Big force to target al-Qaeda suspects](Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk)
- Lashkar to punish those who ambushed military convoy; troops being reinforced *
More than 3,000 armed tribesmen from the Mahsud tribe assembled in South Waziristan on Wednesday to become part of a force that would launch operations against suspects who killed 20 soldiers and caused injuries to another 24 in an ambush on a military convoy on March 22.
Mahsud tribal elders said they expected the Lashkar , or force, in Spinkai Raghzai village to swell to 6,000 or even more by Thursday. “We would raid hideouts of the suspects, expel al-Qaeda members and supporters from the Ladha and Sarwakai Tehsils (sub-districts) inhabited by the Mahsud tribe, and nab all the wanted men,” explained one of the elders.
There were also reports of fresh Pakistan Army troops heading for Sarwakai, the site of the deadly ambush that prompted Islamic militants to boast about their capabilities as a guerilla force.
Eyewitnesses in Tank saw scores of military vehicles that drove towards Jandoola and onwards to South Waziristan. The police escorted the convoy through the crowded city roads in Tank. Helicopters flew overhead as the vehicles, filled with soldiers and supplies, journeyed through the rugged mountain terrain.
The troops were expected to stay in the Sarwakai fort, not far from the place where militants disguised as khassadars (tribal police) ambushed the military convoy. The Mahsud tribal Lashkar has already burnt down the house where the attackers were able to hide before the ambush and nabbed four suspects in Kaniguram village.
The reinforcement of Pakistan Army troops was taking place at a time when Frontier Corps militiamen in around 25 vehicles were pulled out of Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan. The militiamen were provided air cover by helicopters as they drove away. The movement of troops was a cause of concern for most tribal people amid worries that a new and bigger military offensive against the militants was on the anvil.
The Mahsud tribal Lashkar is expected to first march on Kotki village today. Ladha tehsil’s assistant political agent, Naeem Khan Saddozai, told The News that the Lashkar had been given targets in the Mahsud-inhabited Ladha and Sarwakai sub-districts. However, he declined to specify those targets.
Members of the Lashkar said those having ties with al-Qaeda would be first asked to leave the area. In case of refusal, they said the suspects would be nabbed and delivered to the government and their houses burnt. However, it was unclear as to who and how many suspects were to be targeted. One suspect on everybody’s list was Waliur Rahman, who belongs to the small Burki tribe and was active as a pro-Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. Two of his brothers and a family guest have already been arrested.
Meanwhile, the political agent, South Waziristan, has convened a jirga of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe in Wana on Friday to inform it of the government’s stand on the prevailing situation in the region.
The political agent, Mohammad Azam Khan, is expected to seek the cooperation of the tribal elders in its ongoing campaign against militants, particularly the non-Pakistanis whose presence in the Azam Warsak area triggered the recent military offensive.
The focus would again be the Zalikhels, who are the biggest sub-tribe among the Ahmadzai Wazirs and have been blamed for harbouring al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects. Five of the most wanted men in South Waziristan, namely Nek Mohammad, Hafi Sharif and his brother Nur Islam, Maulvi Abbas and Maulvi Abdul Aziz, are from the Zalikhel sub-tribe. The Zalikhels would be asked once more to surrender the five men or face the consequences.
The Zalikhels, it may be added, have already been given 10 days to surrender the killers of the two tehsildars, Matiullah Burki and Mir Nawaz Marwat, whose mud-covered bodies were recovered from a well in the Azam Warsak area on Tuesday. Under the concept of collective responsibility, the whole tribe is held responsible in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) for any crime that takes place in its territory. Islamic militants had made Burki and Marwat, both junior level government officials, hostage during the recent military operation in Azam Warsak.
Burki’s uncle, Dr Qareeb, who is an elder of the Burki tribe in South Waziristan, told mourners at his nephew’s funeral that the government must do everything within its means to nab his killers. He argued that murdering a prisoner was un-Islamic and a violation of the Pakhtun code of honour. The killers, he felt, were bringing a bad name to Islam.
Mourners were visiting Burki’s family home in Kaniguram to offer their condolences. Marwat’s family in Mullazai Kakakhel in Tank district was also receiving mourners coming from South Waziristan and other places.
Meanwhile, pro-government handbills were being handed to motorists and passersby at all checkpoints in and around Wana on Wednesday. The Urdu language pamphlets urged the people to cooperate with the Pakistan Army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps in restoring peace in the area and putting South Waziristan on the path of progress. “The Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps are defending our frontiers. There is a big power on the other side of the border but we have never allowed that power to carry out military activities on our soil,” the handbills explained.
The tribal people were reminded that development work was being done in the area keeping in view the culture and customs of the population. The handbills alleged that foreigners had misused the hospitality of the local people, fired at the troops and destroyed the peace of the region.
“The Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps personnel are your brothers. We have never targeted civilians. Let us advise the foreigners to leave the area. It is wrong to give refuge to those who refuse to listen to us,” stressed the message on the handbills. It may be added that Pashto language handbills had been distributed earlier in parts of South Waziristan threatening action against those who oppose al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
