FATA AND NWFP: WEEKLY INCIDENTS OF TALIBANIZATION, JANUARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PESHAWAR 000018

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/2/2019
TAGS: PTER MOPS PGOV PK
SUBJECT: FATA AND NWFP: WEEKLY INCIDENTS OF TALIBANIZATION, JANUARY
23 - JANUARY 29

CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne Tracy, Principal Officer, Peshawar,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(b),(d)
Introduction:
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1. (C) Security forces continued their operations in Bajaur
during the fourth week of January, targeting militant hideouts
in various areas of the agency. In Bajaur, militants blew up a
girls' school on January 27. Consulate contacts report that
residents of Bajaur complain of shortages in staple products
because businesses are closed.


2. (C) Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban
(TTP),reportedly released a statement on January 26 prohibiting
his "mujahadeen" from damaging government property, committing
highway or bank robbery, kidnapping people for ransom, or
stealing vehicles. Khyber-based Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) released a
similar statement to its followers the same day.


3. (C) On January 27, security forces enforced a curfew in
Swat's Mingora city after 100 to 150 militants marched through
the streets. On January 23, Interior Advisor Rehman Malik
stated that the government had prepared a "new strategy" to
control violence in Swat. Members of the Awami National Party
(ANP) from the valley, a provincial minister and two
legislators, returned to Mingora in a show of solidarity with
the people there and announced that the government was willing
to talk to the taliban provided that militants lay down their
arms. (Note: This is an offer that the NWFP provincial
government has been routinely making with an emphasis on
militant agreement to disarm as the first step.)


4. ANP senators stated on January 26 that the government had
lost its writ in Swat, as evidence by the fact that more than
8,000 teachers and 80,000 children were unable to attend school.
Only a week after the government stated that it was pulling
soldiers out of Swat, the government announced that it would
deploy 25 soldiers each at 16 educational institutions in the
Mingora area.

Bajaur
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5. (U) The following is a summary of events in Bajaur
Agency, where the Pakistani military has been conducting
military operations since August 2008:

January 28: Militants blew up a government school for boys in
Nawagai.

January 27: Militants blew up a girls' school in Nangolai
tehsil.

January 23: Security forces continued their operations in
Bajaur during the fourth week of January, targeting militant
hideouts in various areas of the agency.

NWFP
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6. (U) The following incidents have occurred in the
Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) and settled areas
of NWFP:

January 29, Swat: A senior police administrator escaped injury
from a rocket attack by militants on the Chinar Inn in the town
of Saidu Sharif, during a meeting with other security officials.

January 28, Swat: 16 more people, including seven militants,
were killed and 23 injured throughout the valley, as General
Kayani vowed to establish the government writ there.

January 27, Swat: Security forces enforced a curfew in Mingora
after 100 to 150 militants marched through the street.
Elsewhere, militants blew up two boys schools in Kabal.

January 27, Darra Adam Khel: Security forces claimed to kill 16
militants and described the Tor Chappar Valley as "again
witnessing terrorist activity."

January 27, Dera Ismail Khan: Militants killed the son of a

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caretaker at a local Shi'a mosque in a sectarian attack.

January 27, Lakki Marwat: Three groups of militants carried out
rocket attacks at two police posts, injuring one policeman.

January 26, Swat: Seven civilians were killed by artillery and
mortar fire.

January 26, Dera Ismail Khan: A bomb attached to a bicycle and
reportedly targeting a Sunni leader killed at least six people
and wounded 26.

January 25, Swat: Pakistan Army troops were reportedly
authorized to shoot on sight curfew violators. Maulana
Fazlullah reportedly issued a "summons" to 47 influential
persons in Swat to "appear" before a taliban court within one
week. Many observers called the document a "hit-list."

January 25, Peshawar: Newspaper reports stated that USAID had
closed down its Peshawar offices in Peshawar for FATA
development after threats from Baitullah Mehsud. (Note: These
reports were false.) Transporters in the city demanded that bus
drivers remove TVs and music players from their vehicles, under
threat of a 5,000 rupees fine and seizure of the equipment,
after taliban threats against music on buses.

January 24, Swat: Newspaper reports conveyed estimates from
security officials that 2,000 to 4,000 taliban militants were
located in Swat, while the military has four brigades with
12,000 to 15,000 men. Security forces reportedly killed eight
militants immediately before they attacked a checkpost in the
Nangolai area of Kabal tehsil. A local military commander, Noor
Bakhtiar, was reportedly among the dead. The forces reportedly
recovered a large cache of arms from the militants' hideout
after the operation. In Bern tehsil, militants threw a
hand-grenade into a school building. No casualties were
reported.

January 24, Nowshera: Militants fired a rocket at a truck near
Khairabad police station, killing one person.

January 23, Swat: Twelve people were killed throughout the
valley. A suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a security
checkpost in Fiza Gat, outside Mingora, killing 2 security force
personnel, along with two civilians. 27 were also injured in
the attack.

FATA
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7. (U) The following is a roundup of incidents of
talibanization in the FATA and Frontier Regions:

January 26, North Waziristan: A man accused of spying for the
U.S. was found shot to death with his right hand chopped off.

January 25, Mohmand: A local militant commander and his 14
associates reportedly surrendered to the political
administration.

January 24, Mohmand: Security forces continued military
operations against militants in the Karair area of
militant-infested Lakaro tehsil, destroying 11 houses, five
shops, and two seminaries, one of which was a reputed militant
stronghold. Security forces also burned the house of the
Mohmand chapter of Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) chief Omar Khalid.
Three suspected persons were arrested in Wali Kor area while
weapons and a vehicle were recovered as security forces
conducted search operation in Mamad Gat and Qandaro areas.

January 23, North Waziristan: Two missile strikes reportedly
killed 22, including at least 10 insurgents, five foreign
nationals and possibly a senior al-Qaeda or Taliban official.

Government Response
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8. (U) This is a summary of government responses to
"creeping Talibanization" according to press and consulate

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contacts:

January 27, Swat: Security forces enforced a curfew in Mingora
after 100 to 150 militants marched through the streets.

January 27, Khyber: The political administration re-arrested
nine members of the Shinwari tribal jirga as punishment for
failing to hand over several alleged militants to the government.

January 24, Swat: The government decided to deploy 25 soldiers
each at 16 educational institutions in the Mingora area.
TRACY