Dawn – Blast near Ashura procession in DI Khan kills five

Zahir Shah Sherazi

Dera Ismail Khan, 25 November 2012. A bomb detonated near a Muharram procession in Commissionary Bazaar in Dera Ismail Khan’s Choglia area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Sunday, killing five people and injuring at least 70 others.

Tehrik-i-Taliban spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan while talking to Dawn.com’s correspondent claimed that the militant organisation was behind the attack, adding that it was a suicide bomber who struck the procession.

Ehsan added that no matter what steps the federal interior minister would take with regards to security arrangements, the Taliban would succeed in hitting their targets.

However, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain while talking to Dawn.com’s correspondent confirmed that five people were killed and about 70 were injured in the Dera Ismail Khan blast.

He further said that the injured also included women, children and security personnel, adding “the bomb was planted inside a closed cycle workshop near a bakery in Commissonery Bazaar near Mohallah Qasaban.”

Mian Iftikhar also said that security was beefed up after the 9th Muharram explosion in Dera Ismail Khan and the road, where the latest blast took place, was also scanned properly but the perpetrators  had planned the attack in advance.

Moreover, he said that those found responsible of negligence would be dealt with according to the law.

While answering a query about the nature of the blast he said that only the Bomb Disposal Squad’s (BDS) report could ascertain the nature of the explosion and it was yet to be received.

Rescue and emergency teams reached the site of explosion and shifted the injured to the District Headquarters hospital, where an emergency was imposed.

The condition of several wounded was reported as critical, according to hospital sources.

The injured included security personnel and mourners taking part in the procession.

The remotely-detonated bomb was fitted near a closed shop and a cylinder was recovered near the site of explosion, according to rescue sources.

Media personnel were barred from visiting the site of explosion and security personnel cordoned off the area as investigations into the blast went underway.

Earlier, a blast on Saturday killed eight people near a Shia procession in the same city, for which the banned outfit Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility.

Pakistan’s federal interior ministry had issued strict instructions for suspension of  mobile phone service in major cities during Ashura to prevent such bombings, which often use cellphones as detonators.

http://dawn.com/2012/11/25/blast-heard-in-di-khan/

BBC News – Imran Khan’s Pakistan drone march stops at tribal belt

Sunday, 7 October 2012. A thousands-strong motorcade rally against US drone strikes in Pakistan led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has been stopped from entering restive tribal regions.

After negotiations near the frontier, Mr Khan turned back and decided to hold a rally in the nearby town of Tank.

But he said he still intended to reached his intended final destination, in South Waziristan.

The authorities have barred him from the region, citing security concerns.

Mr Khan wants to visit the area where drone attacks have long targeted militants, but the militants dismiss the former cricket star as a tool of the West.

He set off with a few hundred people from the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday, gathering support along the way.

Footage broadcast on Pakistani TV on Saturday showed people showering rose petals on the motorcade of some 150 vehicles.

Like many Pakistanis, he argues that attacks from unmanned aircraft kill large numbers of civilians and foster support for militants.

US officials insist strikes by the unmanned aircraft rarely claim civilian casualties and are an effective weapon against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

About 80 Western peace activists are in the motorcade.

‘Here for peace’

The “march” left the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday morning.

Mr Khan had planned to travel the final 120km (70 miles) on from Dera Ismail Khan to Kotkai in South Waziristan on Sunday.

But the motorcade was stopped several miles from the frontier by security forces.

Initial reports said the army had been prepared to allow them through, but they eventually turned back to Tank, the nearest major town.

Before his convoy left Dera Ismail Khan, he told supporters they had already achieved their aim.

“The whole world has heard your voice,” he said.

“A majority of people in the world as well as international newspapers have condemned the drone attacks.

“The message that our government and our rulers could not get to the world, has now been spread worldwide.”

Kifayetullah, the commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan who uses one name, told AFP news agency it was “out of the question” that the protesters would enter Waziristan.

“Security will be provided to the rally but roads beyond Dera Ismail Khan will be blocked because there are threats of IED, sniper and bomb attacks,” he said.

“We have to protect the lives of everyone.”

Earlier, the Taliban distributed leaflets in Dera Ismail Khan saying they would “welcome” the motorcade with bombs.

Before the march, Mr Khan told the BBC that he would authorise the shooting down of US drones over his country if he became its head of government because they violated Pakistan’s sovereignty.

The government of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says drone strikes are a violation of its sovereignty, but it has done nothing to stop them and many Pakistanis believe this amounts to tacit consent.

