Pakistan Conflict Monitor

Army Accused of 238 Extra-judicial Killings in Swat

Pakistan Army Accused of Extrajudicial Killings in Swat, BBC News, 16 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The Pakistani army has carried out 238 extrajudicial killings of people in the Swat Valley since September last year, says a report from Human Rights Watch. It documents cases where members of the army allegedly took away Taliban suspects, who were later found dead, their bodies riddled with bullets. A military spokesman denied the army had engaged in extrajudicial killings. The army said it had driven insurgents from Swat following a massive offensive against them last year. [...] The HRW report says that while police have also been involved in the killings, most of them have been carried out by the army. It details seven cases where Taliban suspects have been arrested and taken away by the army. Their bodies have later been found with bullet wounds and marks of torture. In one case, the report names a specific unit of the army, the 12th Punjab regiment, as being responsible. According to the report, the regiment detained a resident of the Matta area of Swat, Farman Ali, along with two other men on 28 March this year. The bodies of the other two men were later produced by the military and presented as Taliban militants who had allegedly been killed in a clash with the army. Then Mr Ali's body, with a gunshot wound to the head, turned up in a field on 26 May."

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Related articles:
Pakistan: Extrajudicial executions by Army in Swat, Human Rights Watch, 16 July 2010

Related posts:
13 detainees killed while attempting to escape: Army, 15 July 2010
Families claim suspected militants killed in detention, 8 July 2010
Torture prevalent in security forces' custody: Report, 25 June 2010
Millions suffer from Taliban abuse: Amnesty report, 10 June 2010
Human Rights Watch accuses Pakistan army of unlawful killings, 6 April 2010

13 Detainees Killed while Attempting to Escape: Army

Forces Killed 13 Detainees, Admits Army, DAWN, 15 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Maidan operational commander Col Nadeem Mirza on Wednesday admitted that security forces had shot dead 13 detainees when they tried to escape after suicide bombers struck at the Scouts Fort in Balambat on July 5. He said six rooms of the fort had been badly damaged and four detainees, who were being interrogated at the moment, had also died when a portion of the building collapsed. Six militants took part in the attack. Four of them were killed as they blew up their explosive-laden vehicles, and two managed to escape. Briefing journalists for the first time after the attack, the commanding officer said the 13 detainees were shot dead by security guards when they tried to run away. [...] Though he admitted that some of the killed detainees had been handed over to the security forces by village councils, he again asked village councils and local jirgas to hand over wanted people to security forces. 'We have set up rehabilitation centres for those locals who fell into Taliban’s hands and will build their capacity in different sectors to get them proper jobs,' he said."

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Related articles:
Four detainees killed in attack on Dir Scouts Fort, Daily Times, 15 July 2010
Afghan forces occupying two border posts in Dir, The Express Tribune, 15 July 2010
23 Taliban insurgents killed in firefight, The Express Tribune, 7 July 2010

Related posts:
Families claim suspected militants killed in detention, 8 July 2010
Torture prevalent in security forces' custody: Report, 25 June 2010
Millions suffer from Taliban abuse: Amnesty report, 10 June 2010
Human Rights Watch accuses Pakistan army of unlawful killings, 6 April 2010
High court investigates "disappearances" following 9/11, 22 January 2010

US Drone Attack Kills 10 in North Waziristan

US Drone Attack Kills 10 in North Waziristan, DAWN, 15 July 2010

EXCERPT: "US  missiles destroyed a compound used by militants in Pakistan’s tribal belt on Thursday, killing at least 10 militants in the first such attack for two weeks, officials said. A US drone fired at least two missiles into the compound in the village of Sheerani Mada Khel in the district of North Waziristan, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked stronghold heavily targeted in a covert US drone war this year. 'At least 10 militants were killed,' a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. 'Most of the dead militants are said to be foreigners,' he added, but said that their nationalities were not yet known. [...] Another security official said up to 14 militants were killed when three missiles slammed into the compound. The area, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, is a stronghold of Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur. He is reputed to control up to 2,000 fighters in the region who stage attacks over the border against foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan."

