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FM AMCONSUL PESHAWAR
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RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4623

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 PESHAWAR 000431 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER MOPS PGOV PK
SUBJECT: FATA AND NWFP: BI-WEEKLY INCIDENTS OF TALIBANIZATION: AUGUST 
1-15 
 
REF: A) PESHAWAR 428, B) PESHAWAR 422 
 
Introduction: 
------------- 
 
¶1. (C) Increased violence and intense fighting in Swat, Kurram 
and Bajaur characterized the first two weeks of August. 
Operations in Swat continue although the military's primary 
focus appears to have shifted to Bajaur.  The government 
aggressively attacked militants in Bajaur, where air bombardment 
of militant positions continues.  There are conflicting reports 
of the number of militants killed, ranging from 215 to 500. 
There also unconfirmed reports that the leader of Tehrik-i 
Taliban in Bajaur, Faqir Mohammad, was killed in the bombing 
campaign 
 
¶2. (C) Near daily Sunni-Shi'a violence in Kurram agency has 
reportedly claimed between 139 to 200 lives.  There is steady 
anecdotal reporting of critical shortages of food and medicine, 
due to longstanding taliban control of the primary road access 
from the Northwest Frontier Province into Kurram and the Shi'a 
capital of Parachinar. 
 
¶3. (C) Militant attacks in the Peshawar area, including a 
suicide attack at a hospital; a remote-controlled roadside bomb 
that killed 11 Air Force personnel and several civilians; five 
days of open fighting between criminal/militant gangs and police 
in a southern suburb; and the bombing of an electricity tower 
disrupting the power supply to the city, have kept parts of the 
city on edge.  The attack on the electricity tower angered local 
residents who are already weary of electricity load-shedding 
that can last up to 19 hours per day in some areas. 
 
¶4. (C) Anxious about the influx of foreign and local militants 
from the military operations in neighboring Bajaur, a jirga in 
lower Dir formed a Lashkar to repel the militants while a jirga 
in upper Dir said they would take up arms if the militants 
entered their area. A Lashkar of 200 men recently formed in 
Buner killed six militants on August 15 in retaliation against 
the killing of policemen the previous week. 
 
Swat: Military Operations Grind On 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The following is a timeline of significant events in Swat 
valley according to local press and post contacts through August 
15: 
 
August 1:  Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan demanded that the Swat 
operation end or suicide attacks would be launched throughout 
the country. 
 
August 5:  Militants killed a police inspector and four 
policemen, burned a girls' primary school, middle school and 
high school. 
 
August 10: Militants killed two, including a forest officer, 
blew up a bridge, and abducted dozens of villagers. 
 
August 11: Militants kidnapped about 100 villagers and demanded 
a ransom for their release. 
 
August 12: Security forces destroyed the homes of two militant 
commanders and arrested a key militant.  Five militants and six 
civilians were killed in the fighting.  Militants destroyed two 
bridges and a girls' school. 
 
August 13-15: Militants continued to blow up bridges 15 km north 
of Mingora and destroyed three more girls' schools. 
 
NWFP 
---- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The following incidents have occurred in the 
Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) and settled areas 
of the NWFP: 
 
 
PESHAWAR 00000431  002 OF 005 
 
 
August 2, Lower Dir:  Militants fired more than a half-dozen 
rockets at district headquarters from a nearby hilltop. 
 
August 5, Mardan: TTP reportedly accepted responsibility for 
firing up to 10 rockets at a security post in retaliation for 
the government's attacks in Swat, injuring a soldier and a 
civilian.  Militants also blew up four CD shops. 
 
August 5, Buner: Militants opened fire at a security post, 
killing a policeman and injuring another. 
 
August 5-10, Peshawar:  Days of clashes between militants and 
police began 30 km south of the city when militants killed two 
policemen.  The police later arrested five militants and a local 
Nazim for patronizing area criminal gangs.  When their comrades 
demanded the militants be released, the police refused and 
launched a flag-march to establish a security presence in the 
area.  Militants then ambushed the flag-march.  Police called-in 
the Army to back them up.  Militants responded to the Army 
attacks with heavy weapons, including RPG-7 shoulder-launched 
rockets, medium and heavy caliber machine guns, and small arms 
fire for three consecutive nights, blowing up a police 
checkpost.  More than 14 militants were later arrested.  At 
least four civilians were killed, six injured, and hundreds of 
families forced to move from the area. 
 
August 7-15, Peshawar: One of the 314 towers supplying 
electricity to 70% of Peshawar and to 2.3 million homes in the 
NWFP was blown up.  Consulate sources attributed the attack to a 
growing periphery of criminal gangs surrounding taliban 
hard-corps because both share a common purpose in undermining 
the government.  Power outages lasting for up to 19 hours a day 
caused residents of Peshawar to spend sleepless nights without 
fans, lights, or water.  Multiple consulate sources stated that 
this kind of terrorism was rapidly turning the public against 
the militants, whether or not they were, strictly-speaking, 
"Taliban." 
 
