War Stories: Taliban punish the family who helped escape an abducted Chinese engineer

Zhang Guo is back in China while Jamaluddin and Liaqat were killed by Taliban

Jamaluddin Khan - an unsung hero of Pakistan-China friendship

It was on October 17, 2008 that the two young Chinese engineers made their move to escape from Taliban’s custody. They reportedly sneaked out of the house where they were held during the night and ran for their life. Long Xiao We, 26-year-old and heavily-built, slipped during the escape and broke his leg. The mountainous terrain and the darkness made it difficult for them to find their way to safety. It is said Zhang Guo lost his colleague on the way after the latter’s fall and after a futile search decided to go it alone. The desperate engineer wanted to seek protection in some house in Chinglalai and the nearby Dagai village as he feared that the militants would soon learn about their escape and track them down. The Taliban managed to find Long Xiao We and made him hostage again but Zhang Guo was lucky to find a place to hide and regain freedom.

Rahimullah Yusufzai's detailed reports on this topic are available at:

http://letusbuildpakistan.blogspot.com/2009/10/jamaluddin-khan-unsung-hero-of-pakistan.html

Video of kidnapped Chinese engineer who escaped from Taliban

Here is a most recent article on this issue reported by Abdul Haye Kakar of BBC Urdu.

چینی انجینئر کو پناہ دینے کی ’سزا‘

عبدالحئی کاکڑ

بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، پشاور

پاکستان کے قبائلی علاقوں اور صوبہ سرحد میں پچھلے کئی سالوں سے جاری تشدد کی لہر نے نہ صرف لوگوں کے ذہنوں میں ملک کی ’سلامتی‘ کے بارے میں خدشات پیدا کیے ہیں بلکہ اس کی کوکھ سے جنم لینے والے المیے متاثرہ افراد کی زندگیوں کے ساتھ ہمیشہ کے لیے نتھی ہو چکے ہیں۔ طالبان اور سکیورٹی فورسز کے مابین لڑائی سے جنم لینے والے انسانی المیوں کے مختلف پہلووں کو صحافت کے تنگ دامن میں یا تو سرے سے جگہ ہی نہیں مل سکی اور اگر ملی بھی تو اس طرح نہیں جس طرح سے یہ واقعات رونما ہوئے اور یوں حقیقی کہانیاں صحافتی مقابلے کی دوڑ کے ملبے میں کہیں دفن ہوگئیں۔

پشاور میں بی بی سی کے نامہ نگار عبدالحئی کاکڑ جنگ زدہ افراد یا خاندانوں پر بیتی ہوئی انہی کہانیوں کی کھوج میں ہیں جنہیں بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام ایک سیریز کی صورت میں شائع کر رہی ہے۔ اس سلسلے کی ساتویں کہانی

اکبر خان، چنگلائی، تحصیل مٹہ، سوات

رات کا وقت تھا کہ کتوں نے مسلسل بھونکنا شروع کردیا۔ میرے دو بھائی جب باہر نکلے تو انہوں نے ایک ایسے شخص کو دیکھا جن کی شکل ازبکوں اور چینیوں سے مشابہ تھی۔وہ شخص خوفزدہ اور تھکا ماندہ دکھائی دے رہا تھا۔ اسے چونکہ زبان نہیں آتی تھی تو وہ رو دھو کر اور ہاتھ جوڑ کر اندر آنے کی درخواست کرتا رہا۔

میرے بھائی اسے اندر لے گئے اور پتہ چلا کہ یہ تو مغوی چینی انجنیئر ہے جو طالبان کی قید سے فرار ہو کر یہاں پہنچا ہے۔ اب ہم ایک ایسے امتحان میں پڑ گئے جس سے نکلنے کے لیے کوئی راستہ بھی سجھائی نہیں دے رہا تھا۔ ایک طرف طالبان کا خوف دوسری طرف ایک بے بس انسان جن کا تعلق ایک ایسے ملک سے ہے جو پاکستان کا دوست ہے۔

بھائیوں نے فیصلہ کیا کہ ہم انہیں یہیں گھر میں کہیں چھپا کر کل سکیورٹی فورسز کے حوالے کر دیں گے لیکن انہیں ڈر یہ تھا کہ کہیں طالبان گاؤں کی تلاشی لے کر اسے ڈھونڈ نہ لیں۔اگر ایسا ہوتا ہے تو پھر ہمارے خاندان کی خیر نہیں۔ ہم نے چینی انجینئر کو مال مویشیوں کے کمرے میں چارے کے ٹب میں لٹا کر اس پر ایک پرانا کمبل ڈال دیا تاکہ طالبان اگر تلاشی لیں بھی تو شاید وہ مویشیوں کے کمرے میں نہ جائیں۔ چینی انجینئر سولہ گھنٹے تک چارے کے ٹب میں خوف کی وجہ سے بے حس و حرکت پڑا رہا۔

مٹہ میں اکبر خان کے گھر کا ایک منظر

اگلی صبح طالبان آئے، انہوں نے گاؤں میں گھر گھر کی تلاشی لی، سڑک سے گزرنے والی ہرگاڑی، ٹریکٹر اور موٹر سائیکل کو چیک کرتے رہے۔ انہوں نے مساجد سے اعلان کیا کہ کسی نے بھی چینی انجینئر کو ان کے حوالے کیا اس سے تیس لاکھ روپے انعام دیا جائے گا اور کچھ دیر بعد انہوں نے یہ رقم بڑھا کر نوے لاکھ روپے کردی۔ طالبان نے ہمارے گھر کی بھی تلاشی لی اور وہ مویشیوں کے کمرے کے دروازے پر رکے اور واپس لوٹے۔ یہ مرحلہ خیریت سے گزرا۔ اب سب سے مشکل مرحلہ چینی انجینئر کو یہاں سے نکالنے کا تھا۔ ہم نے چینی انجینئر کو گھر سے تقریباً چھ سو میٹر کے فاصلے پر موجود وینئی چیک پوسٹ پر تعینات سکیورٹی فورسز کے حوالے کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا۔

اب اس فیصلے پر عملدرآمد کیسے کیا جائے۔ حکمت عملی یہ تیار کی گئی کہ ہم سکیورٹی فورسز کو صورتحال سے آگاہ کرنے کے بعد چینی انجینئر کو سڑک کے کنارے چھوڑ دیں گے اور سکیورٹی فورسز کے اہلکار آ کر انہیں اٹھالیں گے اور اس طرح طالبان کو ہمارے بارے میں پتہ نہیں چلے گا۔جب ہم نے سکیورٹی اہلکاروں سے رابطہ کرکے انہیں حوالے کرنے کا طریقہ بتایا تو انہوں نے خوف کے مارے چیک پوسٹ سے نکلنے سے انکار کیا اور ہمیں کہا کہ آپ لوگ خود انہیں چیک پوسٹ پر پہنچا دیں۔ بالاخر مجبور ہوکر ہم نے ایسا ہی کیا۔

یہاں سے ہماری مصیبتیں شروع ہوگئیں۔ طالبان کو پتہ چل گیا اور انہوں نے ہمارے دو رشتہ داروں جنہیں انہوں نے کسی اور معاملے میں اغواء کیا تھا رہا کرنے کے بعد ان کے ذریعے ہمیں دھمکی بھیجی کہ آپ لوگوں کو نہیں چھوڑا جائے گا۔ اس کے بعد ہمارے تین خاندانوں نے گاؤں چھوڑ دیا مگر دو بھائی لیاقت خان اور جمال خان نے گاؤں چھوڑنے سے انکار کردیا۔ بیس نومبر دو ہزار آٹھ کو لیاقت علی خان اپنی گاڑی میں جارہے تھے کہ کُرئی کے مقام پر طالبان نے انہیں پکڑ کر قتل کردیا اور گاڑی کو آگ لگادی۔

حکمت عملی یہ تیار کی گئی کہ ہم سکیورٹی فورسز کو صورتحال سے آگاہ کرنے کے بعد چینی انجینئر کو سڑک کے کنارے چھوڑ دیں گے اور سکیورٹی فورسز کے اہلکار آ کر انہیں اٹھالیں گے اور اس طرح طالبان کو ہمارے بارے میں پتہ نہیں چلے گا۔جب ہم نے سکیورٹی اہلکاروں سے رابطہ کرکے انہیں حوالے کرنے کا طریقہ بتایا تو انہوں نے خوف کے مارے چیک پوسٹ سے نکلنے سے انکار کیا اور ہمیں کہا کہ آپ لوگ خود انہیں چیک پوسٹ پر پہنچا دیں۔ بالاخر مجبور ہوکر ہم نے ایسا ہی کیا۔

