. There was no report if any high-value target had been hit in the attack carried out at about 10am. Sources said that a local commander of Baitullah was among the dead. In addition, Pakistan Air Force jets shelled suspected positions of militants in the Berwand area of South Waziristan. One soldier was killed when a military convoy hit an improvised explosive device in Gomal Zam area. Separately, militants fired rockets at a fort in Frontier Jandola. One civilian was reportedly killed when troops returned fire. Further, a soldier was killed when a military convoy was attacked with a bomb near the Khajori check-post in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on July 7. In addition, helicopter gunships targeted militants’ hideouts in the Datakhel area of NWA, killing four militants.

Seven militants were killed and several others injured when jets shelled militant hideouts in North Waziristan on July 6. Officials and local people said the jets had attacked militants’ positions in Wuchabibi and Madahkel areas of Dattakhel sub-division, at about 3:30pm. Officials in North Waziristan Agency told AFP that seven militants had been killed and 12 injured when fighter jets targeted terrorists’ hideouts in the area. Further, SFs on July 6 intensified attacks on the Taliban in Bajaur Agency, killing four militants and injuring six others in the region’s Charmang sub-division. The SFs also reportedly destroyed numerous Taliban hideouts in Charmang, defused several remote-controlled bombs, arrested 15 suspects and recovered missiles from their possession. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, July 7-13, 2009.

27 militants and 13 civilians among 46 persons killed in NWFP during the week: Security Forces (SFs) claimed on July 12 to have killed five foreign militants in the Maidan revenue division of Lower Dir District. Official sources said the SFs fired mortar shells on a vehicle carrying militants, killing five of them. Separately, the militants on July 12 killed three workers of the ruling Awami National Party (ANP) in the Pir Baba area of Buner District. Sources said the militants attacked Malik Pur village in Pir Baba and killed three ANP activists, identified as Shamsher Ali Khan, Gohar Ali Khan and Usman Ali Khan.

Three security officials were killed and six others injured in a remote-controlled bombing in the Pirwala Khel area of Kohat District on July 11.

SFs killed three militants and destroyed seven tunnels and eight hideouts during a search and clearance operation in parts of the Swat District, the ISPR said on July 10. The tunnels and the hideouts of the militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), were destroyed in Badar and Sar Colony areas of the valley.

Two soldiers were killed and five others injured when an improvised explosive device struck a security convoy in the Bannu. A private TV channel reported on July 9 that the Taliban targeted the security convoy using a remote-controlled bomb in Janikhel area of Bannu. In another incident, a Peshawar Electric Supply Company employee was killed and three injured when Taliban militants blew up an electricity pylon using a remote-controlled device in Merra Suraizai Payan village on the outskirts of provincial capital Peshawar on July 9.

A suicide bomber died on the outskirts of Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, on July 8 when explosives hidden in a mango cart went off before he could reach the intended target – possibly the NWFP Assembly speaker. "The bomber is the only person who died," senior Police officer Ghulam Muhammad told reporters after the incident in Malkhandher on Nasir Bagh Road.

SFs said on July 7 that they had killed four Taliban militants and arrested 34 of them from various areas of Swat and Bannu Districts. The ISPR said Taliban commander Muhammad Rasool was among the dead in Shukdara.

SFs on July 6 killed 14 Taliban militants in the Tiligram area of Swat District. According to the ISPR, "Security forces killed 14 terrorists during an exchange of fire in Tiligram. A huge quantity of ammunition and explosives, four improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one 14.5 gun barrel and 26 detonators were also recovered." Separately, five persons, including a prayer leader and two brothers, were killed in separate incidents of sectarian violence in Dera Ismail Khan on July 6. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, July 7-13, 2009.

President Asif Ali Zardari admits to Pakistan creating militant groups: Pakistan has, for the first time, acknowledged at the highest level that militant groups were created and nurtured by it for "tactical" objectives. Speaking to retired civil servants, who met him in the night of July 7, 2009 to discuss national issues, President Asif Ali Zardari said militants and extremists had been "deliberately created and nurtured" as a policy for "short-term tactical objectives." According to him, "Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralized but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve short-term tactical objectives. Let's be truthful and make a candid admission of the reality," Times of India reported. "The terrorists of today were heroes of yesteryear until 9/11 occurred and they began to haunt us as well," Zardari said emphasising that Pakistan cannot be left alone at this stage of the war on terror. The Hindu, July 9, 2009.

133 militants and 80 civilians among 220 persons killed during the week in FATA: Seven persons were killed and 12 others sustained injuries when missiles fired by jet fighters missed their targets, hitting civilian areas in Dattakhel in North Waziristan Agency on July 6. Further, three imprisoned militants were killed and two civilians sustained injuries when militants fired several rockets at the Bajaur Scouts Fort in Khar, headquarters of the Bajaur Agency. Separately, bodies of two volunteers of a tribal Lashkar (militia), who were abducted by the militants after a fierce clash in Fam Pokha area, were found in the vicinity of Ambar sub-division in the Mohmand Agency on July 5. In addition, a soldier was killed and another injured when the militants attacked an SF tank with a remote-controlled bomb in Shati Kor area.