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Related articles:
Times Square bomber vows revenge in Al-Arabiya video, The Washington Post, 15 July 2010
US drone strike kills six militants in Pakistan, AFP, 27 June 2010

Related brief:
The military utility of drones [pdf], Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich, July 2010

Related posts:
Al-Qaeda commander killed in S. Waziristan drone strike, 30 June 2010
Al-Qaeda at its weakest, Bin Laden in Pakistan, drones legal: CIA Chief, 28 June 2010
Drones kill 14 militants in North Waziristan, 11 June 2010
UN report strongly criticizes US drone attacks, 2 June 2010
Drones strike N. Waziristan, kill at least 24, 11 May 2010

Families Claim Suspected Militants Killed in Detention

Relatives Question Pakistan Army on Militant Killings, BBC News, 8 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Relatives of 23 suspected militants killed by Pakistani forces in the north-west on Tuesday said they were in custody at the time of their death. Elders in Dir district said most of the suspects were handed over to the armed forces by local village councils. The military said the men were killed in a shoot-out during a search operation in the Maidan area of Dir. The killings came a day after four suicide bombers attacked a military camp in Timergara town. One soldier was killed in the attack. [...] But relatives told the BBC that nearly all the slain suspects had been in detention at the main paramilitary base in Timergara. 'Most of them were school boys. Some got inspired by the Taliban and joined their training camps in Swat but were weaned away by their parents before they could get into real fighting,' Saeed Gul, a local elder and former parliamentarian told the BBC. 'Others were either close relatives of known militants, or had given shelter to militants at some time out of fear or favour.'"

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Related articles:
Torture in custody spreading like cancer in Pakistan: AHRC, Daily Times, 2 July 2010

Related posts:
Torture prevalent in security forces' custody: Report, 25 June 2010
Millions suffer from Taliban abuse: Amnesty report, 10 June 2010
Human Rights Watch accuses Pakistan army of unlawful killings, 6 April 2010
Court to rule on missing Pakistanis, 19 March 2010
High court investigates "disappearances" following 9/11, 22 January 2010

Top Pakistani-Taliban Commander Killed

Pakistan Kills Wanted Taliban Commander, AFP, 5 July 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan said Monday that a Taliban commander with a 234,000-dollar price on his head had been killed in a shootout with soldiers in the country's notorious North Waziristan region. The military said Ameerullah Mehsud was one of the top commanders in the Pakistani Taliban, the group blamed for some of the deadliest bomb attacks of a three-year campaign that has killed more than 3,400 people. He also went by the alias of Qari Gud, which means 'the man who limps', and Mazloomyar, which means 'friend of the oppressed' in the Pashtu language. Mehsud was reportedly shot dead at a checkpoint in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, where Pakistani commanders have felt under increasing US pressure to launch a decisive campaign against Islamist strongholds. [...] Mehsud was listed 11 out of 19 most-wanted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders for whom the government last November posted combined rewards worth five million dollars for information leading to their capture, dead or alive."

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Related articles:
Wanted Taliban commander killed in shootout in North Waziristan, The Long War Journal, 5 July 2010
Taliban commander linked to Lahskar-e-Taiba detained in eastern Afghanistan, The Long War Journal, 3 July 2010

Related posts:
N. Waziristan on the agenda, poses operational challenges: General, 11 May 2010
Drones strike N. Waziristan, kill at least 24, 11 May 2010
Militants strike in North Waziristan and Peshawar, 28 April 2010
In North Waziristan, Taliban roams free, 22 April 2010
Taliban exploit porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, 5 February 2010

Pakistan's Taliban Offer Prisoner Swap

Pakistan's Taliban Offer Prisoner Swap, AFP, 22 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Taliban militants in Pakistan's northwest Tuesday offered the government a prisoner swap in return for 33 missing soldiers, threatening to kill the men if the proposal is rebuffed. A Taliban spokesman told AFP that Pakistani authorities should 'face the consequences' if they did not agree to the swap, calling for the details to be worked out in talks with tribal elders in Mohmand tribal district. Security officials say 33 soldiers are still missing since the Taliban attacked a checkpost in a remote part of Mohmand along the Afghan border. Six soldiers were killed in the attack and their bodies handed over to tribal elders last Thursday, officials said. Another 25 soldiers strayed into Afghanistan after the clashes, but were handed back to Pakistani officials. [...] Major Fazal-ur-Rehman, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps, confirmed that 33 soldiers were missing but said authorities had received no offer of a swap with the Taliban."