ہماری حالت ایسی تھی کہ ہم پشاور میں تھے اور ان کی جنازے اور فاتحہ میں شرکت بھی نہیں کر سکتے تھے۔ میں مینگورہ گیا اور اپنے بال بچوں کو گاؤں بھیج دیا۔ ہم نے وہاں پر مقیم دوسرے بھائی جمال خان کو جو پیشے کے لحاظ سے وکیل تھے مجبور کر دیا کہ اب گاؤں میں مزید ٹھہرنا خطرناک ہے لہذا وہ نکل آئیں۔ ہم نے بڑی مشکلوں سے انہیں نکلنے پر راضی کیا۔ ہمارے تمام خاندانوں نے جب مکانات خالی کر دیے تو طالبان نے جا کر سب کچھ لوٹ لیا یہاں تک کہ پرانی چارپائی بھی لے گئے۔

لیاقت خان کی ہلاکت کے بعد طالبان ہمارے باغوں کی رکھوالی کرنے والے مزارعین کے پاس گئے اور ان میں سے دو کو اغواء کیا۔ اس موقع پر خواتین نے اپنے مردوں کو چھڑانے کی کوشش کی کہ ان تینوں خواتین کو گولیاں مار ہلاک کر دیا گیا۔ طالبان دو مزارعین کو اپنے ساتھ لے گئے لیکن بعد میں ان کے رشتہ داروں نے مال مویشی بیچ کر تاوان ادا کیا اور انہیں چھڑا لیا۔

جمال خان جب پشاور آئے تو انہیں طالبان کی جانب سے فون پر دھمکیاں ملتی رہیں۔ ایک دفعہ دھمکی آمیز خط بھی ملا تھا جس میں کہا گیا تھا کہ چینی انجینئر کے چھڑانے کے بدلے آپ لوگوں نے کثیر رقم لی ہے لہذا اس میں سے ہمیں بھی حصہ ادا کریں۔

جمال خان کی ایک بیٹی امریکہ میں رہتی ہیں اور انہوں نے اپنے والد کی جان کو خطرے میں دیکھ کر انہیں امیگریشن ویزا دلوایا۔ اس سال تین اکتوبر کو انہوں نے پشاور سے دبئی کے راستے نیویارک جانا تھا لیکن اٹھائیسں ستمبر کو وہ غائب ہوگئے۔ پہلے پہل تو میں نے سوچا کہ وہ شائد گاؤں گئے ہوئے ہیں کیونکہ وہ ہمیشہ اصرار کرتے تھے کہ امریکہ جانے سے پہلے وہ ایک دفعہ گاؤں ضرور جائیں گے لیکن میں انہیں ایسا کرنے سے منع کرتا رہا۔

طیاروں کی بمباری سے تباہ ہونے والا گھر

جب ہمارا ان سے فون پر کوئی رابطہ نہیں ہوا تو ہماری پریشانی بڑھ گئی۔ صبح میں اپنے چوکیدار کے ساتھ گاڑی میں جا رہا تھا کہ اس نے پوچھا آپ بہت خفا معلوم ہورہے ہیں۔ میں نے واقعہ سنایا۔اب خدا کا کرنا دیکھو رات کو اس چوکیدار کا فون آیا اور کہنے لگا کہ’سر خبر ہے تو بری لیکن آپ نے حوصلے سے کام لینا ہے‘۔ اس نے کہا کہ آپ نے جس شخص کا حلیہ بتایا ہے اس کے بارے میں میرے ایک دوست جو ہسپتال میں کام کرتے ہیں کہنا ہے کہ انہوں نے اس حلیے کے حامل ایک شخص کا پوسٹ مارٹم کیا ہے۔

اس کے بعد ہم نے اور بھی پوچھ گچھ کی تو پتہ چلا کہ اس شخص کو لاوارث سمجھ کر پشاور کے رحمان بابا قبرستان میں دفنا دیا گیا ہے۔ہم نے قبر کشائی کی تو دیکھا کہ لاش جمال خان کی ہے۔

ہماری مصیبتیں یہاں ختم نہیں ہوئیں۔ اس دوران سوات میں فوجی کارروائی بھی جاری تھی کہ ہمیں خبر موصول ہوئی کہ لڑاکا طیاروں نے ہمارے مکانات پر بمباری کر کے انہیں تباہ کردیاہے۔ اس کے علاوہ ہمارے جو باغات تھے ان پر مزارعین نے قبضہ کر لیا کیونکہ وہ طالبان کے صفوں میں شامل ہوگئے تھے۔

جمال خان کی ہلاکت سے قبل ہم نے ایک اعلی فوجی اہلکار سے ملاقات کی اور وزیراعظم کے نام ایک خط لکھا جس میں ہم نےاپنے جانوں کی حفاظت اور بچوں کے تعلیم کے بندوبست کی درخواست کی۔ خط پر مرحوم جمال خان کے دستخط بھی موجود تھے مگر چین جیسے دوست ملک کے شہری کی جان کی حفاظت اور ملک کی اتنی بڑی خدمت کرنے کے باوجود حکومت نے ہماری جان و مال کی حفاظت کرنا تو درکنار بلکہ الٹا ہمارے مکانات کو جیٹ طیاروں سے تباہ کر دیا۔ہم آج بھی سوات میں حکومتی رٹ کی بحالی میں حکومت کی حمایت کرتے ہیں لیکن اب بھی ہماری جان کو خطرہ ہے

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Jihad and the state

By Ayesha Siddiqa
Friday, 09 Oct, 2009

Pakistan’s support is critical in reducing the size and subsequently the threat posed by terror networks like Al-Qaeda. –Photo by AP

Pakistan’s support today is central to winning the war on terror. Hence, American aid is meant to encourage the political government and, to a certain extent, the military to cleanse the country of the thousands of jihadis that have been in Pakistan since the 1980s.

The strategy might work to a degree in eliminating some groups. Indeed Pakistan’s support is critical in reducing the size and subsequently the threat posed by terror networks like Al-Qaeda. The current assessment is that the terror outfit has in fact reduced in size and is partly relocating to Africa.

But this is not an indicator that the battle has been completely won. To vanquish the faceless enemy, the US and its allies have to achieve the harder goal of winning hearts and minds without which the war on terror is not winnable. This is because terror networks are difficult to locate, especially when they have society’s support. The problem right now is that while people in Pakistan might be anxious regarding some Taliban groups on a killing spree in the country, neither they nor the state in its entirety have complete faith in America’s war on terror or its presence in the region.

While institutions of the state have problems due to the manner in which the US chooses to fight the war, a common perception is that the Taliban imposed the war on Pakistan due to the US presence. So, to many the Taliban and jihadis essentially represent a struggle against American imperialism in Afghanistan. What, of course, goes hand in hand with such perceptions is the view that 9/11 was an American conspiracy to invade Afghanistan, the key to Central Asia. These are interesting times when the religious right begins to look like the left.

The battle for hearts and minds is essentially a part of the exercise of making the war legitimate. Currently, the argument presented by some in Pakistan, including certain prominent televangelists, is that America’s war essentially represents a clash of civilisations and is being imposed on Pakistan by an illegitimate government on behalf of the US. Notwithstanding the general suspicion regarding the US, there are two issues that need attention when it comes to the debate on what a ‘just war’ is in the Muslim world.

Firstly, what is a just war in Islam? According to some, a just war is one which is fought for the defence of Islam or for extending the religion to other parts of the world. The thinking goes that since the war on terror has been imposed by the US by falsely accusing Al Qaeda for 9/11, the struggle against it is legitimate. It would certainly add to everyone’s knowledge if Pakistani authorities disclosed how Khaled Sheikh Mohammad, who was interrogated by Pakistani forces before being handed over to America, confessed to his involvement in the bombing of the World Trade Centre.

Those that oppose the war on terror create the same categories as those that support the war of the ‘bad’ Taliban versus the ‘good’ Taliban. The latter are those fighting American hegemony in South Asia or other parts of the world. The bad ones are those that attack Pakistan on the behest of the US or Indian intelligence agencies. It becomes imperative for all Muslims to fight the US, which is threatening the survival of the Islamic civilisation, while Pakistan is considered the citadel of Islam.

So, people are caught between their dislike for violence imposed internally and the message coming from certain quarters that this violence is actually caused by the American presence in the region. Consequently, the situation would improve after America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Such perspectives received greater support after Washington’s needless expansion of the war to Iraq.

But then there is no consensus on what a just war is. Over the years, the concept of jihad has been through several interpretations depending on the times. Today, there is no consensus amongst the community of believers regarding the legitimacy of war. One of the important issues pertains to the question of who has the authority to wage a war. Is it the state or the individual’s responsibility? This question is not easy to answer as it is directly connected with another equally complex matter regarding the nature and legitimacy of the state.

The fact is that most religious opinions on war involving the individual citizen pertain to times when scholars had responded to external invasions and considered their own governments to be lacking in legitimacy to represent the people. The current times, unfortunately, don’t appear very different. However, the issue requires further thought even if the US left the region.

