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RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4654

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 13 PESHAWAR 000449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  9/16/2018 
TAGS: PTER MOPS PGOV PK
SUBJECT: FATA AND NWFP: BI-WEEKLY INCIDENTS OF TALIBANIZATION: AUGUST 
16-31 
 
REF: PESHAWAR 435 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne M. Tracy, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate 
Peshawar, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (a), (b), (d) 
Introduction: 
------------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Aggressive military operations in Bajaur and Swat 
continued into the start of Ramadan.  Pakistani military sources 
estimate that 560 Pakistani and foreign fighters were killed in 
the Bajaur operation, which started on August 7.  Local taliban 
denied that the Bajaur-based Tehrik-i Taliban deputy leader 
Faqir Muhammad, was among them, and according to local press, he 
surfaced for a public rally in early September.  Violence was 
high throughout the province and FATA as the militants reacted 
to the mounting pressure of military operations.  In Swat, 
militants began targeting local political leaders and their 
families, particularly those from the Awami National Party 
(ANP), killing nine and destroying their property.  A suicide 
bombing at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan claimed 32 lives, and 
local taliban said that such attacks would continue if the 
Bajaur and Swat operations were not terminated.  A U.S. 
Consulate vehicle was attacked in what appeared to be an 
attempted kidnapping. 
 
¶2.  (C) Internally displaced persons (IDPs) remained a 
significant problem, as somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 
people left Bajaur.  Some IDPs returned to the agency by the end 
of the reporting period.  Conditions in the camps were not good 
(reports of inadequate sanitation, disease, and overcrowding), 
and many IDPS chose to stay with families.  Locals also began 
fleeing violence in Swat, Kurram and Darra Adam Khel. 
 
¶3.  (C) Inter-tribal violence escalated in Kurram, claiming 400 
lives in the last two weeks of August amid reports that the 
Shi'a and Sunni tribes were supported by outside elements.  The 
Kurram Militia of the Frontier Corps was given orders to launch 
a limited operation in the agency and began shelling both tribes 
without effect.  In Khyber Agency, Mangal Bagh arrived in Landi 
Kotal with a large militant contingent, only to be repelled 
within days. 
 
¶4.  (C) In settled areas and FATA, grassroots movements to repel 
the militants have sprouted up during the last two weeks of 
August.  Local tribesmen established armed lashkars (volunteer 
militias) in Bajaur and Kurram, adding to those recently created 
in Lower Dir, Buner, and Lakki Marwat.  The Bajaur lashkars have 
reportedly made headway against local taliban in some areas. 
Peace committees in Mardan, Upper Dir, Badhaber, Nowshera and 
Mattani are doing joint night patrols with police or have 
declared they will take up arms should the need arise.  While 
the lashkars and peace committees appear to have had some 
apparent initial successes in driving out militants, the ability 
of these local ad hoc security forces to hold ground is unclear. 
 
 
Swat: Operation Rah-e-Haq-II Remains in Full Swing 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5.  (C) Clashes between militants and security forces in Swat 
continued, with additional heavy fighting in Bajaur.  Local 
taliban launched a campaign of killing local pro-government 
tribesmen and political leaders, particularly from the Awami 
National Party (ANP), charging that the military operations were 
being carried out at the behest of the ANP-led provincial 
government.  They also continued to attack police posts and burn 
girls' schools, bringing the total number of girls' schools 
destroyed over the past ten months to nearly 130, nine of which 
during the last half of August.  The security forces appeared to 
become more strategic in their targeting, hitting ammunition 
dumps, training camps and a communications center.  According to 
press reports, locals have begun fleeing the area due to 
continuing civilian casualties and property destruction.  The 
following is a timeline of significant events according to local 
press and post contacts through August 31: 
 
August 16: Militants set fire to four girls' schools in Matta. 
Separate fighting damaged a link bridge in Basharray and a 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  002 OF 013 
 
 
chairlift in Kholija. 
 
August 17: Local taliban claimed they killed two security 
officials.  Separately they burned down a health center and a 
barber shop in Charbagh, as well as a girls' school in Matta. 
Security forces killed five, including two women, and damaged 
several houses. 
 
August 18: The local taliban killed a policeman at the Wenai 
checkpost in Matta, which was followed by heavy fighting between 
security forces and militants.  The local taliban killed a man 
in front of his son due to his opposition to their activities. 
 
August 20: Taliban claimed to kill three security officials in 
Matta.  Militants burnt two girls' schools in Matta. 
 
August 21: Taliban killed a pro-government tribal elder in 
Kabal, west of Mingora.  Militants killed Mohammad Amin in 
Kabal, a local ANP leader and former nazim, along with four of 
his associates, though the local taliban denied responsibility. 
The local taliban claimed to kill three security personnel at 
the Donial checkpost and blew up a portion of a bridge in 
Charbagh. 
 
August 22: Local taliban militants beheaded a man for spying in 
Kabal and set fire to a girl's school in Mingora.  Local taliban 
kidnapped a policeman at gunpoint and attacked a security check 
post in Kabal, injuring a security official. 
 
