NORTH WAZIRISTAN INCIDENTS UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 019152 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016 TAGS: PK PREL MOPS PTER SUBJECT: NORTH WAZIRISTAN INCIDENTS UPDATE Classified By: CDA Peter W. Bodde, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) The following list of incidents reported in the local press appear to violate the North Waziristan Agency (NWA) Jirga Agreement which tribal leaders and the GOP signed on September 5. The list has been culled from local press reporting and contacts in the area. According to our contacts, the GOP has honored its commitments, particularly making the Pak-Mil less visible in the Agency, though the GOP continues to stress that the total number of Pak-Mil troops in NWA has not changed. ¶2. (SBU) Tribal Commitment: Ensure no attacks on GOP installations or personnel: --On September 14, unknown persons kidnapped a government employee working for rural development in Khadi village near the town of Mirali. The person's whereabouts are still unknown. ¶3. (SBU) Tribal Commitment: Ensure no targetted killings --Two moderate tribal elders have been assasinated since September 5: One on September 9 in Miranshah and one on September 21 near a checkpoint two kilometers from Miranshah. ¶4. (C) Tribal Commitment: No Parallel (i.e. Taliban) Administration: --According to press reports and Embassy contacts, followers of Maulana Sadiq Noor patrol the streets of some small towns and villages meeting out punishments for "crimes" like watching "vulgar" movies or smoking hashish. One Embassy contact reports that Taliban "law enforcers" are increasingly visible in NWA. ¶5. (C) Tribal Commitment: Ensure No Cross-Border Infiltration to Fight Coalition or Afghan Forces: --The bodies of five Taliban militia fighters were returned from Afghanistan to Miranshah September 20. GOP officials said the deceased may have been killed in a gunbattle with Coalition forces in Afghanistan. One of the dead men, Maulana Abdul Kalam, had been part of the Jirga negotiating process and apparently crossed the border into Afghanistan at about the time the agreement was signed. --Local journalists tell the Embassy that cross border activity has not stopped, but that the inifiltrators remain in Afghanistan for a lengthy enough period so that, upon their return to NWA, they cannot be tied to specific anti-coalition attacks. ¶6. (C) Comment: While the above incidents are troubling, it is still too early to judge trend lines. Post will continue to monitor reports from NWA and will report them to the Department bi-weekly. BODDE