This brings me to the second issue of what a legitimate Islamic state is, a matter that has a direct bearing on whether the public would support the war or not. For the US, the battle to win hearts and minds becomes even more problematic considering that people in most countries of the Muslim world are not happy with their governments. This is certainly true in Pakistan where there is a lot of confusion about who has the right to govern.

The rampant corruption of the leadership adds fuel to the fire of the arguments of those who believe and profess that democracy is not suited to an Islamic system of government. Some televangelists in Pakistan, who are gaining popularity amongst the educated middle-class youth, argue that democracy as a system is foreign to Islam and hence must be abolished. Naturally, a state established on what they consider the wrong principles does not have the right to decide on which side of the fence it wants to fight.

These self-appointed preachers present a specific view on the politics of the state as if there is no space for any other perspective. Indeed, there is an ongoing debate on the relationship between politics and religion. While the concept of caliphate was supported historically, modern Muslim scholars such as Al Razik and Abdullah An-Na’im talk about the possibility of the separation of religion and politics which would allow for newer methods of selecting a government.

A debate on the aforementioned issues is no guarantee that the situation would immediately turn around for the US in Afghanistan. But it may save the world from protracted conflict on other fronts. The clash of civilisations is an ugly phenomenon and discussion in Muslim societies will help world peace.

The writer is an independent strategic and political analyst. (Dawn)
ayesha.ibd@gmail.com

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Tailpiece: 33 jihadi bhaion ki shahadat. May their souls burn in hell.

Bodies of 33 militants found

By Our Correspondent
Friday, 09 Oct, 2009

MINGORA, Oct 8: The bullet-riddled bodies of 33 suspected Taliban were found in different areas of Char Bagh on Thursday and a senior military commander said the militants had been killed in clashes with security forces.

According to reports reaching here, all the bodies were of local militants.

Sources said that troops were carrying out a search operation in Benjot, Taligram, Seir and Munglistan. In Kasona, 13 bodies were found and seven militants surrendered.

Dozens of unidentified bodies have been found since the military launched an operation in Swat and most of them have been buried.

Operation Commander Maj-Gen Ashfaq Nadeem told journalists that the militants had been killed in clashes in Char Bagh area over the past three days. He said that 95 per cent areas of Swat had been cleared of militants.

He said the remaining areas would be cleared soon and troops would start handing over a number of checkpoints to police from Oct 15. He said curfew had been lifted from several areas in Swat.

Maj-Gen Nadeem said that most of the militants in Swat had been killed, adding that troops would fully participate in the reconstruction work. He said the army would build mosques and repair the Ayub bridge in six weeks.

He said a committee would present a report about the use of Rs1 billion funds announced by the army chief.

Agencies add: The bodies of 15 Taliban militants were found on Thursday while 24 insurgents were killed in military operations in Swat.

Officials have previously reported 251 corpses dumped next to roads, beheaded or strung up in Swat since July.

“I can confirm that 15 bodies were found today and our information is that they are militants,” army spokesman Major Mushtaq Khan told AFP. “They might have been the victims of infighting among militant groups or killed by local people.” (Dawn)

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Jamaluddin Khan: An unsung hero of Pakistan-China friendship

Another Swati pays with life for saving Chinese engineer

Friday, October 02, 2009 By Rahimullah Yusufzai

PESHAWAR: The bullet-riddled body of a Swati in whose house the kidnapped Chinese engineer had spent a night in October 2008 after escaping from Taliban captivity was found here Wednesday. The 54-year old Jamaluddin Khan, a landlord from Chinglalai village in Swat’s Matta tehsil, had been kidnapped from outside his rented home in Sector F-8 in Hayatabad’s Phase 6 in Peshawar on September 28. His was one of the two bodies dumped in fields in Garhi Atta Muhammad village on the outskirts of Peshawar on Tuesday. As the bodies were unclaimed, both were buried by the police in the same village. On Wednesday, Jamaluddin’s brother Sadeed Khan came looking for the body and met the staff of Yakatoot police station. His kidnapped brother was untraceable and he feared that Jamaluddin might have been killed. “The body was decomposed and I had difficulty recognizing it. But we knew it was Jamaluddin,” an aggrieved Sadeed Khan told The News. The family took the body to Swat for burial. Despite risk to their life from remnants of Taliban militants, Sadeed Khan and members of the family were determined to travel to their village Chingalalai to bury Jamaluddin in their ancestral graveyard. For the past one year, Jamaluddin had been living in Peshawar after fleeing Swat. He is survived by a widow, three sons and three daughters. He had recently obtained a US visa and was booked to fly to New York on October 3. The Qatar Airways flight was to take him from Peshawar to Doha and then onward to New York. But his enemies were apparently aware of his travel plans and they struck before he could leave Pakistan. “I was urging him to leave during Ramazan. I knew he was under threat, but he delayed his departure and paid with his life,” recalled Sadeed Khan, who was a senior officer in the telephone department in Swat when life in the scenic valley was peaceful. Sadeed Khan didn’t blame anyone for his brother’s murder. “We didn’t harm anybody and had no enemies. But all of us felt threatened when Jamaluddin and his cousin Liaqat Ali Khan helped save the life of the Chinese engineer in Swat on the night of October 17, 2008. Liaqat, who belonged to Dagai village in Matta tehsil, had driven the Chinese engineer Zhang Guo in his car and delivered him to the nearby Pakistan Army camp at Vennai. Following his escape from Taliban custody in the Shawar or Peochar area, the 30-year old Zhang Guo had run for his life and sought refuge in Jamaluddin’s house in Chinglalai. He was lodged in a cattleshed due to fear of the Taliban, who were chasing the two escaped Chinese engineers. The Taliban managed to recapture Lang Xiao We, the younger, 26-year old Chinese engineer who broke his leg and fell while running in the mountainous area. Taliban searched Jamaluddin’s house but didn’t look for the Chinese engineer in the cattleshed. In the morning, Jamaluddin and his servants phoned Liaqat and it was decided that Zhang Guo should be handed over to the army troops. This was done but then misfortune of the two families began. Despite obvious threat to his life, Liaqat refused to leave Swat. On November 20, Taliban militants ambushed his car and killed him. Two days later, Jamaluddin escaped to Peshawar and managed to survive for about a year. Though his family isn’t accusing the militants of the murder at this stage, it appears that Jamaluddin, like his cousin Liaqat, paid with his life for helping the Chinese engineer and earning the ire of the Swat Taliban. The two men had defied the militants, who subsequently got several of their men freed from government custody and also received a handsome amount as ransom in exchange for the second Chinese engineer, Lang Xiao We, who too had escaped and was recaptured. (The News) .... Swati man paid with his life for saving Chinese engineer Thursday, January 15, 2009 Zhang Guo is back in China while Liaqat was killed by Taliban By Rahimullah Yusufzai PESHAWAR: The man who delivered the kidnapped Chinese engineer to the security forces after his escape from the Taliban custody in Swat was subsequently made to pay with his life. It wasn’t known until now that one Liaqat Ali Khan, son of Nadir Khan, a landlord from Dagai village in Matta Tehsil in upper Swat valley, was murdered by the local Taliban for helping Chinese telecommunication engineer, Zhang Guo, to reach the Pakistan Army’s roadside security post at Vennai. Members of his family, requesting anonymity due to a risk to their lives, told The News that Taliban fighters chased Liaqat while he was driving his car near his village on November 20 last year and shot him dead. Liaqat’s family, his cousins and other close relatives had to abandon their homes and move out of Swat after the incident. They still live in fear of the Swati Taliban and are unable to lead normal lives even in places far away from their native Swat. The 30-year-old Zhang Guo and his colleague, Long Xiao We, were kidnapped from a spot near the Khall town in Upper Dir district on August 29 while installing towers for a mobile phone company. They were taken to Swat and mostly kept in the Shawar, Peochar and Namal mountainous areas in Matta Tehsil. The Maulana Fazlullah-led Taliban in Swat demanded release of their 136 men and ransom in exchange for the two Chinese hostages. The government refused to make a deal with the Taliban. It was on October 17, 2008 that the two young Chinese engineers made their move to escape from Taliban’s custody. They reportedly sneaked out of the house where they were held during the night and ran for their life. Long Xiao We, 26-year-old and heavily-built, slipped during the escape and broke his leg. The mountainous terrain and the darkness made it difficult for them to find their way to safety. It is said Zhang Guo lost his colleague on the way after the latter’s fall and after a futile search decided to go it alone. The desperate engineer wanted to seek protection in some house in Chinglalai and the nearby Dagai village as he feared that the militants would soon learn about their escape and track them down. The Taliban managed to find Long Xiao We and made him hostage again but Zhang Guo was lucky to find a place to hide and regain freedom. According to late Liaqat’s family members, the unusual barking of dogs alarmed their security guards and prompted them to come out of the house of one of his cousins. They found the Chinese engineer shivering from cold outside the Hujra, or male guesthouse, and unable to speak a word of Pashto or Urdu, the two languages that the guards understood. Zhang Guo could barely speak English, the language the guards didn’t understand. Finding it difficult during the night to lodge him in the locked house or Hujra, the guards took him instead to a cattleshed and asked him to sleep there. They found an old blanket for him to protect himself from the cold. In the morning, the guards contacted Liaqat in Dagai village and told him about the stranger, who they believed was deaf and dumb. After seeing Zhang Guo, he knew this was one of the Chinese engineers who had been kidnapped by the Taliban. Liaqat reportedly consulted his cousins in Swat and Peshawar and sought their advice how to handle the situation. He was advised to deliver the engineer to the Army checkpost at Vennai, located about 1.5 kms from Dagai. According to one of his cousins, Liaqat was aware of the seriousness of the situation and he, therefore, tried to arrange a traditional, all enveloping Burqa for the Chinese engineer to wear while transporting him to the military checkpoint. Efforts to lay hands on the shuttlecock-type Burqa failed and Liaqat had little other choice than to seat Zhang Guo in the back seat of his car and drive him to the Vennai security forces’ post. He was able to return home safely but this was the beginning of his troubles. Somehow the word got out about the Chinese engineer’s stay in the house after his escape from the Taliban and his handing over to the security forces. The Taliban started suspecting Liaqat for helping the engineer and not long after that he became a marked man. It was just a matter of time that the militants would target him. Neither the Chinese diplomats nor most Pakistan government and military officials know that it was Liaqat Ali Khan who helped save Zhang Guo’s life but in the process paid with his own. It was a targeted killing of a man who had opted to stay in Swat unlike other Khans and resourceful people. ....