August 23: During one of the fiercest battles in the Swat 
operation, air attacks killed 40 militants in Kabal as they 
tried to ambush troops.  Included among the dead were allegedly 
a militant commander and Chechens, Uzbeks and Tajiks.  Security 
forces claimed they destroyed over 40 militant bunkers and a 
training camp. 
 
August 23: A suicide attack on a police station in Charbagh 
killed eleven, including three policemen, and destroyed nearby 
shops.  Four link bridges were destroyed in Kabal. 
 
August 24: In Kabal, assailants ambushed and killed a local ANP 
leader.  Security forces hit militant hideouts in Kabal, while 
militants killed four men ostensibly for spying and circulated a 
pamphlet listing a dozen people on their hit list. 
 
August 25: Approximately 150 local taliban stormed the residence 
of a member of the National Assembly from the ANP and killed 
three members of his family, a neighbor who belonged to the 
Frontier Constabulary and seven guards, claiming to seek 
vengeance for innocent civilians killed in Kabal. 
 
August 25: Militants attacked a checkpost in Matta, killing a 
member of the paramilitary forces, while a blast at a police 
post in Shahdara wounded two police officials and eight others. 
Militants killed two pro-government tribesmen near Shakardara. 
 
August 25: Two shops were destroyed, one of them owned by the 
brother of Muslim Khan, the spokesman for the Swat chapter of 
the local taliban. 
 
August 25: The security forces destroyed a bunker and a 
munitions dump, injuring several combatants. 
 
August 26: Militants killed a local ANP leader in Kabal, and the 
local taliban took responsibility for burning down six houses 
owned by the leader of the ANP in Matta and his three brothers. 
They also apparently killed a confidante of local taliban leader 
Maulana Fazlullah by accident. 
 
August 26: Militants destroyed a government girls' high school 
in Manglawar and set off a bomb at the Shah Dara police post, 
destroying the post and killing a boy. 
 
August 27: Militants blew up a market in the bus station of 
Matta owned by an ANP leader Afzal Khan Lala.  Gunmen opened 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  003 OF 013 
 
 
fire on a car carrying the grandson of a PML-Q leader, Haroon 
Rasheed, killing a passenger and injuring the grandson. 
 
August 27: Helicopter attacks hit militant hideouts in Shahibagh 
and Koza Bandai, killing several militants, injuring nine 
civilians and damaging a school.  The local taliban denied that 
their people were killed. 
 
August 28: The body of the brother-in-law of the district 
president of PPP-Sherpao was found in Kabal after being 
kidnapped several days before.  Militants killed four people 
they suspected of spying on them in Aligrama and Charbagh.  The 
local taliban asked the people to leave the troubled areas of 
Swat as reports came out that locals were fleeing the fighting. 
 
August 28: Militants killed the former district president of the 
Pukhtoonkhwa Milla Awami Party, who had been recently abducted. 
 
August 30: Militants dynamited a factory and bombed eight houses 
in Manglor, including those of a union council nazim and his two 
brothers. 
Separately the local taliban killed a police constable while 
claiming to hold 38 security officials hostage. 
 
August 31: The Swat taliban rejected the government's offer of a 
ceasefire for Ramadan. 
 
Bajaur: Displaced Families Begin to Return after Heavy Operation 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Despite the ceasefire declaration for Ramadan, the 
government sustained its initiative in the Bajaur campaign 
through the end of August, as it continued heavy bombardment of 
the agency.  The military estimated that 560 Pakistani and 
foreign militants were killed since August 7.  They said that 20 
members of the security forces were killed and thirty missing. 
Tribes in the Salarzai and Khar areas both raised armed lashkars 
to fight the militants, with estimates of the number of 
volunteers ranging from less than a thousand to more than ten 
thousand.  The humanitarian conditions for the 200,000-300,000 
IDPs were dire but by the end of August, some had left the camps 
or their hosts to return home.  Military officials estimate that 
approximately 250 militants have been killed since fighting 
began on August 7, though the Ministry of the Interior places 
the number at over 500.  Although the NWFP Governor said 
privately he was 99% sure that an air attack had killed Bajaur 
taliban leader Faqir Muhammad, local taliban spokesman Maulvi 
Omar denied the claim.  The following is a timeline of 
significant events according to local press and post contacts 
through August 31: 
 
August 16: Local taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar claimed that 
Faqir Muhammad, the leader of the Bajaur taliban, is still alive. 
 
August 17: Local taliban in Mamond erected a checkpoint to 
forcefully stop those fleeing from leaving the area in order to 
use them as human shields. 
 
August 19: Dozens of local taliban attacked a Frontier Corps 
post in Nawagai, 25 kilometers west of Khar.  Twenty-five 
militants, five security forces and eight civilians were killed 
in the ensuing clash.  Qari Ziaur Rahman, who claims to be an 
Afghan Taliban commander, said his fighters took seven Frontier 
Corps men hostage in the fighting.  Militants handed over the 
bodies of twelve soldiers killed in the local taliban ambush on 
Loyesam on August 7. 
 
