Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ISLAMABAD21882
2006-11-08 11:45:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Islamabad
Cable title:  

SUICIDE ATTACK IN MALAKAND AGENCY KILLS 35

Tags:  MOPS PK PTER PGOV 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 021882 

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NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016
TAGS: MOPS PK PTER PGOV
SUBJECT: SUICIDE ATTACK IN MALAKAND AGENCY KILLS 35
PAKISTAN TROOPS

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 021882

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016
TAGS: MOPS PK PTER PGOV
SUBJECT: SUICIDE ATTACK IN MALAKAND AGENCY KILLS 35
PAKISTAN TROOPS

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) This cable contains an action request; please see
para. 9.


2. (C) Summary: At approximately 08:00 (local) November 8, a
suicide attacker detonated a bomb at the front gate of Dargai
Fort during morning exercises, killing himself and at least
thirty five (35) Pakistani soldiers. Given the serious
injuries suffered by other casualties, the death toll is
expected to rise. This attack comes on the heels of an
afternoon rocket volley on November 7 in Wana, South
Waziristan, that disrupted Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP)
Governor Jan Orakzai's visit and caused his early return to
Peshawar by helicopter. While the attack in Wana appears to
have been a political ploy to intimidate and interrupt an
otherwise successful tour of North and South Waziristan over
two days, the suicide blast at Dargai Fort may be retaliation
against the Pakistani Military's October 30 Bajaur madrassa
airstrike.


3. (C) This attack on a Punjab Regiment training center in
Dargai -- the bloodiest single action against the Army
outside of hostilities with India -- is a significant strike
against the most visible symbol of state control in the
troubled border region. In light of the number of casualties
and the potent symbolism of a successful attack on Pakistani
security forces, post recommends that Department request
high-level condolence messages from the White House to
reaffirm U.S. support for Pakistan's commitment to defeating
violent extremism in its tribal areas (see paragraph 9). End
summary.

Attack on Dargai
--------------


4. (C) Initial reports from Dargai Fort, a Pakistani Military
base in the settled NWFP area of Malakand, stated that a
motorcyclist peeling off from a morning crowd of school
children detonated an IED during 8:00am morning exercises on
unwalled parade grounds outside the primary fort compound.
The fort, an infantry training area for the Punjab Regimental
Center Mardan, is approximately two hours drive northeast of

Peshawar. Pakistani Military contacts confirm that the
attacker arrived by motorcycle, then jumped off and ran into
the front gates of the Fort's grounds before exploding the
device. He was not engaged by any of the soldiers standing
guard at the gate. An eyewitness placed the bomber at 15-20
years of age, and there is no word yet whether the bomb was a
timed or command detonated device. At least thirty-five (35)
soldiers are confirmed dead; two reliable Consulate contacts
claim that up to twenty (20) more civilians and/or military
personnel were killed. The injured are flooding into
hospitals in Dargai, Mardan, and Peshawar.

Rockets fired at Governor's South Waziristan Gathering
-------------- --------------


5. (C) The attack at Dargai fort comes one day after two
rockets landed near a jirga site in Wana, South Waziristan,
where NWFP Governor Jan Orakzai was delivering an address.
Militants apparently fired rockets that flew overhead during
introductory remarks and landed about 250 meters away from
the jirga site. The Governor was reportedly unfazed and
finished his hour-long speech, but cancelled further
engagements and flew by helicopter back to Peshawar. The
Governor's office maintains his visit was not cut short and

ISLAMABAD 00021882 002 OF 002


he returned to Peshawar on schedule. However, Peshawar
contacts and press reports say he had planned to visit a
madrassa in Wana, address another meeting of elders, and
dedicate a new portion of a school in Wana before departing.


6. (SBU) While the press has sensationalized the Wana rocket
fire as an assassination attempt on the Governor, his
spokesman and Consulate contacts characterize the rocket fire
as intimidation. No one was killed in the initial attack,
but later in the evening, five more rockets landed in and
around the Frontier Scouts' camp, killing one Frontier Corps
soldier. In both instances, Scouts responded with 20-40
minutes of retaliatory fire into nearby hills, and they have
reportedly detained seven alleged perpetrators of the attack.


7. (SBU) The Governor's visit to Wana was part of a broader
tour of North and South Waziristan over November 6-7, in
which he addressed tribal elders and lauded their
implementation of the North Waziristan Agreement. The
Governor hailed it as a conflict-resolution model for the
world to emulate in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. The
visit to Wana was Orakzai's first as NWFP Governor.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) Comment: The suicide bombing at Dargai Fort could be
a retaliatory strike against the Pakistani Military's
bombardment of the Zia-ul Uloom Taleemal
madrassa-cum-militant training center in Bajaur Agency.
While none have yet claimed responsibility for the attack,
the physical and cultural proximity of Dargai Fort to Bajaur
Agency and the clear targeting of a military base for a
mass-casualty attack
suggests such a linkage.


9. (C) Action Request: Th Dargai attack is an assault on
Musharraf's leadership in the war on terror and on his most
important constitutency, the Army. Both President Musharraf
and Pak Mil need to know that the U.S. stands with them in
the face of this direct assault on state authority. The
Office of the Defence Representative - Pakistan (ODRP) has
already contacted the Army's Director General - Military
Operations with a condolence message; CFC-A LTG Eikenberry
intends to call Vice Chief of Army Staff GEN Ahsan on
Thursday. Post strongly recommends:

-- a Presidential telephone call or message to President
Musharraf that mourns the Pak Mil losses while commending
Pakistan resolve to defeat this extremist threat; and

-- that the State Department spokesperson issue a statement
of condolence and support at the daily press briefing. Post
will provide recommended language to SCA/PPD separately.


10. (U) This cable was drafted in coordination with
Consulate Peshawar.
CROCKER