Dr Matloob Hussain

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The legal challenge facing Pakistan Army in its war against Taliban and Al Qaeda

The legal challenge

By Ahmer Bilal Soofi
Saturday, 03 Oct, 2009

LET’S reflect on a likely situation during military operations. Take the Rah-i-Rast operation in the north-west as a case in point — military personnel advance to gain control of a compound.

They enter the premises after much carnage and cross-fire to finally take the militants into custody.

The question is: what should now be done with these militants who either surrendered or were arrested while attempting escape? In reality, the number of detained militants must exceed hundreds. Their treatment is likely to pose a serious legal challenge to the government, which so far has not clarified the precise legal and constitutional category of Operation Rah-i-Rast.

Is it simply a ‘law-enforcement’ action or one ‘in aid of civil power’ under Article 245 of the constitution? Or is it to be referred to as an ‘internal disturbance’ in the context of Article 232 that permits the imposition of emergency? In any case, lawful authorisation to conduct the operation must be properly documented, otherwise individual members of the army could face allegations of war crimes or of committing excesses.

Let’s assume that Rah-i-Rast has been undertaken for the cause of civil power. In which case, the fundamental rights of detained militants effectively stand suspended. The detention period of these militants can continue for as long as the operation lasts. From amongst the captured or detained, there may be some who are referred to as ‘enemy aliens’; they are specifically barred from the protection of their fundamental rights under Article 10(9) of the constitution.

The detention of militants during the progress of the conflict would be permissible and legal and under the international law regarding hostilities such a detention is referred to as ‘internment’. The edict relating to internment is still evolving but it permits the retention of captured militants by the armed forces at least until the duration of the conflict. In the ongoing Operation Rah-i-Rast, the captured militants are not regarded as traditional combatants whose status could revert to that of protected civilians on capture. Owing to their terrorist activities and their active support for the Taliban, they are categorised as terrorists by virtue of several UN Security Council resolutions, and there is an obligation to prosecute them.

So how does one proceed to prosecute them? One option is to try them under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997(ATA). The problem here would be that anti-terrorist laws may not be applicable to the entire province of NWFP. There are factors such as Pata/Fata distinctions. The added complication is that of the Nizam-i-Adl, which has its own territorial domain and that displaces ATA.

Chunks of territory where Operation Rah-i-Rast is being conducted are outside the jurisdiction of ATA. A militant from these areas must first be detained and then brought into the jurisdiction of ATA. This means that the captured militant must be removed from the ‘scene of crime’ and handed over to law-enforcement agencies for investigation.Here, another set of problems arises: the militant has not been captured by the police, the police had no opportunity to recover weapons or prepare the traditional recovery memo, nor has it inspected the scene of crime. The police are relying heavily on the ‘evidence’ given by the military men who captured him. This means that sooner or later, concerned military people will also need to testify both during the course of the investigation and in court.

With all this, when the prosecution eventually files a challan in court against the detained militant, there will be several weak points in the case that could easily be used by a good defence lawyer. The result would be devastating. The militant could escape conviction or receive a mild sentence or even be out on bail well before the trial concludes. This is the last thing that the government, the military or even locals in the conflict-hit area would like to witness.

The other option is to try these militants under the action in aid of civil power ‘regime’ which permits a different legal treatment of civilians and of captured insurgents. Generally, in various countries, federal laws regulating the conduct of the government during ‘action in aid of civil power’ are enacted. For example, in India there is a comprehensive legislation for ‘actions’ permissible in aid of civil power.

In Pakistan, a 1998 Action in Aid of Civil Power Ordinance has been rendered deficient in many respects due to haphazard amending of acts and ordinances. At this point, the ordinance authorises the establishment of military courts. In view of the Supreme Court’s direction these should be replaced with sessions courts. The preferred option is to replace the present ordinance with a more detailed and comprehensive enactment of the law, regulating and giving lawful authority to ‘action in aid of civil power’.

The only advantage of criminal proceedings under the ‘action in aid of civil power’ regime over the ATA is that the court actually ‘moves’ with the military operation itself. The courts can be set up anywhere, even in conflict zones or areas where Rah-i-Rast is being conducted or even where the militants are captured. These courts are closer to the scene of crime too. Under the aid of civil power regime, these

courts as such have no territorial jurisdiction restriction. However, as mentioned above, the sessions judge may be inducted as presiding officer by amending the law and’ secondly, the requirements of due process and judicial guarantees must be ensured during trial.

It may also be advisable to lay these complex legal questions along with various legal solutions before the Supreme Court and then seek its opinion under Article 186 of the constitution.

The writer is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and president of the Research Society of International Law.

ahmersoofi@hotmail.com

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Pakistan's Top 10 Militant Commanders

By Amir Mir

In a recent article, prominent Pakistani journalist Amir Mir warned that the killing of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud was "unlikely to give Pakistan a reprieve" in its fight against the Islamic militants in Pakistan's tribal region.

Baitullah Mehsud, the Emir of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or the Movement of Pakistani Taliban), was reportedly killed in aU.S. drone attack on August 5, 2009. He had been responsible for uniting all militants in Pakistan, leading to the formation ofTTP in December 2007.

Amir Mir's article lists the top 10 militant commanders who could pose a threat to Pakistan in the near future, including British citizen Rashid Rauf, whose reported death in a U.S. missile remains unconfirmed by Pakistani and British security officials.

The article also mentions several militant organizations: Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), a non-Taliban group active mainly in the tribal district of Khyber Agency; Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, or Movement for the Enforcement of Prophet Muhammad's Shari'a), led by Maulana Sufi Muhammad and his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah who leads the Taliban in Swat district; Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an Al-Qaeda affiliated organization based in the town of Jhang; Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), operating in India and Bangladesh; Jaish-e-Muhammad, an anti-India militant organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda; and others.

Following are some excerpts from the article: [1]

"Pakistan's Top 10 Most Wanted Terrorists Belong to Six Militant And Sectarian [Sunni/Shi'ite] Organizations Linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban"

"According to well-placed Interior Ministry sources in Islamabad, Pakistan's top 10 most wanted terrorists belong to six militant and sectarian [Sunni/Shi'ite] organizations linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Four of the 10 are affiliated with the TTP; two belong to the LeJ, while one each is associated with the TNSM, the JeM, the HuJI and the LeI. They include Maulana Fazlullah, the fugitive Emir of the Swat chapter of the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM); Hakimullah Mehsud; Qari Hussain Mehsud; Maulvi Faqeer Mohammad and Waliur Rehman of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP); Matiur Rehman and Qari Zafar of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ); Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri of the Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI); Rashid Rauf of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM); and Mangal Bagh of the Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI)."

No. 1 - Maulana Fazlullah

"With Baitullah Mehsud already down, Maulana Fazlullah has become the No. 1 most wanted terrorist. He is the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Mohammed, the founder of TNSM. Born March 1, 1975, Fazlullah is widely known as Mullah Radio for using illegal FM channels to broadcast vituperative speeches, threatening people with dire consequences should they not adhere to shari'a and instigating the residents of Swat into taking part in jihad. He has been missing since April 2009, since the Pakistan Army launched a massive operation to dismantle his jihadi infrastructure following the collapse of ashari'a-for-peace agreement between Maulana Sufi Mohammed and the government. Though the Army has reclaimed Swat district, Maulana Fazlullah remains at large. He carries a reward of Rs 5 million on his head."