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Related articles:
Pakistan troops die in clashes with Taliban in Orakzai, BBC News, 22 June 2010
4 security men, 43 Taliban militants killed in clashes in Pakistan, Daily News and Analysis, 22 June 2010
Pakistan claims 20 militants killed in tribal region air strike, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 22 June 2010
In Pakistan's tribal zone, a ruthless war against the Taliban has driven more than a million from their homes, The Guardian, 20 June 2010

Related posts:
Troops die in clashes with Taliban in Orakzai, 21 June 2010
Govt searches for missing troops captured by Afghan Taliban, 17 June 2010
Locals fear militant comeback after army declares Orakzai "victory", 14 June 2010
Orakzai campaign concluded: Pakistani army, 1 June 2010
Taliban exploit porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, 5 February 2010

Troops Die in Clashes with Taliban in Orakzai

Pakistan Troops Die in Clashes with Taliban in Orakzai, BBC News, 21 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistan's military says at least three soldiers have been killed in clashes with Taliban militants in the troubled tribal region of Orakzai. Security officials told the BBC that fighting started after the Taliban ambushed a military convoy. At least 13 militants were also killed, the army says. There is no independent confirmation of the claims. [...] The Orakzai region has been the scene of several search operations by Pakistani security forces in recent weeks. Taliban militants, fleeing army operations in the other parts of the tribal belt, have been trying to establish safe havens in the area. 'Militants used rockets to attack the convoy in the Kasha area of lower Orakzai,' a military spokesman told the BBC. 'Three soldiers were killed and five injured when their vehicle was struck.' Security forces retaliated with heavy weapons, the official said. 'As a result 13 militants were killed and dozens were injured.' Locals said the convoy was on its way to the city of Kohat from Kalia, the main town of lower Orakzai."

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Related articles:
70 militants killed in Upper Orakzai, The Express Tribune, 21 June 2010
25 more Taliban killed across FATA as Pak forces continue offensive, Sify News, 21 June 2010
20 militants killed in Orakzai blitz, The News International, 21 June 2010

Related posts:
Locals fear militant comeback after army declares Orakzai "victory", 14 June 2010
Militants attack security forces in Orakzai, Mohmand, 9 June 2010
Taliban still in Orakzai; Haqqani network "retreating" from North Waziristan, 3 June 2010
Orakzai campaign concluded: Pakistani army, 1 June 2010
Military takes counter-insurgency approach in Orakzai, 6 April 2010

Drones Kill 14 Militants in North Waziristan

US Drones Kill 14 Militants in Pakistan, AFP, 11 June 2010

EXCERPT: "US drone attacks killed at least 14 militants and destroyed hideouts in Pakistan's North Waziristan, a fortress of Taliban and Al-Qaeda cohorts on the Afghan border, officials said Friday. The twin strikes 12 hours apart struck west and east of Miranshah, the main town in the wild tribal district, where Pakistani commanders feel under increasing US pressure to carry out a military offensive. Both attacks targeted militant hideouts, but the identity of the dead, the networks to which they may have been affiliated and whether there were any high-value targets was not immediately clear. Pakistani officials said 11 militants were killed in the attack in Bahadar Khel village early Friday and three in the village of Khaddi late Thursday. The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region. 'US drones fired three missiles at a house used by militants around 7.30 am (0230 GMT),' said a senior security official in the northwestern city of Peshawar. 'Eleven militants were killed,' the official told AFP of Friday's strike, revising up an initial toll of three dead."