August 23: Official sources said that the local taliban killed 
three security officials on charges of spying for the US 
coalition forces and local security forces.  Security forces 
shelled militant hideouts and hit a home, killing nine civilians. 
 
August 24: The local taliban beheaded a man whom they claimed 
was spying for US troops in Afghanistan, while separately they 
announced a unilateral ceasefire at the behest of a tribal 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  004 OF 013 
 
 
jirga.  The government immediately rejected the ceasefire and 
called for the local taliban to surrender instead. 
 
August 25: Militants blew up an abandoned levy post at Lagharay 
in Mamond, and separately shot dead two prominent elders and a 
well-respected cleric. 
 
August 28: Militants destroyed a government girls' school in 
Sidiqabad near Khar. 
 
August 30: The taliban abandoned their main camp and a captured 
school in Salarzai. 
 
Kurram: Escalation of Violence 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Daily violence escalated between the Shi'a Turi tribe 
and the Sunni Bangash tribe in both Upper and Lower Kurram amid 
reports that outside forces were fomenting the unrest.  The 
death toll since the most recent wave of violence broke out on 
August 3 neared 600, nearly as many as had been killed in the 
agency since April 2007.  Nearly four hundred were killed in the 
last two weeks of August alone.  According to local press, some 
Afghan National Army soldiers are supporting the Turi, but the 
Kurram Political Agent downplayed these reports.  Post contacts 
state that local taliban from North Waziristan are allegedly 
supporting the Bangash, in part to maintain control of one of 
their supply routes into Afghanistan.  Press reports indicate 
that both sides have missiles, mortars, machine guns and rockets 
and that violence has included heavy property damage.  A jirga 
sent from Hangu and Orakzai failed to broker a peace, while 
locals continued to flee the area for Kohat and Peshawar due to 
the unrest and shortages of food and medicine.  The following is 
a timeline of significant events according to local press and 
post contacts through August 31: 
 
August 17: Two local taliban commanders, Hazrat Ali and Maulana 
Akbar Din, were killed in Lower Kurram when local taliban 
militants attacked Turi positions.  A Bangash group claimed to 
capture seven Afghan National Army personnel, but the political 
administration denied the claim. 
 
August 18: The 72-hour deadline that Interior Minister Rehman 
Malik issued for a halt to fighting expired but the fighting 
continued.  Among the fifty killed was a militant leader, 
Kashmir Khan, and three women.  Militants set fire to six 
villages.  The leader of the Turi tribe, Haji Gulab Hussain, 
called for a ceasefire. 
 
August 21: A local tribe claimed to have captured two uniformed 
Afghan soldiers who allegedly said they were being paid to help 
the Turi tribesmen and that their government had sent thousands 
of troops over the border.  The soldiers further claimed that 
the Afghan president met with Turi leaders a few months ago. 
 
August 22: The jirga left after failed talks with elders from 
the Bangash tribe. 
 
August 23: The Bangash tribe claimed to have executed an Afghan 
National Army soldier in Kurram.  The political administration 
denied reports that Afghan soldiers had been arrested. 
 
August 24: The Kurram Militia of the Frontier Corps reportedly 
halted its limited operation after militants threatened to 
attack the Arawali Fort.  Press reports claim that 50,000 people 
have fled Parachinar and surrounding areas. 
 
August 26: The Shi'a Turi tribe announced a unilateral ceasefire 
but did not vacate their positions. 
 
August 31: In the heaviest day of fighting in this reporting 
period, the death toll reached 95 with 200 injured after the 
Bangash launched three suicide attacks against the Turi. 
 
NWFP 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  005 OF 013 
 
 
------ 
 
¶8.  (C) The following incidents have occurred in the 
Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) and settled areas 
of the NWFP: 
 
August 16, Peshawar: Unidentified gunmen killed prominent Shi'a 
leader, Mumtaz Ali Qizalbash, the Provincial General Secretary 
of Tahrik Nifaz-i-Fiqua Jafria in Hayatabad.  He had been 
receiving death threats due to his political and religious 
activities. 
 
August 18, Peshawar: Unidentified militants placed explosives in 
three music shops, damaging the buildings. 
 
August 18, Shabqadar: Unidentified people destroyed an internet 
cafi and public call office in Gulbahar but no casualties were 
reported. 
 
August 18, Shabqadar: A missile struck a police post, killing 
one policeman and injuring two more. 
 
August 18, Dera Ismail Khan: Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) took 
responsibility for a suicide bombing outside a hospital 
emergency room in Dera Ismail Khan that killed 32 and left 25 in 
critical condition.  Three policemen, including the deputy 
superintendent of police, were among the wounded while 
conducting crowd control at the hospital following the killing 
of a Shi'a leader earlier that day.  The local taliban warned of 
more such bombings if the military operations in Bajaur and Swat 
were not halted. 
 