No. 2 - Hakimullah Mehsud

"A close confidant of Baitullah Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud is the new Emir of the TTP. Born in 1980, he used to command TTP fighters in Orakzai, Khyber and Kurram tribal agencies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATAs). Hakimullah, also known as Zulfiqar Mehsud alias Gudu, has been leading operations against NATO's supply lines in Khyber and Peshawar. His forces have been behind raids that have led to the destruction of more than 600 NATO vehicles and shipping containers. He had taken credit for a series of suicide attacks and complex assaults in Lahore and Peshawar, including the March 2009 attack on the Manawan Police Training Academy in Lahore. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed following the death of Baitullah that Hakimullah too had died in a gun battle. But he is still alive."

No. 3 Qari Hussain Mehsud

"Another close aide of Baitullah, Qari Hussain Mehsud ranks No. 3. He is a key commander of the TTP in South Waziristan, and known as the Ustad-e-Fidayeen (the trainer of suicide bombers). He runs camps that train children to become suicide bombers. Children are indoctrinated to wage jihad in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as shown in a video taken at one of his camps... which was released by him himself. The two major suicide hits claimed on the video were the March 11, 2008 suicide attack on the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) building in Lahore and the November 24, 2007 twin suicide attacks in Rawalpindi, in front of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters. The Pakistani military demolished Hussain's suicide nursery in January 2008 and claimed that he too had been killed. But he mocked the military barely a week later during a press conference, saying, 'I am alive, don't you see me?"'

No. 4 - Ilyas Kashmiri

"No. 4 in the most wanted list, Ilyas Kashmiri, the chief of the Azad Kashmir [free Kashmir or Pakistani Kashmir] chapter of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist organization Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), is a veteran of the Kashmir jihad who spent several years in an Indian jail. He was arrested after the December 2003 twin suicide attacks on General Pervez Musharraf's presidential cavalcade in Rawalpindi, but released a few weeks later due to lack of evidence. He later shifted his base to the Waziristan region and joined hands with Baitullah Mehsud. He later established a training camp in the Razmak area of Waziristan and shifted most of his militants from his Kotli training camp in Pakistani Kashmir. He has been named in a charge-sheet filed by the Islamabad police for masterminding the November 2008 murder of Major General (retired) Amir Faisal Alvi, the former general officer commanding (GOC) of the elite Special Services Group (SSG)."

No. 5 - Rashid Rauf

"No. 5 on the most wanted list, Rashid Rauf is an alleged Al-Qaeda linked British national of Pakistani origin who is wanted by Pakistan and Britain for being a central figure in an August 2006 plot to blow up some U.S.-bound trans-Atlantic airplanes. A close relative of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Rashid has been accused of forming multiple cells, each comprising 12 terrorists, which had been dispatched in 2008 from Pakistani tribal areas to conduct a series of bomb attacks in the major cities of several European countries. Rashid was reportedly killed on November 22, 2008 after a missile fired from a CIA predator drone destroyed a mud bungalow in Alikhel village of North Waziristan. But it later transpired that he is alive and operating from the Waziristan region."

No. 6 - Mangal Bagh Afridi

"The No. 6 most wanted terrorist is Mangal Bagh Afridi, who is the founder of the Lashkar-e-Islam, an Islamic militant group operating in Khyber Agency which claims to be a reformist organization trying to promote virtue and prevent vice. Born in 1973 in the Bara Tehsil area of Khyber Agency, Mangal used to be a bus conductor, and now preaches extremism on his privately run FM radio stations. If he is to be believed, his Lashkar-e-Islam has 120,000 armed men who control most parts of Khyber Agency. Already declared a proclaimed offender, he left a trail of bloodshed, pillage and mayhem when his men attacked unarmed villagers in Sheikhan, near Peshawar, in early 2009 and killed dozens."

No. 7 - Matiur Rehman

"Born in 1977, Matiur Rehman, aka Samad Sial, chief operational commander of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, ranks No. 7. He is a Pakistani national, but identified as Al-Qaeda's planning director, wanted by both the FBI and FIA of Pakistan. Known as an extremely fine bomb-maker, he comes from Bahawalpur district of Pakistan's Punjab province and carries a bounty of 10 million Pakistani Rupees, as announced by the Pakistan government. He was linked with the August 2006 transatlantic plot to destroy U.S.-bound British aircraft. Suspected for his involvement in the September 2008 Marriot Hotel suicide bombing in Islamabad, Matiur Rehman is described as extremely dangerous because of his role as the liaison between Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani jihadi community."

No. 8 - Maulvi Faqir Mohammed

"Born in 1970 in the Bajaur Agency, a tribal district along the Afghan border, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed is a member of the Mohmand tribe and the deputy commander of the TTP. Formerly affiliated with the TNSM led by Maulana Sufi Mohammad, he is wanted due to contacts with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. Faqeer has publicly stated that he has close ties to Osama bin Laden deputy Dr. Ayman Zawahiri. After Baitullah's death, he first announced assuming temporary command of the TTP, but later declared that Hakimullah Mehsud has been selected as the leader of TTP. He is accused of orchestrating the November 8, 2006 suicide attack on an Army training center at Dargai in NWFP, which killed 45 recruits of the Punjab Regiment Centre."

No. 9 - Waliur Rehman

"Waliur Rehman, the commander of the South Waziristan chapter of the TTP, has emerged as a key jihadist figure after the death of Baitullah. Born in 1974, Waliur is a cleric who studied at a religious seminary in the town of Faisalabad - the Jamia Islamia Imdadia - before teaching for seven years at a madrassa in South Waziristan. He joined the Taliban movement in 2004 to become one of Baitullah's trusted aides, who used to look after the financial matters of the TTP. At one stage in his life, Waliur Rehman was associated with Maulana Fazlur Rehman's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a ruling party in Pakistan, and pursued peaceful politics. Waliur Rehman was a main contender for Baitullah's job as the TTP head, and his selection as the TTP head for South Waziristan has made him the pivotal figure in the organization."

No. 10 - Qari Mohammad Zafar

"Qari Mohammad Zafar is largely believed to be the acting Emir of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and runs a suicide bombing squad in Pakistan. Presently operating from South Waziristan, Zafar was alleged to be the mastermind of the September 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing. Hailing from Karachi, he is reported to have become one of the members of Al-Qaeda's hard-line inner circle in Pakistan and enjoying the protection of the TTP. In 2007, Zafar escaped from the custody of Pakistani security services in Lahore. He is also wanted for questioning in connection with the March 2, 2006 car bomb attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi."

http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP253609

---

[1] The News (Pakistan), September 1, 2009. The article has been lightly edited for clarity.

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Wha did Taliban do to Pir Samiullah's deadbody?

’پیر سمیع اللہ کی لاش کا اب تک نہیں معلوم‘

عبدالحئی کاکڑ

بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، پشاور

پاکستان کے قبائلی علاقوں اور صوبہ سرحد میں پچھلے کئی سالوں سے جاری تشدد کی لہر نے نہ صرف لوگوں کے ذہنوں میں ملک کی ’سلامتی‘ کے بارے میں خدشات پیدا کیے ہیں بلکہ اس کی کوکھ سے جنم لینے والے المیے متاثرہ افراد کی زندگیوں کے ساتھ ہمیشہ کے لیے نتھی ہو چکے ہیں۔ طالبان اور سکیورٹی فورسز کے مابین جاری لڑائی سے جنم لینے والے انسانی المیوں کے مختلف پہلووں کو صحافت کے تنگ دامن میں یا تو سرے سے جگہ ہی نہیں مل سکی اور اگر ملی بھی تو اس طرح نہیں جس طرح سے یہ واقعات رونما ہوئے اور یوں حقیقی کہانیاں صحافتی مقابلے کی دوڑ کے ملبے میں کہیں دفن ہوگئیں۔

پشاور میں بی بی سی کے نامہ نگار عبدالحئی کاکڑ جنگ زدہ افراد یا خاندانوں پر بیتی ہوئی انہی کہانیوں کی کھوج میں ہیں جنہیں بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام ایک سیریز کی صورت میں شائع کر رہی ہے۔ اس سلسلے کی پانچویں کہانی۔

اکبر علی، روڈ ی نگار، منگل ڈاگ تحصیل مٹہ سوات

جون دو ہزار آٹھ میں طالبان اور ہمارے یعنی پیر سمیع اللہ گروپ کے درمیان اختلافات شروع ہوگئے تھے۔ سوات کے باقی علاقوں پر کنٹرول حاصل کرنے کے بعد طالبان ہمارے علاقے میں بھی اپنی رٹ قائم کرنا چاہتے تھے۔ طالبان کی جانب سے لوگوں کے گلے کاٹنا، زبردستی داڑھی رکھوانا، اور سرعام کوڑے مارنے کا عمل پیر سمیع اللہ کو پسند نہیں تھا۔

