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: -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 PESHAWAR 00000018 002 OF 003 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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶8. (U) This is a summary of government responses to "creeping Talibanization" according to press and consulate PESHAWAR 00000018 003 OF 003 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