August 19, Kohat: A police constable was injured and a militant 
killed in an encounter between suspected militants and a police 
patrol on Hangu Road. 
 
August 20, Peshawar: The bullet-riddled bodies of two women were 
found in a Peshawar suburb after being kidnapped a few days 
earlier in Charsadda district.  A note from Jaish-i-Islami 
accused them of being prostitutes and warned others engaged in 
immoral activities of a similar fate. 
 
August 21, Kohat: An army major in civilian clothes was gunned 
down near the officers' colony in Kohat while taking his 
children to school. 
 
August 22, Peshawar: Militants fired on a Korean camp erected to 
support the construction of the Lowari Tunnel but no injuries 
were reported. 
 
August 22, Peshawar: Militants fired five rockets on the 
Badhaber police station, killing a policeman, injuring two 
Frontier Constabulary personnel and damaging the station. 
 
August 22, Shangla: A remote controlled bomb went off next to a 
security force vehicle in Bisham, killing a security official 
and injuring fourteen. 
 
August 22, Bannu: The local taliban said it would harshly punish 
flour smugglers who transported flour into Afghanistan.  Prices 
of wheat flour immediately dropped over 10 percent. 
 
August 22, Mansehra: Heavily armed militants attacked a vehicle 
of security forces at Basham Maira with a hand grenade, killing 
two security personnel and injuring two more. 
 
August 22, Lower Dir: The local taliban freed the son of a 
policeman who had been kidnapped on August 11.  They had been 
demanding that the Swat police release a Talib and that the 
father resign his post, though the family was able to secure the 
release without capitulating to those demands. 
 
August 22, Hangu: At least 16 militants, including two Chechens, 
were killed when security forces opened fire on an 
explosives-laden vehicle near the Sur Pul security checkpoint. 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  006 OF 013 
 
 
According to reports, there were two suicide bombers in the 
vehicle. 
 
August 25, Badhaber: Unidentified militants blew up a girls' 
high school and distributed pamphlets asking people not to 
support the government or the Americans for the glory of Islam, 
otherwise they would be punished. 
 
August 25, Badhaber: Militants attacked the Ghazi Baba police 
post and the Badhaber police station after coming under fire. 
 
August 25, Mardan: Militants blew up a barber shop and three 
other shops, partially damaging a private girls' school and a 
pharmacy. 
 
August 25, Lower Dir: Unidentified gunmen killed Malik Mehmood 
Jan, a leader of TNSM, and his son near Maidan. 
 
August 25, Peshawar: Two government officials from the Social 
Welfare Department in Hangu and Jamrud were kidnapped from their 
vehicle in Hayatabad. 
 
August 26, Peshawar: Gunmen attacked a U.S.  Consulate vehicle. 
None of the three consulate employees in the vehicle were 
injured. 
 
August 26, Nowshera: Militants fired rockets on the Maraji 
police post and exchanged fire with the police for several 
hours, but there were no casualties. 
 
August 27, Shangla: The local taliban in the district have 
created losses of over $1 million in their attacks on government 
and private properties recently. 
 
August 28, Bannu: Seven police officers and three civilians were 
killed when a remote-controlled bomb exploded as a police van 
passed by carrying prisoners to court.  A bridge was also 
damaged. 
 
August 29, Kohat: Militants blew up three bridges on the Indus 
Highway, two in Akhorwal and a third in Zarghun Khel. 
 
August 29, Kalat: A bomb explosion near a bakery in Surab 
critically wounded five and destroyed several shops. 
 
August 30, Peshawar: Approximately 25 militants attacked the 
Shinwari Qilla security post south of Peshawar. 
August 30, Lower Dir: Two Chinese engineers were abducted by the 
local taliban allegedly near Khall.  This was reportedly the 
first kidnapping in this area of foreigners. 
 
August 30, Haripur: Assailants shot dead a local spiritual 
leader, Pir Syed Mushtaq Shah of Maira Toot. 
 
August 31, Mardan: The Kalpani bridge was badly damaged in two 
bomb blasts.  Four other bombs on Jalala bridge in Takht-i-Bhai, 
north of Mardan, were defused before exploding. 
 
FATA: 
----- 
 
¶9.  The following is a roundup of incidents of talibanization in 
FATA's tribal agencies and frontier regions: 
 
August 16, South Waziristan: Local taliban commander Baitullah 
Mehsud issued a decree that a parallel judicial and dispute 
arbitration system would be set up in South Waziristan. 
 
August 16, FR Kohat: Local taliban militants assassinated four 
tribesmen and left their bodies in Darra Adam Khel's main 
bazaar, accusing the tribesmen of criminal activity. 
 
August 17, North Waziristan: Militants beheaded a local in 
Saidgi village near Miranshah, and left a note on his body 
accusing him of spying for NATO forces. 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  007 OF 013 
 
 
 
August 18, FR Peshawar: Militants fired on the Mattani Police 
Station with automatic weapons, retreating after the security 
forces retaliated. 
 