طالبان کا خیال تھا کہ لوگ مزاحمت نہیں کریں گے اور وہ آسانی سے پیر سمیع اللہ کو اٹھاکر لے جائیں گے

انہوں نے طالبان کے علاقے میں آمد کی مخالفت کی۔ جب طالبان کے کمانڈر ابنِ یامین کو پتہ چلا تو وہ درجنوں مسلح ساتھیوں کے ہمراہ پیر سمیع اللہ کو اٹھانے کے لیے ہمارے گاؤں آئے۔ان کا خیال تھا کہ ان کی دہشت کی وجہ سے لوگ مزاحمت نہیں کریں گے اور وہ آسانی سے پیر سمیع اللہ کو اپنے ساتھ اٹھاکر لے جائیں گے۔ لیکن لوگوں نے مزاحمت کی اور صبح سے رات تک ہمارے درمیان جھڑپ جاری رہی۔

لوگوں نے طالبان کو پیچھے دھکیل دیا۔ اس جھڑپ میں پیر سمیع اللہ کے چھوٹے بھائی اٹھارہ سالہ عمران سمیت ہمارے چار ساتھی زخمی ہوگئے تھے۔ پیر صاحب کے چچا، جو ان کے مخالف تھے، ان کے زخمی بھائی کو علاج کے لیے لے جارہے تھے کہ طالبان نے انہیں راستے میں روک لیا۔ جب ابنِ یامین کو پتہ چلا کہ یہ پیر سمیع اللہ کے بھائی ہیں تو اس نے اس سے زخمی حالت میں گاڑی سے نکال کر سڑک پر پھینک دیا۔ وہ اس کے سینے پر زور زور سے کودتا رہا پھر اسے دو گولیاں سینے اور دو سر میں ماردیں۔ جب میں نے لاش دیکھی تو پورے جسم پر خنجروں کے نشان تھے۔

اس جھڑپ کے بعد پیر سمیع اللہ نے علاقے کے لوگوں کو بلایا اور ایک باقاعدہ لشکر تشکیل دیا جس میں چھ سو سے زائد مسلح رضاکار شامل ہوگئے۔ اس دوران فوج کے ساتھ بھی رابطہ ہوا جس نے ہمیں تقریباً پینتالیس کلاشنکوف، کئی بندوقیں اور کارتوس دیے۔ حکومت نے وعدہ کیا کہ طالبان کے خلاف لڑائی میں لشکرکی مدد کی جائے گی۔

طالبان نے گاؤں والوں کو پیغام بھیجا کہ اگر انہوں نے پیر سمیع اللہ کی حمایت ترک نہیں کی تو یرغمالیوں کو قتل کردیا جائے گا۔ اس دھمکی کے بعد لشکر میں شامل رضاکار ایک ایک کرکے الگ ہوتے گئے۔ تیرہ دسمبر جمعہ کی رات کو جب طالبان نے حملہ کیا تو اس وقت لشکر میں سو کے قریب مسلح رضاکار رہ گئے تھے۔

سوات کے علاقے سپین سر جس کی سرحد ضلع دیر کے ساتھ ملتی ہے میں تقریباً ہم نے کئی مہینے تک ایک بھی طالب کو گھسنے نہیں دیا۔ اس دوران اچانک ایک ایسا واقعہ ہوا جس نے ہماری قوت کو کمزور کردیا۔ ہمیں مینگورہ اور باقی علاقوں سے زندگی کی بنیادی ضروریات لانے لے جانے کے لیے جس واحد راستے سے گزرنا تھا وہ مکمل طور پر طالبان کے کنٹرول میں تھا۔ ایک دن شوگر ملوں میں دیہاڑی پر کام کرنے والے ہمارے گاؤں کے لوگ جا رہے تھے کہ طالبان نے انہیں ٹرکوں سے اتار کر یرغمال بنالیا۔

طالبان نے گاؤں والوں کو پیغام بھیجا کہ اگر انہوں نے پیر سمیع اللہ کی حمایت ترک نہیں کی تو یرغمالیوں کو قتل کردیا جائے گا۔ اس دھمکی کے بعد لشکر میں شامل رضاکار ایک ایک کرکے الگ ہوتے گئے۔ تیرہ دسمبر جمعہ کی رات کو جب طالبان نے حملہ کیا تو اس وقت لشکر میں سو کے قریب مسلح رضاکار رہ گئے تھے۔

ہمارے پاس ایک واکی ٹاکی تھا جس سے ہمیں طالبان کے آپس میں واکی ٹاکی پر ہونے والی بات چیت سنائی دیتی تھی۔ ہمیں پہلے سے معلوم تھا کہ طالبان ایک بڑے حملے کی تیاریوں میں مصروف ہیں۔ انہوں نے باجوڑ، وزیرستان اور کچھ ارود بولنے والے طالبان کو بھی مدد کے لیے بلایا لیا تھا۔

رات کا وقت تھا کہ دستی بموں، راکٹ لانچروں، میزائلوں، کلاشنکوفوں اور سنائپرز سے لیس تقریباً آٹھ سو کے قریب طالبان نے ابنِ یامین اور کمانڈر فاتح کی سربراہی میں گاؤں پرحملہ کردیا۔ وہ توپچی سے گولے بھی داغتے رہے۔ پوری رات ہمارے درمیان جھڑپ جاری رہی۔ اگلے دن بھی شدید فائرنگ کاتبادلہ ہوتا رہا لیکن اس دوران مقامی لشکر کے سبھی لوگ ہمیں چھوڑ کر چلے گئے۔ فوج بھی وعدے کے مطابق ہماری مدد کو نہیں پہنچی۔ صرف چار مرتبہ ہیلی کاپٹر آئے اور پہاڑیوں پر شیلنگ کی جس کا ہمیں کوئی فائدہ نہیں پہنچا اور نہ ہی طالبان پسپا ہوئے۔ پتہ نہیں فوج کی گولی طالبان کو کیوں نہیں لگتی۔ (اس وقت اکبر علی کے لبوں پر طنزیہ مسکراہٹ پھیل گئی)

آخر میں ہم صرف بارہ لوگ باقی رہ گئے تھے جو سبھی پیر صاحب کے رشتہ دار تھے۔ پیر صاحب میرے پھوپھی کے بیٹے ہیں۔ ہم نو افراد پیر صاحب کے ساتھ ان کے گھر میں مزاحمت کررہے تھے جبکہ باقی چار افراد مکان کی دوسری طرف لڑرہے تھے۔ جب طالبان مکان کے قریب آئے تو پیر صاحب نے صحن کے بیچ میں آ کر کلاشنکوف سے طالبان پر فائرنگ شروع کردی۔ میں ان کے قریب تھا کہ اس دوران سنائپر سے انہیں نشانہ بنایا گیا اور گولی ان کے گردن میں لگ گئی اور وہ گر پڑے۔

ہم نو افراد پیر صاحب کے ساتھ ان کے گھر میں مزاحمت کررہے تھے جبکہ باقی چار افراد مکان کی دوسری طرف لڑرہے تھے۔ جب طالبان مکان کے قریب آئے تو پیر صاحب نے صحن کے بیچ میں آ کر کلاشنکوف سے طالبان پر فائرنگ شروع کردی۔ میں ان کے قریب تھا کہ اس دوران سنائپر سے انہیں نشانہ بنایا گیا اور گولی ان کے گردن میں لگ گئی اور وہ گر پڑے۔

ہم نے ان کی تینوں بیویوں اور بچوں کو اندر جانے کو کہا لیکن اس وقت تک ہم طالبان کے گھیرے میں آچکے تھے۔ ہم نے فیصلہ کیا کہ پیر صاحب اور ان کے بال بچوں کو ہر حال میں یہاں سے نکالنا ہے۔ ہم نے اپنے چار ساتھیوں سے کہا کہ وہ زبردست فائرنگ شروع کردیں تاکہ طالبان کو یہ اندازہ ہوجائے کہ گھر میں مسلح لوگ بڑی تعداد میں موجود ہیں۔

جب انہوں نے فائرنگ شروع کی تو اس دوران ہم نے پیر صاحب اور ان کے گھر والوں کو نکال دیا۔ ہم انہیں زخمی حالت میں چار مڑ کے علاقے لے گئے تاکہ وہاں پر ایک ڈسپنسر ان کو ابتدائی طبی امداد فراہم کر دیں اور بعد میں ہم انہیں ضلع دیر لے جائیں گے۔

وہاں پہنچ کر ان کی مرہم پٹی کروائی لیکن بعد میں وہ زخموں کی تاب نہ لاکر چل بسے۔ جب تک وہ زندہ تھے انہوں نے صرف اتنا کہا کہ ’مجھے اپنی قوم اور حکومت نے دھوکہ دیا‘۔ اب ہمیں ان کے دفنانے کی فکر لاحق ہوئی۔ ہم نے ان کی میت اٹھائی اور منگل ڈاگ سے کوئی آٹھ کلومیٹر دور سولا تنڑ گاؤں میں اپنے رشتہ داروں کے پاس چلےگئے۔