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Related articles:
US kills 14 in 2 strikes in North Waziristan [blog], The Long War Journal, 11 June 2010
US must clarify rules for using drones: Amnesty, DAWN, 10 June 2010

Related reports:
Attacks from US aerial drones, Amnesty International, 2010

Related posts:
N. Waziristan on the agenda, poses operational challenges: General, 11 May 2010
Drones strike N. Waziristan, kill at least 24, 11 May 2010
Militants strike in North Waziristan and Peshawar, 28 April 2010
In North Waziristan, Taliban roams free, 22 April 2010
Drone attacks justified: US legal adviser, 26 March 2010

Militants Attack Security Forces in Orakzai, Mohmand

Clashes in Orakzai, Mohmand Kill 46 Militants, DAWN, 9 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Dozens of militants attacked a security convoy in an area near Afghanistan where Pakistan declared the Taliban defeated, sparking a battle that killed six soldiers and 40 militants, an official said Wednesday. The clash in Orakzai tribal region illustrated the challenge facing Pakistan as it tries to oust insurgents hiding along the Afghan border. Pakistan’s declarations of success in some parts have often been premature. Fifteen soldiers were also wounded in the late Tuesday fighting, government administration official Samiullah Khan said. The army's offensive in Orakzai came on the heels of an operation against the Pakistani Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal area. Many militants in South Waziristan were believed to have fled to Orakzai, though the top Pakistani Taliban leaders are believed to be in North Waziristan, an area the Pakistani army has resisted attacking. [...] Information from the region has been nearly impossible to verify independently because Orakzai is remote, dangerous and access to it is severely restricted. The army said on June 1 that Orakzai had been cleared of militants and that fleeing civilians could expect to return home soon. More than 200,000 people are believed to have poured out of the area since the end of last year."

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Related articles:
Six FC troops killed as Taliban storm checkpoint, The Express Tribune, 9 June 2010
Pakistan Taliban commander killed in tribal area, People's Daily Online, 9 June 2010
Eleven militants killed in Orakzai clashes, DAWN, 7 June 2010

Related posts:
Taliban still in Orakzai; Haqqani network "retreating" from North Waziristan, 3 June 2010
Orakzai campaign concluded: Pakistani Army, 1 June 2010
Pakistan forces repel attack on security post, kill 40 militants, 19 May 2010
Overview: What have Pakistani offensives achieved?, 27 April 2010
More than 200,000 flee violence in tribal regions, 9 April 2010
Military takes counter-insurgency approach in Orakzai, 6 April 2010

Al-Qaeda's "No. 3" Believed Killed in Drone Strike

Afghanistan Head Of Al-Qaeda "Killed In Pakistan Drone Strike", The Guardian, 1 June 2010

EXCERPT: "Pakistani and US security officials say they believe the head of al-Qaida in Afghanistan has been killed in a drone strike in Pakistan's tribal area. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, a veteran Egyptian militant close to Osama bin Laden, was hit in a drone strike last month, an official with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) said. 'He was killed on the 21st or 22nd, I believe,' he said. In Washington US security officials told reporters they had 'strong reason' to believe Yazid was dead. 'In terms of counterterrorism, this would be a big victory,' a source told Reuters. A website linked to al-Qaida also acknowledged his death. Yazid, whose nom de guerre was Sheikh Saeed al-Masri, had a hand in al-Qaida training, logistics and finance for the resurgent Taliban insurgency."

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Related articles:
Top al-Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu Yazid confirmed killed in airstrike in North Waziristan, The Long War Journal, 31 May 2010
Q&A: Who was al-Qaeda's operations chief Sa'id al Masri?, AlertNet, 1 June 2010
Death of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid "setback" for al-Qaeda, BBC News, 1 June 2010
Al-Qaeda's new leadership: Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, The Washington Post, 2010
Al-Qaeda Afghan head named, Al Jazeera, 24 May 2007

Related media and report:
Al-Qaeda announces death of No. 3 man, intel group says [video], CNN, 1 June 2010
Mustafa Abu al-Yazid interview on al-Jazeera [pdf], The NEFA Foundation, 22 June 2009
Al-Qaeda's new leader in Afghanistan: A profile of Abu al-Yazid, The Jamestown Foundation, 3 July 2007

Related posts:
Key Taliban leaders rumoured killed in drone strikes, 31 May 2010
Al-qaeda, Taliban loosely align in Pakistan to survive, 20 May 2010
Taliban, Al-Qaeda cooperation "at the highest limits": Siraj Haqqani, 15 April 2010
Al-Qaeda threat assessment, 26 February 2010
Al-Qaeda and affiliates, 18 February 2010