For those who doubt Pakistan's resolve..Reuters adds: Pakistani paramilitary troops blew up homes of tribesmen they suspected of harbouring six al Qaeda suspects on Wednesday and said they would continue until the men were handed over, officials said.
Local government officials said units from a force of 1,800 paramilitary troops that had surrounded the village of Janikheil since Monday began infiltrating it late on Tuesday. They detained four locals there on Wednesday, including Maulala Shamsul Haq, a religious scholar thought to have given refuge to the six wanted men, described by officials as "Arabs". "The troops have a list of villagers who may be hiding the suspects," one of the officials said. "These houses will be raided and searched one by one and demolished."
Villager Imran Khan Wazir told Reuters by telephone the soldiers had marked six houses with red paint and told the families to leave them as they would blow them up.The official said there had been no resistance and no casualties, but 700 armed tribesmen had taken up positions in nearby hills and the threat of a clash was looming. "They have not fired at the troops so far," he said.
Tribal elder Malik Dil Nawaz told Reuters earlier there were no foreigners or al-Qaeda members in the village. He said six men the authorities were looking for were all local people. Officials said the men they were searching for were "Arabs".
Political Authorities of North Waziristan on Wednesday launched an operation against the Janikhel sub-tribe of Wazirs in Bannu, arresting two religious leaders, blocking all roads and pounding the village with heavy guns to force the tribesmen to surrender the wanted persons.
Eyewitnesses told The News from Janikhel village that hundreds of personnel of the law-enforcement agencies launched the operation and took positions on all main entries and exits to the village, housed by about 300 families.
"The operation has been launched, but no details about the arrests have been communicated to us so far," an officer at the Political Agent's office in Miramshah informed. He said that information to the press would be released by PA North Waziristan Ghulam Farooq, who, the officer said, was in Janikhel to supervise the operation.
However, residents of the village informed that two persons had been arrested from the village, including Aziz-ul-Haq, brother of Maulvi Shams-ul-Haq and his cousin, Maulavi Nizamuddin while the operation was continuing.
Maulavi Shams-ul-Haq is wanted by the authorities along with seven other tribesmen, who were forcibly released by the tribesmen from the headquarters of the Frontier Constabulary's local unit a couple of days back. However, Shams-ul-Haq was not among the arrested persons whose forced released was secured by the armed tribal lashkar.
The government has asked the tribesmen to surrender the wanted persons while the Janikhel Wazirs sought assurances from the authorities against the surrender of the local Taliban that they would not be handed over to the US forces for interrogations.
"The brother and cousin of Maulavi Shams-ul-Haq have been taken because the Maulavi refused to appear before the authorities fearing arrest and hand over to the US forces," said Muhammad Iqbal of Malikhel village. Another tribal elder on condition of anonymity informed that people had started evacuating their families and women and children were shifted to Bannu and other safer places with much difficulty, because the escape routes had been sealed by the authorities. "I was not allowed to shift my family, mainly women and children to Bannu. I was asked to deposit my gun to allow the women and children leave the area, which I refused," said the tribal.
"So far the unpopulated area of the village is being targeted with cannons, which the authorities use as a tactic to pressurise us. Two of our clansmen have been arrested," said an elder woman from the village, who asked not to be named. People from the village said that so far no resistance had been shown by the tribemen and the people were under tremendous pressure from the authorities to surrender the wanted persons.
However, no word about the success of negotiations between the tribal Jirga and the political authorities could be obtained from either side till filing of the report. Meanwhile, like part of the tribal system of governance under the infamous Frontier Crimes Regulations, Bannu police took action on the request of the political authorities of North Waziristan and sealed shops, hotels and other businesses of Janikhel tribesmen in Bannu city.
The act, the authorities believe would force the tribesmen agree to the terms and conditions of the government regarding the surrender of the wanted persons. Bannu police also arrested Sher Nawab and Janan belonging to the Janikhel sub-tribe and handed him over to the political authorities. |