دس گھنٹے کی پیدل مسافت کے بعد ہم ضلع دیر پہنچ گئے جہاں پر ہمیں پتہ چلا کہ طالبان کمانڈر نے سو لاتنڑ گاؤں جاکر پیر صاحب کی لاش کا پتہ لگایا ہے اور لاش نکال کر اپنے ساتھ لے گئے ہیں۔ پیر صاحب کی لاش طالبان نے اگلے ہی دن تحصیل مٹہ کے گوالیرئی کے بازار میں سرعام لٹکا دی۔ ہمیں ابھی تک یہ معلوم نہیں ہے کہ پیر صاحب کو کہاں دفنایا گیا ہے۔

رات کا وقت تھا۔ ہم نے ان کی نماز جنازہ پڑھی جس میں چند رشتہ داروں اور ان کے کئی مریدوں نے شرکت کی۔ بعد میں ہم نے انہیں اپنے رشتہ دار کے کھیت میں دفن کردیا۔ دفنانے کے بعد ہم نے قبر زمین کے ساتھ ہموار کردی تاکہ کسی کو اس پر قبر کا گمان نہ ہو۔

ہم چار ساتھی رات ہی کو وہاں سے پہاڑی راستوں کے ذریعے دیر روانہ ہوگئے۔ پہاڑوں پر چار فٹ برف پڑی ہوئی تھی۔ کھانے پینےکی کوئی چیز ہمارے ساتھ نہیں تھی۔ ہمیں جب پیاس لگی تو پانی پینے کا برتن بھی نہیں تھا تو ہم نے اپنے بوٹ نکال کراس میں پانی پیا۔

دس گھنٹے کی پیدل مسافت کے بعد ہم ضلع دیر پہنچ گئے جہاں پر ہمیں پتہ چلا کہ طالبان کمانڈر نے سو لاتنڑ گاؤں جاکر پیر صاحب کی لاش کا پتہ لگایا ہے اور لاش نکال کر اپنے ساتھ لے گئے ہیں۔ پیر صاحب کی لاش طالبان نے اگلے ہی دن تحصیل مٹہ کے گوالیرئی کے بازار میں سرعام لٹکا دی۔ طالبان نے لوگوں کے سامنے پیر صاحب کے دو اور ساتھیوں کے گلے کاٹ دیے اور ان کی لاشیں بھی لٹکادیں۔ دو گھنٹے تک لٹکانے کے بعد انکی لاشیں اتاردی گئیں اور پیر صاحب کو کسی نامعلوم مقام پر دفنادیا۔ ہمیں ابھی تک یہ معلوم نہیں ہے کہ پیر صاحب کو کہاں دفنایا گیا ہے۔

بعد میں طالبان نے میری اور میرے دوسرے ساتھیوں کی تلاش شروع کردی۔ انہوں نے میرے چھوٹے بھائی رحمت اللہ کو بھی اس لیے اغواء کرکے قتل کردیا کہ شاید ہم اب بھی حکومت کے ساتھ رابطے میں ہیں لیکن طالبان کو کیا پتہ کہ حکومت کو ہم یاد ہی نہیں ہیں۔ میں اس وقت بھی روپوشی کی زندگی گزار رہا ہوں۔

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The knives are out -- Kamran Shafi

By Kamran Shafi
Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009 (Dawn)

One has noticed with alarm the tenor of most TV anchors, and some analysts too, when they heap praise only upon the army for doing a good job in Swat with no mention of the civilian leadership across the political spectrum. —APP/File Photo

IF every wrong is to be placed at the politician’s door, in the instant case at Asif Zardari’s, then the good that has come with his government and with democracy must also go to his account and to those of other politicians.

Here I refer to the Swat operation which is gradually showing signs of success with the army doing yeoman service for the country.

Each day brings news of more successes, the latest being the arrest of the cruel and heartless yahoo, Muslim Khan, along with another yahoo; and the imminent capture of the Mother of All Yahoos, Fazlullah. The point to remember is that this is the same army that prevaricated during all the years of the Commando’s absolute rule while the savages went about digging their tunnels and bunkers and furnishing them with carpets and tiled bathrooms and all; and cutting off people’s heads with blunt knives, and all.

The very same army, under the very same commanders, has now shown the grit and the determination which one always knew it had, under a civil administration headed, whether anyone likes it or not, by Asif Ali Zardari.

It has shown that it is trained to do what is asked of it and that the old and fallacious refrain that it was not trained to fight insurgencies was poppycock of the worst kind, trotted out by the apologists of the brass hats who could not make up their minds whether the marauding yahoos were friends of our venal state or its people’s worst enemies.

The ranks of the army, the young officers and the unit commanders were never suspect; its generalship was. And rightly so. We must also remember that the Commando was then the lord and master of all he surveyed under his very own dictum of ‘unity of command’.

If things are going well, why the frightening title of this piece? Here goes: one has noticed with alarm the tenor of most TV anchors, and some analysts too, when they heap praise only upon the army for doing a good job in Swat with no mention of the civilian leadership across the political spectrum (with the sole exception of the double-dealing and very slippery JUI-F) that has stood behind the army solidly by shouldering the political responsibility for the fallout of the military action.

One has also noticed with utmost concern, the savage attacks on politicians let loose by former senior army and intelligence officers well known for their criminal and anti-democratic acts. It is again to be noted that discredited and reviled former spooks like Brigadier Billa would never have crawled back into their respective gutters without a definitive go-ahead by their former outfits.

Whilst these attacks have clearly redounded on the security establishment (reinforcing the widespread belief that our brass hats are not much endowed with good sense!), they point clearly to the objective: to remove the elected democratic dispensation by hook or by crook, mostly the latter, and to replace it with a government of ‘technocrats’, whatever that means, under a caretaker civilian Quisling.

That the establishment is not alone in this enterprise is also clear; certain names of known unsavoury characters scurrying back into their respective gutters to do their assigned dirty work have already surfaced in the press.

As I have said before, the proof is the recent (ongoing indeed) spate of ugly stories first about one political leader, and then the other, doing the rounds of the plush drawing rooms of Islamabad the Beautiful, the TV channels and the front pages of newspapers. This is only the beginning: the country should be ready for far worse in the immediate future.

It is as part of this enterprise that the old story of Osama Bin Laden meeting Nawaz Sharif X or Y times and egging him on to destabilise Benazir’s government of the time has resurfaced, as has the Midnight Jackal story.

The patrons of the enterprise do not seem to remember that by signing the Charter of Democracy, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif buried the past, allegations and all, and resolved to take Pakistan to a better future through civilised politics by eschewing the rancour and blind hate of the past.

Which is why I must repeat myself. President Asif Zardari would be well advised to order his party to stop its delaying tactics with regard to the repeal of the 17th Amendment, and the tabling of the 18th without the draconian articles of the former. He must also remove any doubts there might be as to his cool relationship with Nawaz Sharif, to present a unified stand to those that would plot against them.

Both must also rein in the hawks in their parties, for many times even the swiftest hawk can lose its prey to other, lesser, raptors such as the carrion-eating kite.

A short word on the most recent Top Secret (surely!?) letter of the bestest diplomat in the whole wide world Master Hussain Haqqani, and the FO and ISI, in which he has bemoaned the fact that many American media people and the head of the Asia Foundation have been barred from getting Pakistan visas.

Who, may I ask, has leaked this most confidential letter so that it is now the subject of headline news and editorials? The government must carry out an indepth investigation into the leak and severely punish the guilty for it may very well be part of the ongoing conspiracy against democracy.

Also, might I one more time demand an inquiry into the granting of not one, not two, but three Pakistani visas to the disreputable Richard Reid aka Abdul Raheem aka Tariq Raja aka the ‘Shoe Bomber’, who had spent most of his life in prisons in the UK and who is now undergoing life imprisonment in the US? Who on earth was his sponsor in the Land of the Pure?

kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk

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Taliban spokesperson Muslim Khan arrested.

While Muslim Khan has been arrested, when will our security forces arrest the 'renowned' spokepersons of the Taliban namley 'Daktar' Shahid Masood, Javed Chaudhry, Irfan Siddiqi and Orya Maqbook Jan?

TTP spokesman Muslim Khan arrested

Friday, 11 Sep, 2009

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan. — AP photo

PROVINCES

Polio vaccinations resume in Swat

VIDEO FEATURE

Terror tactics

PESHAWAR: Pakistan said Friday it arrested the current chief spokesman of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, formerly a commander and spokesman of the Swat Taliban, capturing the first most-wanted ring leaders behind a devastating two-year insurgency.

The northwest valley slipped out of government control after Mullah Fazlullah rose up in July 2007, commanding thousands of followers who beheaded opponents, burnt schools and fought to enforce Islamic law.