August 19, South Waziristan: A bomb blast in Zyara Leeta killed 
two. 
 
August 22, South Waziristan: Supporters of local militant 
commander Maulvi Nazir attacked a checkpost near Wana, injuring 
a soldier. 
 
August 23, North Waziristan: Local taliban killed two tribesmen 
in Dosali near Miranshah for allegedly spying for the United 
States. 
 
August 23, South Waziristan: Baitullah Mehsud reportedly 
nominated three of his commanders as deputies to coordinate with 
TTP partners around FATA and NWFP, amid reports that he had 
serious chronic medical conditions.  The TTP later claimed that 
he was making a speedy recovery, without providing more 
information. 
 
August 24, South Waziristan: Militants attacked a security 
checkpost in Zam Chan near Wana injuring three South Waziristan 
Scouts and abducting five. 
 
August 24, North Waziristan: Local tribesmen fired at what they 
claimed were US drones and cobra helicopters, as the choppers 
fired at Deugar Saidgi and Danday Saidgi villages near Miranshah. 
 
August 24, North Waziristan: An Afghan man was allegedly killed 
for spying on behalf of the U.S. 
 
August 25, South Waziristan: Militants loyal to militant leader 
Maulvi Nazir of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe attacked a military 
camp in Tiarza near Wana, angered by the alleged violation of 
Pakistan's airspace by US spy planes.  Eight militants were 
seriously injured in the fight.  Maulvi Nazir subsequently 
announced a unilateral ceasefire and pledged to support the 
Political Agent in maintaining law and order and in return 
demanded a meeting with the governor on the US incursions. 
 
August 25, Khyber: Local militants in Bara set free a Punjabi in 
exchange for the release of two of their militants, held by 
rival group Lashkar-i-Islam. 
 
August 26: North Waziristan: Local taliban in Miranshah banned 
entry of non-local journalists into the agency without prior 
permission, accusing journalists of being spies. 
 
August 26, South Waziristan: Militants kidnapped a government 
official from the Works and Services Department in Sarwakai as 
he was en route to inspect development projects. 
 
August 26, Mohmand: The body of Frontier Constabulary member was 
dumped near a road in Safi near Ghallanai. 
 
August 27, FR Lakki: Five members of the Bhettani tribe 
reportedly kidnapped three individuals from Mastikhel near Lakki 
Marwat.  In response the political administration cracked down 
on the clan in order to secure the release of the kidnapped. 
(Note: on August 28, the political administration secured the 
release of those kidnapped.  End Note.) 
 
August 27, South Waziristan: Between 75 and 100 Mehsud militants 
attacked the Tiarza Fort.  Troops repulsed the attack, killing 
11 militants and wounding 15-20 in the gunbattle.  This exchange 
took place on the border between the tribal areas controlled by 
Mehsud and Wazir tribes. 
 
August 28, Khyber: Unidentified gunmen abducted two drivers 
along with their containers bound for Afghanistan from the 
bazaar in Jamrud. 
 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  008 OF 013 
 
 
August 28-30, Khyber: 500 armed members of Lashkar-i-Islam (LI), 
headed by Mangal Bagh, returned to Landi Kotal in their first 
show of strength since Operation Sirat-i-Mustaqeem in Bara in 
late June.  LI reportedly took over control of two mosques 
belonging to rival faction.  Mangal Bagh announced 
implementation of his code of conduct in Landi Kotal: no 
anti-social or anti-Islamic activities and started settling 
disputes.  When the Shinwari and Zakhakhel tribes failed to 
reach consensus on expelling Mangal Bagh, the FC and Levies 
started patrolling the area.  On his FM radio station, Mangal 
Bagh broadcast a demand that the people of Landi Kotal follow 
his manifesto or be punished and fined. 
 
August 29, FR Kohat: The Peshawar road link with the southern 
districts was cut off when a car driven by a suspected suicide 
bomber was shot and blew up at the Kohat Tunnel near Darra Adam 
Khel.  Two drivers were killed, and 36 security personnel, 
including a colonel, injured.  Thousands of families fled the 
area. 
 
August 30, Khyber: Militants blew up a container truck carrying 
goods for ISAF troops in Afghanistan on the Peshawar-Torkham 
road at Jamrud. 
 
Government / Military Responses: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) This is a summary of government and military responses 
to talibanization according to press reporting and consulate 
contacts: 
 
August 16, Swat: Artillery and air attacks killed nine local 
taliban in Swat, and security forces arrested nine more.  Press 
reports indicated there were 25 civilian casualties. 
 
August 16, Bajaur: Twelve militants were killed and five injured 
in helicopter attacks, one of which hit a mosque in Dabar. 
Political authorities asked displaced people to return to their 
homes in Khar. 
 
August 16, South Waziristan: The press reported that five 
explosions in Angor Adda near Wana but reported no casualties. 
 
August 16, Peshawar: The NWFP government began publishing ads in 
the local Urdu newspapers to urge people to join with the 
government in fighting militancy. 
 
