.Militants taste their own medicine
BARA: At least 35 people, including a deputy chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), were killed and 85 others injured in an explosion caused by a suicide bomber in the remote Tirah Valley of Bara subdivision in Khyber Agency. There are, however, conflicting reports about the event itself.
According to one version quoting eyewitnesses and tribal sources, people of Orakzai and Khyber agencies had gathered at a ‘Hashish fair’ near a mosque when a suicide bomber struck at 12:05pm while embracing LI deputy chief Azam Khan Afridi as he got off a vehicle. Azam Afridi and his seven guards were among the 30 people killed on the spot while 90 others sustained injuries.
The injured were rushed to the district headquarters hospitals located far away in Kohat and Hangu. Five of the wounded persons died on way to the hospitals. Some of the injured identified as Shakeel, Paiyo Khan, Muhammad Saeed, Qutbuddin, Muhammad Ashraf, Agha Khan, Noor Badshah, Muhammad Arif and a 24-year-old young man whose identity could not be ascertained, were taken to the DHQ Hospital Kohat.
The sources said security forces stopped six other victims from being shifted to Peshawar through Jamrud tehsil at Lala checkpost and arrested 12 of their attendants. The forces allowed six attendants to go with the remaining victims to public hospitals in Peshawar in soldiers’ custody.
Officials, however, claimed that explosion was triggered by devices planted by unidentified militants near the mosque. The security forces had been carrying out operation to hunt down militants of the banned LI and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Agency for the last few months. It was the first big blow to the LI since the start of the ongoing military operation.
According to another version of events belying the earlier given official version, tribal sources said the LI deputy chiefwas having lunch with his guards at a roadside hotel in Dars Jumaat at around 11am when a young boy aged 14 or 15 years entered the hotel and blew himself up near the militant commander.
LI sources said six killed belonged to the Akakhel and five from Zakhakhel Afridi sub-tribes. Besides Azam Afridi, some of the other militants, who were killed, were identified as Misri Khan, Khalid, Salamat and Amanat Khan. Except two, the identity of the civilians killed in the attack could not be ascertained. The two who were identified hailed from Orakzai Agency and had come to the local market for shopping.
Sources said the LI headquarters was located in the same area and a makeshift market of hashish, opium and arms is arranged every Thursday and Friday in the local bazaar near the hotel where the suicide bombing took place.
They added that Azam Afridi hailing from Akakhel tribe along with other commanders from different tribes used to visit the market and attend the Shura meeting in its headquarters every Thursday and Friday.
Another source said a meeting of the LI Shura headed by Mangal Bagh was also held prior to the incident. However, some other sources said no such meeting was held on Thursday. So far no individual or organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, LI sources believed that the Ansurul Islam (AI), a Tirah-based militant organisation in Bara Subdivision, was behind the attack as it was their only rival in the area.
About two months ago, a suicide bomber attacked the AI headquarters in Maidan area of Tirah Valley where more than seven people were killed and as many were injured. The AI had blamed the Mangal Bagh-led LI for the attack while the latter had denied its involvement in the bombing.
Talking to this scribe from Maidan in the Tirah Valley, AI spokesman Qari Minhaj said they were not involved in the suicide attack, adding that the bomber was prepared by the LI for attack on AI, but he blew himself up and killed his own handlers.
Some sources close to Azam Afridi said he had differences with some local TTP commanders like Adnan Afridi and Nazir Afridi operating in Orakzai Agency due to their activities in Bara Subdivision. These sources held the two TTP commanders responsible for the attack.
BARA TRADERS: Meanwhile, at the request of the Bara Traders Union, the political administration allowed the shopkeepers of Bara Bazaar to shift goods from their shops within three days as curfew had been imposed in the bazaar for last six months.
The News
According to one version quoting eyewitnesses and tribal sources, people of Orakzai and Khyber agencies had gathered at a ‘Hashish fair’ near a mosque when a suicide bomber struck at 12:05pm while embracing LI deputy chief Azam Khan Afridi as he got off a vehicle. Azam Afridi and his seven guards were among the 30 people killed on the spot while 90 others sustained injuries.
The injured were rushed to the district headquarters hospitals located far away in Kohat and Hangu. Five of the wounded persons died on way to the hospitals. Some of the injured identified as Shakeel, Paiyo Khan, Muhammad Saeed, Qutbuddin, Muhammad Ashraf, Agha Khan, Noor Badshah, Muhammad Arif and a 24-year-old young man whose identity could not be ascertained, were taken to the DHQ Hospital Kohat.
The sources said security forces stopped six other victims from being shifted to Peshawar through Jamrud tehsil at Lala checkpost and arrested 12 of their attendants. The forces allowed six attendants to go with the remaining victims to public hospitals in Peshawar in soldiers’ custody.
Officials, however, claimed that explosion was triggered by devices planted by unidentified militants near the mosque. The security forces had been carrying out operation to hunt down militants of the banned LI and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Agency for the last few months. It was the first big blow to the LI since the start of the ongoing military operation.
According to another version of events belying the earlier given official version, tribal sources said the LI deputy chiefwas having lunch with his guards at a roadside hotel in Dars Jumaat at around 11am when a young boy aged 14 or 15 years entered the hotel and blew himself up near the militant commander.
LI sources said six killed belonged to the Akakhel and five from Zakhakhel Afridi sub-tribes. Besides Azam Afridi, some of the other militants, who were killed, were identified as Misri Khan, Khalid, Salamat and Amanat Khan. Except two, the identity of the civilians killed in the attack could not be ascertained. The two who were identified hailed from Orakzai Agency and had come to the local market for shopping.
Sources said the LI headquarters was located in the same area and a makeshift market of hashish, opium and arms is arranged every Thursday and Friday in the local bazaar near the hotel where the suicide bombing took place.
They added that Azam Afridi hailing from Akakhel tribe along with other commanders from different tribes used to visit the market and attend the Shura meeting in its headquarters every Thursday and Friday.
Another source said a meeting of the LI Shura headed by Mangal Bagh was also held prior to the incident. However, some other sources said no such meeting was held on Thursday. So far no individual or organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, LI sources believed that the Ansurul Islam (AI), a Tirah-based militant organisation in Bara Subdivision, was behind the attack as it was their only rival in the area.
About two months ago, a suicide bomber attacked the AI headquarters in Maidan area of Tirah Valley where more than seven people were killed and as many were injured. The AI had blamed the Mangal Bagh-led LI for the attack while the latter had denied its involvement in the bombing.
Talking to this scribe from Maidan in the Tirah Valley, AI spokesman Qari Minhaj said they were not involved in the suicide attack, adding that the bomber was prepared by the LI for attack on AI, but he blew himself up and killed his own handlers.
Some sources close to Azam Afridi said he had differences with some local TTP commanders like Adnan Afridi and Nazir Afridi operating in Orakzai Agency due to their activities in Bara Subdivision. These sources held the two TTP commanders responsible for the attack.
BARA TRADERS: Meanwhile, at the request of the Bara Traders Union, the political administration allowed the shopkeepers of Bara Bazaar to shift goods from their shops within three days as curfew had been imposed in the bazaar for last six months.
The News
posted by madtom at 4:29 PM
2 Comments:
A weekly Hashish, opium and arms fair? They have one of those in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. You can also get everything from tube socks to machetes at working man prices.
"when a young boy aged 14 or 15 years entered the hotel and blew himself up near the militant commander."
Hard to tell, which is more shocking!! or maybe which is more entertaining
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