August 8, Buner: Tehrik-i-Taliban claimed responsibility for 
killing eight policemen in retaliation for government attacks in 
Swat.  30 militants riding in several vehicles reportedly 
pulled-up to a police post, three of them entered the station 
dressed in burqas stating they wanted to make a report.  The 
militants reportedly took the policemen's weapons, tied their 
hands, stood them in line, and executed them. 
 
August 8, Buner: Eight police were killed when militants 
attacked a police checkpost. 
 
August 9, Peshawar: Militants fired rockets into a neighborhood, 
killing two and injuring six. 
 
August 9, Hangu: Militants killed an alleged flour smuggler. 
 
August 9, Kohat: Consulate sources in Kohat stated that the 
government is not in control of the area and the residents live 
in constant fear.  Militants reportedly killed three men in 
Darra Adamkhel. 
 
August 9, Hangu: Militants dumped the body of a recently 
kidnapped banker. 
 
August 10, Kohat: Militants fired three rockets and damaged a 
Kohat Airbase, near Darra Adamkhel. 
 
August 10, Mardan: Militants blew up two CD shops. 
 
August 10, Kohat:  Militants reportedly distributed pamphlets in 
Darra Adamkhel warning immoral people to repent.  The pamphlets 
stated that until security forces were withdrawn from the area, 
no elder would go to the political office and the Khasadar Force 
would not be allowed to perform its policing duties. 
 
August 11, Peshawar: One person was killed and two others were 
injured when a time-bomb went off in a 20-year-old boy's hands 
in front of a private hospital, after security guards stopped 
 
PESHAWAR 00000431  003 OF 005 
 
 
him. 
 
August 12, Buner: Militants blew up a CD shop near a bus station. 
 
August 12, Peshawar: 13 people, including eleven Pakistan Air 
Force (PAF) airmen were killed and 18 injured 13 when a 
remote-controlled roadside bomb with 40 kg of explosives 
targeted a PAF vehicle.  Militants also blew up an abandoned 
police post.  The new Amir of Tehrik Taliban, Hafiz Gul Bahadar, 
made his first statement demanding an immediate halt to the 
military operation in Bajaur.  Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar 
declared "open war." 
 
FATA 
---- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The following is a roundup of incidents of 
Talibanization in the FATA's tribal agencies and frontier 
regions: 
 
August 1-15, Bajaur:  Intense fighting escalated after several 
dozen militants besieged a strategic post and then ambushed the 
security forces sent in to reinforce them.  Air strikes then 
attacked suspected militant positions throughout the agency. 
Reports estimate 100,000 to 300,000 residents have fled to 
neighboring districts and Peshawar, and there are reports that 
militants forced some locals to stay behind as "human shields." 
Consulate contacts state that the Bajaur operation is the most 
aggressive operation the Pakistani security forces have launched 
to date.  Current estimates of militant casualties are between 
215 and 500. Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Saeed al-Masri was 
reportedly killed during one of the air strikes, as was the 
leader of the TTP in Bajaur, Faqir Mohammad.  There has been no 
confirmation of these claims.  (Note: See Peshawar 428. End 
Note.) 
 
August 1, Dargai:  Militants blew up an NGO office for rural 
support programs. 
 
August 3-15, Kurram: Sectarian clashes broke out on August 3 and 
have reportedly killed 139 to 200.  Parachinar has been cut off 
from Pakistan for 10 months, causing serious shortages of food 
and medicine.  (Note: Fighting between Shi'as and Sunnis has 
been recurrent since 1943.  There were serious outbreaks of 
violence in spring 2007 and fall 2007.) 
 
August 3, Khyber: Consulate contacts report that militants 
warned the people of Zingara village not to work with American 
projects and kidnapped two people. 
 
August 4, South Waziristan:  A new militant group calling itself 
"Taliban Ittehad" announced that it had retaliated against a 
U.S. air-strike by attacking several army bunkers and an army 
base at Wana, wounding one soldier. 
 
August 5, Bajaur:  Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) deputy Maulana Faqir 
Mohammad and spokesman Maulvi Omar threatened to launch its 
cadre of suicide bombers in Pakistan's major cities if the 
government did not stop its attacks in Swat.  At the same press 
conference, the TTP also threatened Muttahida Quami Movement 
(MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and demanded that he "immediately end 
his kingdom in Karachi," saying that the Taliban could take 
control of Karachi anytime. 
 
August 6, Khyber: Consulate contacts report that militants 
visited a development project in Jamrud to "monitor" the 
activity there. 
 
August 7, Khyber: Militants attacked trucks parked at the 
Torkham border carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, 
damaging 17 containers and injuring four. 
 