August 16, Peshawar: Health officials announced they would not 
launch the national anti-polio campaign in Bajaur and Kurram due 
to the security situation. 
 
August 17, Lower Dir and Malakand: The government set up 17 
relief camps, though Jamaat e-Islami (JI)'s foundation, 
Al-Khidamat, received much of the early credit for being 
responsive to the crisis. 
 
August 18, Bajaur: Security forces destroyed the empty house of 
Bajaur TTP leader Faqir Muhammad in Chopatra.  To avoid being 
attacked by the cobra helicopters, residents were advised to 
exit their homes or vehicles and place their hands in the air, 
though local taliban regularly hid in the maize fields. 
 
August 18, South Waziristan: Security forces arrested four 
suspected militants allegedly carrying sophisticated arms.  They 
were driving on the Wana-Tank and Tank-Dera roads. 
 
August 18, Buner: Police raided hideouts of suspected militants 
in Daggar Tangay, arresting two people and recovering arms and 
ammunition. 
 
August 19, Lower Dir: The provincial government established 17 
relief camps for IDPs from Bajaur and allocated over $175,000 
for relief.  The government said these camps were taking care of 
60,000 of the over 264,000 displaced people. 
 
 
PESHAWAR 00000449  009 OF 013 
 
 
August 19, Peshawar: The FATA Secretariat announced 140 
scholarships for the children of tribal leaders and government 
employees killed in operations against militants in the region. 
 
August 20, Bajaur: Security forces bombed militant hideouts and 
residences of relatives of militant commanders in Salarzai and 
Mamond. 
 
August 20, Kurram: The government announced that the Kurram 
Militia of the Frontier Corps had been given a green light to 
intervene between the warring tribes because they ignored a 
deadline for the ceasefire.  An FC army major was reportedly 
injured in an attack on a checkpost. 
 
August 20, South Waziristan: Two missiles allegedly fired from 
Afghanistan hit a house near Wana owned by a local tribesman 
with links to militants, killing eight including some non-locals 
suspected to be Arab nationals and Punjabis. 
 
August 21: The Bajaur Scouts of the Frontier Corps shelled 
militant strongholds in Mamond and Salarzai. 
 
August 21: The Mardan district government convened a donor's 
conference with both international and local NGOs to raise funds 
for displaced families. 
 
August 21, Kohat: Following the killing of an army officer and 
reports that foreign militants from Kurram and Orakzai were 
entering Kohat, the district administration imposed a local 
state of emergency.  The police deployed a Quick Response Force, 
consisting of two platoons of anti-terrorist squads, eight 
platoons of the Frontier reserve police, eight platoons of 
Frontier constabulary.  (Note: A platoon contains approximately 
40 men.  End Note.)  Kohat is the headquarters of the army's 9th 
division, which has been engaged in operations in Waziristans, 
Kurram and Hangu. 
 
August 22, South Waziristan: Retaliating against a checkpost 
raid near Wana, security forces called in air support and 
injured seven militants. 
 
August 22, Hangu: Local police arrested two Afghan Taliban after 
a clash between police and taliban in Tal. 
 
August 23, Hangu: Police arrested five suspected militants and 
seized rocket launchers, among other weapons, after they refused 
to stop at a police checkpost and opened fire on the police. 
 
August 24, South Waziristan: In retaliation for an attack on a 
checkpost in Zam Chan near Wana, security forces killed three 
militants and injured more in an attack in Sholam. 
 
August 24, Khyber: Political authorities arrested 13 suspected 
militants and confiscated their large supply of explosives at 
the Arakbandi checkpost in Kam Shelman near Landi Kotal. 
 
August 24, Kohat: Frontier Constabulary shot and critically 
injured a lawyer on suspicion of being a militant when his 
vehicle tried to overtake the FC convoy. 
 
August 24, Mansehra: Mansehra and Battagram police took into 
custody 36 people suspected of involvement in the attack on an 
army convoy in Dandai, on the border between Battagram and 
Shangla districts. 
 
August 25, Nowshera: NWFP and Punjab police recovered a cache of 
explosives, two suicide jackets and rockets that they linked to 
the suicide bombing at the Wah Cantonment. 
 
August 25, Islamabad: The federal government banned 
Tehrik-i-taliban Pakistan (TTP) under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 
following the suicide attack at the Wah Cantonment.  The 
government asked the State Bank to freeze any TTP bank accounts. 
 
August 25, Mohmand: Border security forces arrested two Afghan 
 
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nationals who crossed into Mohmand from Kunar Province in 
Afghanistan. 
 
August 26, Khyber: A local political administrator detained 
seven levy constables near Landi Kotal, charging them with 
neglecting their duty.  The levy constables claimed they were 
beaten up and detained for disloyalty for trying to bypass the 
chain of command with their complaints, which they passed to the 
Political Agent. 
 
August 27, Rawalpindi: The Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi 
accepted a police petition to declare Baitullah Mehsud, Chief 
Commander of the Tehrik-i-taliban Pakistan (TTP), a "proclaimed 
offender" for allegedly planning attacks on former president 
Musharraf. 
 