Pakistan launched a blistering offensive against the Taliban in the district after militants marched out of the former tourist district, advancing further south towards the capital Islamabad in April and now claims the area is clear.

The country posted a reward of 50 million rupees (more than 600,000 dollars) for Fazlullah and offered rewards for 15 of his top lieutenants, last May but Friday marked the first announcement of any arrests from the list.

‘Muslim Khan and Mahmood Khan with head money of 10 million rupees (120,482 US dollars) have been arrested by security forces in a successful operation in Swat,’ military spokesman Athar Abbas said in a statement.

Muslim Khan was second on the most-wanted list behind Fazlullah. He earned notoriety as the hardline Taliban spokesman in Swat but was largely impossible to reach after the military launched its summer ground and air assault.

Mahmood Khan was number four on the most-wanted list, described as commander of Kuza Banda in northern Swat and, like the spokesman, had a 10-million-rupee price on his head.

‘Along with them, three other terrorist leaders Fazle Ghaffar, Abdul Rehman and Sartaj have been also been apprehended,’ the military statement said. There was no known bounty money for the three.

Pakistan concentrated its military operation in Swat and neighbouring districts Buner and Lower Dir after Taliban gunmen advanced to within 100 kilometres of Islamabad last April in defiance of a peace deal.

The offensive forced 1.9 million civilians from their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis for impoverished Pakistan as they sheltered with relatives and crowded into refugee camps.

The United Nations said this week that 1.65 million Pakistanis have since returned home. The government has sponsored the displaced to return to areas commanders say are now safe.

But skirmishes continue, raising fears that the Taliban are regrouping in the mountains, a tactic militants adopted after previous offensives.

Fourteen police cadets were killed late August in a suicide attack in Mingora, the main town in Swat, which police blamed on Taliban militants.

Pakistan says more than 1,900 militants and over 167 security personnel were killed in the offensive but the tolls are impossible to verify independently.

طالبان ترجمان مسلم خان گرفتار

عبدالحئی کاکڑ

بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، پشاور

مسلم خان کو کچھ عرصہ کے لیے تحریکِ طالبان پاکستان کا ترجمان بھی بنایا گیا تھا

پاکستانی فوج نے سوات میں طالبان کے ترجمان اور کمانڈر مسلم خان سمیت پانچ طالبان رہنماؤں کو گرفتار کرنے کا دعوٰی کیا ہے۔

پاکستان کے فوجی ترجمان میجر جنرل اطہر عباس نے بی بی سی اردو سے بات کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ان طالبان رہنماؤں کو گزشتہ ہفتے ایک کارروائی کے دوران گرفتار کیا گیا۔

کلِک

مسلم خان: پی پی پی سے طالبان تک

ان کے بقول گرفتار ہونے والوں میں طالبان ترجمان مسلم خان، کمانڈر محمود خان، شموزئی کے کمانڈر فضل غفار عرف مفتی بشیر، چہار باغ کے کمانڈر عبدالرحمن اور مٹہ کے کمانڈر شمشیر کے بھائی سرتاج شامل ہیں۔

فوجی ترجمان نے کہا کہ ان طالبان رہنماؤں کی گرفتاری کے بارے میں اس لیے زیادہ تفصیلات فراہم نہیں کی جا رہی ہیں کیونکہ ان کی نشاندہی پر علاقے میں حساس نوعیت کی مزید کاروائیاں بھی ہو رہی ہیں۔

ادھر پاکستان کے ایک انگریزی اخبار ’دی نیوز‘ نے ان طالبان رہنماؤں کی گرفتاری کے حوالے سے لکھا ہے کہ ان رہنماؤں کو مذاکرات کے دوران حراست میں لیا گیا ہے۔ سلمان نامی ایک شخص نے جو مسلم خان کی غیر حاضری میں خود کوسوات طالبان کا نیا ترجمان ظاہر کرتے ہیں، اخبار کو بتایا ہے امریکہ میں مقیم سوات کے باشندے کمال خان کی ضمانت پر طالبان فوجی حکام سے بات چیت کرنے پر راضی ہوئے تھے مگر اب ان کا طالبان کی پانچ رکنی مذاکرتی ٹیم سے کسی قسم کا کوئی رابطہ نہیں ہو رہا ہے۔

تاہم میجر جنرل اطہر عباس کا کہنا ہے کہ ’یہ بات بالکل غلط ہے۔ دہشت گردوں کیساتھ کسی قسم کے مذاکرات نہیں ہورہے ہیں۔ ان طالبان رہنماؤں کو ایک فوجی کاروائی کے دوران ہی گرفتار کیا گیا ہے‘۔ انہوں نے ان رہنماؤں کی گرفتاری کو طالبان کے لیے بڑا دھچکا قرار دیا۔

یاد رہے کہ حاجی مسلم خان گزشتہ تقریباً ڈھائی سال سے سوات طالبان کی ترجمانی کا فریضہ سر انجام دیتے رہے ہیں جبکہ محمود خان کو اس وقت شہرت ملی جب طالبان نے پچھلے سال سولہ فروری کو صوبہ سرحد کی حکومت کیساتھ امن معاہدہ کیا۔ محمود خان اس پورے عمل میں پیش پیش رہے تھے۔ حکومت نے ان دونوں کی سر کی قیمت ایک ایک کروڑ روپے مقرر کی تھی۔

سوات سے یہ اطلاعات بھی ملی ہیں کہ حاجی آباد کی علاقے میں فوج کی بڑے پیمانے پر نقل و حرکت نظر آئی ہے جہاں پر مقامی لوگوں کے مطابق گزشتہ روز طالبان ایک گروپ کی صورت میں نظر آئے تھے۔ غیر مصدقہ اطلاعات کے مطابق فوج کو طالبان کے اس گروپ میں کسی اہم طالب رہنماء کی موجود گی کا شک ہے

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Taliban losing some ground in Pakistan: All this has been achieved because of clarity of thinking in Pakistan, the government and the people both.

NWFP’s security is Pakistan’s security

The Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, inaugurating a rehabilitation centre for captive children trained as suicide-bombers by the Taliban, has said that the army has broken the back of the Taliban rebellion; but that the army will not leave the affected areas until the last vestige of the militants is removed. A news report parallel to his statement says there is a 62 percent decrease in terrorist attacks in the country after the success of the military operation in Malakand and FATA.

It is clear that the security of the entire country now depends on the state of war against terrorism in the above region. But more significantly, it is the security of the NWFP that has improved, meaning that one entire province of the country is in the process of regaining its governance. One can also note here the security linkage of the NWFP with the tribal areas — Malakand and FATA. Only Malakand is one-fourth of the area of the province with 3 million people inhabiting it.

What has been achieved is a significant pacification of a terrain that was held hostage by the Taliban and their mercenary warlords. The remnants of terror are still there and will have to be gotten rid of completely; but the interim period too provides a lot of satisfaction to those who want the NWFP to get its fair share from the central divisible pool and implement its development projects without being assailed by the Taliban. The truth that peace in the NWFP depends on peace in the tribal areas has now dawned on everyone; it is also clear that peace in the NWFP means peace in the rest of Pakistan.

The army operation has killed hundreds of terrorists. The Taliban are divided and their decision-making process is affected by a simmering ongoing contest for leadership. The effect on the NWFP has been very pronounced; but it is also recognised now that without sorting out the Khyber Agency of FATA, Peshawar can hardly be at rest. The army is getting to grips with the problem of Lashkar-e-Islam in Khyber run by a local warlord that easily trespasses into parts of Peshawar and kills people there. Khyber is also penetrated by the Taliban because of their strategy of attacking the NATO supply route.

All this has been achieved because of clarity of thinking in Pakistan, the government and the people both. The old policy of abstaining from designating the enemy clearly and interpreting the activity of the warlords correctly led to the consolidation of the illegal writ of the warlords. No one can measure the extent of damage done to the public mind in this period. The child suicide-bomber who says he will not hesitate to kill his parents is just one manifestation of it. There is a general lack of trust in the ability of the state to assert itself, which means that the public mind is free to opt for the worldview of those who control their lives with guns.

The army has its priorities right, but does the rest of the nation? One has to admit that the war against terror is not the uppermost thought among the politicians and some professional sections of civil society. While there is no opposition as such to the military operations, there seems to be a consensus that putting General Pervez Musharraf (retd) on trial for treason is more urgent. There is a tendency in favour of what is called “dittoism”, i.e., everyone thinking the same thought without a healthy tendency to break the uniformity of thought.

The politicians are busy in their infighting, barely hiding their instinct of revenging themselves upon each other. People with no expertise in economics are railing against shortages caused by the demand-push of Ramazan and want the government’s head as trophy, forcing Prime Minister Gilani to say he is not going anywhere. Few realise in this environment that if the war against terror doesn’t go well, all these priorities will be overthrown and the warlords will make their comeback, this time not on the peripheries, but right in the centre called Islamabad where they can still attack a federal minister at will. (Daily Times)

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