US President Barack Obama has insisted that the drone strategy is “kept on a very tight leash” and that without the attacks, the US would have had to resort to “more intrusive military action”.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19861020

Dawn – PTI convoy reaches D I Khan; leaves for Waziristan Sunday morning

Islamabad. A convoy of hundreds of vehicles carrying over 1,000 people who were participating in Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf’s (PTI) “peace march” to South Waziristan reached the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa town of Dera Ismail Khan late Saturday.

When the convoy reached the town, which lies on the border of the province with the tribal region of South Waziristan, several hundred locals gathered to cheer on the cricketer-turned-politician, DawnNews reported.

Following an overnight stay in D. I. Khan, the marchers will leave for the tribal region Sunday morning.

The convoy, which departed from Rawalpindi and Islamabad under Khan’s leadership, stopped at Mianwali for under an hour, where the PTI chief held a small address.

“PTI is not scared of anyone. The government tried to make this march unsuccessful but we are determined to bring peace to the country,” Khan said while addressing the convoy in Mianwali.

Khan reiterated his party’s stance against drone attacks, saying that drones kill the innocent and that he stands with the people of Waziristan.

“The people of the tribal regions have been facing difficulties for the last eight years,” he said.

Terming the march a “trailer for change,” Khan vowed to bring peace to the country.

Crowds lined the road to greet Khan, and scrums of media and well-wishers thronged his 4X4 as the convoy of more than 100 vehicles embarked on the 440-kilometre drive from Islamabad to South Waziristan.

But as Saturday wore on, it appeared increasingly unlikely the protesters would be allowed to reach their destination, considered a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold, and often called the most dangerous place on earth.

The government says the Taliban plan to attack the rally, authorities told AFP it was not safe for Khan to enter the semi-autonomous tribal belt and television broadcast footage of shipping containers closing the road into South Waziristan.

“I condemn the hypocrisy of the government, who tried their best to make this march fail,” Khan told around 5,000 supporters at a brief halt.

“They are saying that Taliban have sent nine suicide attackers. If (President Asif Ali) Zardari sends even a 100 suicide attackers this march will not stop,” added Khan.

Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who defected from the main ruling party to PTI this year, insisted the march would not be a failure if the authorities stopped it from reaching Waziristan.

“The point is it’s symbolic,” he said.

“The government is saying we are against drones. The people are saying they are against drones. What are they afraid of? Why are they blocking us?”

Khan is accompanied by around 30 US campaigners from the group Code Pink and the British head of legal lobby organisation Reprieve, Clive Stafford Smith.

To read the full article :

http://dawn.com/2012/10/06/people-of-south-waziristan-to-provide-security-to-peace-rally-imran/

Dawn – Militants attack Bannu jail, 400 inmates escape

Dera Ismail Khan. Reuters, 15 April 2012. Nearly 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in northwest Pakistan early on Sunday after it was attacked by militants armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades, a senior police official said.

Some of those who fled the jail in the town of Bannu, near Pahstun tribal areas close to the Afghan border, were militants, an intelligence official said.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, which has close links to al Qaeda, said its fighters mounted the assault, which triggered clashes.

Several people were wounded.

“We have freed hundreds of our comrades in Bannu in this attack. Several of our people have reached their destinations, others are on their way,” said a Taliban spokesman.

The claim could not be immediately verified.

If the Taliban freed the prisoners, it could deal a psychological blow to Pakistani security forces, who say they have made gains against militants through a series of attacks on their strongholds.

Police and intelligence officials said only some of the prisoners who escaped were militants.

“Dozens of militants attacked Bannu’s central jail in the early hours of the morning, and over 300 prisoners have escaped,” senior police official Mir Sahib Jan told Reuters.

“There was intense gunfire, and rocket-propelled grenades were also used.”

Paramilitary troops and security forces surrounded Bannu Central Jail. Of a total 944 prisoners in the jail, 384 escaped, said another police official.

One of the prisoners who escaped from jail was on death row for involvement in an assassination attempt on former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a police official said.

“There was an inmate named Adnan Rasheed, who was a dangerous prisoner. He was a mastermind in (one of the attacks) on Musharraf. These people came for him and took another 383 people too,” said the official.

Militants apparently targeted six jail blocks in the attack, he said.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, is fighting to topple the US-backed Islamabad government.

Major suicide bombings have eased in recent months, suggesting either security crackdowns have weakened the group, or it has changed tactics.

http://dawn.com/2012/04/15/militants-attack-bannu-jail-400-inmates-escape/