August 27, Khyber: Intelligence agencies arrested six people 
near Jamrud, using information from the interrogation of a 
suicide bomber from Khyber who had intended to take part in the 
bombing on the Wah Cantonment on August 21.  He did not carry 
out the bombing and was subsequently arrested. 
 
August 27, Swat: Security forces continued to attack suspected 
militant hideouts and arrested four local taliban after 
militants kidnapped two locals. 
 
August 27, Bajaur: In the most serious aerial bombing on local 
taliban positions since the start of the Bajaur campaign, 
security forces killed 36 suspected militants in Loisam and 
Salarzai.  Four foreigners were among the dead and three were 
from South Waziristan.  Displaced families who were trickling 
back into the agency fled again. 
 
August 28, Swat: The army claimed it killed 23 militants and 
others reported eight civilian casualties in three separate 
clashes. 
 
August 28, South Waziristan: A jirga made up of Ahmadzai Wazir 
tribal members mediated between the political administration and 
the local taliban.  The political administration as a result 
lifted the curfew, opened the Wana-Jandola road and released 39 
suspected militants affiliated with the Maulvi Nazir group of 
Ahmadzai Wazirs. 
 
August 28, Khyber: Khassadars arrested an Afghan national near 
the border at Torkham and recovered 2,000 AK-47 rounds. 
 
August 28, FR Kohat: Security forces arrested four suspected 
militants in Darra Adam Khel, two of whom were identified as 
local commanders, Mufti Ajmal and Shah Zaman.  The latter was a 
close aide of Tariq who is wanted for killing 15 security 
personnel in February. 
 
August 29, Swat: Military air strikes over two days in Peochar 
killed more than 40 militants and two senior commanders, while 
destroying an ammunition dump and reportedly hitting their 
communications network.  Mufti Saeedur Rehman was allegedly one 
of the commanders killed, though there was no independent 
confirmation. 
 
August 29, Khyber: The political administration convened a grand 
jirga to ask the elders of the Zakhakhel and Shinwari tribes to 
expel Lashkar-i-Islam chief Mangal Bagh from their area, after 
he took control of two local mosques but the Zakhakhel tribe 
refused. 
 
August 29, Buner: Police arrested five suspects in the attack on 
the Sawari police posts near Daggar. 
 
August 30, South Waziristan: A missile strike, allegedly from 
Afghanistan, hit a house near Wana, killing five militants, 
including two Canadians of Arab origin and two Punjabi taliban, 
in an area controlled by Maulvi Nazeer. 
 
August 30, FR Kohat: In clashes with militants, rockets from 
 
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security forces killed two and injured four when they hit a 
house near Darra Adam Khel.  Helicopter gunships targeted the 
headquarters and training camp of militants in Tora China. 
 
August 30, FR Peshawar: More than 18 young militants from 
Mattani and Adezai surrendered to the Peshawar police and 
pledged to cooperate with the government after three days of 
negotiations with police and tribal elders.  The police had 
issued notices to their parents offering the young militants 
complete amnesty if they promised to refrain from militancy. 
 
August 30, Peshawar: After coming under attack at the Shinwari 
Qilla security post south of Peshawar, the police and armed 
tribals joined to pursue the militants who retreated to Darra 
Adam Khel. 
 
August 31, North Waziristan: A missile allegedly hit a house in 
Tappi just east of Miranshah, killing six and injuring eight. 
The dead were reportedly foreign militants, including Arabs and 
Uzbeks. 
 
August 31, Kohat: Security forces targeted militant mountain 
hideouts in different areas of Kohat with artillery and 
helicopter gunships, killing the brother of local taliban 
commander Asif. 
 
August 31, Khyber: The political administration issued an 
ultimatum to Mangal Bagh to vacate his new bases in Landi Kotal. 
 As the Khyber Rifles and Khassadars launched a joint operation, 
Bagh and hundreds of his supporters left the area for Tirah 
Valley.  Security forces fired mortar shells on the residence 
where he was staying.  In separate clashes, security forces 
killed an Lashkar-i-Islam fighter near Jamrud and suffered one 
casualty.  Ten armed LI militants were arrested in Jamrud when 
they tried to flee to Bara.  Authorities sealed a mosque and 
seized an illegal FM radio transmitter.  (Note: The Khyber 
Political Agent said the militants have two transmitters and the 
one turned in was broken.  End Note.) 
 
Grassroots Efforts to Halt Talibanization 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The following events are examples of activities taken 
by local communities to halt the spread of talibanization: 
 
August 16, Lower Dir: The local taliban agreed to leave the 
Maidan area after two rounds of talks with a local jirga.  The 
local taliban asked for safe exit and that local checkpoints be 
abolished, both of which the jirga agreed to. 
 
August 16, Bajaur: Jamaat e-Islami set up some relief camps in 
Mohmand Agency and Lower Dir for those displaced from Bajaur. 
Hundreds of families were reported to be moving into Kunar 
Province in Afghanistan, though many more flooded into 
neighboring districts in Pakistan. 
 