Fighter planes and helicopter gunships, on July 4, heavily targeted suspected positions of militants in the Taliban-controlled Orakzai Agency, killing 26 militants a day after a military helicopter crashed in the area. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed the bombing and said the action was taken as a reaction to the militant attack on SFs and a rescue team on July 3. He said the militants opened fire on the SF personnel and rescue team when they went there to retrieve bodies of the soldiers killed in the helicopter crash. In addition, 15 men of an armed tribal militia and three militants were killed when fierce clashes erupted in the Fam Pokha and Kharai Darra areas of Ambar sub-division in Mohmand Agency in the early hours of July 4.

13 persons were killed and seven others sustained injuries in a US drone attack in South Waziristan Agency, while eight persons died when fighter planes targeted a hotel in North Waziristan Agency on July 3. Tribal sources said a US drone fired three missiles at the office of Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud in Serwakai sub-division at 9 am, killing 13 persons present in the office and injuring seven others. In addition, an AP report stated that US missiles struck a training facility operated by Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and a militant communication centre in South Waziristan Agency on July 3, killing 17 people and injuring 27 others.

A tribal militia attacked Taliban hideouts in the Kurram Agency on July 1, killing 28 militants and suffering seven fatalities themselves, and the intensifying battles prompted them to ask for Army troops to help, a local lawmaker said. The fighting in the remote Kurram region was the latest in two weeks of battles between militants and tribesmen there that have killed 141 people, including more than 100 militants, two Government officials said. Further, 28 militants, including an unidentified commander, were killed when helicopter gunships targeted the hideouts of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on July 1. Sources said that three helicopter gunships targeted the hideouts of the Mangal Bagh-led group in Sandapal and Akakhel areas of Tirah Valley. However, Lashkar-e-Islam spokesman Zar Khan denied any losses to his group. Tribal sources said the murder of Malik Guli Shah, a pro-government tribal elder in Jamrud, Khyber Agency, on July 1, was the immediate reason for the military action. Suspected Taliban militants had killed a pro-government tribal leader, his driver and two gunmen on July 1 while they were on their way to Peshawar, the NWFP capital. Three persons, including two women and a child, were killed and six others sustained injuries when military helicopters targeted Madakhel village of North Waziristan in the morning of July 1.

Seven suspected militants were killed as jets continued to shell their positions in North Waziristan on June 30. However, it could not be verified whether the dead were militants or non-combatants. Local people and sources said that planes had bombed militants’ hideouts in Wacha Bibi area, west of Miranshah, where terrorists had ambushed a military convoy and killed 27 soldiers on June 28. Ten militants were killed when troops returned fire.

21 Taliban militants were killed in overnight clashes with an anti-Taliban militia in Kurram Agency, tribal elder Ali Akbar Toori and lawmaker Sajid Toori said on June 30. Four militiamen were also killed. Further, four Taliban militants were killed as jet aircraft bombed suspected Taliban hideouts in South Waziristan Agency on June 29. The aerial attacks hit a guesthouse used by the Taliban at Kani Guram village. Meanwhile, four soldiers who had been injured in a Taliban attack on their convoy in North Waziristan on June 28 died in a military hospital, the ISPR chief Major General Athar Abbas said on June 30. In addition, SFs on June 29 claimed to have killed at least 13 suspected militants in attacks on their hideouts at Bazaar Zakhakhel area of Landikotal in the Khyber Agency, while seven members of a family were killed and four others injured when an artillery shell struck a Hujra (guesthouse) in the Sra Shaga area of Jamrud sub-division. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, June 30-July 6, 2009.

95 militants and 10 soldiers among 107 persons killed during the week in NWFP: Ten militants were killed in shelling by the Security Forces (SFs) in the Mangaltan area of Charbagh sub-division in Swat District on July 5, 2009. Further, three soldiers were killed and six others wounded while a few terrorists were arrested in the Malakand Division on July 5, according to the Inter-Public Services Relations. On the same day, Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that the military had killed a commander loyal to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat unit chief Maulana Fazlullah on the outskirts of Mingora. Reports from Dir stated that two roadside bomb blasts in the afternoon of July 5 in the Serati area of Dir Upper District, killed two persons and injured 15 others.