August 9, Khyber: The struggle for control of Khyber Agency 
between two militant groups continued as Lashkar-i-Islam and 
Ansar-ul Islam resumed clashes in Tirah valley after an almost 
two week lull, killing five and injuring eight. 
 
PESHAWAR 00000431  004 OF 005 
 
 
 
August 9, Khyber: Mangal Bagh's ex-driver was found beheaded 
with a note accusing him of being a "US spy." 
 
August 10, Khyber:  Militants reportedly warned the 
approximately 100 gas station owners in FATA not to allow 
subsidized fuel to be smuggled into Afghanistan or to sell fuel 
supplied by multinational oil companies, demanding that they 
sell only oil supplied by Pakistan State Oil (PSO).  Militants 
reportedly believe that the fuel is used by NATO jets to kill 
Pakistanis. 
 
August 12, Khyber: Consulate contacts report that militants are 
embedded along the roads leading into Landikotal and have 
established "effective control" over the area. 
 
August 11, Mohmand: Militants blew up a checkpost vacated by 
paramilitary troops a few days earlier, blew up a government 
office, and kidnapped two. 
 
August 11, South Waziristan: Militants killed a tribal elder who 
supported the government.  Tribesmen blocked a key road leading 
out of Waziristan to protest the killing. 
 
Government Response 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) This is a summary of government responses to "creeping 
Talibanization" according to press and consulate contacts: 
 
August 1, Kurram:  Frontier Corps stopped militants from 
entering Pakistan from Afghanistan and seized a cache of arms, 
ammunition and explosives. 
 
August 4, Lower Dir:  The Lower Dir District Counsel condemned 
the attack on a nearby Bajaur Levies post and demanded the NWFP 
government assign a new DCO. 
 
August 5, Buner: The district government convened a peace jirga, 
making invitations over loudspeakers in district mosques. 
 
August 5, Kohat: The first group of 50 policemen, of 450, 
arrived at the headquarters of IX division of the Pakistan Army, 
Kohat, for the first phase of a five-week commando course to 
combat terrorism in the region. 
 
August 5-10, Peshawar:  For the first time, military helicopters 
attacked militants inside the district. 
 
August 10, Malakand: Security forces arrested four suspected 
militants during a search operation near Batkhela. 
 
August 10, Peshawar: All parties of the NWFP ruling coalition 
announced they would tackle insurgency in the tribal areas by 
force, if necessary, to establish the writ of the government. 
 
August 11, Kurram:  Tribal elders requested that the government 
destroy madrassas involved in militant training and called for 
arresting all those involved in subversive activities. 
 
August 13, Peshawar: The government offered amnesty to local 
militants in the Adezai village on the assurance of good conduct 
and giving up armed struggle. 
 
August 13, Hangu: Paramilitary forces arrested seven militants 
and seized heavy arms. 
 
August 13, Buner: Police traced a vehicle used in an attack 
several days earlier back to a militant hideout.  About 35 
militants shot at a pursuing helicopter and ran away into the 
hills. 
 
August 13, South Waziristan: Multiple reports stated that a US 
missile launched from a drone killed at least 12 militants 30 km 
from Wana. 
 
 
PESHAWAR 00000431  005 OF 005 
 
 
Grass Roots Efforts to Halt Talibanization 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) The following events are examples of activities taken 
by local communities to halt the spread of Talibanization: 
 
August 1, Hangu:  A grand jirga began negotiating a peace deal 
between militants and the provincial government, including the 
release of captives. 
 
August 1, Lower Dir:  A grand peace jirga vowed to crush those 
propagating talibanization and hatred in their district. 
 
August 5, South Waziristan:  Tribal elders established a 
"Lashkar" after ordering three tribesmen be fined and that their 
homes be destroyed for sheltering "anti-Wazir" elements, meaning 
Uzbeks. 
 
August 5, Swat:  A member of the Central General Council of the 
ANP said that militants in Swat were "enemies of Islam," because 
they were destroying schools, hospitals, bridges, roads and 
government properties, along with kidnapping and killing the 
innocent. 
 
August 6, South Waziristan: A local association demanded that 
the NWFP government move the site of a planned Cadet College, 36 
km from Wana, to a more secure location. 
 
August 8, Peshawar: Elders of the Ashokhel tribe have demanded 
the safe recovery of 25 FC personnel held hostage by militants 
in Swat valley. 
 
August 9, Swat:  Local people reportedly opened fire on 
militants passing through the Malam Jaba area, previously the 
only ski resort in Pakistan, until militants destroyed it last 
month. 
 
August 10, Buner:  A jirga announced they would ban the entry of 
Taliban or security forces. 
 
August 13, Buner: Locals killed six militants. 
 
August 13, Khyber: Taliban leader Haji Namdar was killed at a 
mosque while praying. 
 
August 15, Buner: A Lashkar of 200 men killed six militants in 
retaliation against the killing of policemen the previous week. 
TRACY