August 16, Mardan: A Grand Jirga agreed to burn down the houses 
of those who support or shelter the local taliban. 
 
August 17, Bajaur: Groups of tribesmen were reportedly 
patrolling Khar to check the movements of militants. 
 
August 17, Kurram: The six major Shi'a tribes announced full 
support of the government in its efforts to push the militants 
out of the area and decided to raise a lashkar to fight the 
militants. 
 
August 17, Lower Dir: Local taliban fighters, including foreign 
fighters, were reported to leave Lower Dir following talks with 
a local jirga. 
 
August 18, Malakand: A local jirga in Tota Kan extended full 
cooperation to the Malakand Levies to purge the area of 
militants and especially non-locals. 
 
 
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August 18, Buner: A jirga formed a committee for the maintenance 
of peace in the area, vowing to take action against those who 
killed innocent people. 
 
August 19, Kurram: An 18-member peace jirga from Hangu and 
Orakzai arrived in Sadda to hold talks with the warring 
factions. 
 
August 20, Bajaur: The tribes in Salarzai formed a Lashkar led 
by Mufti Fazal Hanif and Haji Rahat Yousaf, which the political 
administration agreed to support with weapons. 
 
August 20, Mardan: A grand jirga established a lashkar to 
maintain the peace in the district.  They also said they would 
oppose any military operation within the district.  They asked 
the police to consult them before launching any operation of 
their own. 
 
August 20, Khyber: When a vehicle carrying local militants and 
associates from Darra Adam Khel refused to stop for locals in 
Bara, the two sides exchanged fire.  Four militants, allegedly 
associated with Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP), were killed.  In another 
area, locals surrounded four local taliban on patrol and forced 
them to surrender. 
 
August 21, Kurram: The jirga from Hangu and Orakzai obtained a 
pledge of cooperation from the Turi tribe but not from the 
Bangash.  The Turi tribal elders agreed to hand over their 
hideouts to the security forces if a larger operation began. 
 
August 24, Bajaur: Tribesman took to the street to protest the 
killing of civilians, blocking the Bajaur-Peshawar highway. 
 
August 25, Bajaur: Tribal elders appealed to the local taliban 
not to resume attacks against security forces and government 
installations. 
 
August 26, Bajaur: The tribesmen of Salarzai raised their first 
ever anti-taliban lashkar of 200-300 men, following the 
assassinations of their elders the day before.  The lashkar 
killed a militant who had entered the agency from Mansehra. 
 
August 26, Swabi: The political parties in the district agreed 
to convene a grand peace jirga to restore peace in the district. 
 
August 27, Kurram: Locals called for government intervention in 
the ongoing inter-tribal violence. 
 
August 28, Bajaur: The tribal lashkar killed a suicide bomber 
and detained two others who were allegedly about to attack a 
jirga in Salarzai.  The lashkar cleared several girls' schools 
that the militants were using as training centers and Shari'a 
courts and set up checkposts around the area. 
 
August 28, Bajaur: A jirga in Khar raised a lashkar to repel the 
militants. 
 
August 28, Lower Dir: A 70-member peace jirga in Timergara asked 
the local taliban to leave their area.  The local taliban 
representatives apparently asked for time to consult their 
central leadership. 
 
August 28, Badhaber: The locals formed committees comprising 200 
members to patrol the area at night with the police. 
 
August 29, Bajaur: The Salarzai lashkar prepared positions for a 
confrontation with the taliban faction headed by Naimatullah. 
 
August 29, Lower Dir: The local taliban chief Hafeezullah agreed 
to pull his men out of Lower Dir, following the peace jirga, on 
condition that all cases registered against them be withdrawn, 
their local hosts be protected, and the local taliban be given 
safe passage.  The district agreed to the second two conditions 
and referred the first to the provincial government. 
 
 
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August 29, Nowshera: Elders convened a jirga in which they 
decided to form peace committees to root out militancy in the 
district initially by mounting joint patrols with the police. 
 
August 29: Upper Dir: After hundreds of armed militants entered 
the area to set up camps, a tribal jirga raised a lashkar to 
repel them and deter a military operation.  In talks with the 
local taliban, the jirga told the militants to leave or face 
action. 
 
August 29, Mattani: Locals are banding together with the police 
to repel the militants by launching armed patrols. 
 
August 30, Bajaur: The Salarzai lashkar issued shoot on sight 
orders if a militant was seen in the area and warned local 
people not to provide shelter to foreign militants, otherwise 
their houses would be torched and they would be fined over 
$10,000. 
 
August 31, Bajaur: After warning militants to leave the area, 
the Salarzai lashkar launched a campaign, destroying militant 
command centers and 14 houses, including the house of a local 
taliban commander.  Militants freed six soldiers they had 
earlier kidnapped. 
 
August 31: FR Kohat: Gunmen shot dead a local militant commander 
in Darra Adam Khel. 
TRACY