SFs stated on July 2 they had killed 23 Taliban militants in various areas of Swat District over the preceding 24 hours. "The security forces consolidated their positions around Shah Dheri, where 17 Taliban were killed in a clash," said the ISPR in an update. In addition, five militants were killed during a search operation in Kanju and another was killed and two arrested when troops raided hideouts in the area around Miana, Ahingro and Baba Ziarat. Separately, two persons were killed and six others wounded when unidentified men lobbed a hand-grenade into a shop at the Ghass Mandi Chowk in Dera Ismail Khan on July 2. In another incident, armed men opened fire on the Khan Flour Mills, killing its owner Mohammad Tanweer. Two Policemen were killed and an equal number of people sustained injuries when Taliban targeted a Police vehicle with a remote-controlled device in provincial capital Peshawar on July 2. Further. the tribal militia in Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District on July 2 killed two militants, including a key Taliban commander Maulana Naeemullah, in fierce fighting.

SFs said on July 1 that they had killed five Taliban militants in a clash in the Bannu District. "The Taliban ... raided a checkpost near Hindi Khel in Bannu ... one soldier was killed and six injured, while five Taliban were also killed," said the ISPR, adding that a militia in Dir District had taken control of over half of Shatkas village. Elsewhere in the province, two persons were killed and three others sustained injuries when four rockets fired by the militants hit different places in the cantonment area of Nowshera in the Nowshera District in the early hours of July 1. Further, a roadside bomb intended to target a local Police chief's vehicle killed a passer-by on July 1 in Dera Ismail Khan. In addition, Police claimed to have foiled a sabotage attempt and defused three explosive devices planted in a car while one of the militants riding the vehicle blew himself up in provincial capital Peshawar on July 1.

SFs stated on June 30 that Taliban militants in the Biha Valley of Swat District had slaughtered 18 of their own injured comrades, as they could not be moved out along with the retreating militants. "It has been reliably learnt that during the clearance of Biha Valley, 18 wounded terrorists, who could not be taken to safety, were slaughtered by their own people on orders of their commanders," an ISPR statement said. Meanwhile, the SFs killed another 16 militants and arrested 23 others in Swat, while three soldiers died and eight others, including three officers, were injured.

SFs on June 29 claimed to have killed eight militants in the Khwazakhela area of Swat District. An ISPR statement said the SFs raided a compound in Khwazakhela, killing eight militants. Weapons and explosive devices were also recovered in the raid, it added. The ISPR statement also said the main command structure of the militants had been dismantled and that recruits have either been killed or driven away, ammunition dumps and their headquarters at Peuchar, Chuprial, Matta, Khwazakhela, Mingora, Kabal, Banai Baba Ziarat, Sakhra, Saidu Sharif and Biha had been destroyed. Elsewhere in the province, thousands of armed villagers in the mountainous Doog Darra area of Dir Upper District launched an intensified offensive against the holed up Taliban and killed two Afghan militants, besides torching 30 houses belonging to the Taliban and their supporters in Shatkas and Bar Doog villages on June 29. In addition, SFs on June 29 claimed killing two militants during a search operation in the Akhorwal area of Darra Adamkhel. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, June 30-July 6, 2009.

US imposes sanctions on three Lashkar-e-Toiba leaders: The United States on July 1, 2009, imposed sanctions on an Al Qaeda backer and three leaders of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), believed to be behind the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008. The US Treasury said it was imposing an assets freeze on the four, identified as Fazeelattul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen Al-Peshawari, Arif Qasmani, Mohammed Yahya Mujahid and Nasir Javaid. Ameen Al-Peshawari allegedly provided assistance, including funding and recruits, to Al Qaeda and the Taliban currently fighting to regain control of Afghanistan. Qasmani is said to be the chief coordinator for the LeT and Mujahid was the head of the group’s media department. Javaid had allegedly served Lashkar’s commander in Pakistan. The Treasury said its action came two days after Al-Peshawari, Qasmani and Mujahid were added to a UN blacklist of individuals. Daily Times, July 2, 2009.

Four persons killed and 11 injured in first suicide bombing in Kalat District of Balochistan: In the first-ever suicide attack in a Baloch-populated area of Balochistan, at least four people were killed and 11 wounded when a bomber targeted a hotel in Kalat on June 30, 2009. The attack in Kalat District appeared to be aimed at disrupting supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan. The bomber detonated his explosives inside a hotel in the Sorab area of the District, 250 kilometres southeast of provincial capital Quetta. Most of the victims were reportedly Baloch tribesmen. Witnesses said the suicide bomber, dressed in white traditional clothes, parked his explosives-laden vehicle outside the hotel on the Quetta-Karachi RCD Highway, and then went into the hotel. When he blew himself up, the ensuing blast may have served as a detonator for the explosives in the parked vehicle. There may have been a remote control device planted in the car, said Deputy Inspector General of Khuzdar Police, Ghulam Rasool Domki. Reports from Sorab suggested that the explosion occurred in a car that was on its way from Quetta to Sorab. Daily Times; The News, July 1, 2009.

[South Asia Intelligent Review]